“A MATTER OF MONTHS OR YEARS”
THE SOBERING IDF CHANUKAH MESSAGE
ILL BODING CLOUDS IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE
STEEP TRAJECTORY FIRE FROM 3 DIFFERENT FRONTS
FROM HAMAS GAZA STRIP, LEBANON HIZBULLAH AND SYRIA
December 17, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Chanukah is the Jewish “Feast of Dedication” or Hanukkah, which is observed from the 24th of Kisley to Tevet 2nd. This year it began on the night of December 11th and continues to December 18th.
It is found in John 10:22,23,
John 10:22,23 – And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. [23] And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
The Feast of Dedication was a Jewish festival observed for eight days from the 25th of Kislev in commemoration of the reconsecration (165 BC) of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and especially of the altar of burnt offering, after they had been desecrated in the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes (168 BC). The distinguishing features of the festival were the illumination of houses and synagogues, a custom probably taken over from the Feast of Tabernacles, and the recitation of Psalm 30:1-12.
Psalm 30:1-12 – A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David – I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
[2] O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
[3] O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
[4] Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. [5] For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. [6] And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. [7] Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. [8] I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication.
[9] What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit
? Shall the dust praise thee
? shall it declare thy truth? [10] Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper. [11] Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; [12] To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
The time was around 167 BC or, if you’ re Jewish–BCE.
Prior to this date a young ruler named Alexander the Great, ruled the entire ancient world.
This period of time is referred to as “the Hellenistic period” (Greeks). His untimely death caused a power struggle and four of his generals split up the kingdom. The one that ended up with Israel was Antiochus IV.
This new Ruler of Israel commanded everyone to convert to Hellenism (Greek Metrology) and the Greek values that he held. Many did, even many of the Jews
of the land because they found it to be a very civilized way of life.
But, there were those Jews who held close to the Torah and God’s way of worship and refused to embrace Hellenism. In fact, Antiochus gave the Jews an ultimatum, to either give up their distinctive customs, such as worshipping on the Sabbath (Saturday), Circumcision, and Kosher Laws, or die.
One of the first things Antiochus did was to desecrate the Holy Temple. He ordered the utensils, such as the Menorah, Altar, and Table to be defiled and torn down. Then to be certain that he had accomplished his job, he ordered a pig to be sacrificed on the holy altar. After doing all of that, he order that a Greek god Zeus be worshiped in the Temple.
When Antiochus heard that the people were murmuring and talking about revolt against him, he marched his troops to a town in the foothills called Modi’in. His plan was to erect a false god in the city and force the people to worship it. Modi’in was the home of a priest named Mattathias who had five sons. He and his sons revolted and killed the soldiers and began the revolt against this evil ruler. One of Mattathias’s sons was Judah, and he became the new leader and was quickly nicknamed “Maccabee” (the Hammer in Hebrew). To bring this piece of history to a close we will just report that Maccabee and his men defeated the Greek armies and got rid of Antiochus.
The Maccabees now faced the task of restoring the Temple for Jewish worship to their Holy God. They cleansed the Temple and restored the furnishings. There was special attention given to the Menorah, for it symbolized the Light of God. They restored it and when they went to light it, they found there was a problem. This Menorah could only be used with special oil, and it took eight days to prepare such oil.
They found enough of this special oil to burn only one day. To celebrate the victory of the battle fought for their religious liberty, they decided to light the Menorah anyway and allow the light of God to shine forth with its glory, even if but for a day. But God gave them a miracle, and the oil lasted eight days, until the new oil was made ready. So today we have the eight days of the Feast of Dedication “Hanukkah.” It is also why you will see a nine branch Menorah instead of seven in most Jewish homes. It represents the miracle of the eight days the oil burned; the ninth branch (in the center) is the Shamash (Servant Lamp), which represents the Messiah.
There are many customs and traditions that brings one closer to God and understanding of His greatness associated with this holiday, but I want to keep this as short as possible. Each night for eight nights
a candle is lighted. The Shamash (the center) is always lit first, for it is from the Messiah that all light flows. It is then used to light each candle for the eight nights. Blessing is said and songs about Hanukkah sung. Gifts are given to the children each of the eight nights. During the lighting of the Shamash and the other candles are lit with the Shamash, the following blessings are said.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has set us apart by your commandments and commanded us to kindle the light of Hanukkah.
So after lighting the candles and singing the Hanukkah songs, you set down for a festive meal, each night
for eight nights.
Begin Excerpt from Arutz Sheva
IDF Generals Deliver Sobering Chanukah Messages
Kislev 28, 5770, 15 December 09 09:56
By Gil Ronen
(Israelnationalnews.com) Three of the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) top commanders delivered sobering warnings of the country’s vulnerability to attack in public lectures and Chanukah ceremonies.
Maj-Gen Yoav Galant, Head of Southern Command, said in a conference at Ben Gurion University that the recent quiet period on the southern military front would probably prove temporary.
“Whether it is a matter of months or years,” he said, “we see the ill-boding clouds in more than one place.
We need to utilize the time that we now have in order to prepare – for war or for smaller threats.”
Good winter so far
Military Intelligence Chief Maj-Gen Amos Yadlin said Tuesday at a conference held by the Institute for National Security Studies, that “Syria, Iran and Hizbullah have the ability to threaten Gush Dan [the greater Tel Aviv area]. Our enemies do not rest for a moment.”
“Even the lecture hall we are in is now under threat of steep-trajectory fire from three different fronts,” he said.
He added, however, that a peace treaty with Syria would trigger a positive change in the region.
“Taking Damascus out of the circle of hostility and ending its support for terror will reduce the threat on Israel,” he explained.
In the winter of 2009, not one Israeli soldier or civilian has been murdered in a terror attack, Yadlin said, noting that this is the first such winter in the past decades. The reason for the quiet, he explained, was a combination of Israeli deterrence and the price paid by Hizbullah in the Second Lebanon War and by Hamas in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
Iran, he said, has made advances in its nuclear project. “In 2009 Iran accumulated enough uranium for building its first bomb at the enrichment facility at Natanz, but at a level of enrichment that is lower than that needed [for a bomb],” he said.
IDF Chief of Staff Lieut-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi said Monday at a Chanukah candle lighting ceremony that the quiet which followed the Cast Lead campaign, which was launched one year ago, could be broken at any moment. “The situation can change. It can be in these days or in the days to come. We harbor no illusions and we are sober.”
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted m ateri
al the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.