The 8th Feast

By Kim Wilson

            All biblical feasts (Moadim) are types and shadows of the Messiah.  Some teach that only festivals we should observe are those listed in Lev. 23, since Yahweh himself had Moshe list these with their attendant sacrifices.  It is easy for us to see Yahshua as our sacrificial lamb, His covering of us and saving us from the wages of sin (not delivering us from Torah) that is the second death.  In Yom Teruah we hear the keruvim announcing  His birth to the shepherds who kept the sheep for the temple service.  Yom Kippur is Yahshua calling us to teshuvah.  The feast of Tabernacles is of course the celebration of when He dwelt with us (a short 33 years), and will dwell with us again.

            So we can easily see what has happened in the past and how that shows a shadow of the future.  We don’t know the exact day or hour Yahshua will return to us, but we do know the season, autumn.

The trumpet (shofar) will announce his return, 1 Thes. 4:16, the entire Babylonian world system will be forced to repent, and He will dwell with us as our Melech (King) leading us to victory over our enemies.

            There are two festivals that the House of Judah has kept for over 2,000 years now.  They are Purim (from the Book of Esther) and Hanukkah.  Purim is backed up by an entire book of the Scriptures, its inclusion has been hotly contested over the centuries but it is still there.  Hanukkah is linked to the book of Maccabees (Apochrypha) which is not seen in most Bibles and is definitely not a part of the TaNaKh.

            Why is Hanukkah a type and shadow of the “olam haba” and Purim not?  No mention is made of Yahweh (in plain text), in the entire book of Esther, His hand can be seen in the events, but He is not directly mentioned or praised outright.  Hanukkah on the other hand is directly connected with Yahshua in John 10:22.  He was at Beit HaMikdash for the winter dedication celebration.  If Yahshua himself not only celebrated it but to the risk of going to Yerushalayim  to do so then he must have seen it as important to do so.  Showing us that this is one of the Moadim that He will fulfill.

            So is Hanukkah just about candles, presents, latkes, and doughnuts?  No, it’s all about the rededication of the Beit HaMikdash.  In the past it was the second temple, in the future it will be the third temple we see in Revelations and Daniel being defiled again. The building of the altar for the second temple was organized by a member of the cohanim named Yeshua, (Ezra 3:2).  This altar was later desecrated and temple services stopped by the Greek Hellenizers that the Maccabees led the revolt against.  The third temple will also be desecrated and the light of the menorah once again.  It will be given over to the gentiles, Rev. 11:1-2.  And the sacrifices are stopped again for 2,300 days as seen in Dan. 8:11-17.  For the sacrifices to resume the temple will have to be rededicated by the high priest.  The menorah will be relit by our Kohen HaGadol, Yahshua HaMoshiach.

            What of the symbols of Hanukkah?  The eight lights are said to represent the number of days one day’s worth of oil burned.  This is disputed by some as a way to take the focus off the Maccabees because the family later became Hellenizers themselves.  Another theory is that they missed out on celebrating Sukkot.  But look at what the number 8 symbolizes.

          A New Beginning, in the Hebrew it is the letter chet which has the spiritual meaning of grace and life.  The paleo form of the letter is a fence that can separate the old from the new, lawlessness and Torah.

            Then there is the Shummus, it is the servant candle yet it rises higher than all the rest.  The other eight depend on it for their light.  We know that the Shummus represents Yahshua HaMoshiach whom has already come once as the suffering servant Messiah ben Yosef.  So as the Shummus is higher, the humble suffering servant Yahshua is over us, giving us the only light that we should have anything to do with, the light of Torah.

