Feast of Dedication
Excerpt
Another joyous festival that lasted for eight days was the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple (1 Macc 4:52–59; 2 Macc 10:6–8), familiar to modern readers as Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. The specific dedication that prompted the feast occurred in 164 bc, when Judas Maccabeus reconsecrated the temple in Jerusalem after it had been defiled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The celebrations commenced on the 25th day of the ninth month (Kislev) and were marked at night by blazing lights and lanterns. The stories of brave opposition by the Maccabees to the crushing forces of paganism were recounted, and the feast was one of praise to God for his marvelous deliverance of the Jews during the Maccabean period. More
Elwell, Walter A., and Philip Wesley Comfort. Tyndale Bible dictionary 2001 : 483. Print. Tyndale Reference Library.
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