Hello friends, I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to listen to the following Bible teaching message by Paul Scharf. Paul is a Church Ministries representative for the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, serving in the Midwest. You'll find all of his ministry resources at sermonaudio.com slash pscharf, where he provides new content on a regular basis, including a weekly column that he writes, along with news and updates. Right now, we encourage you to follow along as we open God's Word for today's presentation. It's our prayer that the Lord God will use this teaching to bring glory to Himself and to work faith in each of our hearts. Here now with the sermon is Paul Scharf. And we're going to continue thinking about Hanukkah. And we're just at the point of learning of what happened, of why there is a celebration called Hanukkah. And we're going to pick right up there without rehearsing or reviewing. I don't know if we have anyone new. I wasn't here in the last hour. So we're just going to begin right where we left off and think about Hanukkah in history. Just to remind you, I do have my contact here where you can stay in touch with us, sermonaudio.com slash psharf. We do have the display table in the back. And we'd love for you to sign up and take all the free resources that we have. And if we run out and there's something else you need, please let me know. So with that, we're going to get right into our lesson this morning and continue with thinking about Hanukkah in history. We're just going to cover the history quite briefly here by way of some quotes. And again, to remind you that some of these resources are right in front of you in perhaps the study Bible you brought with you today. There's a wonderful article in the Ryrie Study Bible on the Maccabees. And here's what it says. When the emissaries of Antiochus arrived at the small town of Modin, about 15 miles west of Jerusalem, they expected the aged priest, Mattathias, to set a good example to his people by offering a pagan sacrifice. They wanted him to sacrifice a pig on the altar here in Modin. And notice what the Ryrie Study Bible says. He not only refused, but he also killed an apostate Jew who was willing, who offered it at the heathen altar. In other words, let's get Mattathias. Remember the issue here? Are you dedicated or compromised? Dedicated or undecided? Dedicated or in the middle? Dedicated or uncommitted? Let's get Mattathias. Remember, Antiochus is a manipulator and a deceiver. He seeks by flattery to pick off those who aren't faithful to the Holy Covenant. What a wonderful thing it would be to have this elderly respected priest, Mattathias, to set a good example for everyone else. of how it is that we need to adopt this Greek culture and make peace with Antiochus. Mattathias not only refuses, but he kills the apostate Jewish man who offers the sacrifice, and he kills the Syrian officer who overseeing this whole little charade. And it says, Mattathias fled to the Judean highlands and with his sons waged guerrilla warfare on the Syrians. And this is where we're not going to have time to follow all of these details this morning. There's lots of history written about them. Especially, we learn the history of this time in the books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees. Does that ring a bell with anyone? Now those are books that are in the apocrypha of the Catholic Bible. We believe they're apocryphal. We don't believe they're inspired. And there are actually eight books of Maccabees, and some of them are much more questionable in nature. But the first and second books of Maccabees were given to detail this history, and they did so quite faithfully, and they don't claim to be inspired scripture. And so we reference those books, and you could read the source material from 1 and 2 Maccabees, or from Josephus, and see all kinds of things. And there's much that's been recorded and written about this time, obviously, that we won't go into this morning. It's an amazing story. You see the word there, guerrilla warfare. Well, I think we all know what that is. It's the idea of, you know, dodging in and out, not a traditional battle, but going in and picking off at key points. in intercepting, you know, in key battles. And at first this is just sort of an annoyance, you know, almost a laughing stock to Antiochus. But pretty soon he's not laughing anymore as he's losing some of his army and the Jewish forces under the Maccabees. Judas Maccabeus, Judas the Hammer start to win. It's the ultimate David and Goliath battle. The Jewish people start to win. They start to ultimately take back the city of Jerusalem and the temple. In the process, Antiochus is going to die the most indescribably gruesome, horrible death. and he's going to die basically in insanity. And so it's going to be just this incredible, unpredictable, unfathomable victory for the Jewish people, which ultimately leads them for a time even to have their independence back. Now that's not going to be permanent because Jerusalem is going to be trodden down by the Gentiles until Rome rules and Rome rules again at the end of time. And finally Christ returns when the people of Israel finally