Heaven calls us to be “ambassadors” of the Messiah (Christ) and “temple(s) of God” (1Cor. 3:16; 6:19), and Yeshua (Jesus) called His body a temple (John 2:19–22).

The prophet Haggai’s message was that the House of God is not a building, but it does reflect the heart condition of the people. Haggai proclaimed that the glory of God and foretold a time when God will fill His house with a greater glory than He did when Solomon commissioned the first Temple (Hag. 2:9). That greater glory arrived when Yeshua stepped foot into the Temple during the Festival of the Dedication (Chanukah, John 10:22-39) in fulfillment of what that prophet foretold would be a crucial work of the Mashiakh (Christ).

The gospel by apostle Yokhanan recounts Yeshua’s teaching in the Temple at the time of Hanukkah/Chanukah, which is called the Feast of the Dedication.

The gospel of John is a lot like Paul’s letter of Romans. It’s laid out as a running discussion from beginning to end. The gospel is a methodically and thematically laid out book. There are a couple of key statements in John 10 that really stirred up Yeshua’s audience.

None of the accounts Yokhanan brings into his gospel are haphazard, just as Yeshua’s visits to the Temple were never haphazard. During His celebration of Chanukah in the Temple, He proclaimed there, “I and the Father are one” (Jn. 10:30), clarifying shortly thereafter, “the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (Jn. 10:38).

Yokhanan collected this account with those of what Yeshua said and did between a celebration of Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles/Booths) in the seventh month of Israel’s calendar (roughly September–October) and the eight-day celebration of Chanukah, starting on the 25th day of the ninth month (typically in December).

* John 7: Yeshua goes to the Temple during Sukkot.

* John 8: Yeshua pardons a woman caught in adultery and teaches about true light in the world.

* John 9: Yeshua, ‘light of the world,’ brings ‘light’ to a man born blind.

* John 10 continues the discussion of chapter 9: the blindness of key leaders that Yeshua was the Messiah by way of His teachings and use of God’s power.

A deep dive into Chanukah: The Hell of Hellenism

The history behind Chanukah mirrors the themes of this week’s Torah reading: מקצ Miketz/Miqetz, covering Gen. 41:1–44:17. Miketz continues the story of Jacob and Rache’s oldest son Yosef. the title means “from the end,” relating to “at the end of two years” (Gen. 41:1). The Sages and commentators have noted over the centuries that this phrase points to the future.

Two major themes of Miketz:

* Yosef’s rise: Key to this is the God-given insight into pharaoh’s dreams, which positions Yosef as the savior of Mitzraim and Yisrael. 

* Yisrael’s descent: Famine drives Yisrael and his family into Mitzraim for food. This is the LORD’s doing.

The history of Chanukah leading up to the time of the gospels is recorded in the Apocrypha books 1–4 Maccabees (mostly 1Maccabees). The Jewish people’s descent into Hellenism was a slow slide but it was arrested for a time when that which was considered weak (the priestly Maccabees) were able to gain the upper hand and kick the evil empire out. 

The Maccabean movement overcame a far larger, better-trained and equipped army under Greek Seleucid king Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), who profaned the Temple. 

The cultures of the Greek world blatantly co-opted and adopted the pagan practices of their conquered peoples. In modern parlance, we would call the Greek’s rampant cultural appropriation Hellenism. 

The priests then rededicated the Temple on the 25th day of the ninth month (also called Kislev) in 165 B.C. They celebrated for eight days to mirror the eight-day festival of Sukkot they weren’t able to celebrate two months before.