The document discusses the origins of Christmas and winter solstice celebrations. It explains that Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival held on December 17th-23rd involving feasting, role reversals and gift giving, was a precursor to Christmas. It was later changed to December 25th by Emperor Domitian. The document also discusses the Roman solar festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti on December 25th and how Christianity may have replaced these winter solstice festivals. It covers the use of Christmas trees originating from pagan practices condemned by the prophet Jeremiah and the biblical concept of the New Year given to Israel.

1. Understanding
HANUKKAH
(ALSO CALLED
CHANUKKAH):
Rethinking
Christmas and
New Year
NIHOP
December 2015

2. Some end-time updates:
01 December 2015 -
15H05Russia building
new military bases on
islands claimed by Japan
• MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia has begun building two
modern military compounds on the far eastern
Kuril islands, defence minister Sergei Shoigu said
Tuesday, heightening long-running tensions with
Japan over the disputed islands.
• Russia is "actively carrying out construction of
military compounds on the islands of Iturup and
Kunashir", Shoigu said at a meeting with military
top brass, according to the ministry's website.

3. RUSSIAN EXPANSION IN
THE DISPUTED ISLANDS

4. Earth Changes Accelerate As 12
Major Earthquakes Hit Chile
Within The Last 24 Hours
November 11, 2015

5. The UN Plans To Implement
Universal Biometric
Identification For All Of
Humanity By 2030
• Providing legal identity for all (including birth
registration) by 2030 is a target shared by the
international community as part of the Sustainable
Development Goals (target 16.9). The World Bank
Group (WBG) has launched the Identification for
Development (ID4D) cross-practice initiative, with the
participation of seven GP/CCSAs sharing the same
vision and strategic objectives, to help our client
countries achieve this goal and with the vision of
making everyone count: ensure a unique legal identity
and enable digital ID-based services to all.

6. Will The Discovery Of
Huge Amounts Of Oil In
Israel Lead To War In
The Middle East?
• Billions of barrels of oil have been discovered in Israel,
and this discovery could essentially make Israel energy
independent for many decades to come. But there is
just one problem. This discovery was made in the
Golan Heights, the area that Israel took from Syria
during the Six-Day War of 1967. The government of
Israel considers the Golan Heights to now be part of
Israeli territory, but the United Nations does not
recognize Israel’s claim. Instead, the UN still
recognizes Syrian sovereignty over that area.

8. IMF STUNS WORLD
MARKETS BY
APPROVING CHINA’S
YUAN AS A MAJOR
WORLD CURRENCY
• On Monday afternoon, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF)
Executive Board voted in favor of allowing China’s currency — the
yuan (or renminbi) — to join the ranks of the world’s most elite
monies. On Oct. 1, 2016, the yuan will officially be added to the
IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies, which
previously included only the dollar, euro, yen, and pound
sterling. The decision to include the yuan in the basket indicates
the board felt the yuan meets the required “freely useable”
standard, meaning it is widely used to settle international
transactions and widely traded in foreign exchange markets.

9. • DONALD TRUMP – AMERICA IS RUINED,
CHINA IS LAUGHING
• For months now, Donald Trump has been
warning that China has been beating America
to the punch over and over again. Today’s
news advances that forward greatly.

10. ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)– ISIL:
STRATEGIC MILITARY OBJECTIVE:
EUPHRATES RIVER

11. Preached this message in Cosmo:
December 31, 2014
SENIANG’S PROJECTED PATH

12. ABS CBN ADVISORY

13. BUT SEE THE SATTELITE IMAGE
(Tuesday, Dec. 30)
LOOK AT THE NEGROS ISLAND AREA

14. SENIANG DATA:
53 casualties – Visayas,
Mindanao
8 missing
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL – ZERO
CASUALTY

