Chanukah Cornerstone

The Finding Emet radio program aims to help people understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The program features teachings by Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. The current teaching is about the Hanukkah Cornerstone, discussing what Hanukkah is, how to celebrate it, and its deeper meanings. The Hanukkah Cornerstone refers to the importance of Hanukkah as the basis and basics of faith. The teaching highlights how Hanukkah played a significant role in preserving the Jewish people and paving the way for Yeshua (Jesus) to come. It emphasizes the victory of a small group against the mighty Roman army and the rededication of the temple. Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights and celebrates the military victory and the restoration of the temple. Hello, and welcome to the Finding Emet radio program. Emet is the Hebrew word for truth. This program will help you understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The Finding Emet radio program features the teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. Prepare your heart to receive the Emet, the truth of the scriptures. More audio lessons and teaching articles are available at the www.emetministries.com website. Please visit our site to find all things spiritual, including a free online Bible search program, or submit your prayer request. That's www.emetministries.com or www.findemet.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Let's welcome our teacher, Daniel Rendleman, as he helps us find the Emet. Okay, so the title of today's teaching is called The Hanukkah Cornerstone. We're going to talk about Hanukkah a little bit, what it is, how to celebrate it, and some deeper meanings of Hanukkah. The Hanukkah Cornerstone. Now, when you think of a cornerstone, you probably don't think about Hanukkah. You may think of that block. A cornerstone is a masonry stone, usually ceremonial, that's set in a prominent location on the outside of a building. Many historic buildings or churches or even schools in our town have these. You can see when it was built and maybe who financed it or who put the building up. And sometimes they actually have time capsules underneath them, so if the building ever gets torn down. But there's usually a ceremony of laying a cornerstone, and it happens there where the architect and the builder, other significant individuals are listed there. It's kind of like the foundation where everything else is built upon, the cornerstone. You could say the basis and the basics or so. The idea of the Hanukkah Cornerstone, the Hanukkah Cornerstone, would be Hanukkah being the basis and the basics of our faith being built on this eight-day celebration that is mostly done by the Jews. We're actually going to see today, but this is the cornerstone of our faith. Now, for us, let's just be real, Hanukkah is not much of a cornerstone. For us, Hanukkah, we don't even know how to spell it. Is it C-H-U-N? Does it have two K's? Does it have one K? Does it have a C at all? What is it? How is it spelled? We don't even know how to spell it or to say it. Most of us were raised in America, right? Christian nation, Christian home. And if anything was considered to be our cornerstone, if any holiday was considered to be a cornerstone, what would it be? Mithras, Merry Mithras, or Christmas, right? Everything revolves around Christmas. Everything revolves around Christmas. Stores make it or break it. Retail business makes it or break it around Christmas. I mean, there are shirts that say, put Christ back into Christmas, and they want to focus on that. The church has built the faith around Emmanuel, God with us or so. And our lives have been based around the same, right? Don't we tell our children, you better be good all year long, because he's making a list, checking it twice, going to find out who's naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to town. We have all these songs, and we base everything around it. Even before Thanksgiving, radio stations start playing all Christmas songs all the time. We walk into a mall, there's Christmas decorations you can buy before Halloween. Everything is based around Christmas. You've got to be naughty or nice so you don't get cold when you're stocking. But what we're going to find out as we look at the message of Hanukkah and what really happened with Hanukkah is that this should be the cornerstone of our faith. We're going to see how this holy day in celebration is truly the building block of biblical faith, where today Christmas is kind of the foundation or the building block of life in the Western society. Everything is based around Christmas. You better be good so you get that PlayStation 3 or that Wii or that 360 at Christmastime, because Mommy and Daddy have got to go into $10,000 worth of debt to make their children, their spoiled brats, satisfied over Christmas. Over a lie. Over a jolly old elf who's coming down their chimney. Oy vey. Anyway. Did you know that without Hanukkah, there would be no Christmas? Without Hanukkah, there would be no Jewish people. If it wasn't for Hanukkah and the events that surrounded Hanukkah, Yeshua could not have come. You see, because what happened with Hanukkah, this evil ruler, Antiochus or Antiochus Epiphanes, tomato, tomato, you know, Antiochus, Antiochus, he wanted to annihilate the biblical Hebraic lifestyle and the people. And if he would have had his way, the temple would not have been standing when Yeshua came. And who knows? There might not have been Miriam and Yosef. There might not have been the seed left there from the tribe that Yeshua came from. If Antiochus had had his way, the Jewish people would have all assimilated into the Greek Roman society, and Yeshua would not have been a Torah keeper. So I say, if there was no Hanukkah, there would be no Judaism today. There would be no biblical faith today. You would go through the, you know, the museums up in Washington, Museum of Natural History, and you go through the, what's that big museum up there in Washington, the Smithsonian, and there would be like a display about the Jews, and they were all killed out, you know, by this evil ruler. So if it wasn't for Hanukkah, Yeshua couldn't have come. So let's keep that in the back of our mind today. Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Lights, Festival of Dedication. The word Hanukkah literally means dedication, and it celebrates the military victory of a small band of brothers against this mighty Roman army. That's what Hanukkah is all about. It's an eight-day festival commemorating this thing that happened in the second century B.C., before Yeshua came. So after conquering Jerusalem, this bad dude named Antiochus Epiphanes. Now, the name Epiphanes means God is with us. You've heard of someone having an epiphany, or even the holiday of epiphany? Well, Antiochus gave himself the title of Epiphanes to proclaim himself as God. That's what he did. And they showed utter contempt for the holy one of Israel. He took a pig, and he sacrificed it upon the altar of Yahweh. He actually put to death anyone that came against him, and he ransacked Jerusalem. He took over the temple. He broke every one of the Ten Commandments within the holy place. Before this, laws were passed by him and by other Roman rulers that said that Jewish parents could not circumcise their children. They were told they couldn't study Torah. They were given these lists of things, and if they did these things, they would die. And many of them died. And when Antiochus and his army came in, and they totally desecrated the temple, I mean, think of just the most beautiful building you've ever imagined, and think of it being totally destroyed. That's the picture of what he did. That many of the Hebrews at that time didn't fight back. They didn't do anything. They just went along with the flow. They didn't want to die. They said, okay, what's the big deal? Some of them even had their circumcisions reversed. Don't ask me how that's done. But I've read that it can be done, and it was done, so that they could fit in, so that they could wrestle in the Roman coliseums. They assimilated into the nations. But then there was a group, the son of Macithias, a Hasmonean priest. His name was Yehudah or Judah. We call him Judah Maccabee. Now, Maccabee was not his last name. Maccabee is a Hebrew word that means hammer. And the idea was that he was the leader of this group that hammered Antiochus and his army there in Jerusalem. So they led a revolt against this Greek oppression. And while they were fighting, his father died. Maccabee died, so Judah became the leader. And they led this outnumbered, outskilled group of guerrilla army guys. And they actually won the battle over the Syrian, the Roman Empire. So when we celebrate Hanukkah, we're celebrating a military battle. So imagine this for just a minute. Imagine that the National Guard of the small state of New Jersey, you know, New Jersey, New Jersey, imagine the National Guard of New Jersey. That's how the Yankees talk, right? Imagine that the National Guard of New Jersey defeats the entire armed forces of the United States. That will give you a picture, an adequate idea of how big of a miracle this was. Now, you're sitting there thinking, Daniel, that's impossible. The National Guard of Jersey cannot defeat the paper bag probably. It's probably just a few 10,000, 15,000 people. Yet that's what happened. That's a great miracle that happened there. A great miracle happened there. Indeed, the word miracle is heard many times when we talk about Hanukkah. There's a phrase called Nesgadol Hayasham. Nesgadol Hayasham, which means a great miracle happened there in Hebrew. Nesgadol Hayasham. The biggest miracle was the military battle. That this small group prevailed over the larger group. That this small group of dedicated Torah keepers prevailed over this large group of pagan worldly people. You hear that? That's the miracle. That they were able to take what was holy, what had been desecrated, and when they came into the temple, they found it was bad. So they began the process of cleansing it and rededicating it. That's where we get the word Hanukkah from. They took what had been taken, what had been torn down, what had been defiled, and they made it holy again. They rededicated it. And in honor of this dedication, in honor of celebrating that the temple was back to working, this eight-day festival of Hanukkah began. And it's called the Festival of Lights. Now, we are told in the Talmud, which is Jewish folklore, basically, that when they went to light the menorah in the temple, because it's this large menorah that held these gallons of oil that had to be aflame, when they went to light it, they did not have enough oil to light it. There was not enough oil for it to last this eight-day festival that they were going to have. There was only enough oil for one day. And so we are told in the Talmud that, according to legend, that they found one undefiled cruise of oil. And they poured that into this menorah, and that this one-day supply of oil lasted, during the whole celebration, for an entire eight days. Which, in the Bible, it says that the oil used for the menorah had to be set apart or consecrated, had to take eight days to make. And so, again, nesgadol ha-yasham, a great miracle happened there. Which is why, even today, it's celebrated for how many days? Eight days. There's a special menorah called a hanukkiah. A hanukkiah. And it actually has nine branches. There's one for the taller one that's called the shamash, the