say, blessed is he, the Messiah who comes in the name of the Lord. And he's going to rule for a thousand years. But for a time, they're going to have their independence back. In fact, this is going to stick so strongly in the psyche of the Jewish people. And in John chapter eight, where we'll turn in a few minutes, they will even say to Jesus, We're sons of Abraham. We've never been in bondage to any man. They sort of forgot about Egypt and Assyria and Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. But, you know, we've never been admonished to any man. We're the independent state of Judea. This thinking has transformed the culture. It's sort of like what happened here, the events behind Hanukkah would sort of be like our 1776 times 100. Because this is not just winning your independence. This is not just part of human history. This is taking back the temple and saving the worship of the one true God from desecration. Taking back the religion, the culture, the heritage, the tradition of the people of Israel. And so they won this incredible victory. Bukhsbazin said, Judah became known as the Maccabee. The hammer, he dealt the hammer-like blows to the enemy. Judas Maccabeus cleanses and rededicates the temple, December 14th, 164 BC. What did they do? Well, Bruce Scott describes, they constructed a new temple lampstand, a new table of showbread, new altar of incense, new curtains, new doors. They tore down the old altar of burnt offering and replaced it with a new one fashioned of uncut stones. Now here's where the basic tradition behind Hanukkah comes in. It's the festival of what? Lights. And you see here on the table, with the Hanukkah basket, which, by the way, I haven't seen anyone looking at or asking about yet. I hope there's someone here yet who thinks of a Jewish friend to take the Hanukkah basket to. But here we have two menorah, Hanukkah menorah, or Hanukkiah, they're called. Please don't take those, or we can't do this next week. But those are just for you to look at. And you'll notice they're different than a regular menorah. They have nine candlesticks, a central and four on each side. Now what is that about? Well, the legend tells us that the oil, books buzz and said, was sufficient for only one night, but lo and behold, the little cruise lasted for eight days until a new supply of oil could be prepared and consecrated. In memory both of the wonderful redemption from the hands of the wicked enemy and the rededication of the temple, it was decreed that for eight days, eight candles should be lit in every Jewish household. Edersheim writes, in memory of this, it was ordered the following year that the temple be illuminated for eight days on the anniversary of its dedication. The lights in honor of the feast were lit not only in the temple, but in every home. So you have On the first night of Hanukkah, you use the center candle, which is called the shamash or servant candle. You light that candle and use it to light then the first candle to the right. And those candles are lit cumulatively each day until on the eighth day, finally you have all nine, the shamash and the other eight candles are lit. And it reminds us of the fact that Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. He's like that servant candle. I hope you and I want to be like that as well. But what about this legend? Well, we'll come back to that in a moment. The legend of the oil. Dr. Alva J. McLean in his great theology book, The Greatness of the Kingdom, said the Maccabees made one of the most desperate and heroic attempts in all recorded history to reestablish The independence of the Jewish state. Oh no, but look at it, it says it failed in the end. Dr. Whitcomb, the Maccabean Revolt. Oh no, look at this, it quickly sank into carnality and cruelty. They lack the supernatural presence of the Messiah or even a divinely commissioned prophet. There's the key, we'll come back to in a moment. To provide the direction and discipline apart from which even a Judean government could not long survive in Satan's world. Now that's why I think, let me pause here and say this, I don't believe personally that oil lasted eight days. I think that's in the realm of myth, legend, custom, tradition. It's a nice story to tell at Hanukkah. I don't think the oil lasted for eight days. Why? Because that would be a genuine sign miracle. I don't think during this intertestamental time when there's no prophet of God, that there was an actual bona fide sign miracle to validate the Maccabees. Furthermore, as Mitch Trestman of the Friends of Israel said on the radio program two years ago, you really wouldn't need a miracle to find eight days of oil in Israel. The oil's all around. But that aside, I don't think it was actually that the oil miraculously lasted eight days. It's in the realm of things that we add in to our Christmas celebration, isn't it? I mean, we can certainly think of things that we even celebrate. that we don't in this case claim that they were miracles, but we also know they're just in the realm of tradition. And you can think of some of those, and I'm not talking about biblical truths, but other things that we add in to our Christmas celebration. So it's a nice little touch of