Testimony Tuesday--Take A Stand

Matthew 5:12-17; John 10:22-23; Jeremiah 1:1-4; Ephesians 6:13; John 1:4-5, 9:5, 12:46, Genesis 1:3; Isaiah 46:10, 50:8; Jeremiah 6:16; Romans 12:2; Isaiah 5:20; 2 Samuel 22:29; Jeremiah 7:2; Ezekiel 2:1; Philippians 4:1; Psalm 20:7; 1 Peter 5:8; Mark 13:33-37; James 1:5; 1 Corinthians 6:13; Psalm 4:4; Luke 11:34-36; Matthew 6:35; 1 Thessalonians 3:8; John 3:9; Revelation 3:20; Psalm 37:4-7; John 12:35; Luke 21:36; Romans 13:12; Luke 12:35-40, 2:29; Psalm 119:104-106; Ephesians 5:8; Psalm 1:1, 119:109-111


We are walking in today:  Testimony Tuesday--Take A Stand

Witness candle throughout the Bible:  H5716 niyr lamp, light

2 Samuel 22:29; Jeremiah 25:10; Job 18:5-6, 21:17, 29:2-3; Psalm 18:28; Proverbs 20:27, 24:20, 31:18; Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16, 11:36, 15:8; Revelation 22:3-5

Chanukah reminds us to take a stand.  Fiveamprayer will we stand in the darkness or turn on the light?!  Chanakah, is the feast of dedication.  The restoring of proper worship and freedom to come before Yahweh as His word directs us.  The casting down of the profane and upholding the righteous and holy.  It is not allowing the darkness that to put out the light--what this celebration is about.  The miracle of the oil lasting for 8 days after cleaning and rebuilding the altar.  This is also the victory of a few zealous Jews against the the Seleucid soldiers numbering 40,000.  While both situations show us Yahweh's hand we must be aware of the thousands or more of the Jews who were slain for upholding the Torah, keeping the Sabbath, circumcision and eating kosher.  The torture, pain and cruelty that was inflicted on them was beyond inhumane--all resulting in their murders.  This is a stand for the Torah, to speak Hebrew, praying at the appointed times and location.  This refusal of the Greek culture which was the process of Hellenization that was being pushed all over the known world at this time.  An appreciation of art, science and beauty instead of focus on Yahweh and His principles.  This terrible blood shed was to deter anyone from upholding the Torah, no longer teach it to the children.  If a Torah scroll was found in a house the entire household was killed.  This attempt to erase Jewish culture and worship of Yahweh was first publicly thwarted by a priest named Matthias Maccabee who would not perform the sacrifice of a pig in the temple and rallied other Jews to stand and fight.  The two year battle resulted in the Jewish victory and in the cleansing of the temple and the rebuilding of the altar.  The new menorah was made and ready, only they had enough oil for 1 day. The process to make oil would take a total of 8 days.  The second miracle is that the oil lasted until the new batch was ready.  To read more on this click below.  To listen to this again click here. 

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/rtg/rtg-rts/rtgrts07.txt

Copyright 1995 by Return to God.
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