525. Celebrating God's Grace - Hanukkah, the Feast of Rededication

As we celebrate Hanukkah this season, let's examine our hearts, in order to fully receive God's grace. Be blessed with the history of Hanukkah and its correlation with the book of Nehemiah.

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Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, A Women World Leader’s Podcast, I’m your host Robin Kirby-Gatto.

Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate God’s grace, in our lives, in our ministry, and around the world.

Title: Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication.

1 “The words or story of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: Now in the month of Chislev in the twentieth year [of the Persian king], as I was in the castle of Shushan, 2 Hanani, one of my kinsmen, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them about the surviving Jews who had escaped exile, and about Jerusalem.” Nehemiah 1:1-2 AMPC’’

Hanukkah is known as “the Feast of Dedication.” It is a time in which the Jewish people celebrate the rededication of the Second Temple, cleansing it from the things of the pagan culture that had crept in with a part of the priesthood, given over to the Hellenistic ways.

Although, Nehemiah preceded those at the time of Hanukkah, there’s a correlation. God’s people were grieved at the worldly things that had happened against Jerusalem, infecting God’s Holy City. Hanukkah is on the 25th of the Jewish Month Chislev on the Hebrew Calendar, and commemorates the Maccabean Revolt in the 2nd Century B.C. The Maccabees revolted against the suppression of the practice of their faith, with a Syrian-Greek king. This revolt went on for 30 plus years, with the main phase being over a seven-year period, from 167-160 B.C. During that phase, in 164/165 B.C., the Maccabees captured Jerusalem, then the subsequent cleansing of the temple came on the 25th day of Chislev, where they found a small amount of pure oil, that was a day’s worth of supply, to light the menorah. It would take at least another eight days to make the purified anointment to light the menorah again. The supernatural occurrence of the one-day supply of oil kept the lamp burning for eight days, which is where we get Hanukkah.

What does that mean for us? As we celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah, we look at it as a time for examining our hearts, to see if the things of the world, have gotten into our inner man, so that we can cleanse ourselves of it, by God’s grace. The Maccabean Revolt, not only dealt with the Jewish people being free to practice their faith, but it also dealt with cleansing God’s temple of the priests who were influenced with the practices of the pagan culture, mixing it into Judaism within the temple.

I love Nehemiah 1, and looking at the first two verses, when it comes to the time of Hanukkah. I’ve written extensively on Nehemiah 1, in my book God’s Fire Wall Healing of the Soul, Session 1 The Light, showing how the soul fragments, where there’s unclean things within our members, and it causes us in the smallest wat to disassociate. Having worked as an outpatient psychotherapist with adults, the elderly, and children in long term foster care, I’ve had patients who had Dissociative Identity Disorder, or those who disassociated on some level. I get into small disassociations in my book Mindfulness, the Mind of Christ, in what is labeled “a mood, temperament, and evolves into our personality.”

I experienced this after my ninth month marriage at 19 years old back in 1999, to a demonically oppressed man, who starved and beat me, kept me imprisoned, as well as constantly threatened me with guns pointed at me, or knives put to my throat. It was my first internship supervisor, who pointed out my abuse, which I had shut down and through disassociation, acted as though it had never happened. This is all in my book Session 1 The Light, showing how the fragmented soul is made whole.

You’ve might not have anything drastic like this, but on some level, the influence of the fallen world, might have taken a toll on your soul, bringing in a mixture, into your Christian life. The point of the kingdom of the world, is to get us confused about God’s grace.

I grew up loving the Lord, having had a supernatural encounter at the age of seven, and always attending church. It was in my last year of high school that I rebelled, because all the guys I ever dated, would break up with me, for keeping myself pure. I got angry with God, and rebelled, and then backslid. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus, God heals our backsliding. (Hosea 14:4)

Like the revolt of the Maccabees, the power of Holy Spirit upon my soul, revolted against the pollution of the world, that had worked its way in, where I tolerated the oppression of the enemy. Looking at Nehemiah 1, we’re given a glimpse into this revolt with God’s people, as Nehemiah is stirred with jealousy and grief, to see Jerusalem rebuilt, as he would look over the repair of the wall.

Maccabee means “hammer” in Aramaic and has the connotation “Who is like unto thee among the gods, Oh Lord!” God’s Word is a hammer within us, to show us HE IS GOD, HE IS GRACIOUS!

“Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]? says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock [of most stubborn resistance]?” Jeremiah 23:29 AMPC

God’s Word pounds away the stubborn places of the heart that have been influenced by the world. In those places of our soul, He brings the Light of Truth, where His Name dwells. (Nehemiah 1:9)

Nehemiah 1, verses 1 and 2, bring so much to illumination, as we see that Nehemiah has come to the Lord in the month of Chislev, which is the time of Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, preceding the event for nearly two-hundred years. However, we can see the reflection of what happened in Nehemiah’s time, compared to what happened in the time of the Maccabean Revolt. God’s people were oppressed, and the city profaned by the pagan culture, having its toll on Jerusalem and the temple.

Nehemiah in Hebrew means “comforter,” indicating the foreshadowing of Holy Spirit. His father, Haciliah is mentioned in verse one, whose name means “Jah of Darkness,” where God will bring the Light to you, and enlighten you. Chislev means “thickening,” indicating the heavy rains. Moreover, the kinsmen mentioned in verse 2 is Hanani meaning, “gracious.”

Names aren’t happenstance in God’s Word, and the 24 workbooks I’ve written on the book of Nehemiah, which three have been edited and revised into books, unpack EVERY SINGLE NAME in the book of Nehemiah. There are a lot of names in that book, to where you almost feel as though you’re reading the Chronicles. When we look at the name meanings in verses one and two, it shows us that The Comforter, Holy Spirit, will come into our Darkness, bringing enlightenment to our soul of God’s thick and weighty presence, revealing His grace.

This is what happens to areas of our soul, in need of God’s grace. We have the beautiful presence of His love, mercy, and truth, that visits us in our darkness, to lift us into the place of wholeness. This reflects the occurrence of the Maccabean Revolt. The people hungered for the presence of God, and in the darkness of the influence of the world, God brought the Light, the supernatural supply of oil that lasted until they could get the pure oil made. This signifies being a Bond Servant of God!

Have you gotten busy with things in life, that you might have slipped and allowed the influence of the world? Is there an area of your soul that’s influencing you with negative thoughts, and bad behaviors. As you’re hearing this podcast on the last day of Hanukkah, December 15th, 2023, commit yourself afresh and anew to God. Breathe a deep breath and acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.

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