Advent and Hanukkah
Today is the last Sunday before Christmas. This time is also known as the Advent season. Advent is a time of preparation for our hearts and minds in the time leading up to the celebration of Christ's birth. I was meaning to write a post each week talking about each Sunday in advent but life got busy. Today I decided I'd play some catch up and write a little about the entire Advent season as well as the celebration of Hanukkah.
Advent is a celebration beginning 4 Sundays before Christmas. Each Sunday focuses on a different thing to focus our hearts on. The Christian faith is really big into symbolism especially around the various Christian holidays and advent is no exception.
Advent uses a wreath and 5 candles to symbolize the different elements of the season. There're a lot of variations to this but the basic building blocks and meanings are the same. The wreath is a circle which signifies eternity and it's made of evergreen, holly, and pine cones which are used to signify strength, healing, and resurrection. The candles are arranged with 3 purple and 1 pink surrounding a larger white candle. There's a few variations to the order that they are lit usually tied to your denomination of faith but again, the basic meaning is the same. The order I'll write about them is the order that I've been celebrating them.
The first Sunday in advent is Hope and is lit by the first purple candle and is sometimes referred to as "The Prophecy Candle" to remember when the Old Testament Prophets, mainly Isaiah, foretold of Christ's birth.
The Second Sunday is Love and is lit by a second purple candle, this is also sometimes known as "The Bethlehem Candle" to remind us of Joseph and Mary's journey to Bethlehem and the love they shared for each other as well as their love and trust in God.
The Third Sunday is Joy lit by the pink candle also called "The Shepherds Candle." This candle reminds us of when The Angle of the Lord appeared before the shepherds to announce the birth of Christ and the Joy that is associated with that.
The Fourth Sunday is Peace and is lit by the last purple candle of the 4 surrounding the wreath. This is also called "The Angel's Candle" and it is to remind us of the heavenly message given to everyone of "peace on earth" and "good will."
The Last Candle is lit on Christmas Eve. This candle is called "The Christ Candle" and it is to remind us of Christ coming into this world. It is in the center of the wreath as Christ is to be the center of our lives and It's white to show the purity of Christ.
Changing gears slightly, today is not only celebrated as the day of Peace in the advent calendar, but it is also the first day in Hanukkah which is also a season I celebrate. I usually get a few interesting looks from people when they hear that I also celebrate Hanukkah and the first thing they say is "Jon, you're not Jewish." I usually laugh a little and say "You're correct, I'm not Jewish, but Hanukkah is a biblical celebration none-the-less."
Honestly, me celebrating Hanukkah is a fairly recent thing. I only started really celebrating it about 5 years ago and that was because I had a coworker who grew up Jewish and still celebrated Hanukkah. They were often a bit sad because they didn't have anyone else to celebrate with so I offered to learn and celebrate with them so they wouldn't be alone. The more I learned the more I realized it's kind of silly to be a Christian and not acknowledge the Hanukkah season.
Hanukkah is known as the "Festival of Lights." The word "Hanukkah" (also spelled Chanukah) is a hebrew word which means "dedication." At the time the Syrian army had taken over Israel and the King of Syria attempted to force those of the Jewish faith to observe greek traditions and outlawed the reading of the Torah as well as following it's commandments and placed greek idols in the jewish temple. Judah the Maccabee lead a revolt with a very faithful albeit very poorly armed group of people and they managed to drive the Syrian army out of their land. At the time the Syrian army was known as the most powerful army in the known world. This victory lead to Judah getting probably one of the coolest nicknames in the bible, "Judah the Hammer!" When rededicating the temple to God they discovered that the Syrian looters had fouled all the oil found except for one small cruse of oil which was only enough to burn for a single night. They opted to use the oil and it lasted for 8 complete nights until more oil arrived.
Hanukkah is a time to remember our faith in God and with his power we can stand against oppression and the evils of this world.
So to everyone Merry Christmas and a very Happy first night of Hanukkah!
Advent is a celebration beginning 4 Sundays before Christmas. Each Sunday focuses on a different thing to focus our hearts on. The Christian faith is really big into symbolism especially around the various Christian holidays and advent is no exception.
Advent uses a wreath and 5 candles to symbolize the different elements of the season. There're a lot of variations to this but the basic building blocks and meanings are the same. The wreath is a circle which signifies eternity and it's made of evergreen, holly, and pine cones which are used to signify strength, healing, and resurrection. The candles are arranged with 3 purple and 1 pink surrounding a larger white candle. There's a few variations to the order that they are lit usually tied to your denomination of faith but again, the basic meaning is the same. The order I'll write about them is the order that I've been celebrating them.
The first Sunday in advent is Hope and is lit by the first purple candle and is sometimes referred to as "The Prophecy Candle" to remember when the Old Testament Prophets, mainly Isaiah, foretold of Christ's birth.
The Second Sunday is Love and is lit by a second purple candle, this is also sometimes known as "The Bethlehem Candle" to remind us of Joseph and Mary's journey to Bethlehem and the love they shared for each other as well as their love and trust in God.
The Third Sunday is Joy lit by the pink candle also called "The Shepherds Candle." This candle reminds us of when The Angle of the Lord appeared before the shepherds to announce the birth of Christ and the Joy that is associated with that.
The Fourth Sunday is Peace and is lit by the last purple candle of the 4 surrounding the wreath. This is also called "The Angel's Candle" and it is to remind us of the heavenly message given to everyone of "peace on earth" and "good will."
The Last Candle is lit on Christmas Eve. This candle is called "The Christ Candle" and it is to remind us of Christ coming into this world. It is in the center of the wreath as Christ is to be the center of our lives and It's white to show the purity of Christ.
Changing gears slightly, today is not only celebrated as the day of Peace in the advent calendar, but it is also the first day in Hanukkah which is also a season I celebrate. I usually get a few interesting looks from people when they hear that I also celebrate Hanukkah and the first thing they say is "Jon, you're not Jewish." I usually laugh a little and say "You're correct, I'm not Jewish, but Hanukkah is a biblical celebration none-the-less."
Honestly, me celebrating Hanukkah is a fairly recent thing. I only started really celebrating it about 5 years ago and that was because I had a coworker who grew up Jewish and still celebrated Hanukkah. They were often a bit sad because they didn't have anyone else to celebrate with so I offered to learn and celebrate with them so they wouldn't be alone. The more I learned the more I realized it's kind of silly to be a Christian and not acknowledge the Hanukkah season.
Hanukkah is known as the "Festival of Lights." The word "Hanukkah" (also spelled Chanukah) is a hebrew word which means "dedication." At the time the Syrian army had taken over Israel and the King of Syria attempted to force those of the Jewish faith to observe greek traditions and outlawed the reading of the Torah as well as following it's commandments and placed greek idols in the jewish temple. Judah the Maccabee lead a revolt with a very faithful albeit very poorly armed group of people and they managed to drive the Syrian army out of their land. At the time the Syrian army was known as the most powerful army in the known world. This victory lead to Judah getting probably one of the coolest nicknames in the bible, "Judah the Hammer!" When rededicating the temple to God they discovered that the Syrian looters had fouled all the oil found except for one small cruse of oil which was only enough to burn for a single night. They opted to use the oil and it lasted for 8 complete nights until more oil arrived.
Hanukkah is a time to remember our faith in God and with his power we can stand against oppression and the evils of this world.
So to everyone Merry Christmas and a very Happy first night of Hanukkah!
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