Hanukkah, Christ Candle and the number 358
This week’s Torah reading, Genesis 44:18-47:27 has so many parallels to The Festival of Hanukkah.
The name of the Parshah, "Vayigash," means "And he approached" and it is found in Genesis 44:18.
*because of Yeshua’s death, burial, and resurrection we can approach our Father God.
Judah approaches Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler in Benjamin’s stead. Upon witnessing his brothers’ loyalty to one another, Joseph reveals his identity to them.“I am Joseph,” he declares. “Is my father still alive?”
*Unity and love for one another attracts blessings, Psalm 133.
The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them. “It was not you who sent me here,” he says to them, “but G‑d. It has all been ordained from Above to save us, and the entire region, from famine.”
*What the devil meant for harm, God turns it around for favor.
The brothers rush back to Canaan with the news. Jacob comes to Egypt with his sons and their families—seventy souls in all—and is reunited with his beloved son after 22 years. On his way to Egypt he receives the divine promise: “Fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.”
*God promises, I will make you great and bring you out, Jeremiah 29:11. What began with seventy has become a Nation with 10 million today.
Joseph gathers the wealth of Egypt by selling food and seed during the famine. Pharaoh gives Jacob’s family the fertile county of Goshen to settle, and the children of Israel prosper in their Egyptian exile.
*Goshen in the natural was a place of protection and abundance. In the spiritual it is a place of manifestation, impartation, activation.
Last night we lit the 6th candle on the Menorah. Each candle on the Menorah is lit from the middle candle which is called the Christ candle.
Christ in Hebrew is, Mashiach and equals the numeric value of 358. Serpent in Hebrew has a numeric value of 358 too. A Dreidel is a spinning top in which the Jewish children would spin, a game during captivity. On each side of Dreidel was a letter which represented the four nations that had conquered Jerusalem. Those for Hebrew letters have a numerical value of 358.
At Hanukkah, we are reminded the world may be spinning with chaos but God is at the top and is in control. Yeshu, King Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, King of kings, and Lord of all. Shalom Shalom!