After much research, as well as my personal history, I have decided to start celebrating Chanukah and other Biblical holidays instead of Christmas and traditional holidays. Not because I want to be Jewish or because I think that we "have" too, but because I want to celebrate the holidays that God provided for us in scripture. I've done this for a year now and I am still getting used to it. because I'm not attempting to be Jewish I have been trying out different traditions and more universal spiritual meanings with these celebrations. Chanukah is traditionally celebrated as a time when the Jewish people were occupied by the roman empire, and they had taken over the temple. The Maccabees were a Jewish family that led a revolt to take back the temple and drive the Romans out. They succeeded but did not have enough oil to keep the menorah lit for the eight days it would take to make more. God provided the miracle of Chanukah and the small amount of oil lasted the entire time.
While this is a very beautiful story, I personally see in it a celebration of the miracles of provisions that God provides for His people throughout the entire year! I celebrate this holiday in gratitude and appreciation of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Chanukah is Hebrew for "the feast of dedication". I celebrate this time of year as a refocusing and "clearing out" of my own temple from the things of this world that I have been over focused on and perhaps even placed before the altar instead of God. A time to get my mind off of the things of the flesh and onto the deep things of the Spirit. dedicating and re-centering myself in the Heavenly Kingdom!
Chanukah is also known as The Festival of Lights! So naturally we celebrate the Light of our Heavenly Father, the Light of the Angels and the Light of the Kingdom and the Light of Christ inside us, shining in the world! We are the Children of Light and in this time of darkness we let our light shine even brighter.
Because Chanukah isn't that popular, there aren't many decorations available so we get to make our own, which I think is a perfect sentiment for this holiday. The central focus is the menorah (I will do another post about the spiritual significance of it soon), so we use that as a symbol to decorate with, as well as Angels! They represent miracles to me. We also use stars as a symbol of Gods guidance. And lots and lots of lights and candles. The biggest theme I try to incorporate is that of charity and generosity, sharing miracles and Gods grace with others.
In the Kingdom of God, the angels and other heavenly hosts keep a cycle of festivals that celebrate Gods love and tell a prophetic story of His plan for us. He laid out a calendar of those festivals in scripture and some extra biblical texts, like the books of enoch and jubilees. This calendar keeps us attuned to the Kingdom of Heaven.
This festival is a good time to become sensitive to the deep things of God, celebrating His Spirit and Light and feeling gratitude for the many miracles and blessings Heaven has provided for us.
Happy Chanukah and many miracles to you <3
