Christmas and Hanukkah: Festivals of light and hope

“Am Israel Chai!” Israel lives! That’s the rousing message of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of hope and triumph in the face of impossible odds.

It began Dec. 7 with the lighting of an eight-branched candelabra or Menorah. It’s a reminder that God’s light will fill the night and eventually defeat the darkness. It is specially significant for Jews who are in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war and are facing global anti-Semitism and terror threats from all sides.

Hanukkah recalls how the mighty Greek empire sought to eradicate the Jewish nation and faith in 229 BC. Until a small brave band of Jewish warrior-priests called the Maccabees fought back and routed the Greeks, recaptured their Holy Temple and rekindled the Menorah, the lampstand symbolizing the eternal light and presence of God.

It’s likened to Christmas, when the Bethlehem star suddenly shone in the sky and an angel declared: “I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. Today, in the City of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!” It was a season of terror in Israel, when the powerful Roman Empire trampled the nation, crucifying all who dreamed of peace and freedom.

It was also the Roman Emperor Hadrian who removed the name of Israel from maps and history books. In 135 AD he changed the name of Israel to Palestine, an insult to the Jews. Palestine is derived from Philistine, the Biblical enemy of Israel. The giant Goliath, who fought the Jewish boy David, was a Philistine.

The Jews faced annihilation again during the reign of German dictator Adolf Hitler. He declared that the “final solution” to all the problems of the world was the elimination of the Jewish race. Around six million Jews were killed and cremated or burned in ovens in what is called the Holocaust.

Thousands of Jews sought to escape, but only one country in the globe accepted them – the Philippines, under the Open Doors policy of President Manuel Quezon. He sought to take in 10,000 Jews, but the Japanese invasion got in the way, and only 1,300 made it.

And out of the ashes of the Holocaust, Israel was miraculously reborn. There were two million Jews who survived the Nazi death camps, most under the age of 16. They had no more homes to return to. In 1947, the United Nations held a plebiscite to divide Palestine into two countries – a Jewish state and an Arab state. A majority of 33 nations voted to revive a tiny piece of the original Promised Land called Israel so that the refugees could live among their own people. The Philippines was the only Asian country that voted yes, recreating the Jewish state that turned 76 years old last Nov. 29.

This was the decision of President Manuel Roxas, in consultation with US president Harry Truman. They were bound by their Christian faith and confidence in Bible prophecy – that someday the Prince of Peace, Savior of the World would return to Israel. It also affirmed the Philippines’ unique identity as the first and longest-standing Christian nation in Asia with a fealty for the land where the Bible and Christianity were born.

Today, Israel is again facing persecution and threats of extinction; this time from Islamic Jihadist terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah and neighboring nations Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. Last Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza, firing thousands or rockets and brutally killing 1,200 civilians and taking 240 hostages.

Israel responded by invading the Gaza to destroy the vast Hamas terrorist network of tunnels and armaments located under hospitals, schools, mosques and where civilians congregate. A humanitarian crisis has resulted. Scores have died on both sides, thousands of Palestinians have been forced to evacuate and no Arab nation has opened its doors to accommodate them.

But in death, there is resurrection. And out of the ashes, new life can begin.

Michael Nasrallah, an Arab-Israeli citizen whose parents and grandparents are Palestinian, chose to become a citizen of the Jewish state after Israel was re-established in 1948. But he despised the very ground he walked on. “I was very angry with Israel,” Mike described during an interview with CBN Asia TV in the Philippines. “I felt it had no place in the Middle East. I even wrote hate poems about it.”

Until he had a divine encounter with God on the Mount of Olives. “Someone prayed for me and Yeshua (Jesus) became real to me. He took away my stony heart and gave me His heart, and I found peace,” Mike recalls. “I believe in living side-by-side with Israel. We’re descendants of Abraham. The enemy is not Israel, or the Jews, or the Hamas or the Arabs. The real enemy causing all this turmoil, havoc, hatred and violence is the devil. His name is Diabolos, which means divider.”

In this season of Christmas and Hanukkah, we are reminded that there is hope. As the Jewish prophet Isaiah wrote thousands of years ago: “Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning… For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given… And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.” (Isaiah 9: 5-7)