Why I am watching Hanukkah which falls on December 14-22 in 2025.
There are some interesting symbolic links between the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13), the imagery of oil, the midnight cry, and Hanukkah in winter. Let’s walk through the layers:
⸻
1. The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25) • Five wise and five foolish virgins wait for the bridegroom. • The wise have extra oil for their lamps, while the foolish run out. • At midnight, the cry goes out: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” • The key point: readiness, watchfulness, and having “oil” (often understood as the Holy Spirit, faith, or perseverance).
⸻
2. Hanukkah and the Oil • Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) commemorates the rededication of the Temple in 165 B.C. after its defilement. • Tradition tells of the miracle of oil: one day’s supply for the menorah lasted eight days. • The central symbol is light fueled by oil — just like the lamps in the parable.
⸻
3. The Midnight Hour and the Winter Solstice • In the parable, midnight marks the sudden coming of the bridegroom — a time of darkness, symbolizing testing or crisis. • The winter solstice (late December) is literally the darkest time of the year, the “midnight” of the solar cycle. • Hanukkah, which falls close to the solstice, is a festival of light in the darkest season — light shining against encroaching darkness.
⸻
4. Possible Thematic Connections • Oil & Light: Both the parable and Hanukkah highlight oil as the source of sustaining light in times of darkness. • Watchfulness in Darkness: The virgins must endure the long night and be ready at midnight — much like Israel preserving light and faith through the darkness of oppression, remembered at Hanukkah. • Seasonal Symbolism: Hanukkah occurring near the solstice could be seen as a “cosmic midnight” when the Bridegroom (Messiah) could come — the darkest point just before light begins to grow again. • Dedication & Readiness: Hanukkah is about rededication of the temple; the parable is about believers being spiritually prepared. Both deal with consecration before the coming of God’s presence.
⸻
✅ So while the Bible doesn’t explicitly link Hanukkah to the parable of the Ten Virgins, symbolically the overlap is striking: oil, lamps, light in the darkness, midnight timing, and readiness for God’s intervention.
My wife’s special lunch I made for her today because 27 years ago today she had a C-section birth and suffered so much and giving honor to her for giving birth to such a beautiful baby, my son Stephen Jr.
Your prayers and support for our ministry is greatly appreciated!
THANK YOU FOR STANDING WITH US!!!
GO FUND ME - BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES MONTHLY SUPPORT 2025 - 2026 gofund.me/e3172e6d
Donate through Zelle - Stephen Fletcher at email Fletchdr222@yahoo.com
For those of you who would like to be able to help us by sharing our ministry with others, we have prepared a brochure with an overview of our ministry activities. Godhas been so faithful, and we are super excited to continue in His service and see how He will continue to work through us in the coming months.
What a blessed day today, today was our halfway point of our kids program. This was our sixth week. We have six more weeks to go but after activity today and after our meal, we had a pool day and we’re usually done about 1 o’clock, but it’s 5 PM now and we’re just finishing up, really amazing day. Wonderful time with all the kids great fellowship and playing together. God is good. We are so thankful to be able to be involved in so many different mission activities thank thank you all for your prayers and support. God bless you all.
What a glorious day. Today is one of those days where I am so honored to be a pastor and a missionary, and I can stand with my brother Feliciano, who just five years ago, was losing his mind with drugs and addictions and through coming to Christ has now committed his life to serving God, to seeking His blessing, and now he is achieving one of the greatest dreams and goals many people have in life to have their own home . Today they are roofing his house and what a blessing to be able to go to be with him a few minutes to pray with him And to give him the scriptural blessing from Psalm 127:1 unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain. Let us thank God together for the life of our brother Feliciano. I am truly blessed today.
We had our men’s Bible study last night, which we do every Friday and we were talking about the virtue of identity studying Ephesians 1, 1 through 14. We had great discussion and prayer together.
Your prayers and support for our ministry is greatly appreciated!
THANK YOU FOR STANDING WITH US!!!