15. WHERE DID CHRISTMAS ORIGINATE?
• Saturnalia originated as a farmer’s festival to mark the end
of the autumn planting season in honour of Saturn
(satus means sowing). Numerous archaeological sites from
the Roman coastal province of Constantine, now in Algeria,
demonstrate that the cult of Saturn survived there until the
early third century AD.
• Saturnalia grew in duration and moved to progressively
later dates under the Roman period. During the reign of
the Emperor Augustus (63 BC-AD 14), it was a two-day
affair starting on December 17th. By the time Lucian
described the festivities, it was a seven-day event. Changes
to the Roman calendar moved the climax of Saturnalia to
December 25th, around the time of the date of the winter
solstice.
• - See more at: http://www.historytoday.com/matt-
salusbury/did-romans-invent-
christmas#sthash.kFja6Uqz.dpuf

16. Saturnalia by Ernesto Biondi (1909),
in the Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens
Observed by Roman Republic, Roman Empire
Type Classical Roman religion
Celebrations Feasting, role reversals, gift-giving,
gambling
Observances Public sacrifice and banquet for the
god Saturn; universal wearing of
the Phrygian cap
Date December 17–23

17. Public banquets
• From as early as 217 BC there were public Saturnalia banquets. The
Roman state cancelled executions and refrained from declaring war
during the festival. Pagan Roman authorities tried to curtail
Saturnalia; Emperor Caligula (AD 12-41) sought to restrict it to five
days, with little success.
• EMPEROR DOMITIAN (AD 51-96) CHANGED SATURNALIA’S DATE
TO DECEMBER 25TH, perhaps in an attempt to assert his authority.
He curbed Saturnalia’s subversive tendencies by marking it with
public events under his control. The poet Statius (AD 45- 95), in his
poem Silvae, describes the lavish banquet and entertainments
Domitian presided over, including games which opened with
sweets, fruit and nuts showered on the crowd and featuring
flights of flamingos released over Rome. Shows with fighting
dwarves and female gladiators were illuminated, for the first time,
into the night.
• - See more at: http://www.historytoday.com/matt-salusbury/did-
romans-invent-christmas#sthash.kFja6Uqz.dpuf

18. ENTER CONSTANTINE…
• The conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity
in AD 312 ended Roman persecution of Christians and
began imperial patronage of the Christian churches.
But Christianity did not become the Roman Empire’s
official religion overnight. Dr David Gwynn, lecturer in
ancient and late antique history at Royal Holloway,
University of London, says that, alongside Christian and
other pagan festivals, ‘the Saturnalia continued to be
celebrated in the century afterward’. - See more at:
http://www.historytoday.com/matt-salusbury/did-
romans-invent-christmas#sthash.kFja6Uqz.dpuf

19. BIRTHDAY OF THE SUN GOD
• Saturnalia has a rival contender as the forerunner of Christmas: the
festival of dies natalis solis invicti, ‘birthday of the unconquered sun’. The
Philocalian calendar also states that December 25th was a Roman civil
holiday honouring the cult of sol invicta. With its origins in Syria and the
monotheistic cult of Mithras, sol invicta certainly has similarities to the
worship of Jesus. The cult was introduced into the empire in AD 274 by
Emperor Aurelian (214-275), who effectively made it a state religion,
putting its emblem on Roman coins.
• Sol invicta succeeded because of its ability to assimilate aspects of Jupiter
and other deities into its figure of the Sun King, reflecting the absolute
power of ‘divine’emperors. But despite efforts by later pagan emperors to
control Saturnalia and absorb the festival into the official cult, the sol
invicta ended up looking very much like the old Saturnalia. Constantine,
the first Christian emperor, was brought up in the sol invicta cult, in what
was by then already a predominantly monotheist empire: ‘It is therefore
possible,’ says Dr Gwynn, ‘that Christmas was intended to replace this
festival rather than Saturnalia.’
• - See more at: http://www.historytoday.com/matt-salusbury/did-romans-
invent-christmas#sthash.kFja6Uqz.dpuf

20. THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE

21. THE PROPHET JEREMIAH
• The Prophet Jeremiah condemned as Pagan the
ancient Middle Eastern practice of cutting down trees,
bringing them into the home and decorating them. Of
course, these were not really Christmas trees, because
Jesus was not born until centuries later, and the use of
Christmas trees was not introduced for many centuries
after his birth. Apparently, in Jeremiah's time the
"heathen" would cut down trees, carve or decorate
them in the form of a god or goddess, and overlay it
with precious metals. Some Christians currently feel
that this Pagan practice was similar enough to our
present use of Christmas trees that this passage from
Jeremiah can be used to condemn both:

22. What Jeremiah said:
• Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn
not the way of the heathen, and be not
dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the
heathen are dismayed at them. For the
customs of the people are vain: for one
cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of
the hands of the workman, with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold; they
fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it
move not." (King James Version).

