No. 1762: Judah Makkabi and Hanukkah Party!

No. 1762:
Judah Makkabi and Hanukkah Party!

The 15th kislev in the year 145, the devastating abomination was raised on the burnt altar. In the cities around Judea they left idols, and at the house doors and on the streets they sacrificed incense. The law books, which they found, tore them apart and burned up, and if they came upon someone who had a book of covenants, or who adhered to the law, was sentenced to death by the King's decree. This is how they go about power month after month against the Israelites arrested in the cities.
For the Jews it meant that they had to forget their holy scriptures, and that all Jewish commandments were abolished. Idols should be built, unclean animals sacrificed, and anyone who did not obey the king's words should be punished with death. December 6, 167 before our era, the abomination of destruction, an idol for the Greek god Zeus, was raised on the altar of burnt sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem (1 Maccabee 1.54).
Statue of Zeus Fidias created the 12 meter high statue of Zeus at Olympia approx. 435 BC This was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, here in a thoughtful version of a 16th-century engraving.

In 1988, the Norwegian Bible Society reissued the Apocrypha, writings that have not been included in the Bible, but which belong to the era of approx. 400 years from what we Christians call the Old Testament and until the New Testament time. Among these writings we find the macabre books. They tell about the historical background of Hanukkah, the candlelight, which [...]

In 1988, the Norwegian Bible Society reissued the Apocrypha, writings that have not been included in the Bible, but which belong to the era of approx. 400 years from what we Christians call the Old Testament and until the New Testament time.

Among these writings we find the macabre books. They tell of the historical background of the Hanukkah, the festival of light, which Jews all over the world celebrate today, and who were Jesus' "Christmas". Macabre time lasted from 167 to 63 BC.

A very well-known hymn in Christianity is "You be honored, Lord of the power of death." The tone of this hymn is written by one of Christianity's greatest composers, Georg Fiedrich Handel. The melody and the original text, however, are not linked primarily to Christianity, but belong to the Oratory of Judas Macabre, a tribute to one of Judaism's greatest liberation heroes, Judah Makkabi (Hammer).

After the Jews had been in captivity for 70 years in Babylon, the Persian King, who had now also taken power over Babylonia, allowed them to return to their land. Also Israelis who were imprisoned to Asyria 722 BC began to return to their homeland. But many, however, remained abroad, where they had now established a new existence. Those who went home increased with time, and Jerusalem began to re-gain importance in the Jewish world. But the country was one of many countries under the sovereignty of the Great Persian Empire.

Then came a new era. From the west, Macedon Alexsander came the great and crushed Persian king in the battle of Issos in 333 BC. Thus came the Jewish kingdom under a religious and cultural influence that was uniquely Greek, even though the country was later ruled both from Egypt and then from Syria. However, Greek thought and language marked the inner Mediterranean region for centuries.

When the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, as prophet Daniel prophesied (Dan. 7: 8), came to power, it became bad to be a believing Jew. It began with the fact that Jews who oriented themselves in pagan boredom went to the king and were allowed to follow Greek law and instead of the Jewish (1st Mak. 1, 13 fg). They went so far that they were allowed to operate to hide the tracks of circumcision.

The next move came from Antioch himself. He waged war against the Romans over the rule of Egypt. So his way also went over Judea. He marched with a mighty army up against Jerusalem. He overpowered the treasures of the temple. Many were killed during this action. Two years later he again sent an army to the city, looted it, set it on fire and tore down both walls and houses. Women and children were taken away as prisoners; They also dragged the cattle with them. Then he sent out a decree that under his rule it should only be a kingdom, with one people and one faith.

For the Jews it meant that they had to forget their holy scriptures, and that all Jewish commandments were abolished. Idols should be built, unclean animals sacrificed, and anyone who did not obey the king's words should be punished with death. December 6, 167 before our era, the abomination of destruction, an idol for the Greek god Zeus, was raised on the altar of burnt sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem (1 Maccabee 1.54).

