HANUKKAH
– THE SECOND FEAST OF TABERNACLES
How often we hear the statement, "Jesus is coming soon, and it could be any day, morning, night, or noon." That is like saying Jesus could have been crucified on any day of the year or at any time of the day. It simply is not true. There are appointed times for these events to happen, and we know the appointed times during the year. There are some things that God has kept secret from us, but those things that He has revealed belong to us. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.
God often hides things in plain sight. For example, Jesus' death on the cross was described in Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and other places, but these things were hidden from the eyes of most of the people until they were fulfilled. And even then, most of the people did not see the truth or refused to see it. There is no reason to think the situation is any different today in regard to the second set of appointed times--the autumn feast days. Because the time of fulfillment is near, God is beginning to reveal His appointed times in a greater way.
The Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah)
is an eight day festival to celebrate the ancient victory
of the Maccabees over the Syrians whose leader typifies
the Antichrist. This “Feast of Dedication” is popularly
known as the “Festival of Lights.” This festival is
associated with the miracle in which the lamps stayed lit
for “eight” days while the Temple in Jerusalem was
rededicated, although there was only enough oil to fuel
the Temple's lamps for only “one” day.
A revolt started in Modein where Mattathias killed a Jew making a profaned sacrifice and then killed the king's official who enforced such sacrifices. Mattathias fled to the hills with his sons. Seleucid troops from Jerusalem pursued the rebels and slaughtered a group of women and children on the Sabbath. His successor, Judas Maccabee, along with many pious Jews - called the “Chasidim” (pious ones) - joined the revolt. They would descend from the mountains and would strike the Syrians with swift unexpected attacks (Maccabee - “Battle hammer”). After three years of fighting against overwhelming odds, the Maccabees regained control of the Temple.
During the time of the Maccabees, the arrogant murderous ruler Antiochus IV had defiled the Temple and set up an image of himself demanding that he be worshipped. After three years, his army was defeated and he was overthrown. The Temple was cleansed and rededicated to the worship of the God of Israel.
Hanukkah was originally celebrated as a second Feast of Tabernacles. It was made a second Feast of Tabernacles because, in the three years that the Temple service was halted, it was impossible to observe the Feast of Tabernacles.
Waving palm branches and crying Hosanna were
associated with the festivals of Tabernacles and Hanukkah,
both of which celebrated a ruler riding in to free
Jerusalem. Palm branches were waved at the first Hanukkah as
the people celebrated the victory of Judah Maccabee. The
palm branches of Jesus' final entrance into Jerusalem
encapsulated the hope of the people that he, like Judah
Maccabee, would lead the people to freedom.
Hannukah is not only the festival of the re-dedication of the Temple, but is also a second Sukkos and it is observed, as Sukkos is, with the singing of Hallel and the carrying of the lulov (palm branches).
The Book of Maccabees connects Judah's celebration to King Solomon's dedication of the First Temple, when a miraculous fire descended from heaven. Hanukah means dedication and refers to the rededication of the Temple to the service of God after it had been defiled with pagan images and practices.
I Maccabees 4: 44-59
They discovered what should be done about the altar of
holocausts which had been profaned,
and very properly decided to pull it down, that it might
never become a reproach to them, from its defilement by the
pagans. They therefore demolished it, and deposited the
stones in a suitable place on the Temple hill to await the
appearance of a prophet who should give a ruling about
them. They took unhewn stones, as the Law prescribed,
and built a new altar
on the lines of the old one. They restored the Holy
Place and the interior of the house, and purified the courts.
They made new sacred
vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar
of incense, and the table into the Temple. They burned
incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lampstand, and
these shone inside the Temple. They set out the loaves on
the table and hung the curtains and completed all the tasks
they had undertaken. On the twenty-fifth of the ninth
month, Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight,
they rose at dawn, and
offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar
of holocausts which they had made. The altar was
dedicated, to the sound of zithers, harps and cymbals, at
the same time of the year and on the same day on which the
pagans had originally profaned it. The whole people
fell prostrate in adoration, praising to the skies him who
had made them so successful. For eight days they
celebrated the dedication of the altar, joyfully offering
holocausts, communion
sacrifices and thanksgivings. They ornamented the front of the Temple with crowns and
bosses of gold, repaired the gates and the storerooms and
fitted them with doors. There
was no end to the rejoicing 
among the people, and
the reproach of the pagans was lifted from them. Judas,
with his brothers and the whole assembly of Israel, made it
a law that the days of the dedication of the altar should be
celebrated yearly at the proper season, for eight days beginning on
the twenty-fifth of the month Chislev, with rejoicing
and gladness.
2 Maccabees 1: 7-9
Then we prayed to the Lord and were heard; we offered a sacrifice with wheat flour, kindled the lamps and set out the loaves. And we now recommend you to keep the feast of Tabernacles of the month of Chislev. In the year one hundred and eighty-eight'.
2 Maccabees 10:1-8
Maccabaeus and his companions, under the Lord's
guidance, restored the Temple and the city, and pulled
down the altars erected by the foreigners in the market
place, as well as the sacred enclosures. They purified the sanctuary and
built another altar; then striking fire from
flints and using this fire, they offered the first sacrifice
for two years, burning incense, lighting the lamps and
setting out the loaves. When they had done this they
threw themselves flat on the ground, and implored the Lord
never again to let them fall into such adversity, but if
they should ever sin, to correct them with moderation and
not to deliver them over to blasphemous and barbarous
nations. This day
of the purification of the Temple fell on the very day
on which the Temple had been profaned by the foreigners,
the twenty-fifth of the same month, Chislev. They
kept eight festal days with rejoicing, in the manner of the
feast of Tabernacles, remembering how, not long before at
the time of the feast of Tabernacles, they had been living
in the mountains and caverns like wild beasts. Then,
carrying branches, leafy boughs and palms, they offered
hymns to him who had brought the cleansing of his own Holy
Place to a happy outcome. They also decreed by public
edict, ratified by vote, that the whole Jewish nation should
celebrate those same days every year.