23. Connecting to new year:
• Christmas looks forward to New Year (January 01)
• Mesopotamia (Iraq) instituted the concept of
celebrating the new year 2000 BC.[3][4] The
Romans dedicated New Year's Day to Janus, the
pagan god of gates, doors, and beginnings, for
whom the first month of the year, January, is
also named. The pagan deity Janus was depicted
as having two faces: one looking forward and the
other backward

24. PAGAN CALENDAR
Remember GATES, ALTARS AND COVENANTS: our difficulty to
flow with God’s timing is partly attributed to our wrong
gatekeepers of time…

25. So we need to revisit God’s calendar
for the New Year:
GOD’S IDEA OF THE
“NEW YEAR” AS HE
HIMSELF GAVE IT TO
THE NATION OF
ISRAEL

26. BIBLICAL (JEWISH) CONCEPT OF THE
NEW YEAR
The Lord gave the nation of Israel TWO NEW
YEARS:
1. THE RELIGIOUS NEW YEAR (Exodus 12) –
ROSH CHODASHIM (“head of months”)
(In the month of NISAN – March/April by our
Gregorian calendar)
2. THE CIVIL NEW YEAR – ROSH HASHANAH (“head
of the year”) (month of TISHRI or ETHANIM –
Sept./October by our Gregorian calendar)

28. BIBLICAL NAMES OF THE MONTHS:
• NISAN -- LITERALLY MEANS “THEIR FLIGHT”
(ESCAPE, DELIVERANCE, FREEDOM)
• Aviv – first month – literally "spring“ (Exodus
12:2, 13:4, 23:15, 34:18, Deut. 16:1);
• Ziv – second month – literally "light" (1 Kings
6:1, 6:37);
• Ethanim – seventh month – literally "strong" in
plural, perhaps referring to strong rains (1 Kings
8:2); and
• Bul – eighth month (1 Kings 6:38).

29. Jewish
RELIGIOUS
Calendar
CIVIL CALENDAR Festivals and Holidays
Gregorian
Calendar
1
NISAN
7
14 evening. Passover (Pesach)
15-21. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
March
April
2
IYAR
6
14. Second Passover (Pesach Sheni)
May
3
SIVAN
5
6. Weeks (Shavuot)
June
4
TAMMUZ
4 July
5
AV
3 August
6
ELUL
2 September
7
TISHRI
(ETHANIM)
1
1. Trumpets (Yom Teruah)
10. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
15-21. Tabernacles (Sukkot)
22. Last Great Day (Shmini Atzeret)
October
8
HESHVAN
2 November
9
KISLEV
3
25 - 2 Tevet. The Festival of Lights (Hanukkah)
December
10
TEVET
5 January
11
SHEVAT
6 February
12
ADAR I*
7
March

30. THE RELIGIOUS (SPIRITUAL) NEW
YEAR: PASSOVER
Exodus 12
Ex 12:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in
the land of Egypt, saying,
2 "This month shall be your beginning of months;
it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying:
'On the tenth day of this month every man shall
take for himself a lamb, according to the house of
his father, a lamb for a household.

31. THE PASSOVER
• 7 'And they shall take some of the blood and
put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel
of the houses where they eat it.
• 11 'And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on
your waist, your sandals on your feet, and
your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in
haste. It is the LORD'S Passover.

32. Exodus 12
• 12 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that
night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of
Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
• 13 'Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the
houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I
will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you
to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
• 14 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you
shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your
generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an
everlasting ordinance.

33. SEVEN MONTHS LATER ON ROSH
HASHANAH, THE SEDER MEAL is
celebrated on the CIVIL NEW YEAR:
Eze 40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the
beginning of the year (ROSH HASHANAH), on the tenth
day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was
captured, on the very same day the hand of the LORD was
upon me; and He took me
PSALM 81:1-4
Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the
God of Jacob.
• 2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp
with the lute.
• 3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the
full moon, on our solemn feast day. (FEAST OF TRUMPETS)
• 4 For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob.

