“In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many…” (1 Maccabees 1:11a).
Of all the feasts and festivals mentioned in the Holy Bible, the Feast of Dedication — better known as “Hanukkah” — is my personal favorite.
While we’re not required by the Torah of YeHoVaH God to observe Hanukkah, it is nevertheless a wondrous celebration filled with historic and prophetic significance. More than that, Yeshua very likely observed Hanukkah himself, as the Gospel of John specifically mentions our Lord in Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Dedication:
“At that time the Feast of Dedication [Hanukkah] took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon” (John 10:22-23).
I say if it’s good enough for the Master then it’s good enough for me (and you).
We can imagine Yeshua joyfully participating in the celebration of Hanukkah along with his Jewish brothers and sisters. He would have been raised to remember and honor the Jewish heroes of the Maccabean Revolt who fought courageously against the wicked Seleucid Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes.
He would have understood the prophetic significance of the “abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; 1 Maccabees 1:54) that Antiochus Epiphanes erected upon the sacrificial altar of the temple — an event pointing to the very same abominable act that the beast and false prophet will commit in the last days (Revelation 13:14-15), an event that Yeshua warned us to be watchful for:
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16).
Lastly, Yeshua would have undoubtedly given glory to YeHoVaH his Father for the great victory He granted the Jews over the Greeks. They had been courageous men and women of faith and obedience led by the valiant Judah Maccabee (AKA, “The Hammer”). Yeshua would have understood the prophetic parallel between Judah Maccabee and himself, that he would in fact be that future mighty “Hammer” that would lead God’s holy people to crush the head of the serpent once and for all (see Revelation 19-20).
Every year as I prepare for the celebration of Hanukkah, I always reread the incredible history of the Maccabean Revolt as recorded in 1st and 2nd Maccabees. As I was rereading this year, a lesson we need to all learn from leapt off the page right from the very first chapter — a warning to all believers to beware not so much about the enemy outside but the enemy inside.
In 1st Maccabees chapter 1 we read:
“In those days lawless [Torah-less] men came forth FROM ISRAEL, and misled many, saying, ‘Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us.’ This proposal pleased them. … They removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil” (1 Maccabees 1:11-12, 15).
Many of the people listened to these “lawless” Israelites. They listened to THE ENEMY WITHIN and joined themselves to all the darkness and abominable behaviors of the Gentile nations.
Soon afterwards, Antiochus Epiphanes brought unprecedented levels of devastation, genocide, and suffering upon the Jewish people:
“He committed deeds of murder, and spoke with great arrogance. Israel mourned deeply in every community, rulers and elders groaned, maidens and young men became faint, the beauty of the women faded. Every bridegroom took up the lament; she who sat in the bridal chamber was mourning. Even the land shook for its inhabitants, and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame. …
“Deceitfully he spoke peaceable words to them, and they believed him; but he suddenly fell upon the city, dealt it a severe blow, and destroyed many people of Israel. He plundered the city, burned it with fire, and tore down its houses and its surrounding walls. And they took captive the women and children, and seized the cattle” (1 Maccabees 1:24-28, 30-32).
The enemy within the assembly of believers is so much more dangerous than any enemy without. Antiochus Epiphanes, for example, was an enemy outside the assembly — and he was horrifically evil. But he never would have been able to conquer God’s people for a time if they had remained faithful to the Torah of YeHoVaH.
Remember: Many among God’s people had forsaken the covenant and had “sold themselves to do evil” before the devastating attacks from Antiochus Epiphanes.
If Antiochus had attacked Israel while they were being obedient to the commandments of God, then the Almighty would have fought for His people from the very beginning. The Greeks would have had their forces decimated by the Jews, and that wicked king would have fallen in battle.
“YeHoVaH your God is He that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory” (Deuteronomy 20:4).
While God’s people remain faithful, no enemy without can destroy them.
It’s literally impossible.
This is something the diviner Balaam came to understand more than a millennium earlier. King Balak of Moab had hired Balaam to curse Israel, but Balaam was completely unsuccessful. Instead of cursing Israel, YeHoVaH spoke through Balaam and pronounced blessing after blessing upon God’s people.
Why? Because Israel was being obedient.
Balaam understood that while Israel remained faithful to the commandments of the Almighty they could never and would never be cursed or conquered.
However, if God’s people could be enticed to disobey YeHoVaH, forsake the eternal covenant, and become participants in all the wickedness of the world, then they would be brought under a curse. The very curses that YeHoVaH had promised Israel through Moses would fall heavily upon them (see Deuteronomy 28:15-68).
And this is exactly what Balaam taught king Balak to do:
“There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality” (Revelation 2:14).
This is the very thing these “lawless men… FROM ISRAEL” brought upon God’s people.
They were that most dangerous enemy within.
If the Jews had refused to listen to that enemy within, and if they had remained faithful to the covenant of their God, then many tens of thousands would have been spared horrendous levels of suffering.
The enemy without would never have had any power over God’s people.
And so it is with us today.
Beware those enemies within the borders of our communities, our cities, our states, and our nations — those “lawless” [Torah-less] men and women who would seek to entice us away from the commandments of YeHoVaH and join ourselves to the perversions of the world.
If we choose to remain faithful to our God, we will always find refuge “under His wings… His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. [We] will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at [our] side, ten thousand at [our] right hand; but it will not come near [us]” (Psalm 91:4-7).
If, however, we are ever foolish enough to listen to the voices of the enemy within and forsake the way of life, then “YeHoVaH will send upon [us] curses, confusion, and frustration, in all that [we] undertake to do, until [we] are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of [our] doings” (Deuteronomy 28:20).
May the blessings of YeHoVaH always be upon you as you remain faithful to Him. Shalom.