Hanukkah and the Feast of Tabernacles are similar in that both include reading of the Hallel Psalms, waving of palm branches and the illumination of the Temple.
In the book of Maccabees the history of the temple rededication is recorded. In the fourth chapter it reads in part: "The entire army gathered together and went up to Mount Zion. They saw the sanctuary desolated and the altar profaned, the gates burned up, and weeds growing in the courts as in a forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests' chambers torn down. They tore their garments and made great lamentation, and put ashes on their heads, and fell on their faces on the ground, blew solemn blasts upon the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven." This was the LAST TRUMPET that was blown on the LAST FEAST DAY of the year.
Hanukkah was DIRECTLY patterned after the FEAST OF TABERNACLES. The Feast of Tabernacles was a seven-day feast followed by a sabbath of rest. Jewish history says this:
“And they kept eight days with gladness, as in the Feast of the Tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they held the feast of tabernacles, when they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts. Therefore, they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto him that had given them good success in cleansing his place" (2 Macc. 10:6-7)
So, originally, Hanukkah was a second observance of Tabernacles, in much the same way that Hezekiah instituted a second observance of Passover when the people were not able to keep the first one. (2 Chr. 30; cf. Num. 9:10-11). This explains why the Hallel (hallelujah) (Psalms 113-118), which was originally sung only at Tabernacles, is still sung in the synagogue Hanukkah service today. The Maccabees "sang psalms" (2 Macc. 10:7) as in Tabernacles.
The fact that Hanukkah is pattered after Tabernacles also provides the meaning for the emphasis on lights. When Solomon dedicated the first Temple of the Lord, he did so at the Feast of Tabernacles (2 Chr. 5:3). That dedication was accompanied by the coming of the Shekinah glory to the Temple and the divine lighting of the fire upon the sacrificial altar (2 Chr. 7:1). As a result, the Feast of Tabernacles later developed an impressive light celebration each night in the Temple. Since Hanukkah celebrated the relighting of the fire on the purified altar and was patterned after the Feast of Tabernacles, the emphasis upon light was borrowed quite naturally as viewed.
Hanukkah was a second observance of Tabernacles, in much the same way that Hezekiah instituted a second observance of Passover when the people were not able to keep the first one. (2 Chr. 30; cf. Num. 9:10-11)
Numbers 9: 9-12 – “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people now or in future generations are ceremonially unclean at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present at the ceremony, they may still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. They must offer the Passover sacrifice one month later, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They must eat the Passover lamb at that time with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast. They must not leave any of the lamb until the next morning, and they must not break any of its bones. They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover."
Haggai 2: On
the twenty-first day of the seventh month (7th
day of the Feast of 
Tabernacles), the
word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “This is what the Lord
Almighty says: ‘In a
little while I will once more shake the heavens and
the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations,
and what is desired by all nations will come, and I
will fill this house with glory,’ says the
Lord
Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’
declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this
present house will be greater than the glory of the former
house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this
place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord
Almighty.”
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (day before Hanukkah starts), in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”
The priests answered, “No.”
Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”
Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
“‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord. ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, as yet the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree, hath not brought forth: ‘From this day on I will bless you.’”
The word of the Lord
came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:
“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake
the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal
thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms.
I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses
and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his
brother.
“‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Hanukkah is a second Feast of Tabernacles. Just as the Jews who were ceremonially unclean were unable to celebrate Passover until a later date, so God instituted a second Feast of Tabernacles. Haggai 2 tells us that the Lord spoke to him that He would shake the earth and the desired of all nations would come to Him. He spoke this on the 7th day of the Feast of Tabernacles. But then the Lord again speaks to Haggai that from the 24th day of the 9th month (Hanukkah), “From this day on I will bless you.” He again speaks of shaking the heavens and the earth. Three times He mentions this date and tells us to give careful thought to it. He mentions the exact same thing that would disqualify someone from celebrating Passover on the correct date – touching a dead body and being defiled – and cause them to have to celebrate the Passover during the time allotted for the second Passover. What the Lord is saying here is that the 7th day of the Feast of Tabernacles was the correct time for Him to shake the heavens and the earth, but the time has been moved to the second Feast of Tabernacles, a.k.a. Hanukkah.
Verse 19 says: “Give careful thought: Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, as yet the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree, hath not brought forth.” The word used here from bringing forth is “nasa” and means, “to lift up, to be taken away, be carried off, be swept away.” The Lord is telling us that we have not yet been raptured on the 7th day of Tabernacles, but that we should give careful thought to the next verse: From this day on I will bless you. From which day? From the Feast of Hanukkah! The Lord is telling us that although He did not come on the 7th day of Tabernacles, He will come on the second Feast of Tabernacles, which is Hanukkah. Which day of Hanukkah will He come for us on? We can’t be totally certain, but most likely the 7th day of Hanukkah, just as He was to come on the 7th day of Tabernacles.
Do you know what else I believe the Lord is telling us? “From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid.” His temple, or body, was conceived during this Feast, the Feast of Lights. He is the Light of the World. His temple (body) was laid (conceived) at this time, and He was born 9 months later on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, when He “tabernacled” among us. This word for “laid” is “suwm” and can also mean “to ordain, establish, MAKE, PLANT, FASHION, appoint, bring to pass, or TRANSFORM INTO.” His temple (body) was transformed into, made into, fashioned into, planted into FLESH. Jesus took on flesh during Hanukkah, the second Feast of Tabernacles, when He was conceived. He took on our likeness so that we can take on His likeness, during the same Feast.