The Holiday of Dedication

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Despite what most people think, Chanukah is really not about presents, fun or games. Chanukah is the Hebrew word for dedication. When you read of the Feast of Dedication in the Gospel of John 10, it's the Feast of Chanukah. It refers to the re-dedication of God's Temple in Jerusalem after it was desecrated, defiled, polluted, and given over to idolatry. God's heart and work is to rededicate that which has fallen. The Bible is filled with those who had fallen and needed to be rededicated to God: David, Peter, the woman at the well, the demoniac, and many others. God's heart was not to cast them away but rededicate them. And that's how we became saved. God came to us in our fall and rededicated us to His purposes. God doesn't just dedicate the holy, but the unholy, the fallen. So it doesn't matter how far you've fallen, or how greatly you've failed, or how much you've been defiled. Come now to His presence, He will receive you, He'll cleanse you and rededicate you to His purposes. For God is the God of Chanukah - the Rededication.

From Message #425 - The Chanukah Psalm