history to talk about. And it certainly does not negate what happened here, or the value of it, the historicity of it, the importance of it, or even the fact that Hanukkah is the festival of lights. and restoring the light in the temple. But I don't think that the oil lasted eight days miraculously. Now you say, whatever happened to these Maccabees? How did they so quickly fall apart? What happened to them? Oh, are you going to be surprised? The descendants of Mattathias founded the Hasmonean dynasty, a name derived from Hashmon, an ancestor of the Maccabees. Dr. Whitcomb says, the Maccabean revolt, spectacular in its early years for dedication to the God of Israel even unto death, soon lost those essential qualities and fell into the hands of the Romans by 65. But I want to know what happened to those Maccabees. What happened to them? The Maccabees, see, living back here during this time. Jerusalem's being trodden under by the Gentiles. God's plan is going forward. It wasn't time for an independent Jewish state. Rome's going to come to the forefront and overtake and rule Jerusalem when Jesus appears. And that's according to God's plan. And it'll be in the days of Herod the King that Jesus is going to be born. But what about those Maccabees? Oh. We come across them in the pages of the Gospels. We call them the Pharisees. The Maccabees gave birth to the Pharisees. You see, you would have loved these guys, the Pharisees. They were the conservatives, the traditionalists. They regarded God's word. They didn't want to break God's law. They didn't even want to broach the fence around God's law. They loved the country and the language and the history and the tradition and every part of it. They were the small business class in Jesus' day in Israel. In fact, the best description I've ever heard of the Pharisees, one that I'll never forget, is they were like the Rotary Club. Do we have any Rotarians here? I was a Rotarian once, not a very good one. But they were like the Rotary Club on steroids. I mean, they had their sights set on the future of Israel. And they believed it. And they championed it. And they were the good guys. Oh, but there was a big problem. They'd also accepted some of the heresies of Second Temple Judaism that began to creep in during this time that took their focus off of faith in the Lord God and put it on their obedience as the basis of righteousness before God. And so when Jesus comes, he clashes with these Pharisees, doesn't he? And they bring all their history with it. that they still claim to uphold. And they face down the true Messiah that they should have accepted with the same zeal that they had once faced down Antiochus. And that's where we get the Pharisees. Well, how many knew that Hanukkah is in the New Testament? You say, I'm still not convinced, Paul. I don't know that we should be here today talking about Hanukkah. Well, let me tell you this, Jesus celebrated Hanukkah. And we're going to think about that here in John chapter 10. Now, before we get to John chapter 10, which tells us clearly the feast of dedication took place. It was Hanukkah. It was time for Hanukkah. When Jesus came into Jerusalem into Solomon's porch at the temple, which by the way is used by the early Christians as a meeting place in the Book of Acts. And Jesus is there in John Chapter 10. He is there for Hanukkah. Now, let's back up a little bit in our thinking. Elmwood McQuaid is the last book to mention, the middle book in terms of chronology, from the Friends of Israel on the Feast. His great book on the Gospel of John called The Outpouring. It says, there can be little doubt that the original observance of Hanukkah was closely allied with the Feast of Tabernacles. So Feast of Tabernacles, the final fall feast, the final of the seven biblically ordained feasts of Leviticus 23, that takes place in October. That's a family time. When families come together and live in a booth for eight days and celebrate, many things sort of rolled into one. The harvest, and God dwelling with his people, and God leading his people through the wilderness. And God's blessing on the people and they come together and they worship as families. And this, by the way, is the basis of our Thanksgiving day that we've received from the pilgrims. The Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Buths Sukkot. Well, Jesus celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in John chapter seven and eight. John chapter seven and eight are one unit. And they flow together and they begin with John chapter seven, verse two. It was the Feast of Tabernacles. And so when you read John seven and eight, they go together as Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles. And then John nine goes in a different direction on a theme that John's developing. But John 10 is the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah. Now, Why is that important? As McQuaid said, Tabernacles bridges together with Hanukkah. Much like our Thanksgiving and Christmas sort of flow together into one sort of holiday time, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. That's what it was like in Jerusalem from Tabernacles to Hanukkah. And everything Jesus talked about when he came to Tabernacles