Till He Come and Cause Righteousness to Rain : Insights on Yeshua’s Channukah Message

Till He Come and Cause Righteousness to Rain

(1Macc. 4:46 Heb. and Hosea 10:12)

Insights on Yeshua’s Channukah Message

ByJames Scott Trimm

Shalom Chaverim,

Well I have recently published the Hebrew text of 1Maccabees (which has never before been translated into English), and I found a passage which sheds great light on Yeshua’s Channukah teaching in John 10:22f.

Now according to the Greek version of 1Maccabees, upon building a new alter the people took the stones from the profaned alter and not knowing what to do with them they stored them “in a convenient place on the Temple mount” until a prophet would come and tell them what to do with the stones:

43  Who cleansed the sanctuary, and bare out the defiled stones into an unclean place.
44  And when as they consulted what to do with the altar of burnt offerings, which was profaned;
45 They thought it best to pull it down, lest it should be a reproach to them, because the heathen had defiled it: wherefore they pulled it down,
46  And laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them.
(1Macc. 4:43-46 KJV)

The Hebrew version of 1Maccabees has a slightly different reading here:

43 And they cleansed the Temple which they defiled by their idols and by their abominations and he removed the stones which were unclean from the unclean place.
44  And it was given to his heart to offer up offerings and sacrifices upon the alter which was ruined to them.
45 And they decided to destroy it lest it bring reproach to them for the people defiled it. And they tore down the alter and destroyed it.
46 And they placed those stones in a secret [place] of the Mount until he comes and cause righteousness to rain, and he stored them there.
(1Macc. 4:43-46 HRV)

This phrase “till He come and cause righteousness to rain” which appears in place of the phrase “until there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them” is taken verbatim from Hosea 10:12:

Sow to yourselves according to righteousness; reap according to mercy. Break up
your fallow ground, for it is time to seek YHWH: till He come and cause righteousness to
rain upon you.
(Hosea 10:12 HRV)

Whereas the Greek refers only to the coming of a prophet, the original Hebrew refers to the coming of YHWH as depicted in Hosea 10:12.

In Yochanan (John) 10:22-23 we read:

Now the Feast of Chanukkah was held
in Yerushalayim and it was winter.  And
Yeshua was walking in the Temple, in the
porch of Shlomo.

In Yoch. 10:24 the Judeans want Yeshua to reveal to them whether or not he is the Messiah:

24 And the Judeans gathered around Him and were saying to Him, How long will you
hold us? If you are the Messiah, tell us in the open.
(John 10:24 HRV)

And Yeshua answers:

25 Yeshua answered and said to them: I told you, and you did not believe. And the
works that I do in the Name of My Father, bear witness about Me.
26 But you do not believe, because, you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
27 My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they will not perish, forever: and no man will pluck
them from My hands.
29 For My Father who gave to Me from all, is great, and no man is able to pluck them
from the hand of My Father.
30 I and My Father are one.
(John 10:25-30)

The Judeans were pressing Yeshua to prove he was Messiah by telling them what to do with the profaned stones.  Yeshua answered by claiming to be the fulfillment of the prophecy in 1Maccabees 4:46 and Hosea 10:12 that YHWH Himself “would come and cause righteousness to rain” and as the Greek tanslator of 1Maccabees paraphrased “there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them.”.

Their reaction was to take up these very stones preparing to stone Yeshua with them:

31 And again the Judeans took up stones to stone Him.
32 Yeshua said to them: I have shown you many good works from My Father: because
of which work, do you stone Me?
33 The Judeans said to Him, We do not stone You because of good works, but because
You have blasphemed: and being a son of man, have made Your nefesh [to be] Eloah.
(John 10:31-33)

They were basically saying, “Oh yea, we’ll show you what to do with these stones!”  To which Yeshua responded:

34 Yeshua said to them: Is it not thus written in your Torah, I have said that You are
Elohim? (Ps. 82:6)
35 If He called those [people] elohim, because the word of Eloah was with them and the
Scripture is not able to be broken,
36 To Him whom the Father sanctified and sent to the world, do you say, You
blaspheme … because I told you that I am the Son of Eloah?
37 Though I do the works of My Father, you do not believe Me.
38 But if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works: that you might know
and believe that My Father is in Me, and I am in My Father.
(John 10:34-38 HRV)

Their reaction was to attempt to seize him:

39 And they wanted to seize Him again, but He escaped from their hands.
40 And He went to the crossing of the Yarden, to the place where Yochanan had been
previously when He was immersing, and He stayed there.
41 And many men came to Him and were saying that Yochanan did not even do one
sign: but everything that Yochanan said concerning this man, is true.
42 And many had trust in Him.
(John 10:39-42 HRV)

It is important to realize that Yeshua was withdrawing to Yochanan the Immerser’s Community, a split from the nearby Qumran community.  This community would be much more open to his message?  Why?