34. DISTINGUISH:
ROSH CHODASHIM:
1. FEAST OF PASSOVER
(SUBSTITUTE)
2. SOLEMN FEAST
3. SACRIFICIAL LAMB
ONLY
4. The SPIRITUAL OR
ECCLESIASTICAL
NEW YEAR
ROSH HASHANAH:
1. FEAST OF
TRUMPETS,
TABERNACLES
2. JOYFUL FEAST
3. MANY FOODS
AND WINE
4. THE CIVIL NEW
YEAR

35. ROSH HASHANAH SEDER MEAL,
MORE FOODS ARE PREPARED!!!
• Dates
• Small light colored beans
• Leeks
• Beets
• Gourd
• Pomegranate
• Apple (cooked in sugar) and honey
• Head of a ram (or a fish)

36. INTERESTING PRINCIPLES THAT GOD
GAVE TO ISRAEL RE THE NEW YEAR:
1. THE SPIRITUAL NEW YEAR (ROSH
CHODASHIM) IS CELEBRATED FIRST
AHEAD OF THE CIVIL NEW YEAR
PRINCIPLE: YOUR CIVIL LIFE WILL NOT
BE IN ORDER UNLESS YOU FIRST
PUT YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE IN
ORDER

37. 2ND PRINCIPLE:
THE SPIRITUAL NEW YEAR IS
CELEBRATED BY THE FEAST OF
PASSOVER
Principle: EVERYTHING MUST BE
PLACED UNDER THE COVERING OF
THE BLOOD OF JESUS first

40. 3rd PRINCIPLE:
CELEBRATION OF THE DELIVERANCE IS
AHEAD OF THE DELIVERANCE
EXODUS 12:14 “This is the day you are
to commemorate: for the
generations to come you shall
celebrate it as a festival to the Lord –
a lasting ordinance.”

41. INTERESTING RATIONALE:
ROSH CHODASHIM (“head of months”)
Is celebrated in the month of NISAN
NISAN means “their flight”;
is taken from root word NISSIM which
means MIRACLES, and NITZAH – to bud –
“the miracle of our flight or escape”
That is why it is also called CHODESH HA-
YESHUA (the month of salvation)

42. SEVEN MONTHS LATER…
THE CIVIL NEW YEAR IS CELEBRATED
ROSH HASHANAH (“HEAD OF THE YEAR”)
From ROSH CHODASHIM (“HEAD OF THE
MONTH” – spiritual new year) to HEAD OF
THE YEAR (ROSH HASHANAH)
POINT: WHEN YOU ORDER YOUR YEAR IN THE
FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH SPIRITUALLY,
THE LORD WILL ORDER THE REST OF YOUR
YEAR CIVILLY

43. THERE ARE THEREFORE TWO
NEW YEAR-CELEBRATIONS
1. THE CELEBRATION OF THE
SPIRITUAL NEW YEAR (FEAST OF
THE PASSOVER AT THE ROSH
CHODASHIM)
2. CELEBRATION OF THE CIVIL NEW
YEAR (ROSH HASHANAH)

44. PLEASE TAKE NOTE:
ROSH CHODASHIM – the first of the month
(NISAN) RELIGIOUSLY, is the SEVENTH
MONTH CIVILLY (March or April by our
calendar)
WHILE ROSH HASHANAH AT THE MONTH OF
TISHRI (ethanim) (Sept- October by our
calendar), IS THE FIRST MONTH CIVILLY, BUT
THE SEVENTH MONTH RELIGIOUSLY

45. Jewish
RELIGIOUS
Calendar
CIVIL
CALENDAR
Festivals and Holidays
Gregorian
Calendar
1
NISAN
7
14 evening. Passover (Pesach)
15-21. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
March
April
2
IYAR
6
14. Second Passover (Pesach Sheni)
May
3
SIVAN
5
6. Weeks (Shavuot)
June
4
TAMMUZ
4 July
5
AV
3 August
6
ELUL
2 September
7
TISHRI
1
1. Trumpets (Yom Teruah)
10. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
15-21. Tabernacles (Sukkot)
22. Last Great Day (Shmini Atzeret)
October
8
HESHVAN
2 November
9
KISLEV
3
25 - 2 Tevet. The Festival of Lights (Hanukkah)
December
10
TEVET
4 January
11
SHEVAT
5 February
12
ADAR I*
6
March

