Shalom friends,
Joy to the world the Lord is come! The prophecy of old – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah prophesied the Messiah would be born and that prophecy has been fulfilled. Giving us and this world hope, the answer is in Yeshua. This may be the only time someone may hear the name Jesus, but do they know who Jesus is and why the people rejoice?
For so long, the people longed for hope and deliverance from the torment of this world; longing for a righteous ruler. God has been with those who loved Him always. However, when Yeshua came, He did a miracle for us that he would live inside us, and to have joy on this earth until His return His perfect time. Even when the earth all around us is sinking we have hope and peace in our heart because of our salvation in Yeshua. If you don’t know who Jesus really is, He wants you to know what this celebration of His birth is all about. If you call upon Him, He will not refuse you. There may be disagreement on the true day Jesus was born, but the truth is He was born, died, and raised from the dead and He is returning soon.
We rejoice with the whole family of God, both Jew and Gentle, that the Savior has come. He has come to redeem us from our sins. This world is a dark place, but Jesus is the light and we celebrate the light (Jesus). He is the path in our darkness.
We also celebrate Hanukkah, which is celebrating liberty from the evil rulers of this world. This applies to what we are going through in this present age we live in.
Some are being told they can’t put up a Nativity scene. Some are telling us wrong is right and right is wrong, and that we have to abide by what they changed from right to wrong. They are teaching our children things we need to fight against.
Hanukkah is about fighting for our freedom and taking back our right to worship God. Having the freedom to worship in a synagogue that had been closed down, that is meant for worship.
Hanukkah is about standing for truth and right. It is about standing for God’s Word and telling those who say we cannot worship freely, that we can and will worship the Lord. Those that have money or titles, like Antiochus Epiphanes who desecrated the temple of God to their pagan god Zeus, tried to prevent God’s people from worshiping Him. He thought he got away with it, but history tells us he failed. God will not be mocked, and it will be seen in time.
Celebrating the birth of Yeshua and Hanukkah are both celebrating our freedom in God and overcoming evil.
Hebrew word for today: Hope-( Tiqva) meaning to hope, expectation, things hoped for, ground of hope.