servant, that you use to light the others. But the miracle of the oil, the bigger miracle is what? The military battle. But the miracle of the oil. Now, there are those who say it didn't happen, we don't know if it happened. I'm fool enough to believe it did. You know, I'm fool enough to believe that they celebrated it. But today, Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in Hebrew, usually in December. And it's celebrated today with lighting of this hanukkiah, of giving gifts, of spinning something called a dreidel. Ever heard the song? My dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay. When it's dry and ready, my dreidel I shall play. His favorite song. That is his absolute favorite song in the world. But anyway, the dreidel game is played, and on each side of the dreidel is a letter from Neskadol HaYasham. There's a noon, a gimble, a sheen, and a hay, and you spin it or so. And so the Jews have raised their children learning how to gamble from the very beginning, way back when, okay? So anyway, there's gifts given, there's latke. Has anyone had a latke before? A latke is a potato pancake, is what that is. And usually eaten with sour cream, maybe applesauce on top, it's really good. Donuts are made, there are plays, there are parties. Hanukkah is a lot of fun. We say eight crazy nights. It is not the Jewish Christmas. Amen? Amen to that. And it's not just a holiday for children. Now there are those out there that every year at Hanukkah I get emails. Is it okay to send presents at Hanukkah? And I, of course, respond, sure, as long as you send me one. Anyway, I respond, well, it's not all about gifts, as we know. It shouldn't all be about gifts, but it should be about the great miracle that happened there. And this happened not in biblical times, what we would call intertestamental times, between the last words written in the Older Testament over Tanakh and the words with Yeshua coming in the first part of the Brit Hadashah, actually found in the Apocrypha. You read about Hanukkah in the Apocrypha, which was in the Bible, the King James Version, was taken out, which is in a lot of the Catholic Bibles now, and there's actually two books in the Apocrypha. Guess what they're called? The Book of Maccabees, that's right. And this tells us part of the story of what happened here. And the New Testament mentions Hanukkah. It tells us that Yeshua was there during the Feast of Hanukkah. So turn with me to Yolkanon 10. We're going to be here for a little while. John 10. John 10, and we're going to look at Yolkanon 10, verse 22. And again, every year at Hanukkah I get people sending me an email saying, you should not teach that Yeshua kept Hanukkah. It doesn't say that. However, it does say that, I believe at least. Look at verse 22. And it was at Yerushalayim. So where is the setting? Jerusalem, Yerushalayim. At Hanukkah, and it was winter. You know what King James says? It was at Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication, and it was winter. And Yeshua walked in the Bay Hamikdash in Shlomo's porch. Or in English here, Yeshua walked in the temple at King Solomon's porch, or the New International Version says, colonnade. And then came the Yehudim, or the Jews around him, and said to him, How long do you make us doubt? If you are Messiah, tell us poignantly. So let's just look at it in context. It says, number one, Yeshua is there in winter at Hanukkah, and he's at a certain place. He's at Shlomo's porch. He's at King Solomon's porch, and the Yehudim, the Jews, come to him. So what Torah-loving, Yahweh-loving Jew wouldn't be there celebrating Hanukkah with them? To me, it's pretty crystal clear that Yeshua did this. And by doing it, he put his stamp and seal of approval upon it for us. However, here we see him during the feast. And we see him. It says he was there, and it was winter. And it says in verse 23, Yeshua walked in the temple, the beit hamikdash in Hebrew, in Solomon's porch. There's a certain conversation that takes place from this verse to the end of the chapter. And the place is important. All of this happened at a certain place, which was King Solomon's porch. So we're going to read this and review this a little bit because we see what happened. So it says he's there. The Jews come to him, not just any Jews, not all the Jews, but it was the leaders, the Pharisees and the scribes. They came to him, and they said, How long do you make us doubt? If you are the Messiah, tell us. They just wanted to know if he was Mashiach, was he the anointed one or not. And Yeshua said, verse 25, I told you, and you believe not. The works I do in my Abba's name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because you are not my sheep. As I said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. Now here they come to him. And we kind of look at them down like, gosh, why are they doing this to him? Why are they cornering him? But perhaps, because in interesting reading in the Greek, the Greek text literally says this. Instead of, How long do you make us doubt? It literally says this. How long will you take away our very breath? They had been holding their breath for the Messiah to come. They had been waiting anxiously for him to come, and they wanted to know, was he the Mashiach or not? They wanted him to come out plainly and clearly and say, Yes, I am the Messiah. Now perhaps, just perhaps, the Hebrews, the leaders here, were ready to claim him as Messiah. Think about that for a minute. Perhaps in the spirit of Hanukkah, they were ready to crown him as king and overthrow the Roman rule. Because what happened with Judah the Maccabee? Didn't he do that? Didn't he overthrow the Roman rule and reestablish Torah? So perhaps here, while they were celebrating Hanukkah, their minds went back to what the Tasmanian