46. WHAT IS THE POINT?

47. THE POINT IS:
FROM SEVEN TO SEVEN!
IF WE ARE ALIGNED WITH GOD
CORRECTLY, OUR TIMES AND
SEASONS, OUR DAYS, MONTHS AND
YEARS, WILL BE FROM
REST (7TH) TO REST (7TH).
GETS??

48. GETS KO!!!
SEVENTH DAY IS REST DAY
GENESIS 2:2-3 GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH
DAY AND BLESSED IT AND MADE IT HOLY!
ROSH HASHANAH is the SEVENTH MONTH from
ROSH CHODASHIM (IN THE MONTH OF
TISHRI), AND ROSH CHODASHIM IS THE
SEVENTH MONTH FROM ROSH HASHANAH IN
THE MONTH OF NISAN.
FROM SEVENTH TO SEVENTH.
FROM REST TO REST!!

49. I GET IT – FROM REST TO REST!!
REST IN THE LORD! TRUST IN HIS PROMISES!
REST IN THE LORD! ENJOY HIS FULFILMENTS!
FROM REST TO REST! I get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

50. WE HAVE A PROBLEM:
• THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR IS OFF!!!
• Jesus was not born in December 25!!
• December 25 is the feast day of the pagan god
Mithras – the SUN GOD
• “SUN-DAY” was named by Constantine after him
• SUNDAY IS CALLED IN THE BIBLE “THE FIRST DAY
OF THE WEEK”
• It should be called by us RESURRECTION DAY (not
Sunday)

51. (3rd) HIGHEST HEAVENS (God’s abode) – HIS WILL
-- “your Kingdom come, YOUR WILL
be done on earth as it is in Heaven”
SECOND HEAVENS – ANGELIC WORLD
-- “RULERS AND AUTHORITIES in the
heavenly realms” (Eph. 3:10)
FIRST HEAVENS (times and seasons) – EARTH’s AIR
-- “seasons” (MOADIM)
“feasts” (MOADIM) – our
appointment with God
IN HIS SEASONS for us on:
EARTH (ground)
WHAT’S THEIR CONNECTION TO THE
FEASTS? ALIGNMENT!!!

52. The issue is
ALIGNMENT
ISAIAH 64:1-4
• “Oh, THAT YOU WOULD REND THE
HEAVENS! THAT YOU WOULD
COME DOWN! That the mountains
might shake at Your presence-
• 2 As fire burns brushwood, As fire
causes water to boil-To make Your
name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at
Your presence!
• 3 When You did awesome things for
which we did not look, YOU CAME
DOWN, The mountains shook at
Your presence.
• 4 For since the beginning of the
world Men have not heard nor
perceived by the ear, Nor has the
eye seen any God besides You, Who
acts for the one who waits for
Him.”
THE SECOND HEAVEN
(spirit forces/beings)

53. SO HOW DO WE PROPERLY
OBSERVE AND CELEBRATE
“CHRISTMAS” AND THE
NEW YEAR WHEN OUR
CALENDAR IS OFF-TIMING
WITH GOD’S CALENDAR?

54. THERE IS HOPE!! There is a REMEDY!
THERE IS THE FEAST OF HANUKKAH (or Chanukkah)
in ISRAEL, AND RECOGNIZED BY JESUS!!!:
JOHN 10:
22 Now it was winter, and the feast of dedication
was taking place at Jerusalem.
23. And Jesus was walking in the temple in
Solomon's porch.
24 Then the Jews encircled Him and said to Him,
"How long are You going to hold us in suspense?
If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."

