Today is the last day of Hanukkah, The Miracle of Hope:
Hanukkah began as a military holiday celebrating the capture and re-dedication of the Jerusalem Temple around 164 BC. About 200 years later, however, the Temple was destroyed by the Romans.
Some Jewish leaders of the period said Hanukkah should be abolished. Since the Temple was destroyed, why celebrate its rededication?
The answer lay in the most profound Jewish idea: hope. While the Temple was destroyed, hope was not. Hope is not blind optimism. It is faithfulness, confidence, and vision, combined with a determination to act.
Hope has sustained the Jewish people through
countless experiences of persecution and exile. Hope is the conviction that what was once destroyed can be rebuilt. Hope is not only about one person, Yeshua. It is about each of us.
No matter what has been destroyed in your life. Like the Temple, relationships, health, career, loss of loved one, ministry or severe disappointment in ones self. This is the month of Hope.
Not only is last evening the lighting of the eighth candle about Hope but it is also the First Fruits Rosh Chodesh) of the 10th Biblical month of Tevet. It is not a coincidence that in the month of Tevet we are to Pray for our Leaders that they have a Godly prospective. The month of Tevet which started last Saturday is a month for us to see with Godly eyes and to war for a Godly outcome.
Hopefully you will join our family today in celebrating Hope and what has been destroyed in the past is being rebuilt to even greater Glory and Testimony. Tevet is the tenth month of Biblical Calendar and Ten is the number of Testimony. Shalom
Wellspring Israel 