priests had done, and they said, This is Messiah. Then we will exalt him. We will praise him. We will make him king. We will set him up. We will overthrow the Roman rule. We will make him king. Or perhaps they were coming to him saying, Who do you think you are? Do you think you're greater than Judah the Maccabee who freed us? Do you think you're bigger and better and wiser than Solomon who built the temple originally? And Yeshua answered them pretty interestingly here. He says, I told you and you believed me not. The works I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. What were his works? The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame live again, the dumb would speak. These were works declared of the Messiah, that only the Messiah would do these things. And he says, I've already told you plainly. Look at what I've done. He does like any good Hebrew, he answers their question with another question or so. He says here in verse 28, he says, I give them eternal life. They shall never perish. Neither shall any man snatch them out of my hand. Verse 29, my Father who gave them to me is greater than all. No man is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. So here, look at what he does. He says in verse 28, he says, No man can snatch them out of my hand. Then he says, no man can snatch them out of my Father's hand. Do you know what Yeshua is doing here? He's saying that no man is able to take them out of his hand or out of the Father's hand. He's saying that he is the Father's hand. Praise Yahweh. He's telling them no man can get them out of my hand. He was actually telling them how he was going to die because where did the nails go? In his hands. He was saying no man can take them out of the Father's hand. I am the Father's hand. You can reference many verses in the Psalms and in Colossians, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20, about this. He said no man can take them out of my hand. I am the Father's hand. Then look at verse 30. He makes them mad. He infuriates them at Hanukkah. He says, I and my Father are one. In Aramaic, it's of one accord. In Hebrew, he said, Ani vi avi echad. Ani vi avi echad. Ani meaning that's saying I. Vi avi means and. Avi, my Father, echad, one. One. Not three, not 14, but one. Full of power and authority are one accord. He's not saying that they are bodily one in the same because there is a heavenly Father and there is a heavenly Son. Amen? But he's saying that they are one in accord or they are one in fullness of divinity. They are one. It's not two different mindsets. It's not the Son coming to save us from an angry Father. Okay? But by saying that he is one with Yahweh, by claiming such unity with Yahweh, he is claiming that they are one accord. He's saying that I am sinless. He upset the religious establishment. So instead of saying, Yes, I'm the Messiah. I've come to save you. What does he say? He says, Ani vi avi echad. I and my Father are one. And they did not like that. Look and see what happens. In verse 31, Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Why would they stone him? What had he done? And that's what he asked them. What have I done? Which of these good works are you going to stone me for? And they said, Not for good mitzvah, but for blasphemy. You, being only a man, make yourself Elohim. See, they looked at him and they only saw a man. However, we know that when they looked upon him, what should they have seen? Yahweh Elohim. We look with natural eyes. We look at a little boy and we say, Oh, he can't do nothing. Yahweh looks upon him and he says, Oh, that's David. That shepherd boy, he's going to be king one day. We look upon Moshe who's got stammering lips and can't even talk. And Yahweh says, I'm going to make him go before Pharaoh. And they were looking at Yeshua and they only saw, Oh, that's Joseph's son. But what should they have seen? The teseret, the glory, the oneness, the unity of Yahweh. They should have seen Yahweh, but they didn't. They took up stones to stone him. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? And so here they go to stone him. Of course, they don't. It says in verse 39 that he escaped out of their hand. He left. So he came to Hanukkah. He celebrated it at Shlomo's porch. Then he just disappeared. Yeah. Beam me up, Scotty. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know what happened there. All of this happened at this specific place and specific for a reason. For a reason and a specific time and place. So let's go back a little bit. We said that Yahweh pronounced himself as one. The problem was they didn't see him as truly Elohim. So we don't need to make that mistake this Hanukkah. We need to see Yeshua as Yahweh. Amen? As Yahweh. And all of this happened for a specific purpose. Now it tells us here, let's go back to verse 22. And it was at Yerushalayim at Hanukkah. It was winter. Let's talk about the setting of this conversation. Because the setting of this is so important. Remember our teaching today is called the what? The Hanukkah Cornerstone. The Hanukkah Cornerstone. It says specifically that Yeshua was at Jerusalem. It doesn't say he was at, you know, Zechariah's house, Riding the Menorah. It doesn't say he was at Bethany because he could have been there with Miriam and, you know, and Lazarus. He could have been there. It says, instead, it says that he was at Jerusalem at Solomon's porch. It says in verse 23, he walked in the temple in Solomon's colonnade or porch, or in Hebrew, Shlomo's porch. What's so special about that? What's so special about that? Now, the Bible doesn't always record a pinpoint spot of miracles of where Yeshua was. It doesn't always say, oh, he's on the corner of Caldwell and Spear Street performing this miracle, does it? It doesn't usually say