Web Description:
Hanukkah is all about the Temple of God—what had happened to
defile it and what they did to cleanse it and rededicate it. We too are a temple of God.
We are to be a holy place in which God can dwell. But He cannot dwell within us if we
are filled with defilement. Let us do today what Hanukkah celebrates. Let us enter into
the promises that God will purify us and dwell in us. Then let us rededicate ourselves to
walk with Him.
Show Notes:
Christians need a greater understanding of Hanukkah. It occurs around
Christmas time, but it existed as a celebration long before Christians conceived of
Christmas. Hanukkah is the Feast of Dedication. And it remembers the time the Temple
was rededicated to God after it had been defiled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes during the
Seleucid dynasty. We as Christians should regard this time of rededication to the pure
worship of God as something very applicable us.
The people at the time of Antiochus IV rose up and fought against the defilement, and
they removed it from their midst. What was at stake was the very presence of God in
the place where He chose to dwell—the Temple. We must take it just as seriously
today. We must fight against everything that is coming into our lives to defile us
because the issue is still the same: Will God have a place to dwell in the earth? We are
to be His dwelling place. We are to be His temple. And He cannot dwell in us if our
temple is defiled.
This Hanukkah should be a tremendous time for all of us. It was a lot of work to remove
all the objects of defilement, clean and prepare the Temple, and rededicate it to the
worship of God. And it may take a lot of work to do that in our own lives. But Hanukkah
means that it can happen. We can separate ourselves from the defilement of this age.
We can repent and He will cleanse us. We can be that place for Him to dwell.
Key Verses:
Read 1 Maccabees 4:36–59.
John 10:22–24.
"The Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; … and
Jesus was walking in the temple."
2 Corinthians 7:1.
"Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and
spirit."
John 2:14–16. "He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out."
2 Corinthians 5:17. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature."
1 Corinthians 6:19–20. "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit."
1 John 1:9. "He is faithful and righteous to … cleanse us."
2 Corinthians 6:14–18. "We are the temple of the living God."
Ephesians 2:18–22. "You also are being built together into a dwelling of God in
the Spirit."
Quotes:
"As we enter into Hanukkah ourselves and find the importance in our own lives
about it, we realize we begin with an energy, with a drive in our heart that says,
'We must remove all defilement.'"
"He is holy, and He must dwell within holiness. We cannot tolerate the defilement
and the uncleanness. We must remove all defilement and dedicate ourselves to
being the dwelling place of God on this earth."
"We must be dedicated to the fact that He must have a holy temple called the
Body of Christ in whom He will dwell, having built us up together into that
dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
Takeaways:
1. Just as the Temple had been defiled in the days of the Maccabees, today
there are many people who have been defiled so that they no longer qualify
as a place in which God can dwell.
2. Just as the altar and the instruments of worship had to be remade and
rededicated, so this is a time for us to remake our lives in God. It is time for us
to begin again and rededicate ourselves to the Lord.
3. We must put the energy into tearing down and removing that which is defiled.
We must be cleansed of the defilement within ourselves, and we must
rededicate our lives in service to the Lord so that we might be that place in
which He will dwell.
