The Eighth Night Of Hanukkah: The Light in The Millenium
The Eighth Night Of Hanukkah: The Light in The Millenium
After seven full days of the Feast of Dedication, we finally have come to the last day, the eighth great day. The candelabra is full and its beauty shines for all to see. Like the fullness of time being completed by the return of the Messiah for His millennial reign, so the time of the Festival of Lights has been made full by the lighting of this last candle and the love that was shared along the way.
We started off with the light of creation, the very Word of God that penetrated the darkness and set the stage for all good things to come. We climbed aboard the ark as the last eight “candles” of that generation were saved from destruction and destined to bring the light of creation to a new world. We followed Abraham as he was asked to sacrifice his own son, a test from on High to see if he would truly trust in the Light or would he fade into the doubt and recesses of his own mind. We then saw how YHWH spoke to Moses at the burning bush only when Moses chose to turn to seek out what was going on. And in that process, we learned the light within us only grows stronger when we seek it and then are tested through fire. From there we traveled all the way to the ministry of Yeshua, the true Light of the world, learning that He was the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the end. As in the light of creation, so is the light of Yeshua. In the beginning was the Word and then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And that light was then passed down to the disciples, who were given the same title as He was given–the Light of the world. Their mission was to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth by spreading the Word of God, the light of creation, to every man, woman, and child, which ended up in the lap of last night’s candle ~ the Gentiles.
There is no better place to end our journey than to end it on the last great day of all creation, the very beginning and ending point of all mankind ~ the Eighth Day. As the Millennial reign of Messiah comes to a close and the New Jerusalem comes down, we see the real purpose behind it all, the merging of two worlds into one, an eternal Garden paradise with the Word of God once again walking among His people. The eighth day has come full circle to become the first day of the rest of eternity. Let’s take a look at a few scriptures out of the book of Revelation that paints this picture clearly for us.
Rev. 21:22-23 says, “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.”
This is amazing to me because on day one of creation the Word of God was made manifest into the darkness before the sun, moon, and stars were ever created on day four. And at the end of time we see the Word of God coming again into the darkness of this world, but this time He will be the only light. The Word will be the light of the New Jerusalem and everyone that is touched by it will experience its glory.
And from the throne of God, there flows a river of life, clear as crystal. Revelation 22:2 continues the vision stating: “In the middle of the street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding the fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” What an incredible scripture–and not just because it is my number, 222…lol–but because of the prophetic picture that it is painting for us.
This tree is an illusion to the same tree of life that was found in the middle of the Garden of Eden and most definitely connected to the vision in Ezekiel 47 where there is a river coming from the throne that is so deep that he cannot swim across. He also describes trees on both sides of the river that give its fruit every month and their leaves are for healing purposes. Perhaps the two visions are the same vision and it is really one root system with twelve trees, which prophetically is a beautiful thought. In either case, we have a river that brings life to everything it touches, and trees, that bring forth fruit for the healing of the nations. And all around them is the Light of God, Yeshua our Messiah, seated at the right hand of His Father in the New Jerusalem. Do you see the pattern? First the light of creation, then the rest of creation. First, the light of Messiah comes, then the earth is recreated and comes back to life.
The picture of the Millennium is none other than a modern and renewed picture of the Garden of Eden. There is a tree in the middle of it that brings life and produces fruit for all. That tree in the Garden was pointing to Yeshua, THE Tree that really did bring life to all who would eat of its flesh. When Yeshua said that out of His belly would come streams of living water, there can be no doubt that He was referencing the very river that John is witnessing in his vision, the river that came from the center of His throne.
This reminds me of the Hebrew word for “water” (mayim) and how it is so intimately connected to the word for “heaven” (shemayim). The word “water” is embedded in the very word for “heaven.” Furthermore, the first part of the word shemayim is the word shem, which is the Hebrew word for “name.” So, within the single word for “heaven,” the word picture is “the name that brings water.” And we know that water brings life. In ancient times, the water that came from heaven brought life to the land and they praised the name of YHWH who granted it. Thus, “Shem (name) mayim (water)” ~ is the name that brings water.
As we inch closer to the return of Messiah, who will be the light for His Millennial reign, every one of us should take the time to audit our lives and ask ourselves if we are in fact being a light and providing the life-giving water to our world now. And if you define your light as standing against things of this world and pride yourself in pointing out to everyone how wrong they are, then your light is dim indeed. For the light of the world did not come to condemn the world for its sin, but to save it. The light of the Messiah is supposed to attract those that are walking in the dark, not condemn them for walking in it. The Light of Messiah is filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And the light of the world is love. Yeshua spent little of His time standing against things and the grand majority of His life standing FOR the people, for life. He saw past the ugly, past their mistakes and sin, and saw the life potential in the people, rather than sitting in judgment over their fallen state. How pure is your light? Do you spend more time defending the light or BEING the light?
In the same vein, how clean is the water coming from your temple? And how sweet is the fruit coming from your tree? Again, that fruit is the fruit of the Spirit and we are supposed to mimic in real-time the very vision that John is showing us. Those that truly have the name (shem) of God embedded into their water (mayim) are the ones that are bringing heaven (shemayim) to earth. The more you give glory to the name above all names through the fruits that you offer the nations, the more water you will be bringing to this dry and thirsty land. Heaven is waiting to come to earth and it is waiting on your faith and actions to do it.
As we come to the end of the Feast of Dedication this year, let us remember that God’s Plan A is for us to be the salt of the earth and to be the light of the world. We are the hope for a lost and weary generation. You carry all of the power of heaven within your temple. The Word of God from day one of creation resides within your gates. So step out of the darkness into His marvelous light and…
Trust the Light. Be the Light. Pass the Light!
Oh yeah, He has no Plan B.
Happy Hanukkah!
Jim Staley
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