in chapter seven and eight are still resonating, still reverberating around Jerusalem in the minds of the people when he comes back for Hanukkah. In fact, they're on guard. They're on guard against him because remember what Hanukkah is all about? It's about the time when they overcame someone who, in that case, falsely claimed to be God in the flesh. Think about that as you remember what Jesus is saying here in John 7. You see, and you can read these chapters. You can add them to your list and read them later and go and search the scriptures, see if these things are so. But at the end of John 7, Jesus, verse 37, on the last day, that great day of the feast, he stood and cried out saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. You see, one of the traditions, this is an extra biblical tradition that had accumulated by Jesus' day, is that of the libation of water, like an offering of water. And they had a very elaborate, very, enormous way of doing this, pouring out water at the Feast of Tabernacles, showing the blessing of God through water. They would do things with water and wine. They were showing that God has poured out his blessings on us. God has given water for the crops. and that like water flows here at the temple, so the blessing of God flows to you. And Jesus stands up in that context and he says, if any man, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. That's a direct reference to what's going on at the Feast of Tabernacles. This he spoke concerning the spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. The other thing they did at the Feast of Tabernacles is they would light these massive columns with fire outside the temple. And someone said from a distance, it looked like the whole temple was on fire. Because they had this incredible show of light, this incredible display of light. Remember at Tabernacles. Well, what else did Jesus say at the Feast of Tabernacles? He said, what? I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Chapter eight, verse 12. What were they celebrating at Hanukkah? They were celebrating their independence, their freedom. It's like our 4th of July again, times a hundred. What did Jesus say in this context at the end of chapter 8? Now, again, this was back at Tabernacles. He's saying it in preparation for what's going to happen at Hanukkah. He said in John 8.36, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free. Indeed. And all of these things are still on people's minds when they come back for Hanukkah just about six weeks later. Now there's a very important note here in the Jeremiah Study Bible, which I highly recommend if you're looking for a study Bible to use that's maybe a little bit easier to use than some. I highly recommend it. I use it all the time. Quote from it everywhere I go. But it says, the feast of dedication was underway now known as Hanukkah. It commemorates the reestablishment of temple worship after a string of amazing victories against the pagan Seleucids under Judas Maccabeus. Now here's the important part. It was a time like Passover when nationalistic sentiments would be high. You see the people have their antennas way up, right? Be kind of like if, what would happen, and heaven forbid anything like this ever could happen, what would happen if we had like a 9-11 attack on the 4th of July? I mean, think of how impactful that would be. And that's what the people are thinking, like their antennas are way up. And they're thinking about their nation. They're thinking about the fact we'll never again allow this kind of thing. We'll never again allow this kind of a tyrant like Antiochus. Someone who claims to be God in the flesh. And they're thinking about Judean independence. And they have in the back of their minds what Jesus said at Tabernacles. And they're totally misdirected. They've totally misused their history and their energy that they've received from the Maccabean ancestors. And they falsely now set their sights against Jesus. And when he appears at Hanukkah, they're ready to kill him. And that's what happens here in John chapter 10. Notice what McQuaid said, on this occasion, though not relating to the symbolism of old covenant feasts, He was interacting with Israel's historical past and prophetic destiny. And here's one of the passages, and you can go home again, add this to your list, and go home and read it. We can't possibly delve into it here. Ezekiel 34. Just much like if we have a Christmas Day service, Pastor Mike may have a scripture reading that day from Luke Chapter 2, right? Very appropriate. Very, very expected. Well, what was the Jewish custom here at Hanukkah? They had developed a custom. We might say their scripture reading for the Hanukkah festival was Ezekiel 34. It was about being a true shepherd or a false shepherd. Are you a true shepherd who feeds the flock? Are you a false shepherd who feeds on the flock? As Ezekiel said, verse two, son of man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God, ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves, should not shepherds feed the sheep? And by the way, that leads into the whole context going through chapter 36 and 37 about the future regathering of Israel. So you can add all