that. That he's at Wall Street and Broad Street or something. No. What does it say? Here, though, it tells us specifically he's at Shlomo's porch, King Solomon's porch. It clearly defines and says this. So we're going to look at this location a little bit and discover more about Hanukkah and how it can be a cornerstone of our faith. Yeshua was where, everybody say, Shlomo's porch. Shlomo's porch. That's a great name, Shlomo. While he was there, he was celebrating Hanukkah and he had this conversation with him. We are so just separated from biblical times and days. We don't really, I mean, do you have any idea what Shlomo's porch is? I really didn't until I began to study and began to see what this is and what this was. It was an area that was, I don't know, I mean, what do you think? Is it a widescreened area where he could get on a swing and drink mint juleps and iced tea and just have a good time? No, I don't think. That's what I think of in a porch. Right? You've got a nice porch. You sit outside. You watch the lightning bugs during the summer. You hit the mosquitoes as they come at you. Is that what it was? Probably not. Not when you sit there and gossip. Shlomo's porch was part of the temple. It was an important part of the temple. And we see that the temple during Yeshua's days was the same temple that was reclaimed by the Maccabees. It was the same temple that was dedicated by the priest and beautified by Herod. Now, when Herod came to beautify this, he took Shlomo's porch or this area and he totally leveled it. And he made it bigger and wider. And he built and rebuilt over the same place of King Solomon's porch is what it was called. He built the temple just like Solomon's temple, just like the Beit HaMikdash or the Mishkan, the tabernacle. So we know that there was what? There was the holiest of holies. There was the holy place. The holy place was the menorah, the shewbread where the priests would minister daily. Then there was the outer court, part of the temple. Are you with me? Now, this outer court was also where it was called the court of the Gentiles, where the Gentiles could walk, where the women could come. It was where anybody could come. And it was here that it was actually called King Solomon's porch, the outer court. It was an area of columns and an open space that made up the outer court of Herod's temple. And Herod said this. He said that it would be the most magnificent part of the temple. He wasn't as concerned about the holy of holies. He was more concerned about what everybody saw. And he wanted it to be beautiful, and it was. It was a place, again, where the Gentiles gathered for prayer. And here, it's a place where Yeshua is celebrating Hanukkah, where the Jews, the Hebrews, and the non-Jews were one. They were equal. Keep that in mind. It is an interesting spot because the place where he was at here, specifically called King Solomon's porch, faced Mount Olives. And it tells us, in the book of Luke, chapter 2, remember the story of Yeshua going to the temple as a little boy? And he was teaching the teachers? So he was there, and it came to pass, after three days, they found him sitting in the Beit HaMikdash, sitting in the midst of the Torah teachers, both hearing them and asking them questions. It was at King Solomon's porch. That's the only place at the temple that he could have gone to. It was the outer courts. This is a special place. It was a place all around because you had, again, the outer courts. Inside of that, you had the holy place where only the priests could go. And then inside of that, you had the holy of holies where the high priests would go once a year. The southern side of the colonnade or the porch was actually three stories tall. It was beautiful. It was called the Royal Stoa. Stoa is a Greek word for porch. And it was at the southern side of the Royal Stoa where the Sanhedrin would meet. And they would decide halakha, the way to walk, for the Jews. The eastern side, the eastern side, everybody say eastern. Eastern. The eastern side was more than 40 feet high with huge columns. And it was this eastern side that was specifically called King Solomon's porch because it was a relic of the temple after the destruction. Remember how the Babylonians came in and they destroyed the temple? Well, it tells us in 1 Kings 7 verse 6 that Shlomo built the temple on the eastern side with huge columns. This is the exact place and porch to where some amazing things happened. So you've got the eastern porch, which was called King Solomon's porch. You've got the southern side, which is where the Sanhedrin met. And remember, this was 45 feet wide. The rest of the porch was where it was like a commercial center and a place of prayer and public meetings. Or if you wanted to call a meeting, you would come there to King Solomon's porch. Maybe you'd go on the north side or the west side. This is that place. It tells us in the book of Joel. It tells us in the book of Joel chapter 2 that this is where the priests prayed. The book of Joel chapter 2, it says that the priests would pray between the porch and the altar. And they would beg Yahweh. It says, Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar. Let them say, Spare thy people, O Yahweh. Give not thine heritage to reproach. That the heathens should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is there Yahweh? Do you see this? It was here in Joel chapter 2, between the porch and the altar on King Solomon's porch, that they were told to pray, Do not let the heathen rule over the Torah keepers. Who are the heathens? The pagans. Who are the pagans? The Greeks. Who are the Greeks? Antiochus. The Roman rulers. Those who were even in oppression, who were causing the oppression when Yeshua came. And they were told to weep between the porch and the