By Arlene Bridges Samuels
Two glorious celebrations converge on December 25, 2024: Christmas Day and the first day of Hanukkah. Also called the Festival of Lights or Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah lasts eight days. The first candle is lit at sundown on December 25. Although it is a time of gift-giving in the Jewish community, its significance is spiritually splendid.
The Feast of Dedication marks two compelling events. First, an unexpected military victory when the brave Maccabees, beginning in 164 B.C., reclaimed their desecrated Second Temple from the Syrian dictator. Secondly, the Maccabees discovered one small cruse of Temple oil that proved to last eight days—far beyond its normal capacity—while a batch of specialized olive oil was made by Temple priests for the candelabrum. These miracles transpired 165 years before Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) birth.
We will return to Jesus’ profound words as He walked in Soloman’s Portico during the Festival of Lights, as written in John 10:22-23. You may ask, how does the United States Congress fit into my Hanukkah perspective? And what is the connection between the Festival of Lights and Christmas?
It has to do with Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland. For 369 years the Tabernacle, located in ancient Shiloh, served as Israel’s capital and thrives today! Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Judaism’s two Temples were located in Judea.
These historic credentials were reinforced a few short days ago, on December 5, 2024 (Hebrew month Kislev). Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (R-A.R.) and House Member Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) introduced legislation to dismiss using the term West Bank in federal documents. The short title of the bill is the “Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act.”
The bill requires using only “historically accurate terminology” to align U.S. policy language with the geographical and cultural significance of the region. Senator Cotton emphasized, “The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea and Samaria goes back thousands of years. The U.S. should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel.” Sen. Cotton and Rep. Tenny recognized Israel’s ancient and modern sovereignty by proclaiming the facts. Congresswoman Tenny added, “At this critical moment in history, the United States must reaffirm this.”
How did the senator and congresswoman come to their historically correct conclusion? It goes back to 1967. It is commonplace among Christians worldwide to refer to Jesus’ birthplace as Bethlehem. However, it is easy to overlook the fact that Bethlehem and its fields were and are in Judea. After Arab armies instigated the 1967 Six-Day War against Israel, part of Israel’s victory took place when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recaptured Judea and Samaria and reunited Jerusalem, also located in Judea.
Since then, however, much of the world refers to Bethlehem as being in the West Bank and refuses to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital. The description “West Bank” simply refers to the region west of the Jordan River. After Israel’s modern independence was announced on May 14, 1948, Jordan had occupied Israel’s biblical heartland for 20 years before the IDF liberated it from Jordanian occupation. Like so many other dismissals of the heritage of Jews in the land of Israel for thousands of years, the West Bank nomenclature has overtaken the true geography called Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland. Jews are historically the indigenous people of Israel.
It is not surprising that the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act is already creating controversy. The idea of a two-state solution, one for Palestinians and one for Jews, has served as a sacred cow for decades and was promoted by successive U.S. administrations (both Democrat and Republican), the United Nations, and the European Union. President-elect Trump briefly considered the idea in his first administration, but it is crystal clear now that after the October 7 war was launched, Israelis will not consider it. Nor should they. The inhuman nature of terrorists and oppressive Islamic ideology and actions are in plain view everywhere the Israelis turn. No “peace” partner exists.
Cotton and Tenny are following in big footsteps. During President elect-Trump’s first term he opened doors wider for Israel’s biblical heartland, populated by 500,000 Jews, when he announced that what the world calls “settlements” are not illegal, nor are they a violation of international law. Returning the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem (in Judea) marked the implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, when most of the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, passed the law to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv back to Jerusalem.
Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden bypassed the congressional decision in a loophole that allowed them to delay the embassy move every six months. Then and now, some members of Congress are opposing Cotton and Tenny’s legislation. Let us pray for success in this important legislation—as a Hanukkah gift to Israelis in their time of war.
When it comes to the eternal plans of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, no amount of opposition will hinder His timetable. When Jesus attended the Feast of Dedication, walking in the Second Temple, He made Himself clear. John 10:22–42 are the only verses in the Bible about Jesus celebrating the victorious Festival of Lights. Questioned by crowds pressing in to tell them “plainly” if He was the Messiah, Jesus created an uproar with his answers. He declared Himself to be both Messiah and Son of God (10:24) and added, “I and the Father are one” (v. 30). Jesus already knew His destiny as the Light, the Redeemer.
In this particular passage, Jesus does not declare Himself in the phrase, “Light of the world.” Nevertheless, the Apostle John emphasizes that Jesus had proclaimed earlier in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.” While the Maccabees recaptured, then restored, the Temple from the darkness of evil, Jesus’ birth in Judea fulfilled prophecies and brought Eternal Light to our world. His light cannot—will not—be extinguished.
Jesus is the eternal Hero that John declares in John 1:5, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John goes on to write later in Revelation 21:23 that “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”
Just as Jesus attended the Feast of Rededication, let us take a moment to rededicate ourselves and our families to Him in this 2024 season of Light with luminous candles, Advent, and Hallelujah choruses. May Israel miraculously experience The Light during their eight days of Hanukkah.
Our team welcomes you to celebrate with us while reflecting on Yeshua’s assuring words in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.”
Prayer Points:
- Pray for more Christians to rediscover the Jewish roots and foundation of our faith.
- Pray that Israeli Jews will be able to observe Hanukkah 2024 in peace.
- Pray for the hostages and all Israel that Light will shine into their traumas.
- Pray for Israel’s IDF, the new Maccabees, for victories and security.
- Pray that the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act is passed.
Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.