GO FUND ME - BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES MONTHLY SUPPORT 2025 - 2026 gofund.me/e3172e6d
Donate through Zelle - Stephen Fletcher at email Fletchdr222@yahoo.com
For those of you who would like to be able to help us by sharing our ministry with others, we have prepared a brochure with an overview of our ministry activities. Godhas been so faithful, and we are super excited to continue in His service and see how He will continue to work through us in the coming months.
* **Historical Background:** Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication, John 10:22) celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 BC. He set up an idol of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed swine on the altar. * **Prophetic Pattern:** Many Bible scholars see Antiochus as a foreshadowing of the **Antichrist**, since Jesus Himself referenced the “abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15) in connection with end times.
### 2. **The Antichrist and the Temple**
* **Prophecy of a Future Temple:** Paul wrote that the Antichrist will sit in the Temple of God, declaring himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). This means the Temple in Jerusalem will need to be rebuilt in the last days. * **Connection to Hanukkah:** Just as Antiochus desecrated the Temple during the events leading to Hanukkah, the Antichrist will desecrate the Temple in the Tribulation. Hanukkah therefore becomes a **prophetic shadow** of the end times.
### 3. **The Rapture and Hanukkah**
* **Jesus at Hanukkah:** In John 10:22–30, during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), Jesus speaks of His sheep hearing His voice and no one being able to snatch (Greek *harpazo*, the same word used for “rapture” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17) them out of His hand. * **Symbolism:** Hanukkah is the festival of **light**, which ties into Jesus as the “Light of the world” (John 8:12) and the idea of believers being “caught up” (raptured) before the darkness of the Tribulation.
### 4. **The Tribulation and Hanukkah**
* **Foreshadowing Tribulation:** The suffering under Antiochus—the persecution of the Jews, the banning of Torah, forced idolatry—is a **preview of the Tribulation period** under the Antichrist. * **Rededication and Victory:** Hanukkah ends with the Temple being cleansed and rededicated, symbolizing the **end of the Tribulation** when Jesus returns, defeats the Antichrist, and establishes His kingdom, with the Millennial Temple (Ezekiel 40–48).
### 5. **Putting It All Together**
* **Hanukkah** → Past: Temple desecrated, but also prophetic pattern. * **Temple** → Must be rebuilt; becomes the center of the Antichrist’s deception. * **Antichrist** → Will perform the ultimate “abomination of desolation.” * **Rapture** → Believers taken out before God’s wrath (John 10 / 1 Thessalonians 4). * **Tribulation** → Time of persecution and darkness, ending in Messiah’s victory and rededication of the Temple and Jerusalem.
✨ So, Hanukkah isn’t just a Jewish holiday—it’s like a **prophetic key** that links the first desecration of the Temple to the final one, bridging the historical Antiochus to the future Antichrist, while also hinting at the Rapture and the Tribulation.
We had a wonderful day today after our trip to Merida, which was very good very positive results and good news from the doctor that things are going well with the baby that got checked today and it was also a blessing that the doctor had a lot of the medicines that the baby needed and gave them without cost to the mom…
Then after we got back and had a little rest, we had our cell group tonight and at our meeting we had a family that wanted to dedicate their baby and so we had a very nice service, a message for the family, a baby dedication, baby‘s name is Ethan Uriel.
We are truly blessed to have so many opportunities to serve the Lord down here in Yucatán Mexico . Thank you all for your prayers and support for our ministries. God bless you all.
STEVE FLETCHER 222
STEVE FLETCHER 222
Why I am watching Hanukkah which falls on December 14-22 in 2025.
There are some interesting symbolic links between the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13), the imagery of oil, the midnight cry, and Hanukkah in winter. Let’s walk through the layers:
⸻
1. The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25)
• Five wise and five foolish virgins wait for the bridegroom.
• The wise have extra oil for their lamps, while the foolish run out.
• At midnight, the cry goes out: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!”
• The key point: readiness, watchfulness, and having “oil” (often understood as the Holy Spirit, faith, or perseverance).
