This year, Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same calendar day, which is a perfect segway for what I want to share in this post.

Recently, while I was teaching the Book of Revelation, we did a deep dive into the Lampstand (Menorah), which led us back to a passage in Exodus 25:36…Thus, the whole menorah * is to be a single piece of hammered work made of pure gold. [40] See that you make them according to the design being shown you on the mountain.

Most believers are not aware that the menorah is a picture of the body of Christ on earth as an instrument of worship. That God was making it clear to Moses he was to replicate what he saw as God pulled back the veil between heaven and earth and revealed the heavenly replica of His most precious possession to establish it on earth as it is in heaven. What is His most precious possession? The inheritance He is giving His son. We the body are an instrument of worship to our Heavenly Father.

How did I draw this conclusion? First of all, Iet me share excerpts from an article I wrote several years ago about the Menorah. You can find it on our website. https://www.oimm.org/hanukkah-revelation-of-the-menorah/. Other Hannukka revelations @ https://www.oimm.org/blog-hanukkah/

The menorah was to be made of one solid piece of gold, “one beaten work”, rather than be composed of several pieces joined together.

God required that the lampstand be made of pure gold. Gold is a precious metal that in processing is subject to seven levels of increasing heat in the refiner’s fire. It is a soft and malleable metal that can be pressed into shape without breaking. It is found in the veins of rocks.

If in fact, we as His bride comprise part of the living menorah today, then we also are subject to the refiner’s fire seven times. Seven is the number of completion. Therefore, it may be said that He refines us in His fire until He sees we are complete and ready for His will. We should be soft and malleable in the Father’s hand so He may press us into shape without breaking. Our substance is found in the veins of the Rock of Ages, the Blood of Yeshua, the King of Kings. We should be as pure as gold to carry the Light of His Presence into the darkness of this world.

Yeshua talks with His Father: John 17:21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Paul reminds us: Eph. 4: 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups (Jew and Gentile) into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, … so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

How does the menorah show that we are one with the Lord and one with each other? It has a center shaft and six branches that extend out from that center shaft. The Hebrew word for shaft is loins. Out of the loins of Yeshua, the center shaft, comes His bride, represented by the six branches. Six is the number of man. The single central branch was more elaborately adorned than the others and a little taller, thus having preeminence, yet all the branches were part of and came out of the same shaft. It was a beaten work, not a cast work, but beaten by the hammer blows of divinely endowed craftsmen.

Yeshua is described as a beaten work in Isaiah 53:3. “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. [4] Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”

The body of Christ is also compared to a beaten work in 2 Cor. 4:8. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; [10] always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body…

The menorah was the only light in the Tabernacle just as we through Yeshua are the only light in the world.

These are just a few pictures God was revealing to us. You can find many more in the original article on the website. However, as we studied together this year God showed me another revelation.

That the Menorah was revealing Heaven’s worship and purpose and was telling Moses to make it on earth exactly as he had seen it from Heaven, was the foundation of Jesus’ prayer.

OUR FATHER WHO ARE IN HEAVEN HALLOWED BE THY NAME. THY KINGDOM COME THEY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

Right from the beginning of Israel’s existence as a nation, God was saying I want my Heavenly Kingdom revealed through my sons and daughters on earth.

Now here is another interesting fact. If you understand that when the angel came to Mary and told her Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant that was a clue. Knowing each priest had an appointed term to serve in the temple and what Zachariah’s appointed time was revealed to us based on Old Testament scriptures, you can do the math as to when he went home and John was conceived. Those calculations would put Jesus’ conception during the Hanukkah season. Therefore, Mary was dedicated to bringing the Light of the World during the season of dedication or Festival of Lights.

If God had not given the Maccabees victory which is the story of Hanukkah the Jewish people would have been annihilated and the promise of a savior through the Line of David would not have been fulfilled. However, God always fulfills His promises.

This important battle and restoration of the Menorah’s light in the temple took place during the 400-year period between the Old and New Testament.

It seems to me Hanukkah is as important as Christmas since without it there would have been no Christmas. There are so many amazing revelations in the Hanukkah story. One that comes to mind, as I am writing this, is that God called Israel to be a light to the nations.

Perhaps you might want to add the Hanukkah menorah to your celebrations this year especially since God set it up to be on the same day. Since Hanukkah is the season of dedication, I encourage you as you light the lights, don’t follow the tradition but rather have each member of your family light a light and dedicate themselves to be a light to the world for the glory of God.

Blessings,

Joanie