2023 Hanukah Day 4
KINDLE THE LIGHT by Raphael ben Levi
According to the founder of Hassidic Judaism, the Baal Shem Tov, nothing compares to Hanukah because it is all about kindling light. To help us understand, he differentiated between academic knowledge with what is directly connected to the Divine. The former has the tendency to puff up and can never in itself bring us closer to God. One may be a great theologian yet remain an empty vessel and unchanged. The latter is primarily grounded in relationship. For example, Yeshua declared Himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, but that kind of knowledge will not change us until it becomes transformational. Unless God’s Light is kindled within us, the Hanukiah candlestick simply remains something pretty. But when we celebrate Hanukah with illumination it becomes a most powerful symbol!
Many people choose sameness in preference to the pain of His scorching light that destroys the impurities which overshadow our lives. Sometimes, when we seek God for more of Him, we attempt to dictate the conditions because although we hate the darkness we do not want the light to be too bright! Sameness is the enemy of new beginnings.
We shine the brightest when we allow the purest oil to burn within us. When the Maccabees restored the Temple they chose to rekindle God’s light and for this, they needed pure oil in place of what had been defiled. We experience the greatest change when we operate on the level of ‘pure oil’. He will work in ways that are beyond our imagination when we become saturated in His Light. Nothing will ever remain mundane again !
Remember that when one embraces His light, the world will always close its doors. But God is faithful and His light is kindled even when the oil appears to be just enough for one night, for Yeshua is our all-sufficiency.
