REMEMBER THE 13TH ADAR!
The story of Hannukah that the scholars debate in the Gemara, hundreds of years after the Books of Maccabees, is not in the Hebrew bible (the Tanach). However, the Hebrew word Hanukkah, which means dedication, is all through it!
The Books of Maccabees are not canonical for Jews, but they are for some Christians, for example Catholics. In fact the FIRST place the "Celebration of Dedication" (Hanukkah) is mentioned is in the New Testament in John 10.
THE GREAT IRONY OF HANUKKAH - "The Books of Maccabees survived because they became part of the Christian canon, or otherwise they most certainly would have been lost during the centuries. But once this Christian canonization occurred, these books became lost to the Jewish world for many centuries."
In the Books of Maccabees there is the story of a great battle on the 13th of Adar 161 BC. The future of the Jewish Nation was at stake. This battle took place at Adasa (חדשה), near Beth-horon, between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Empire led by the Syrian-Seleucid General Nicanor under the King Antiochus Epiphanes.
Against great odds, the Maccabees are victorious and head of Nicanor is cut off. Judah Maccabee declares in 2 Maccabees to "Remember the 13th of Adar! The Ancient Judean Holiday: Yom Nicanor - 13th of Adar -- is in rememberance of this crucial victory.
"Coincidentally" there was another great battle that took place on the 13th of Adar. It didn't take place at Adasa, but the heroin Hadassa (Esther) played a great role. Like the battle with the evil and treacherous Nicanor, there was another evil and treacherous man who had the King's support. The other man being Haman. Like in the Book of Maccabees, the Jewish nation's fate was at stake. Like the battle of the Maccabees, the Jews win a glorious victory. Like Hanukkah, Jews celebrate this occasion to this day. I am referring to Purim.
In both cases there are ancient Jewish Megillahs (scrolls). We have the Scroll of Esther covering Purim and the Books of Maccabees for Hanukkah.
Purim takes its name from the lots (“purim” in Hebrew) that Haman casts which fall on the 13th day of Adar. That is the date set for when Haman was going to massacre the Jews.
Mordecai, the hero in the Megillah of Esther, discovers Haman’s plot to massacre the Jews. Mordechai urges his cousin Esther to risk her life by revealing her Jewish identity to King Ahasuerus and expose Haman’s plot to wipe out her people. King Ahasuerus orders Haman to be hanged, and the Jews are permitted to fight back. In a major turn of events the Jews are victorious and kill their enemies who were preparing to slaughter them.
The Fast of Esther is observed on the 13th of Adar in commemoration of Mordechai and Esther and all Israel. The acceptance of this Fast of the 13th of Adar on the part of Israel for later generations is alluded to in the Scroll of Esther: "And as they accepted upon themselves and upon their children, the matters of their fastings and their cry" (Esther 9).
Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of Adar, when the Persian Jews are said to have celebrated after vanquishing their would-be executors.
The Book of Esther does not feature among the Dead Sea Scrolls (spanning 150 BCE – 70 CE) and references to Purim do not feature in the Jewish literature before the 1st century C.E.
In fact the FIRST REFERENCE TO PURIM is in the deuterocanonical book Maccabees II (15:32), which merely says that on the 14th of the Jewish month of Adar, Jews celebrated a holiday called "Mordecai Day." Even the author of 2 Maccabees recognizes the parallel between the Book of Esther and The Battle of Adasa.
In Maccabees 2, Judah fastened Nicanor’s head to the citadel, visible to all and an obvious sign of the help of the Lord. And they all decreed by public vote never to let this day go unobserved but to have the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (Adar) in the Syrian language, marked, the day before Mordechai’s day.
What are the odds that there would be two victories of such significance to the survival of the Jewish Nation on the 13th of Adar?
The 13th of Adar is also mentioned in the Talmud as the day on which vengeance was executed.
Is there a prophetic message about a future "day of vengeance" that might fall on the 13th of Adar?
If one is looking for a hint more of the prophetic related to Hanukkah it could be something that Yeshua said in the Book of Matthew.
The revolt of the Maccabees begins with the "Abomination of Desolation" when the father of Judah Maccabee, Matisyahu (which is the Hebrew origin of the name Matthew), kills a Jew and a soldier for erecting an altar to Zeus in the Holy of Holies and sacrificing a pig on it. After that the Maccabees flee to the hills!
In chapter 24 of the Book of Matthew in the Brit Haddasha (New Testament), Yeshua (Jesus) says:
15 “So when you see ‘the abomination of desolation,’ which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 The one on the roof must not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and the one in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 Pray that your escape will not happen in winter, or on Shabbat. 21 For then there will be great trouble, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 And unless those days were cut short, no one would be delivered. But for the sake of the chosen, those days will be cut short.
CONCLUSIONS:
REMEMBER THE 13TH OF ADAR! Surely a great miracle happened there -- Nes Gadol Haya Sham.
There is more in the story of Hanukkah for both Jews and Christians.
With smooth words he will seduce those who act wickedly against the covenant, but the people who know their God will stand strong and prevail. Daniel 11:32
On Hannukah we are told to remember Purim. In both cases an Anti-Messiah like figure sought to destroy God's chosen people and the blood line of King David. In the New Testament there is a warning of the ultimate end-times deceiver who seeks to steal and destroy God's sheep. The prophet Daniel foreshadows these events.
Happy Hanukkah.
P.S. It takes a Hammer to drive a nail.
P.P.S. I encourage you to listen to this teaching by Israeli Amir Tsfarti.