those to your list as well and go home and consider what I've said today and may the Lord give you understanding as you search the scriptures. Maybe on some day when it's snowing again and you'd be better off just staying inside and reading the scriptures and don't even go outside. Well, here's the point. Jesus gave a pre-Hanukkah sermon on his way to Hanukkah in John 10. What did he talk about in John 10 at the beginning of the chapter that lines up with all of this in the first 21 verses? He gave a pre-Hanukkah sermon on what? I am the good shepherd. I am the true and good shepherd. I am the shepherd who feeds the sheep. I am the shepherd who gives my life for the sheep. I am the shepherd who gives abundant life to everyone who comes, not the thief who comes to destroy. Jesus is claiming to be the true, the good shepherd. All of these things are in the air. They're on people's minds. As Jesus now arrives in verse 22, Moody Bible Commentary says, Jesus is the one who restores the true temple of God. He's the true leader, the true shepherd of Israel. And he said that he is coming to give life and life abundantly. And he's going to tell the people here at Hanukkah, That in fact, if they look to him and receive eternal life, no one can pluck them out of his hand. Verse 22, now it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. You might be the descendants of the Maccabees, but you're not my sheep. What a heartbreak that would be, wouldn't it? You're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, verse 27, and I give them eternal life. And they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. I am God. He is saying, I am God manifest. I am God in the flesh. I am God, the true Theos Epiphanes. If I can say it that way reverently. Verse 31, the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Verse 32, Jesus answered them, many good works I have shown you from my father, for which of these works do you stone me? The Jews answered him saying, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy. And because you being a man make yourself God. Now Jesus uses a little bit of a complicated argument here based on the Hebrew word Elohim, which can be used in different ways in different contexts. And in Psalm 82, the psalmist uses the word to describe the people of God. And so you can add that to your list and read Psalm 82 and look at that and look that up. But Jesus says, is it not written in your law I said you are gods if he called them gods to whom the word of God came and the scriptures cannot be broken? Here's the point. Do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said I am the son of God. If the inspired author is free to use the word Elohim to speak of the people of God, how much more he is saying can I, the son of God, claim to be indeed who I am? But here's the bigger point I want you to see that you might miss. He uses a word, and he says in verse 36, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified? Remember, Hanukkah is all about, in Hebrew, dedication. The word that Jesus uses here for sanctified in verse 36, It's the same Greek word found in 1st Maccabees 4.48 for when the temple courts were consecrated and rededicated. What is Jesus saying to these people in a way they will understand? He is saying very directly, I am the Hanukkah man. I'm the dedicated one. I am the sanctified one. My father has sanctified me. He is claiming to be God and he is claiming to be the ultimate light of Hanukkah. And once again, verse 30, they seize him to kill him. That's how Jesus relates to Hanukkah. He celebrates Hanukkah and he claims the dedication of Hanukkah. Now, what does this mean for us as we go from here? Here's again, the Ryrie Study Bible explaining what I just shared from Psalm 82. And you can look up those references and the fact that Jesus is here claiming to be God, claiming to be the dedicated one of Hanukkah. What about Hanukkah in the future? Well, there's no biblical, again, mandate that there will be a celebration of Hanukkah in the millennial kingdom like we have with some of the feasts. Ezekiel 45 talks about that. There's no mandate for us as believers, obviously, right now to be celebrating Hanukkah, other than as we're doing today, remembering what happened in history, learning how to relate to our Jewish friends, reminding ourselves that if there hadn't been a Hanukkah, there wouldn't be Christmas. Because as one rabbi said, At Purim, the other extra biblical feast that was instituted because of events in the book of Esther. You remember when the Medo-Persians tried to destroy the Jewish people. He said at Purim, we celebrate how God saved us physically, saved our bodies. But the rabbi said at Hanukkah, we remember how God saved our souls. He saved us from being not only wiped out physically, but totally immersed in the Greek culture in such a way that it would have destroyed the nation forever. And God was watching over the nation to bring to the point where the Savior would come. Well, how then does Hanukkah relate to prophecy? Well, we've already talked about it. It's because Antiochus IV, the Seleucid king of the north, the king of Syria, the Greek king, has a counterpart who's yet to appear before