{"id":8986,"date":"2025-09-07T14:54:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T19:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nazarenespace.com\/blog\/?p=8986"},"modified":"2025-09-07T14:54:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T19:54:40","slug":"chag-yeshua-and-the-amidah-a-lost-festival-of-deliverance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nazarenespace.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/07\/chag-yeshua-and-the-amidah-a-lost-festival-of-deliverance\/","title":{"rendered":"Chag Yeshua and the Amidah: A Lost Festival of Deliverance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than two thousand years ago, a forgotten miracle of our people was written into history\u2014yet most of Israel no longer remembers it. The book of 3rd Maccabees records a time of terror, prayer, and deliverance when YHWH saved His people from destruction. From this salvation arose a festival called Chag Yeshua<\/strong>\u2014\u201cThe Feast of Deliverance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feast was once celebrated annually, but with the removal of 3 Maccabees from the canon, the celebration vanished. Today, as we seek to restore the ancient paths, this festival deserves its place once more on our calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Story of Deliverance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 217 BCE, after the Battle of Raphia, Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt attempted to enter the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem but was miraculously repelled (3Macc. 1\u20132). Humiliated, he returned to Egypt and sought revenge on the Jewish people there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lowered their political status, forced pagan practices upon them, and slaughtered those who refused (3Macc. 2:25\u20135:51). It seemed the Jews of Alexandria would be annihilated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, a righteous elder priest named El\u2019azar<\/strong> lifted up his voice in prayer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cO king, mighty in power, most high, Almighty Elohim, who regulate the whole creation with Your tender mercy, look upon the seed of Avraham, upon the children of the sanctified Ya\u2019akov, Your sanctified inheritance, O Father, now being wrongfully destroyed as strangers in a strange land.\u201d<\/strong>
(3 Maccabees 6:1\u20133)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

YHWH heard. He intervened with power, turned the king\u2019s heart to repentance, and delivered His people (3Macc. 6\u20137). In response, the Jews established an annual feast called Chag Yeshua<\/strong> (The Feast of Deliverance), to be kept each year on the 12th of Elul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parallels to the Amidah<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

El\u2019azar\u2019s prayer is striking in its resemblance to the opening blessing of the Amidah, known as Avot<\/em> (\u201cthe Fathers\u201d):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBlessed Are You YHWH, our Elohim and Elohim of our fathers;
Elohim of Avraham, Elohim of Yitzchak, Elohim of Yaacov,
the great and mighty and awesome Elohim, the most high Elohim,
who bestows grace and creates all
and remembers the kindnesses of the fathers
and brings a Redeemer to their children’s children,
for His Name’s sake with love.
O King, helper, Savior, and Shield!
Blessed are You YHWH, Shield of Avraham.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The echoes are unmistakable. El\u2019azar calls upon the Elohim of the patriarchs, as the Amidah does. He invokes YHWH as King, Mighty, and Merciful. And he pleads for the seed of Avraham to be spared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we pray the Amidah today, we are joining in the same cry for deliverance that brought salvation in Alexandria. On Chag Yeshua, we recite this prayer with renewed meaning, remembering that our Elohim does not abandon His people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why \u201cChag Yeshua\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Hebrew word for \u201cdeliverance\u201d is Yeshua<\/strong>. Thus, the \u201cFeast of Deliverance\u201d can rightly be called the Feast of Yeshua<\/strong>. For us who follow Messiah, this festival shines with prophetic light:<\/p>\n\n\n\n