Northwest of Jerusalem lay the small town of Mode`in. There lived Mattatja the priest with her family. The Syrian king's men promised Mattatiah, who was a leader in the city, that he and his sons would receive great rewards for sacrificing idolatry. This rejected Mattatja with strong words. When another Jew wanted to make the sacrifice, the priest killed him and the king's officer. The idol he tore down.

In the wilderness it now became a believer e Jews with their families under Mattathaiah and the leadership of his sons. From there they drove guerrilla warfare against the enemy while they tore down idolatry around the country, circumventing all little boys within the borders of Judaism. After Mattatja died in 167 BC. , the son, Juda Makkabi, became the leader of the rebels. His four brothers stood with him in the fight, and all were praised for their wisdom and courage. Judah has entered history as a military genius. The flock around the Macabean brothers grew ever larger. His relatively small divisions invariably attacked the large, but the heavier, Syrian forces. After three years of bloody war with several major battles, Judah and his men took Jerusalem and restored the Jewish temple service. The tradition says that when they arrived at the temple, they found just enough sacred, inward oil for the candlestick for one day. But day after day for eight days, the holy fire burned. For eight days, the believers celebrated the re-initiation of the Temple with great joy. With green branches and palm leaves in their hands, they sang praises to the Lord. When the celebration was over, the temple's faithful had gotten hold of new, dedicated oil. Since then, for over two thousand years, Judah Makkabi has been standing as the ideal and ideal of the Jewish people.

After the first feast after the dedication of the temple, it was decided by public regulation and by joint decision of the new independent people that the entire Jewish people should celebrate these days each year (2 Maccabees 10: 8). And so it is. Hanukkah, which the party is called, is celebrated every year, and in memory of the lamp oil that burned for eight days, the Hanukkah candles are lit. A light is lit in memory of the one-day supply of oil. Then it is used to light the eight other lights, a new one in addition to the others for each day, until all the lights burn for over two thousand years, the praise has sounded:

Praise His Holy Name,
all the king of the world and our God!
He is what has given us life.
He has preserved us,
and he has led us to today.
Amen.

Return layer after Siddur.
(Jewish prayer book).

1. Macbook 1, 41-64:

    King Antiochus issued a decree to his entire kingdom that all should be one people, and that every one should give up his own customs and customs. All the heathen peoples obeyed the king's words; even many in Israel liked his worship, and worshiped idols and profaned the Sabbath.

    Moreover, to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judea, the king sent messengers to declare that the people should follow the customs and ordinances that were alien to the land. It was forbidden to sacrifice burnt offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings in the temple; Sabbaths and feasts should be made unclean, the temple, and its holy servants. They were to establish sacrificial altars, sacred groves and idols, and sacrifice pork and other unclean animals. "They would not circumcise their sons, and they would defile themselves with the offense of all that was profane, so that they forgot the law and abolished all commandments. Anyone who did not obey the king's words should be punished with death.

    So were the regulations that were given out for the whole kingdom. He set overseers all over the people, and commanded the cities of Judea to sacrifice, city by city. Many of the people failed the law. They flocked around these caretakers and did what was bad in the country. But the Israelites were driven to seek hiding anywhere they could find a haven.

    The 15th kislev in the year 145, the devastating abomination was raised on the burnt altar. In the cities around Judea they left idols, and at the house doors and on the streets they sacrificed incense. The law books, which they found, tore them apart and burned up, and if they came upon someone who had a book of covenants, or who adhered to the law, was sentenced to death by the King's decree. This is how they go about power month after month against the Israelites arrested in the cities.

    On the twenty-fifth day of the month they sacrificed on the altar of idol that was erected over the altar of burnt offering. The women who had let their children be circumcised were killed, as required, and their infants were hung after their necks, mothers. Also their families and those who had performed the circumcision were killed.

    Yet many in Israel were empowered to resist, determined not to eat anything unclean. They preferred to die rather than eat unclean food and to profane the sacred covenant and die. A great anger came upon Israel.