us, at least in such a way as we know, on the stage of world history. And he will be the Antichrist, the Roman, the final Roman Antichrist who takes on aspects of this Greek forerunner, Antiochus. Bruce Scott said, the events that led up to the creation of the holiday of Hanukkah serve as a foreshadowing of another turbulent time in Israel's history that is yet to come. We can't go through everything on this chart here today except to say this. The worst time that the people of Judah had ever experienced up to that time was the events leading up to Hanukkah. Sadly, it's not the worst time that they'll ever have. That time, we say with tears, is still to come. Now, the good news is no one needs to be there for it. I'll come back to that in a moment. The bad news is it's coming. There will be another abomination of desolation. Jesus said, you know, whoever reads Daniel, let him understand because the Antichrist in the last days at the time of the eschatological fulfillment, MacArthur's study Bible says, sees Antiochus as a pattern of the future Antichrist. who in many ways will be like him, though far greater in power. He'll exercise his career in the end of the age, just before Christ's return. Antiochus Epiphanes was a type of this final figure of the Antichrist. Both Daniel and Jesus said this atrocity was only a preview of the abomination that would happen later under the final Antichrist. Jesus said, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, which he spoke about in relation to Antiochus, but again in relation to the future Antichrist. Whoever reads Daniel, let him understand. Because there is coming a ruler who again, he will stop all sacrifice, breaking a covenant that he makes with the people of Israel. He'll offer this time not a pig on the altar, but he'll place himself as God sitting in the temple, not just a picture of Zeus. And he will demand worship of the entire world. And many of us believe that we are watching the world today being prepared very directly for that time in terms of two areas, technology and psychology. To bring the world to the point where it will be a simple transition to live under the Roman rule of the final Antichrist. And we are watching the stage being set today just as the people in Mattathias and Judas' day were watching God setting the stage for the first coming of Christ. We are watching the stage being set for the second coming of Christ. And of course we have to end here and we can't go through all of these things that we see on this simple chart or the other more complicated chart. But we do know this, the next event on God's timetable, we call it the rapture. Now, how many are so glad the rapture has happened, at least till we have the potluck? But that being said, as soon as that potluck is over, life returns again. And how many have a problem the rapture wouldn't solve? You say, I don't like the word rapture. It sounds like we're part of some mysterious cult or something or doomsday cult. Well, forget the word rapture, which comes to us. You might say it's not in our Bible. It's in your Bible if you have a Latin Bible. The word rapture has entered our theological vocabulary from the Latin Bible. and from the word used there in 1 Thessalonians 4 to speak of being what? Caught up. So if you don't like the word rapture, go back to the inspired Greek, harpazo, which talks about like you, when you play music, as Lynette did this morning with a stringed instrument, if you have a different type of, a bigger instrument, you pluck the music out of a what? A harp. You snatch the music out of the strings. Or if you're a deep sea fisherman catching huge sea monsters, and you might use a what? Harpoon. Snatch them up out of the ocean. There will be a day when every believer, Gentile or Jewish, is snatched up. And you don't even have to be here. to ever experience anything of the future antichrist, Antiochus times a thousand, and the desecration and the desolation that he will bring. And what will it be like when we really see the Hanukkah man, Jesus? Here's what Buxtehazen said, Christ The sun of righteousness has dimmed the lights of Hanukkah. We thank God for these small lights during the darkness of the past night, but we go on to live in the daylight from on high. And when Jesus returns and when we see him in his glory, one thing nobody is going to be asking or saying, is how do we look at the lights of Hanukkah again? They'll be placed into the shadows forever, dear friends. Revelation 21 verse 22 says, I saw no temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. The Hanukkah man, will be shining for all eternity. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light. And the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it." And so I trust your friends, that is your hope. That is what drives your dedication. As we think about Hanukkah, a light in the darkness. Happy Hanukkah. And may God bless your holiday season and may he use us to reach to our Jewish friends. Father, we do thank you for this time. We thank you for this day. I thank you for these dear friends here at Faith Bible Church. Pray your blessing on each one through the holidays and into the new year in every way, in Jesus' name, amen.