55. John 10
• 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not
believe. The works I do in my Father’s name
testify about me, 26 but you do not believe
because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen
to my voice; I know them, and they follow
me.28 I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one will snatch them out of my
hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is
greater than all[c];no one can snatch them out of
my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

56. John 10
• 31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up
stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to
them, “I have shown you many good works
from the Father. For which of these do you
stone me?”
• 33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,”
they replied, “but for blasphemy, because
you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

57. HANUKKAH IS THE FEAST OF LIGHTS!
It is celebrated on the Feast of the Dedication of
the Temple, when God’s marvelous LIGHT WAS
FIRST KINDLED IN THE TEMPLE.
The name "Hanukkah" derives from the Hebrew
verb " ‫חנך‬", meaning "to dedicate". On
Hanukkah, the Maccabean Jews regained control
of Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple.
IN THIS REDEDICATION, THE MENORAH HAD TO BE
LIGHTED AGAIN.

58. THE STORY BEHIND CHANUKKAH
• The story of Chanukkah begins in the reign of
Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered
Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed the
lands under his control to continue observing
their own religions and retain a certain degree
of autonomy. Under this relatively benevolent
rule, many Jews assimilated much of
Hellenistic culture, adopting the language, the
customs and the dress of the Greeks.

59. The story
• More than a century later, a successor of Alexander,
Antiochus IV was in control of the region. He began to
oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in
the Temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of
the Jewish religion, and desecrating the Temple by
requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the
altar.
• Two groups opposed Antiochus: a basically nationalistic
group led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah
Maccabee, and a religious traditionalist group known as the
Chasidim, the forerunners of the Pharisees (no direct
connection to the modern movement known as Chasidism).
They joined forces in a revolt against both the assimilation
of the Hellenistic Jews and oppression by the Seleucid
Greek government. The revolution succeeded and the
Temple was rededicated.

60. THE STORY
• According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud,
at the time of the rededication, there was very
little oil left that had not been defiled by the
Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah in the
Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout
the night every night. There was only enough oil
to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned
for eight days, the time needed to prepare a
fresh supply of oil for the menorah.
• An eight day festival was declared to
commemorate this miracle. Note that the
holiday commemorates the miracle of the oil, not
the military victory: Jews do not glorify war.

61. HOW BASICALLY CELEBRATED:
• The only religious observance related to
the holiday is the lighting of candles. The
candles are arranged in a candelabrum
called a menorah (or sometimes called a
chanukkiah) that holds nine candles:
one for each night, plus a shammus
(servant) at a different height. On the
first night, one candle is placed at the far
right. The shammus candle is lit and
three berakhot (blessings) are recited:
l'hadlik neir (a general prayer over
candles), she-asah nisim (a prayer
thanking G-d for performing miracles for
our ancestors at this time), and she-
hekhianu (a general prayer thanking G-d
for allowing us to reach this time of
year)

62. How celebrated
• After reciting the blessings, the first candle is then lit using
the shammus candle, and the shammus candle is placed in
its holder. Candles can be lit any time after dark but before
midnight. The candles are normally allowed to burn out on
their own after a minimum of 1/2 hour, but if necessary
they can be blown out at any time after that 1/2 hour.
• On Shabbat, Chanukkah candles are normally lit before the
Shabbat candles, but may be lit any time before
candlelighting time (18 minutes before sunset). Candles
cannot be blown out on Shabbat (it's a violation of the
sabbath rule against igniting or extinguishing a flame).
Because the Chanukkah candles must remain burning until
a minimum of 1/2 hour after dark (about 90 minutes total
burning time on Shabbat), some Chanukkah candles won't
get the job done.

63. Lighting the candles
• Each night, another candle is added from right to
left (like the Hebrew language). Candles are lit
from left to right (because you pay honor to the
newer thing first).
• On the eighth night, all nine candles (the 8
Chanukkah candles and the shammus) are lit. On
nights after the first, only the first two blessings
are recited; the third blessing, she-hekhianu is
only recited on the first night of holidays.

64. NES GADOL HAYAH
SHAM
• A dreidel is marked with four Hebrew letters:
Nun, Gimel, Hei and Shin. These letters stand
for the Hebrew phrase "Nes Gadol Hayah
Sham", a great miracle happened there,
referring to the miracle of the oil.
• HANUKKAH 2015 BEGINS DECEMBER 6 AND
ENDS ON DECEMBER 14

65. Laser beams creating the image of a large lit Hanukkah menorah are projected on the
Hiriya landfill, a former waste disposal site, now called the Ariel Sharon Park, near Tel
Aviv, Israel, on the second eve of Hanukkah, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011.

