Christmas is the traditional holiday time to celebrate the coming of the Savior of the world. Unfortunately, the historic facts and many of the traditions surrounding its origin seem to belie that claim. Consider some of the facts:

The history of the celebration at Christmas time dates back over 4000 years, long before the birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem. Furthermore, many of its traditions such as the bright fires, yule log, giving of gifts, carolers who sing while going from house to house, and holiday feasts, can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians, who practiced pagan religions. Of course, the concept of a jolly Santa Claus is an invention borrowed from the name Saint Nicholas, the 4th century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, who became known for his giving of gifts. Even its December 25 date was selected in 350 AD by Julius I who was the Bishop of Rome, and thought by many historians to have been chosen to compete with pagan ceremonies by the Romans and Persians who also had religious celebrations at the same time for the purpose of welcoming back the sun following the winter solstice. 

Moreover, the date for Jesus' birth is not recorded in the Bible, although a careful reading of the events leading up to it in (Luke 1.5-38) coupled with a knowledge of the 24 divisions of the priesthood in (I Chronicles 24) can serve to place the more likely time of His birth earlier in the fall of the year during the month of Tishri. In addition, December would also be the wrong season of the year for two other reasons.

1. (Luke 2.1) records that a census was underway at the time of Jesus' birth, but December is one of Israel's rainy seasons when the roads would have been muddy, not a likely time for the Romans to schedule a census where travel was required.

2. (Luke 2.8) records that shepherds were out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks, but that is also unlikely because this would have been the time of the year when shepherds would have been keeping their flocks in shelter from the elements.

Consequently, none of the well-known earmarks of Christmas have any apparent connection with the Bible or Jesus' birth. Still, there remains a puzzling thought. All of the other important events in Jesus' life and ministry are highlighted by key Levitical dates. His death occurred on "Passover", His resurrection on "First Fruits", and the coming of the Church Age with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, so why is there no memorial date for His birth and life? 

Perhaps we are approaching this question from the wrong perspective. We have considered Christmas only from its obvious connections with  pagan history, but have not yet considered it from the perspective of Bible history. It is important that we do this because Christianity has been around a long time, causing some of the underlying truths related to its background to have become clouded with the trappings of tradition and even legend.

In our search for a Biblical perspective, we turn to the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, if for no other reason than that it occurs during the same season of the year and, as we shall see, may be related to the Bible. With this step, we observe immediately the following similarities between the Jewish festival of Hanukkah and Christmas. 

• Both occur during the same season of the year.

• Both holiday seasons span eight days

• Both use "lights" as their chief themes

• Both occur on the same numerical date, only in different calendars.
  
  Hanukkah begins on Chislev 25 in the Lunar Levitical calendar, whereas Christmas falls on December 25 in the Solar Gregorian calendar. This Chislev 25 date is somewhat obscured in the Gregorian calendar by virtue of the fact that the Lunar calendar causes the Solar date for Hanukkah to vary from year-to-year in the following way:

Since the historical literature referenced above relates Christmas to pagan origins, whereas we know that Hanukkah has a Jewish origin, we are more than mildly surprised to discover any similarity at all between the two, as noted by the commonality of the season, date, duration, and chief theme of "lights" for both of the holidays. Accordingly, even these meager agreements prompt us to find out more about Hanukkah.

Although Hanukkah originated during Biblical times, little is said of it in the Bible because it began during the Intertestament period when the Jewish people struggled against Syria for their national survival and religious freedom. The record of that struggle is recounted in the Intertestament apocryphal books of I & II Maccabees and briefly summarized as follows:

Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his empire was divided among four of his generals. With Israel in the middle of that divided empire, a power struggle ensued for about 125 years, causing even the Jews to split their allegiance between the two predominant power centers of Syria to the north and Egypt to the South. Into this electrified atmosphere arose an evil Syrian leader by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes, who would rule from 175 to 164 BC. 

After Antiochus had launched a successful military campaign against Egypt, he returned in 168 BC to consolidate his earlier victory. However, he was confronted by an envoy from the rising Roman world power ordering him to cease and desist. Frustrated in his attempt to expand his kingdom at the moment of success, he returned to Syria through Israel, bent on revenge. He decided to have a pig killed on the brazen altar of the Temple, then place a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Holy of Holies. When that sacrilege was further magnified by forcing the Jews to worship Zeus, prohibiting circumcision, and disallowing their reading of Scriptures, the Jews revolted against this wanton oppression.

After an insurgent conflict lasting exactly 3 years from the date of the first Temple desecration, the Jews were able to drive the Syrians out of Israel, resist Hellenism, and restore true worship of Jehovah. Their first order of business was the restoration of the Temple, which involved the cleansing of the altar and Holy of Holies. This was completed on Chislev 25, 164 BC at which time the Temple was rededicated. 

The amazing accuracy of Biblical prophecy is particularly noteworthy here in the book of Daniel, who predicted this entire event over 400 years before it happened. 

Thus we see that Hanukkah, i.e. "dedication", originated just after the Abomination of Desolation by Antiochus Epiphanes during Intertestament times, to memorialize the cleansing and renewal of Zerubbabel's second Temple.

With this historical footnote, we are now in a position to relate Hanukkah  to Jesus' ministry in the following ways.

• Jesus the Messiah observed Hanukkah.

This event occurred near the end of Messiah's ministry, at a time when the Jewish leaders had already rejected Him and were plotting to kill Him. Even so, it is significant that He placed sufficient value upon the Feast of Dedication to be in attendance when it was observed at the Temple shortly before His death.

• The purposes for Hanukkah and Messiah's ministry were the same. 

Hanukkah commemorated the time when the physical Temple was cleansed and renewed for worship of Jehovah, but if viewed spiritually, was it not for this very reason that Messiah came? 

The Old Testament Temple was just a building, but during the New Testament we can become "temples" of God in which He dwells. Just as that Old Testament Temple had been profaned by Antiochus, our "temples" have been profaned by sin and the worship of false "gods". Therefore, just as that ancient Temple had to be cleansed and renewed, the "temple" of mankind must also be "cleansed and renewed" before true worship of Jehovah can occur.

Although direct connections between Hanukkah and Christmas are admittedly sparse, we are beginning to see that the character of Hanukkah has a profound significance when compared with the underlying reason for Messiah's ministry. Let's pursue this thought from a prophetic point of view by highlighting several other intriguing properties of Hanukkah in relation to the New Testament. 

• Hanukkah became the "Festival of Lights" only after Messiah came.

It may not be generally realized, but Hanukkah assumed a different character during the first century after Messiah came. The first historian to associate "lights" with Hanukkah was Josephus. This Jewish general turned traitor and then Roman historian was the first to refer to Hanukkah as the "Feast of Lights".

In later Jewish writings called the Gemoro, an attempt was made to explain the origin of the lights. It suggests that a small flask, containing oil to light the Menorah for only one day, miraculously continued to supply sufficient oil for eight days, thereby bringing the prominence of "lights" to the Feast.  

However, the Jewish historian Hayyim Schauss provides a poignant critique of this claim.

Therefore, historic records seem to punctuate two undeniable facts: 

1. "Lights" had no part in the Intertestament origin of the Feast of Hanukkah. 

2. The lights were added sometime between the life of Jesus the Messiah and the destruction of Herod's Temple in 70 AD.

Although this Jewish historian came to the threshold of an explanation for the "lights", he did not actually utter it. Surely that first century addition of lights to Hanukkah could most easily be explained if they were intended to signify some vital characteristic of the Covenant that God was implementing in the very same time frame that lights were added to Hanukkah. 

Here is how the New Testament associates Jesus the Messiah with "Light". 

Clearly the New Testament pictures Messiah as the "Light" of the world, and the Holy Spirit as that "Light" dwelling within the "temple" of each believer throughout the ensuing Church Age. Correspondingly, the character of Hanukkah changed during the first century in a way that reflected this essential aspect of the New Covenant.

• The Hanukkah lamp stand was also changed after Messiah came. 

  Notice that the Hanukkah lamp stand is changed from the Old Testament seven-stemmed Menorah in a way that accurately typifies the relation between the Holy Spirit and believers during the Church Age. The Hanukkah lamp stand pictured here has nine lights, but notice that the one in the center, called the "Shamash" or Servant candle, is higher than the rest. In the Hanukkah tradition, the Servant candle must be lighted first, then used to provide light to the remaining eight candles, on each of the succeeding eight days of the Festival. In this procedure, the Servant candle accurately depicts the operation of the Holy Spirit who dwells within each believer, as He provides the source of spiritual light.

  Even the numerical number of the remaining eight candles fits the symbolism, for "eight" is the prophetic number for that which is new, i.e. beginnings. Here are just a few examples.

• The eighth day begins the new week.

• Eight people were saved through the judgement of the flood to begin a new human race.

• The new mediation of the Priestly ministry under the Law of Moses began on the eighth day (Leviticus 9.1)

• Leprosy was to be cleansed on the eighth day to begin a new life (Leviticus 14.10)

• David, who was to begin a kingdom under God, was the eighth son of Jesse (I Samuel 16.10).

Therefore, Messiah was the "Light" of the world while He was in the world. When He ascended back to the Father, the Holy Spirit came as the Comforter and Guide to indwell believers, providing spiritual "Light" to them throughout the period of the Lord's New Covenant to mankind.

While Hanukkah and Christmas possess at least a superficial sameness with respect to their relative seasons, dates, and durations, they are so divergent in many other ways that it would be impossible on that basis alone to determine precisely why those similarities occurred. We must acknowledge that unfortunate compromises were made over the years, progressively removing Christmas from its Biblical origin, and increasingly causing it to take on the character of a Gentile pagan holiday. This unfortunate trend as continued as the secular nature of our modern culture has also been heaped on Christmas, causing it to lose all but a few traces of its early connection to the Festival of Lights.

However, when Hanukkah (Festival of Lights) is related directly to the Old and New Testament scriptures, it becomes evident that many of its  traditions and procedures were carefully crafted and maintained over the centuries to depict the most notable features of Messiah's central reason for coming. Even its precise 70 day removal from the Feast of Tabernacles, which will witness the Lord's physical presence when He returns in Judgement, suggests that the Festival of Lights testifies to the Lord's invisible presence during the Age of Grace. Surely the composition and timing of the Festival of Lights carry the clear imprint of prophetic design,  leaving especially for the Jews another "footprint" to show that their Lord has already provided a Savior for the world.

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