altar. Do not let the heathens rule over them. Is it any coincidence that this very same place that this prayer took place, is where Hanukkah took place, is where Yeshua came, and He said, I and the Father are one. The eastern side is where Yeshua was, specifically called King Solomon's porch. And it was here that the priests would take the curtain going into the holy place, and they would kind of part it. So that the light of the menorah would shine forward. And it is said that if you were on the Mount of Olives during the time of Herod's temple, that you could look from the Mount of Olives straight down through Solomon's porch into the holy place and see the menorah standing there aflame. That you could actually see the priest ministering from the Mount of Olives. That you could look through the columns in a straight line and see this. A beautiful picture. As it led directly to the holy place. I wonder if when Yeshua came to keep Hanukkah, if He watched the priest minister, if He wanted to overhear their conversations of how to properly burn the incense or to offer the worship. You see, it was on this majestic side that the glow of the temple menorah would shine its light and create shadows among the columns. Under this light is where Yeshua walked. It's beautiful. Beautiful. And on the other side of the porch, we actually read in Matthew chapter 21, it says Yeshua went into the temple of Yahweh. Not the holy place, but the outer court, Solomon's porch. And He cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, overthrew the tables of the money changers, the seats of them that sold doves. Matthew 21, 13, He said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer. You've made it into a den of thieves. So what does it say in Joel chapter 2 was supposed to be happening at this temple? They were supposed to be praying and weeping. That paganism would not have power over them. And here in Matthew chapter 21, Yeshua comes in and He overturns the tables, the money changers, because of what? Their unequal weights and measures. He rebuked the money changers. So it was here that this happened. It's a special place. In the book of Acts, Maasei Shekim, we find out that King Solomon's porch was a vital, integral part. It was central to the new, you could say, the early believers, the Talmudim's faith. It was here at this temple on Solomon's porch in Acts chapter 3 that Kepha and John, Peter and Yochanan, it says this, that they healed people, that they proclaimed the good news. It says this, And as the lame man was healed, held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's porch, greatly wondering. And when Peter, Kepha, saw it, he answered the people. He said, Ye men of Israel, why do you marvel at this miracle? Why do you look so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness that we made this man to walk? And in Acts chapter 3, he gave the best of both. He gave the gospel. He proclaimed that this Yeshua, whom you impaled, whom you crucified, has been resurrected. And it tells us in Acts chapter 4 that thousands heard his message and were born again at King Solomon's porch. It happened here where Yeshua was. But thousands were born again. It tells us in Acts chapter 5 that not only did Yeshua go there and miracles happen, but this was the place where the new, you could say, the early believers in Yeshua met for worship. They didn't go, you know, put up a cornerstone and built the first church of the chosen frozen. They didn't start the first baptist or whatever. They went to the temple to King Solomon's porch. And look at this. It says in Acts chapter 5, By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders were brought among them, and they were in one accord on Solomon's porch. Acts chapter 5, verse 12. So where did unity come from? Where did the miracles happen? On King Solomon's porch. And it says in verse 13, And no man had joined himself to them, but the people magnified them. And the believers, more believers were added to them, multitudes both of men and women. Do you ever wonder about the place where it said the people just came across Kepha's shadow, Peter's shadow, and they were healed? It wasn't just anywhere. It was at King Solomon's porch. It says in Acts chapter 5, verse 16, They also came a multitude out of the cities, round about unto Jerusalem. They brought the sick folks, which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed, every one of them. So there was healing, there was miracles, the shadow in Acts chapter 5, verse 15, the shadow of Peter healed them on King Solomon's porch. People were born again. It was a place that the power of Yahweh was manifest, not just for the Jews, because who else could come there? The Gentiles. It was actually called the court of the Gentiles. Think of the transformation that took place here. But King Solomon's porch, when Solomon built it, it was a holy place. It was taken captive by the pagans, by Babylonians, then by Antiochus. It was defiled by Antiochus. It was rededicated by Judah the Maccabee at Hanukkah, and then it was cleansed by Yeshua. And then it became a place of meeting and a place of miracles for the early believers. Wow. Isn't that something? All of this took place on King Solomon's porch. Well, guess what? It's symbolic of our temple, because it's the outer courts of the temple. And we know that, what does it say? That our body is now the temple of the Raqqa Qodesh. And so our body is made just like the temple. We have the outer courts, that's our body. We have the holy place, that's our mind or will or intellect. We have our body, the outer courts, the nefesh. We have our mind, the will, the intellect, the ruach. And then we have the holy place, the place where Yahweh abides, the neshamah. And so our bodies, and not only our