Building on the Foundation

  In the Gospel of John, we discover the following detail during Jesus’ ministry: “Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch” (John 10:22-23). In Hebrew, “dedication” is hanukkah (Strong’s # H2598), which appears several times in the Old Testament. For instance, when Moses dedicated the altar in the tabernacle, the word used for that dedication was hanukkah (Num. 7:10, 11, 84, 88). Again, Solomon’s dedication of the altar in the temple was a hanukkah (2 Chron. 7:9). Both dedications lasted seven days as God commanded (Ex. 29:37). The New Testament, of course, was preserved in Greek rather than Hebrew. But among the Jews of Jesus’ day, this would have been called the Feast of Hanukkah, it was at the temple, and it was in winter. To this day, the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah is in winter. So what is Hanukkah? Where did it come from? It isn’t among God’s commanded Holy Days, but is it okay for us to cele...

  “Tomorrow is a feast to YHWH,” Aaron told the people (Ex. 32:5). But the Israelites assembled on a day of their own choosing and worshiped the golden calf. To this lifeless idol, they ascribed the wonders of the true, invisible God: “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Ex. 32:4). And as they worshiped, the people cast off restraint, for Moses, upon returning to the camp, “saw that the people were naked; for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies” (Ex. 32:25; KJV). God had commanded no such feast, He had forbidden the making of idols, and He hated drunkenness and sexual immorality. But the Israelites invoked His name on the proceedings!  “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them’” (Ex. 32:7-8). This statement summarizes most of Israelite history. Though instructe...