A Hanukkah Tale (Suitable to tell the children of God no matter how old they are.)

Model of the second Temple in Jerusalem in Yeshua's time.

King Solomon built a grand and glorious temple for the Jewish people in Israel.  It was to be a house for God and God had promised that He would always be there as long as they kept it holy and worshiped Him there. They must never forget that it was God who had given them the Land in which they had built the temple. Even if the Jewish people,or any people, were far away in other lands God promised to hear their prayers if they remembered Him and that He had been with them in their land. 

One day, many years later, a very bad general brought his soldiers from Greece to Israel and declared war against them. He entered their temple and did horrible things. He brought pigs and other unclean animals into the Temple, and He made a big statue of himself that he put into the Temple making it look like he was god and not the God of Israel. And he put out the big lamp that God had the Jewish people keep lit all the time to remind them that He was with them always, day and night.

A man named Judah and his five sons were priests in the Temple and they hated what the evil general and his army were doing. So Judah called out to the men of Israel, “All who are with me for the Lord, come and help us fight these evil men.” So this little band of men formed an army and they called upon God and asked Him to help them win the battle over the Greeks. Now the Greek army was much greater than Judah’s small band of soldiers, but they fought with all their hearts and trusted God that He would help them free the Temple and make it holy again. God let them know that it was not by power, and not by might, but by the Spirit of God that they would win the war. And so, with trust in God, this little band of Israeli warriors won a great victory over the great big army of Greece, so that the Greek general was very embarrassed and took him army and fled from Israel. And that was the end of the Greeks trying to conquer little Israel.


Meanwhile, Judah and his sons and the men with them began to clean up the Temple. They broke down the statue and broke it into little pieces and carted it away. They scrubbed and scrubbed and swept and wiped and soon they had the Temple looking as clean and holy as it did before. They had only one problem. The big oil lamp that had burned all day and all night was no longer lit. It was like a candle with a big wick in it, only it burned not from wax like most candles, but from a certain mixture of oils that God had given the recipe for many, many years before. It was the only oil that was to be used in the Temple for the light and it had a wonderful smell from the spices in it. But the problem was they only had enough oil for one day and it would take eight days to make the recipe for the new oil. So the priests who were in charge of making the oil began to do so.

Note the size of the lamp in the temple. 

They were all so excited about restoring the Temple that they decided to light the lamp with the one days worth of oil. So they did. The Temple looked so beautiful all lit up from the huge lamp. They were so happy as they rededicated the Temple to God, making sure He knew that their hearts were full of love for Him, even if they would have to wait for the next week for more oil to keep the lamp lit.

But the next day, there was still oil in the lamp and it stayed lit the whole day. And then it stayed lit the second day and the third day and the fourth day…. All the way up to the eighth day, it stayed lit on only one day’s worth of oil. It was a miracle! It was like God was letting the Jewish people know that He was still there with them and that He knew their hearts were to serve Him and that He was very pleased with them.

From that time on, the Jewish people and many of God's people the world over celebrate Hanukkah every year at this same time as they light candles for eight days, one day at a time, adding one more candle each day to remember the miracle God did there. It is still a holiday of rededication, but since there is no more Temple in Israel, the Jewish people and everyone who loves their God, takes time during Hanukkah to rededicate themselves to God, to tell him how much they love Him, and to give their lives anew to Him as their God.  Would you like to rededicate your life to God in a new and fresh way beginning now in this new season we are in. Only God knows what this next year will bring, but we will be safe in His love and protection as we dedicate our lives to Him for His will to be done and for His love to dwell in our hearts for Him and for one another. Can we all pray this prayer together?

Lord, we thank you that you are such a wonderful miracle working God, that every day in our lives You watch over us and keep us from harm. We give our lives a new to you today, to trust you and to love you and to live to do Your will and to give You glory and honor in all that we do. As we rededicate our lives to you today, we look forward to a year of coming to know you more and more, and being a light-bearer for you wherever you send us. We bless you and thank you for blessing those around us as well, b’shem, Yeshua (in Jesus’ name). Amen.