66. REDEDICATION MEANS LIGHTING THE
MENORAH (CHANUKKIAH) AGAIN!!
JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!!
ISAIAH 9:
“The people walking in darkness have
seen a GREAT LIGHT, those walking
in the land of the shadow of death,
upon them a light has dawned!”

67. THIS GREAT LIGHT (Gen. 1:1-5)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was on the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there
was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God
divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He
called Night. So the evening and the morning
were the first day.

68. NOT THE SUN, MOON AND STARS:
GENESIS 1:14
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the
heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be
for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
15 "and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens
to give light on the earth"; and it was so.
16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the
stars also.
17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light
on the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide
the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

69. WHAT IS THIS LIGHT?
LIGHT – Hebrew word OWR
Means peace, contentment,
satisfaction, life, wellness,
health, birth, security,
provision, joy, etc.

70. THE LIGHT OF THE
MENORAH
The seven-fold Spirit of
the Lord in ISAIAH
11:1-3
1. Spirit of the Lord
2. Spirit of Wisdom
3. Spirit of
Understanding
4. Spirit of Knowledge
5. Spirit of Counsel
6. Spirit of Might
7. Spirit of the Fear of
the Lord

71. WHAT WILL THIS LIGHT DO?
Isaiah 9:4
It will break the yoke that
burdens,
The bar across our shoulders,
The rod of our oppressor!

72. CONCLUSION:
SINCE JESUS RECOGNIZED
AND OBSERVED THE
CHANUKKAH, LET US ALSO
OBSERVE IT IN THE SPIRIT!

73. The spirit of the CHANUKKAH
1. CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE
2. REDEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE
3. AND LIGHTING THE MENORAH (THE
CHANNUKKIAH) IN THE TEMPLE AGAIN
WE ARE THE TEMPLE (COLLECTIVE) –
INDIVIDUALLY, OUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT:

74. REMEMBER: I Corinthians 3
• 16 Do you not know that you are God's temple
and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
• 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will
destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you
are that temple.
• 18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among
you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him
become a fool that he may become wise.
• 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.
For it is written, "He catches the wise in their
craftiness,"

75. I Corinthians 6
19 Or do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you
have from God? You are not your own,
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify
God in your body.

76. A POWERFUL CONCLUSION:
2 CORINTHIANS 6
• 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what
partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what
fellowship has light with darkness?
• 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion
does a believer share with an unbeliever?
• 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For
we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will
make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
• 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate
from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
• 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and
daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."

77. So again: the spirit of the CHANUKKAH
1. CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE –
REMOVE THE IDOLS AND
ACCURSED OBJECTS
2. RE-DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE
3. AND LIGHTING THE MENORAH (THE
CHANNUKKIAH) IN THE TEMPLE
AGAIN

78. LET US ASK OURSELVES:
WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS, NOT FROM GOD, BUT
OF A FOREIGN OR STRANGE SPIRIT, THAT SEEK TO
DEFILE OUR COLLECTIVE AND INDIVIDUAL
TEMPLE?
Let us as BOTH WISDOM AND COURAGE to
CLEANSE OUR TEMPLE, RE-DEDICATE OUR TEMPLE,
AND LIGHT OUR TEMPLE AGAIN WITH GOD’S HOLY
LIGHT, NOT THE LIGHT OF THIS WORLD AND
WORLDY SYSTEM THAT IS NOT OF GOD!

79. SO TODAY, in the name of God, we
shall greet one another:
HAPPY HANUKAH!!
HAPPY RE-DEDICATION!!!
HAPPY FEAST OF LIGHTS!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
May the LIGHT OF GOD (Gen. 1:4, Isaiah
11) SHINE UPON OUR YEAR 2016, THAT
OUR FIGHT AND LABOR IS FROM REST TO
REST, FROM GLORY TO GLORY!
AMEN, AMEN AMEN!!