“Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day
of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred
forty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the
new altar of burnt offering that they had built. At the very season and on the
very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and
harps and lutes and cymbals. All
the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had
prospered them. So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days,
and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being
and a thanksgiving offering. They
decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they
restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and fitted them with
doors. There was very great
joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the Gentiles was removed.”
– 1 Maccabees 4:52-58
Father God, as we enter the season of
Hannukah, I rejoice in Your victories. I rejoice that no one and nothing can
defeat You. No one can thwart Your plans. You can always redeem that which
seems lost, just as You redeemed me in Your Son’s ultimate victory over sin and
the grave.
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