Light Over Darkness

​An unusual synchronization of our month of December with the ninth month on the Hebrew calendar (Kislev) happens this year. Kislev began at sunset on December 1 and runs until December 30. We should also note that both Christmas and the beginning of Chanukah occur on December 25. The messages of both holidays are the same:  Light overcomes darkness and good overcomes evil. It is fitting that people from both the Jewish and Christian faiths will be celebrating together this year.
 
Though we are in the season of increasing darkness, by the time Christmas and Chanukah roll around that cycle will be slowly changing. The winter solstice, which marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, occurs on December 21. After this date, the days will slowly get longer, and the nights will get shorter. Also, let us remember that we are celebrating the entrance of Jesus Christ or Yeshua into the world. In John 8:12 He is called "The Light of the World." In the meantime, the Jews are lighting the candles on the Menorah for eight nights and recalling how the Maccabees overtook the evil armies of Antiochus in 164 B.C. after three years of battle.
 
I think the nightly candle lighting of the Menorah is representative of the ever-increasing amount of light that is shed upon the earth. It is significant that the number eight represents new beginnings. The eight candles are lit by the ninth candle, positioned in the middle of the Menorah and named the "Shammas" or "Servant" candle. We can see how God paints a picture through the lighting of the eight candles. Yeshua, Jesus, came to earth as a servant to provide light in the darkness. What a prophetic picture!
 
When Jesus was born the Roman empire had placed King Herod in charge of the region around Jerusalem. Being one who despised those he was to oversee and who was jealous of anyone who might challenge his position, he put in place an evil plot to kill Jesus the Messiah and Light of the World. He had learned from the magi who came to worship the "King of the Jews" about the prophecy that was written in Micah 5:2, 4. "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel." (Also written in Matthew 2:6) Herod was so disturbed by this prophecy that he ordered all the baby boys in the Bethlehem area to be killed.
 
The star that God placed in the sky at the birth of Jesus shed a path of light to the place where He was born. After worshiping Jesus and leaving gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the magi returned to their homeland by a different route from the one they came by. God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Later, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him of Herod's plans. He was told to flee to Egypt with his family where they would be safe. This is where they would stay until God called His Son out of Egypt, fulfilling the prophecy of Hosea 11:1.
 
God will not be outsmarted or outdone! No matter what kind of darkness tries to overcome the light or evil that tries to prevail over goodness, the Lord is a step ahead and has plans that He will bring to fruition. We would do well to remember these stories in the difficult season we presently live in.