bodies, but this is symbolic of what took place with the physical temple, also of our place of worship. Even this place, even our faith. Follow me here. Our faith, though once pure and undefiled, was taken captive by pagans. It was perverted by people. It was offered unclean pigs on the altar. Even today. But the clean life, the obedient, abundant life, was sacrificed upon the altar. That our faith, which was a sect of Judaism, have you guys heard of Josephus or Josephus, Flavius? You know, Josephus, kind of Josephus. Hank Williams, Jr., anyway. We know that Josephus actually wrote that the believers in Yeshua were no different than the Jews of their time, except they believed that Yeshua was Messiah. But it was taken captive by who? By Constantine, by the Romans, by the pagans. And it was perverted. It was defiled. And yet, what happened with Hanukkah? A small group, a remnant of people, said we're going to take a stand. We're going to fight. We're going to come against this paganism. We're going to take a stand. We're going to be willing to proclaim the truth. And they reclaimed the ancient paths. They cleaned up the mess others left behind, and they set things right. Is that not what our movement's about? Is that not what we're doing? Right? We're coming into this faith. We're saying, you know what? Judaism has perverted the faith. Christianity has perverted the faith. Judaism has all these rules and laws, man-made theologies. They don't accept Yeshua. Christianity has all its rules and laws and man-made theologies. They don't accept Torah. And so we come and we're kind of walking in the balance of the two. We're trying to grab a little bit from here, grab some truth from there. We're taking a faith that's been perverted by man, that's full of paganism, and we're trying to clean it up. That's what we're doing every day. Every day. We're cleaning up the mess. We're trying to set things right. And what do we have to do? Now we've got to rededicate it to Yahweh. Dedicate it to Yahweh and follow Him. So Hanukkah and what happened in Hanukkah, what happened where Yeshua came and celebrated Hanukkah, it's all about this. It's the message over victory, over paganism, and the dedication to Yahweh. That's the cornerstone of Hanukkah. That's what Hanukkah is all about. It's about victory over paganism and the dedication to Yahweh. That's the true theme of Hanukkah. Look at where it took place. At Shlomo's Temple. But what does that tell us? That if we are the Temple of the Ruach HaKadosh, and if we worship in the Temple, if this place of worship is the Temple of the Ruach HaKadosh, that we are to do a couple things. Number one, we are to rid it of paganism. We are to get rid of the paganism. Out of our family, out of our life, out of our homes, out of our fellowship, our worship center. It tells us in Yirmeyahu 10, verse 2, Jeremiah 10, it says, Thus says Yahweh, Do not learn the ways of the pagans, of the nations, of the heathens. Do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them. In Matthew 10, verse 5, here's what Yeshua said. This is a good verse to memorize. Yeshua said this. The twelve Yeshua sent forth and He commanded them, Do not go in the way of the Gentiles. Do you know what that means? He says, Don't practice the way of the pagans. Don't do what the heathens do. In Deuteronomy 18, 9, it says, When you come into the land that Yahweh has given you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of the nations that surround you. That's Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 18, 9. Don't do what the world does. That's what Hanukkah is all about. That's what our faith is all about. That's what Yeshua did. He came here to Shlomo's Porch. The place that had been defiled, that had been dedicated. And He said, I and the Father are one. Unity. One as God. That's what Hanukkah is all about. That we can say that we've gotten all the paganism out and we can proclaim that I and the Father are one. So it's about the defeat of paganism. To rid our lives, to seek the truth. To not go in that way. To cleanse our temples. And it's about dedication to Yahweh. To give our lives totally and fully to Him. You can't have the defeat of paganism without the dedication to Yahweh. Amen? Nor can you have a dedicated life to Yahweh unless you get rid of the paganism. We've tried that. Our Easter bonnets and our Christmas trees, we've tried that. And yet there was something missing in our lives, wasn't it? There was something just wasn't right. And it was because we were doing, we were worshiping Him in the way we knew how, but yet it was pagan. It was the way of the world. So Hanukkah is all about our victory over paganism because what does Yahweh want to do? He wants us to lead us to where we have this victory over paganism. Then He wants to lead us to where we're one with Yahweh. And then that our place of worship, our temple, our fellowship center, and our homes become places of meeting and of miracles. That's what He wants. He wants to cleanse us just like He did with the money changers, and He wants to reestablish that power that the new early believers had. That's what He wants in us. He doesn't want us to come and just have a dead worship service or to have dead prayer at home. My house will be called a house of prayer. He wants us to be weeping for that. That's what Hanukkah is about. It's about craving His power, not to, oh, look at me, but about Yahweh, do this miracle. I don't know about you, but I long for the day where people come here or they hear this message, and just by hearing it, they're set free. By just the shadow of the building, just the shadow of us, that they come in and the problems in their life are gone, the pain in their life is gone, and Yahweh can do it. He's looking for a people to do it