On Youtube there are a number of folks watching days that fall during the eight days of Hanukkah. Sandy Armstrong of Soldiers 4 Christ, Steve Fletcher are two of them. I am definitely watching during those dates as well.
As I considered Hanukkah as dedication, I looked at a couple of situations in the scriptures.
One was when Aaron and his sons went through their initial seven days of isolated dedication. They were told that God would appear to them on the eight day. If applicable to the upcoming Hanukkah, that eight day would fall approximately on Christmas day.
Another was when King Solomon dedicated the altar for seven days with the Children of Israel at the new temple and then they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days. When you compare the accounts in Kings and Chronicles, the King dismissed the people on the 23rd day to go to their homes, the day after Tabernacles' Eight Day of Assembly on the 22nd. If I overlay this on the upcoming Hanukkah, then the Eighth Day of Assembly is on New Years Day. Might we finally be home at that time? Recall that it was on the last day of Tabernacles that Jesus cried out for folks to come to Him.
I am wondering if the last day of the year 2022 is also the last day for the Kingdom of Babylon, wherein God allowed them 70 of their full years on their calendar, verses November 11th. The Biblical precedent for this counting of years but not taking into account a partial year is seen when Solomon was described as having taken 7 years to build the temple where it precisely took 7 and 1/2 years (see I Kings 6 verse 1 with verse 38). I expressed my original thinking of Babylon and Nov 11 here: https://www.fivedoves.com/letters/nov2022/douglash116.htm
Another thought while watching for Jesus in the upcoming days is the possibility of us going to the very end of 2022, with Enoch's 365 years of age at his rapture being a clue for this.
Finally, some have written about the late Zola Levitt's observation of how the developmental stages of an embryo match the Feasts of God given to Israel and their timing, all the way up to a birth taking place at Hanukkah. When I take the 280 days of average pregnancy, I arrive, this Feast season, at January 7th (starting at April 2/3). Disappointing. However, recall Paul referring to himself and his revelation of Jesus, as contrasted with the other apostles, as one "born out of due time" (I Cor 5:8). In my Passion Translation of the Bible, that phrase is specific to a pregnancy being ended either by a premature birth, a miscarriage or an abortion. I am assuming here that Paul was thinking in terms of a premature birth for obvious reasons. Might this premature ending of a pregnancy be the reason why Isaiah 66 refers to one birth as taking place before birthpangs? or before coming to full term? Perhaps Paul's use of that phrase was, unknowingly to him, meant to be a clue for us as to when we might be face to face with Jesus as Paul was on the road to Damascus.
Going back from 280 days at January 7th one week would result in 273 days falling on the New Year. There are two places in scripture where there is a 273.
One place is in Acts when the ship Paul was on crash lands at an island wherein all 276 folks are spared. If I subtract Paul, his companion and their guard (thinking Trinity here), 273 make it safe to shore.
Another place is in Numbers 3 where God wants Moses to total the number of Levites that God has claimed as a substitute for all the first born males in all the other tribes to make sure God is not shorted. Moses presents a count of 22,000 Levites verses 22,273 firstborns. God is "shorted 273". Five shekels per head settles the matter. However, what is interesting is that when I do the original math, the total number of Levites is actually 22,300. It is like 300 are secretly removed and so set apart that they are not even considered part of the calculation. How long did Enoch walk with God before he was removed? "300" years. I have a "missing 300" tied to a 273. Clues for us? We will soon find out.
God bless.