Closing Another Year
I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying some rest as we close out another year. As we anticipate turning the page and stepping into 2025, I wanted to share a word that is on my heart right now for you to take hold of! If history bores you, I encourage you to hang tight to the end. This word connects some history to the present and I believe it reveals a gift that God wants to give to you.
The Miracle of the Oil
Did you know that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah? The Bible doesn’t give us much information about this Jewish celebration other than that Jesus had gone up to the temple during this holiday, referred to as the Festival of Dedication (see John 10:22) This event is set to the Jewish calendar, which does not correlate with a regularly set date on our Gregorian calendar. The 8-day festival usually happens in December, but occasionally falls at the end of November. This year, the first day of Hanukkah fell on Christmas Day.
Because the 400 years before Jesus came were silent in the Bible, we do not have a biblical record of the birth of this holiday. But historical records tell us that in 167 the Greek ruler Antiochus desecrated the temple by setting up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offering, sacrificing a pig on the altar, and issuing decrees that forbade circumcision and required Jews to sacrifice to pagan gods. Historical sources tell us that there was a family called the Maccabees that revolted against Antiochus, cleansed the Temple and rededicated the altar. The story goes that there was a small amount of oil for lighting the menorah that should have only lasted one day, but instead, it miraculously lasted 8 days. So the 8-day celebration of Hanukkah is a festival to remember the rededication and the miracle of the oil.
For those following this tradition of remembrance, one candle on the menorah is lit on the first night of the festival. For each of the remaining eight days, another candle is lit, until all eight are burning on the final day of the festival.
We are in the middle of this 8-day period of time that probably most of us do not observe! However, I felt that there is something for us to pay attention to. Though this particular miracle of oil is not biblically recorded for us, we know that God did something similar for the widow of Zarephath and her son during a huge drought. She was preparing to have her last meal with her son before they died of starvation. She was almost to the end of her supply of oil and flour. One day, the prophet Elijah paid her a visit and asked her for bread. She explained her situation to him but he told her to make bread first for him and then for her and her son. He told her the supply would not run out. As she followed Elijah’s instructions, miraculously her jar of oil and flour did not run out for many days until the Lord sent rain again on the earth!
I am sensing that God has us in a special period of time where He is pouring out a supply of oil to our lives. For those that have been recognizing their need–whether physically, spiritually, or emotionally, God wants to bless you with a miracle flow by His Spirit. In what area of your life do you feel like you are about to run out of your supply? What miracle do you need from God?
Rededicate Your Temple
I encourage you to rededicate your temple, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, asking Him to help you to break off anything that is defiling. It is a great time to repent for actions, attitudes and mindsets that don’t align with God’s way and consecrate yourself afresh to Him. And as you release what can’t remain, have an expectation for divine exchange. God wants to pour in fresh oil, a miraculous supply, to replenish and revive you. He is ready to meet your needs physically, spiritually and emotionally. He wants you to enter into this New Year encouraged and filled up, ready to partner with Him for all He has in store for you!
