I love God—He’s so smart and He’s so fun! Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” So this year the world is a buzz because Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah lined up for the first time since 1888 and won’t happen again until the year 77,094! For those of us who find it fun to search the matter out, I would like to offer my thoughts on this phenomenon.
First of all, let’s think about the similarities of the two holidays. Thanksgiving is a time when the pilgrims shared with the Indians and gave thanks to their new friends who taught them how to find provision from the land. These travelers had come from afar to find freedom (from tyranny and religious persecution), and they found a wilderness; however, through grace they found provision and a new freedom they had never experienced. Thanksgiving is about being thankful to a God who provides and who loves freedom!
Hanukkah, despite what we may have thought, is not a Jewish holiday found in the Bible. The origins can be traced to the writings of Josephus (a most renowned Jewish historian) and in the Apocryphal books of Maccabees. In the story, the Greeks had overtaken the region, and many Jews had assimilated to their way of life. Temples were defiled and the leader Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus where pigs would be sacrificed. This created a revolt and some brave Jews led a rebellion. Once the temple was liberated, they only had enough oil in the temple for one day, but the oil miraculously lasted for eight days which was just enough time to prepare new Kosher oil for the rededication of the temple. Again we see a people grateful to their God who provides and wants them free from tyranny!
Now to look at the numerical significance: November 29, 1888. 11/29/1888. So take a look at this 11:29 scripture: Hebrews 11:29 (KJV): “By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.” Hmmm. Another example of a people who gave thanks for being set free and crossing into a land of provision—flowing with milk and honey!
And the 1888? Lets look at gematria for that. Like the Romans, the Hebrews didn’t have numerals separate from letters. So for instance the Roman 1 is the letter I. The Roman 5 is the letter V. Similarly, the Hebrew system uses letters to represent numbers. The 1 in 1888 is the Aleph which means 1000. The letter is silent and represents the mysteries of God; the name of the letter means “Master” or “Lord.” If you look at the Glyph below, you can see how this makes sense.
The ancient glyph is that of an ox which was strong, yet often used as a sacrifice. When writing the letter, you first make the diagonal line which is the Hebrew letter vav and is a picture of a nail. The two marks surrounding are called yod which are pictures of hands—one reaching up to the heavens and one reaching toward the Earth. So looking at it as a whole, because of the nails through the hands, Earth and Heaven can be connected! Wow!! The 888 is the gematria value of the name Jesus! Also, when you look at all the words in the Bible with the gematria of 1888, there is only one, and guess what the word is —Bingo! It’s “SALVATION!”
Fast forward to 2013—these events of the past are not so different for our America. The secular world has bled over the Christian foundation on which this country was founded. Read the news—constant evidence that tyranny is on the horizon if we remain complacent. Have not fear, rise up and declare your love of the Lord. Set your face like flint to see that you rededicate your lives, your homes, your families to the Lord—for we are now his temples! Have no fear because I see the same God, who was, who is and who is to come, telling us that HE WILL PROVIDE and HE WANTS US FREE!!!!
Then there’s the whole matter of Jews and Gentiles being in unity in Jesus … but that’s another blog entry for another day :)
God bless you and Happy Thanksgivukkah!
No comments:
Post a Comment