A Chanukah Teaching: The Power of Unity

King Antiochus was one of the four generals who ruled after Alexander the Great died. His goal was to unite the countries under his control. He wanted more power, and he knew that if he could unite all the people as one, it would be easier to accomplish his goal. With this mind he sent his army to Israel and sought to get the Jews to give up their customs and religion, and accept his ways instead.

One of the ways he sought to do this was by finding a Jew with influence to persuade the other Jews to change their customs and religion. A Syrian soldier noticed Mattathias, the father of Judah the Maccabee. They approached Mattathias and asked him to lead the Jews in this mass conversion. Mattathias had a strong faith in God and would not change his ways. He also knew the power of unity.

(Psalm 133 NIV) How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows (appoints or commands) His blessing, even life forevermore.

God finds unity to be a good and pleasant thing. David tells us that when we walk in unity, God will bless us.

People joined Mattathias, and the resistance against King Antiochus began. In time, Mattathias passed away and his son Judah took his place as the leader. They did not completely defeat King Antiochus, but they did regain control of the Temple, and the freedom to worship God as taught in the Bible.

In Acts 2:42-47 (Message) we see the disciples of Yeshua living in unity.

They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe - all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Here we see that they enjoyed life together, they shared belongings and helped each other when needed, they worshiped God together, and they ate meals together. Notice the blessings of God that they experienced:

The blessings:

v. 43 miracles/signs and wonders.

v. 47 Growth. God added people to their #’s everyday.

It appears that God does bless His children when they walk in unity!

God does not call us to be unified, or become like clones, as King Antiochus set out to do. God calls us to walk in unity, but He also created us with different personalities, gifts and talents.

(1 Cor 12:14-18 Message) A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

We are different, but we also are similar. God doesn't’t want a body to be filled with people who all have the same gifts and talents. That would be useless. We have similarities. We are united in our faith, and a common cause. But in order to accomplish the work God has for us, we need to have different gifts and talents. And we must work together; or be in unity.

(1 Cor 12:21 Message) What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you?" Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out?"

No arrogance or pride. Don’t think you’re any better than any one else because of the talent you have, or what you can do. We’re all different, but we’re all needed. All of our talents and gifts are needed in order to accomplish the goals God has for us. We can’t do anything worthwhile by ourselves. All of our unique gifts and talents are needed, so no one is more important than anyone else.

(1 Cor 12:26 Message) The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a congregation: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

We not only need each other, but we are dependent upon each other. We are to be so connected that if just one of us suffers, we will all suffer. One gap or missing link is enough to stop success for the entire group.

Mattathias, and then his son Judah the Maccabee, united the people of Israel. Because of this they reclaimed control of the Temple. God has good works for all of us to do. The only way we will ever achieve any success is if we unite together. We need to offer our unique gifts and talents to God and our congregation. And we need to work together. When we do this, God can use us to accomplish something wonderful for His Kingdom. I pray that this Chanukah you will rededicate yourself to working in unity with other disciples of Yeshua to build God’s Kingdom.