In ancient Israel (and in Israel today) there were two growing seasons, one in the Fall and one in the Spring. This resulted in two clusters of Harvest Festivals, commonly called the “Fall Feasts” and the “Spring Feasts”. In Scripture these two growing seasons are called the former (YOREH Strong’s 3138) and latter (MILKOSH Strong’s 4456) rain (since the growing seasons are tied to the two rainy seasons). Thus we read in the Torah:

11 But the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks
water as the rain of heaven comes down.
12 A land which YHWH your Elohim cares for. The eyes of YHWH your Elohim are
always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
13 And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto My commandments
which I command you this day, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to serve Him with all
your heart and with all your soul,
14 That I will give the rain of your land in its season–the former rain and the latter rain—
that you may gather in your grain, and your wine, and your oil.
(Deut. 11:11-14 HRV)

Jeremiah writes:

23 But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted, and gone.
24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear YHWH our Elohim, that gives the
former rain and the latter in due season; that keeps for us the appointed weeks of the
harvest.
25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good
from you.
(Jer. 5:24 HRV)

Hosea clearly takes this terminology into a prophetic, symbolic way. The context here is the hiding of the Face of YHWH for two days, followed by a resurrection on the third day! The context has to do with the Ten Tribes becoming “Lost” (i.e. “not My people”) and then returning in the last days:

1 Come, and let us return unto YHWH: for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has
smitten, and He will bind us up.
2 After two days will He revive us; on the third day, He will raise us up, that we may
live in His presence.
3 And let us know–eagerly strive to know YHWH. His going forth is sure as the
morning, and He shall come unto us as the rain–as the latter rain that waters the earth.
(Hosea 6:1-3 HRV)

Thus we see a parallel between the former and latter rain, the two comings of Messiah and the two Houses of Israel.

In Hosea 10:12 Hosea urges the House of Israel to repent and return and again uses the imagery of “rain”. But e see that He will “rain” “righteousness”:

12 Sow to yourselves according to righteousness; reap according to mercy. Break up
your fallow ground, for it is time to seek YHWH: till He come and cause righteousness to
rain upon you.
(Hosea 10:12 HRV)

The first Nazarene Nasi, Ya’akov HaTzadik (James the Just) saw in this passage an allegorical reference to the two comings of Messiah, the first coming to die and be resurrected on the third day.

Ya’akov ties this in with the martyrdom of the “righteous [one]” (the “Just” (same word in Hebrew), the Son of Elohim in Wisdom of Solomon:

[10] Let us oppress the poor righteous man, let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the ancient gray hairs of the aged.
[11] Let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth.
[12] Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings: he upbraideth us with our offending the law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of our education.
[13] He professeth to have the knowledge of Elohim: and he calleth himself the child of the Lord.
[14] He was made to reprove our thoughts.
[15] He is grievous unto us even to behold: for his life is not like other men’s, his ways are of another fashion.
[16] We are esteemed of him as counterfeits: he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness: he pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed, and maketh his boast that Elohim is his Father.
[17] Let us see if his words be true: and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him.
[18] For if the just man be the Son of Elohim, he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies.
[19] Let us examine him with despitefulness and torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his patience.
[20] Let us condemn him with a shameful death: for by his own saying he shall be respected.
(Wisdom 2:10-20 KJV)

Ya’akov brings Hosea 6:1-3; 10:12 and Wisdom 2:10-20 together writing:

6 You have condemned and killed the just, and he did not stand against you.
7 But, my brothers, be patient until the coming of YHWH: as the husbandman who
waits for the precious fruit of his ground, and is patient for them until he receives the
early and latter rain.
8 Thus also be patient and establish your hearts: for the coming of our Adon draws nigh.
(Ya’akov (James) 5:6-8 HRV)

But the language 1Maccabees and Hosea use introduces us to the most amazing passage on this topic, Joel 2:23. The context here is the ultimate restoration of Israel in the last days, and here YHWH will send the “latter rain”:

22 Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for
the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, you children of Tziyon, and rejoice in YHWH your Elohim: for He
gives you the former rain in just measure. And He causes to come down for you, the rain:
the former rain, and the latter rain, at the first.
(Joel 2:22-23 HRV)

The phrase “the former rain in just measure” could also be translated from the Hebrew “Teacher for Righteousness”! In other words the Hebrew could also be read:
23 Be glad then, you children of Tziyon, and rejoice in YHWH your Elohim: for He
gives you the Teacher for Righeousness. And He causes to come down for you, the rain:
the former rain, and the latter rain, at the first. 

No doubt the ancient Essenes wrongly identified their founder with these passages, thus calling him simply “The Teacher of Righteousness”.

Messiah was the true “Teacher for Righteousness” which was prophesied to come twice, like the former and latter rains.

Now lets look at a passage from Zechariah:

1 Ask you of YHWH rain, in the time of the latter rain; even of YHWH that makes
lightnings. And He will give them showers of rain; to every one, grass in the field.
(Zech. 10:1 HRV)

Here we are told that at the time of the Feasts we are to ask YHWH for the “rain”. We are to ask and look for the return of the Messiah at the time of the Feasts!

Now the original Channukah was a belated Sukkot celebration (Sukkot being a “former rain” feast” and YOREH meaning “former rain”).  Thus Yeshua was claiming in John 10 to be the YOREH or 1Macc. 4:46 & Hosea 10:12, the fulfillment of Sukkot and the first of the two comings of YHWH.

Like Judas and the Maccabees Yeshua was driven out of Jerusalem and went to the Wilderness of Judea, only returning when He would come and cleanse the Temple shortly before his crucifixion, thus fulfilling Channukah as well.

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