            Why is oil or foods cooked in oil an important part of the celebration?  The traditional explanation is the miraculous lasting power of the day’s worth of consecrated oil is why it is moralized in the food.  Again we look what the oil is a symbol of. First of all anointing, Yahshua is the Anointed One.  It also represents preparedness as seen in the parable of the ten virgins.  Those who were prepared with extra oil entered in to the bridal chamber with Bridegroom.  So by eating foods cooked in oil we are symbolically filling our lamps.  Remember the temple menorah was actually an oil lamp, not a candelabra.  Only a full lamp is ready to receive the light from the Shummus,  we need to be ready to receive the light of Torah from the Servant Yahshua HaMoshiach.

            Why are they the lights of Hanukkah?  Torah is the light that keeps us in the narrow way.  We are to be lights unto the lost.  Yahshua is the light that will relight us and the world by bringing the true emet of Torah back to us.  The rededication of the Beit HaMikdash in Yerushalayim represents the rededication of Ephraim and Judah with the true pure light of Torah from the Light Himself Yahshua. 

            When the third temple is rededicated it will also commemorate and celebrate the greatest family reunion of all time.  Free from arguments under the rulership of the Melech Kohen HaGadol we will all be special guests at the biggest party the world has ever witnessed.

            This brings us last of all to the presents, where do they fit in to all of this?  Whenever a great victory was won people sent gifts to one another, Esther 9:22, gifts are also seen in the Hebrew wedding, Gen. 25:6.The greatest of all victories will have taken place, the Greco-Roman Babylon will finally be completely overthrown and its influence done away with, Dan. 2:34-35.  The wedding of course is the long awaited marriage of the Lamb, Rev. 19:7-9.

            We need to ask ourselves, ‘Have I rededicated my temple, both physical and spiritual, from the defilement I suffered at the hands of the Babylonian world system?’  Have we come out completely enough to set the ‘chet’ fence between us and the filthy lies in our past?  Are we ready for a new anointing and refilling so that we may be prepared for the pure light of Torah?  Can we present ourselves as gifts fit for our Bridegroom?  Are we ready to thank and even give honor to brother Judah for preserving the traditions that point to the ‘olam haba‘? Are we ready to serve as a light to others?

            Yahweh revealed this message to me in stages first with why Hanukkah was 8 days long and kind of left me hanging with that.  I could sense there was more but I didn’t have it yet.  Then Chris asked to start homeschooling bringing us out of another layer of Babylon.  Freeing us from humanistic indoctrination centers of the public school system.  Once I dedicated myself to getting Chris homeschooled  the rest came to me.

            Yahweh gave 7 Moadim: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.  These were laid out in Torah with their sacrifices and seasons.  The eighth feast is a new beginning physically and spiritually.  It remained hidden as a national day of commemoration.  Said to be the Jewish answer to Christmas, so little Jewish children wouldn’t feel ’left out’ during the pagan high holy season.  This couldn’t be more wrong!  Is our older brother Judah perfect?

No. 

            But he stayed with the Father and thus could be used to teach us and show us these things that are so beautiful.  We would not know Hanukkah without the Jewish traditions.  It is only seen once, in the presence of Yahshua in the Beit HaMikdash and is overshadowed by His words.

            I was really looking forward to Hanukkah before Yahweh showed me these things, now I feel like I could just burst with excitement.  Everything about it from the menorah to the time of day all has new fuller meaning to me.  The time is early in the day but not right at the beginning.  Remember that the day starts at sunset. So only when it is fully dark are the candles lit to give us light.  I believe from all that I’ve read from many well respected teachers that the sunset of the day has begun, the Sabbath millennium has begun.  We still have some light left from the previous day but it is rapidly departing.  But we have to remember the party only starts when it is completely dark, then  we get light from the Shummus.  So when things look the darkest, rejoice! the party is about to begin!!

            This party will last until the light comes to the sky again.  So rejoice, we are commanded to do so.

            The real deal is coming soon so we need to practice hard to get it right.  That includes practicing the eighth feast.  Are we commanded to keep it? No, but when was last time you had to have direct orders to have fun?  ‘Fun’ usually is what led to a falling away let this fun draw us in, into the kingdom.