in. Amen? And that can be us. As we rid ourselves, as we cleanse ourselves, as we dedicate ourselves, this is the cornerstone of our faith. We're not just trying to be Jewish. Amen? We're not just trying just to do what the Jews do. We are trying to get back to the way it was when Yeshua came, to return to the ways of the Savior, to reclaim the faith of the apostles, to rid our belief system of man-made doctrines. Solomon's Porch is a reminder of this. It's a place of miracles. The transformation and restoration that took place at Solomon's Porch is what's taking place in our faith, it's what's taking place in our lives. So when someone says, why do you celebrate Hanukkah? Not because you get gifts for eight nights, that's a good reason, I guess, but because it's symbolic of what Yeshua's done in you. Now we're told that when the Maccabees and the priests were cleaning up after Antiochus, it was a bad mess, right? We know that they sacrificed the pigs, that they did some horrible things. Sexual relations in the holiest holies, if you can imagine that. That when the Maccabees were cleaning up and the priests were there, that they had the altar. The exact stones that Antiochus had sacrificed the animals on. And they had it and they said, we can't use this anymore. They said, this just isn't going to work. A new altar is needed. We couldn't take these defiled stones that held up this larger stone and sacrifice animals to Yahweh on it. How can we put this in the house of Yahweh? So, as talking about it, the rabbis said, what are we going to do with it? What are we going to do with it? With these old defiled altar stones? So they wisely explained, here's the good answer. They said, take the dirty defiled altar and the stones and take it to Solomon's porch. The eastern side of Solomon's porch. And when the Messiah comes, he'll know what to do with it. They didn't know what to do, so they said, store it there and when Mashiach comes, he'll know what to do with it. So could it be, in John chapter 10, when the religious leaders were there at King Solomon's porch, when they were picking up the stones to stone him, that they picked up these very stones that were used in the old sacrificial system, that they were going to hurl them at the sacrifice of all mankind? Could it be? This brings new meaning to Psalm 118 verse 22. The stones which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Wow. It says in Psalm 118 verse 22, the stones the builders rejected, these stones that were defiled by Antiochus, have now become the chief cornerstone. It says verse 23, this is Yahweh's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Verse 24, this is the day which Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Pointing to Hanukkah. Pointing to Hanukkah, saying we will rejoice and be glad in Hanukkah because on this day, on this time, the rock that the builders rejected, the temple that the people rejected, the person of Yeshua, the faith of the Hebrews that has been rejected by all mankind. We are rejected by them, by the world, by the Christians, even by the Jews. Guess what? Has become our cornerstone. Yeshua is the cornerstone rejected of men. Hanukkah, dedication to Yahweh, the season to celebrate these miracles, to get rid of paganism, is the foundation now. Didn't we say that it was at Solomon's porch that the apostles were there and people were healed? Guess what it says in Ephesians 2.20. We are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yeshua himself being the chief cornerstone. He was the chief sacrifice. And it tells us the next two verses. In whom all the building we fit frame together, going to the holy temple of Yahweh, in whom we are also built together for the habitation of Yahweh through the Spirit. That's what Yahweh is doing in our midst. He's taking us. We've been rejected. We've been pushed aside. And yet we've been rededicated to Yahweh. And now Yahweh is building us together as lively stones to be the house, the beit ha-mikdash, the habitation of Yahweh. That's what Hanukkah is all about. The Hanukkah cornerstone that our faith is built upon, this message. To get rid of the paganism, to get rid of man, and to celebrate it Yahweh's way. That the very stones that the builders rejected and said we can't use this, leave them for Messiah. That Messiah said, I and the Father are one. And they picked them up to throw at Him. And He offered His life on the tree. He took the sacrifice for us. And now we celebrate Him. He is the real reason for the season. Because He dedicated that temple. He said, into thy hands I commit my spirit. That's our prayer. Amen. Who's Hanukkah? Yeah, we're going to spend the dreidel, we'll eat the latkes, make sure to give your rabbi a good present. But the big thing is to dedicate. To cleanse. And to see that it was on Shlomo's porch. I don't know about you, but I want my life, my faith, my experience when I come to worship to be like Shlomo's porch. A place of meeting, a place of miracles, a place of manifestation. That's what Hanukkah is all about. Amen. This is the day, this is the season, the eight days that Yahweh has made. We'll rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you again for listening to the Finding E-Met radio program. Please visit our website to learn more about the E-Met, the truth of the Scriptures. Search the Bible, submit your prayer request, or read an article on various subjects. Our website is www.findemet.com. That's www.findemet.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Or write to us at E-Met Ministries, 1310 Trent Street, Newberry, SC 29108. That's E-Met Ministries, 1310 Trent Street, Newberry, SC 29108. Thank you again for listening to Finding E-Met with Daniel Rendleman. May you find the E-Met, and may the E-Met, may the truth, set you free.