How did Hanukkah come about?
When Alexander the Great died, his empire was
divided among his four generals. The Holy Land
area came under the control of General Seleucus -
forming what became known as the Seleucid Dynasty.
These Greek overlords became increasingly
intolerant of Judaism - the Jewish festivals were
prohibited, along with circumcision and owning a copy of
the Torah. The Jews were ordered upon death to
worship Greek gods.
Things got much worse for the Jewish people
under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He added
"Epiphanes" to his name - "God Manifest". He
slaughtered Jewish leaders, men, women, children,
babies. The Jews renamed him "Epimanes" - "The Mad
One".
He placed a statue of Zeus in the Holy of
Holies and proclaimed himself Zeus' representative on
earth. This act occurred on the twenty-fourth day
of the ninth month, in 167 BC.
The Jewish people started their rebellion that
lasted 3 years to the day. The priest Mattathias
and his son Judah the Maccabee, called "The Hammer",
carried out brilliant attacks on the Greek army.
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month in 164 BC
the Greeks were driven out of Jerusalem. The
Temple was freed! The Jewish people rededicated
and cleansed the Temple.
For the rededication they had found one bottle
of consecrated oil which they used to light the Temple
Menorah. This one day supply ended up lasting
eight days! This miraculous occurrence was
commemorated into the annual cycle of Jewish holidays as
Hanukkah, The Feast of Dedication, The Festival of
Lights.
In The Prophecy Watcher December, 2019
magazine, Gary Stearman wrote an article titled:
"The Remarkable Winter Prophecies of Haggai".
Prophecywatchers.com
In his article, Gary tells the story of an
amazing miracle concerning the liberation of Jerusalem
from the Ottoman Empire in 1917.
On November 2, 1917, Lord Arthur James Balfour
made a declaration that His Majesty's Government had
approved the establishment in Palestine of a home for
the Jewish people, and would mount a campaign to
liberate Palestine from the Ottoman Empire.
General Allenby, who was known
as a "brilliant Christian general", led the campaign. He knew it
would be difficult to free Jerusalem from the Turkish
army as the Turks had fortified Jerusalem as "an almost
impregnable fortress'. It was reported that he
"hated the thought of shedding blood in the city of the
Lord, or of damaging the walls." These things
caused him to analyze his position and method of attack
over and over before moving on Jerusalem.
As his
army moved on Jerusalem from the south, the Turkish army
fled to the north! His army marched into Jerusalem
without a shot being fired!
Quoting
from this article: "As he marched up to the city,
one of the most amazing miracles of all history took
place. A rumor had reached the Turks that a strong
army was approaching. It was said to be led by one whose
name was "Allenby". But to Turkish ears, the name
came out as "Allah Bey", which means "the prophet of
God." A terrifying conviction fell upon their
ranks. Because of their adversary's name, they
felt that God was against them. They fled, and
Allenby's forces literally walked into Jerusalem without
a shot being fired."
This
took place on December 9, 1917 - the Eve of Hanukkah -
the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month!! The
ninth month is Kislev. On this day the Holy City,
Jerusalem, was freed from captivity!
On
this day, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,
Jewish soldiers in the British Army, celebrated
Hanukkah at the Western Wall. (The Turks had
only allowed Jews to visit The Wall on Fridays before
the Sabbath.)
Gary
Stearman wrote about this miraculous victory of
Allenby's forces in reference to Haggai's
prophecy. Four times in the 2nd chapter of the
Book of Haggai, the Lord refers to ONE specific
day. The twenty-fourth day of the
ninth month. The Lord says "But from
this day on, I will bless you."
The
twenty-fourth day of the ninth month is the 24th of
Kislev, the Eve of Hanukkah. This year, the Eve of
Hanukkah is December 19th. Hanukkah starts on this
evening and ends 8 days later on December 27th, 2022.
This
year, the Winter Solstice falls on December 21 at
11:48PM in Jerusalem. "The darkest day of the
year." (The shortest period of daylight and the longest
night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere.)
The Prophet Haggai gives a warning to
the Jewish people and to the people of all the
world to "give careful thought to your
ways." You have fallen short. Haggai
1:4-7: "Know therefore, thus says the Lord
of hosts, "Consider your ways!" You have
sown much, and harvested little. You eat,
but you never have enough; you drink, but you
never have your fill. You clothe yourselves,
but no one is warm. And he who earns wages
does so to put them into a bag with holes.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Think carefully
about your ways!"
Because the Jewish people and the people
of all the world have not repented and returned to
the Lord, the Lord gave yet another warning to
Haggai. Haggai 2:20: "For the second
time that day, the twenty-fourth day of the month,
the word of the Lord came to Haggai...."I am about
to shake the heavens and the earth: I will
overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of
the kingdoms of the nations. I will overturn
chariots and their riders; horses and their riders
will fall, each by the sword of his brother."
Years ago I came across a book by Grant
Jeffrey. He made a compelling comparison
between Haggai's prophecy and the prophecy of
Ezekiel concerning the Gog and Magog War. Grant
believes the Lord could be giving us the day of the
Gog War - the 24th day of the 9th month.
Will the
Gog and Magog War start on some future 24th day of the
9th month? Will the war be months
pre-Tribulation? The Gog and Magog War could be
months before the Tribulation Period starts.
Will it be before the Rapture or after the
Rapture? Many letters have been written about
these questions.
Here on
Prophecy Watchers, we have Nathan Jones of Lamb and
Lion Ministries - In Ezekiel God steps in and
supernaturally, in old testament wrath, destroys the
nations attacking Israel - the end result is that the
world will know that there is a God - "God
supernaturally steps in and presents Himself not
through the Church but through Israel" - so he
believes this is a post-Rapture event
probably just before the Tribulation or at the onset
of the Tribulation. "After the Rapture but
before the Tribulation is the most likely
scenario." Nathan
Jones: Understanding Ezekiel 38 - The Prophecy
Watchers
https://prophecywatchers.com/videos/nathan-jones-understanding-ezekiel-38/
run
time 28:30
Will
we see these prophecies fulfilled on THIS Eve of
Hanukkah 2022? Will Jerusalem be saved again
miraculously on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth
month? So Israel can celebrate Hanukkah once again
after the enemy has been driven from the land?
If
there is a gap in time between the Gog and Magog War and
the start of the Tribulation Period - a time to clean up
the land and allow time for the ten kings to rise
up...this would more than likely mean a 2023 start for
the Tribulation.
This is not the end of Haggai's
prophecies for the twenty-fourth day of the ninth
month! There is much more to come for Jerusalem
and for the whole world!
"Outside of the Battle of Armageddon, the
War of Gog and Magog, prophesied some 2600 years ago
in chapters 38 and 39 of the ancient book of
Ezekiel, stands out as the 2nd most prominent end-time
prophetic war featured in Scripture."
The Prophecy
Watchers
And many believe that the timing of the
Rapture is directly tied to the Gog and Magog
War.
Pray
for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance