Hanukkah is soon to be celebrated. Some have no real idea why they celebrate it like they do but as traditions go, it's something to be celebrated. We all know we look forward to our traditions and celebrations even if we're not sure of the origins of such holidays.
Even though Hanukkah has a legend behind it, and I'm speaking of the little jar of oil which was kept burning for eight days with only one day's supply of oil, we're still not exactly sure if that is why Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days. There's no credible explanation as to why this holiday is celebrated with lights but there may be a pattern for this in scripture.
According to the Talmud it took 8 days to rebuild the desecrated altar. That's why Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days. Some are not quite sure if this is true or not because earlier sources for Hanukkah don't say.
In Scripture a pattern of 8 days was always the pattern of dedication. Any object dedicated to God was set aside for 7 days and then on the 8th day it was holy to the Lord. We see this in the case of firstborn animals sanctified to God (Ex 22:30, Lev 22:27). Males were also circumcised on the 8th day (Lev 12:3). The Tabernacle in the wilderness was set aside for 7 days and on the 8th it was considered Holy (Ex 29L37). On and on it goes.
We know that Hanukkah is a celebration of a cleansed Temple, but we also see another pattern for this during King Hezekiah's day. His father was the wicked King Ahaz who also defiled the Temple with sacrifices to Assyrian gods. When King Hezekiah came onto the throne he cleansed and rededicated the Temple back to the Lord after 8 days (2 Chron 29:16-17). This is well before Hanukkah.
Most likely there is another reason for Hanukkah being celebrated 8 days. It's directly patterned after the Feast of Tabernacles. This Feast was a seven day feast followed by a Sabbath. In Maccabees 10:6-7 (a Jewish historical account of Hanukkah) we read this:
"And they kept eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of tabernacles, when they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts. Therefore they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang plsams unto him that had given them good success in cleansing his place"
So Hanukkah was almost like a second observance of Tabernacles. This is in quite the same way that Hezekiah instituted a second observance of Passover when the people couldn't keep the first one, (2 Chron 30, Numbers 9:10-11) and explains why the Hallel which were originally sung at Tabernacles is still sung in the synagogue Hanukkah service today. The Hallel consists of singing the Psalms 113-118.
So now the question is why lights at Hanukkah? When Solomon dedicated the very first real Temple to the Lord he did so at the Feast of Tabernacles. That dedication included the coming of God's glory to the Temple. This was accompanied by a divine lighting of the fire upon the altar. Later the Feast of Tabernacles included an impressive light celebration each of the seven nights at the Temple. Hanukkah also celebrated the re-lighting of the fire on the newly cleansed altar so the emphasis on light was a natural fit.
Remembering that Hanukkah's first celebration was in 165 B.C. and was a celebration of freedom from foreign Syrian opression their thoughts of national deliverance would be aroused. In the time of Jesus, Israel was looking for that ultimate deliverer, the Messiah, who would overthrow the Roman yolk from upon their shoulders. They expected this Messiah to usher in the Kingdom bringing back the Shekinah glory that had departed from Solomon's Temple. This Messiah would put their enemies in their place. They would be vindicated.
So during one such Hanukkah celebration a group of Jews came to Jesus. He was celebrating Hanukkah with them in the same Temple that had been cleansed and rededicated over a hundred years prior. They asked him: "How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ (Messiah) tell us plainly." He had shown he was the Messiah and verified this with not only his words and much knowledge about the scriptures but also his many miracles. They bypassed all that because he did not fill their expectations of a military Messiah.
Jesus tried to open their minds and understanding but it only drove them into a blind rage that they sought to kill him. He could not be their Messiah because they were so blind to Him and His message and therefore rejected Him.
Many suggest a connection between Hanukkah and Christmas since they both fall on the 25th of the month Kislev/December. There is no biblical basis for celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25th. Before the inception of the Catholic Church, the Christians looked at birthdays as a pagan custom.
These dates are connected. Zeus was seen as the deity of the sun. Together with his goddess mother they formed the Greek version of the mother/child deity founded in Babylon. Antiochus chose the 25th of the month to defile the temple with his pig sacrifice because it was the birthday of his god Zeus. Sun worshipping heathens celebrated this day as the birthday of the new sun because the days were beginning to lengthen.
In the 4th Century the RCC took this same day, December 25th to celebrate the Mass of Christ in honor of his birth. This day was chosen in an effort to "Christianize" pagans so that all could eventually be brought into the Roman Church.
For many centuries the true Christians condemned this day as nothing more than sun worship. Nonetheless this holiday rapidly gained acceptance and became so established even the fathers of the Protestant revolution couldn't dislodge it.
Hanukkah is a great reminder of the heroes of the faith who were willing to fight for what they believed as they stood firm in the face of persecution. Many were martyred and others went on to do some great things for God all in the name of Faith in the one true God. Without faith it's impossible to please Him.
Hanukkah is also a reminder of God's faithfulness to his people. Satan used Antiochus to try and destroy God's people through assimilation and annihilation. Had he won there would have been no more Jews, no Messiah to come and no cross to die on. All the world wold have been lost forever in their sin without any hope. So the miracle isn't in that little jar of oil but in God's faithfulness and promise to His people that He would never leave them nor forsake them. His promise has always been that the Jews will be standing here in the end.
When God says it. That settles it.