⸻
2. Hanukkah and the Oil
• Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) commemorates the rededication of the Temple in 165 B.C. after its defilement.
• Tradition tells of the miracle of oil: one day’s supply for the menorah lasted eight days.
• The central symbol is light fueled by oil — just like the lamps in the parable.
⸻
3. The Midnight Hour and the Winter Solstice
• In the parable, midnight marks the sudden coming of the bridegroom — a time of darkness, symbolizing testing or crisis.
• The winter solstice (late December) is literally the darkest time of the year, the “midnight” of the solar cycle.
• Hanukkah, which falls close to the solstice, is a festival of light in the darkest season — light shining against encroaching darkness.
⸻
4. Possible Thematic Connections
• Oil & Light: Both the parable and Hanukkah highlight oil as the source of sustaining light in times of darkness.
• Watchfulness in Darkness: The virgins must endure the long night and be ready at midnight — much like Israel preserving light and faith through the darkness of oppression, remembered at Hanukkah.
• Seasonal Symbolism: Hanukkah occurring near the solstice could be seen as a “cosmic midnight” when the Bridegroom (Messiah) could come — the darkest point just before light begins to grow again.
• Dedication & Readiness: Hanukkah is about rededication of the temple; the parable is about believers being spiritually prepared. Both deal with consecration before the coming of God’s presence.
⸻
✅ So while the Bible doesn’t explicitly link Hanukkah to the parable of the Ten Virgins, symbolically the overlap is striking: oil, lamps, light in the darkness, midnight timing, and readiness for God’s intervention.
2 days ago | [YT] | 29
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STEVE FLETCHER 222
My wife’s special lunch I made for her today because 27 years ago today she had a C-section birth and suffered so much and giving honor to her for giving birth to such a beautiful baby, my son Stephen Jr.
2 days ago | [YT] | 115
View 10 replies
STEVE FLETCHER 222
Your prayers and support for our ministry is greatly appreciated!
THANK YOU FOR STANDING WITH US!!!
GO FUND ME - BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES MONTHLY SUPPORT 2025 - 2026
gofund.me/e3172e6d
Donate through Zelle - Stephen Fletcher at email Fletchdr222@yahoo.com
For those of you who would like to be able to help us by sharing our ministry with others, we have prepared a brochure with an overview of our ministry activities. Godhas been so faithful, and we are super excited to continue in His service and see how He will continue to work through us in the coming months.
BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES ENGLISH BROCHURE
drive.google.com/file/d/1MtcQ_Ejabuz-zZz85JWce41I8…
BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES SPANISH BROCHURE
drive.google.com/file/d/1gGuIN_OULnTN3Bih7zGxY1EYz…
3 days ago | [YT] | 30
View 2 replies
STEVE FLETCHER 222
What a blessed day today, today was our halfway point of our kids program. This was our sixth week. We have six more weeks to go but after activity today and after our meal, we had a pool day and we’re usually done about 1 o’clock, but it’s 5 PM now and we’re just finishing up, really amazing day. Wonderful time with all the kids great fellowship and playing together. God is good. We are so thankful to be able to be involved in so many different mission activities thank thank you all for your prayers and support. God bless you all.
4 days ago | [YT] | 71
View 1 reply
STEVE FLETCHER 222
What a glorious day. Today is one of those days where I am so honored to be a pastor and a missionary, and I can stand with my brother Feliciano, who just five years ago, was losing his mind with drugs and addictions and through coming to Christ has now committed his life to serving God, to seeking His blessing, and now he is achieving one of the greatest dreams and goals many people have in life to have their own home . Today they are roofing his house and what a blessing to be able to go to be with him a few minutes to pray with him And to give him the scriptural blessing from Psalm 127:1 unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain. Let us thank God together for the life of our brother Feliciano. I am truly blessed today.
4 days ago | [YT] | 68
View 4 replies
STEVE FLETCHER 222
We had our men’s Bible study last night, which we do every Friday and we were talking about the virtue of identity studying Ephesians 1, 1 through 14. We had great discussion and prayer together.
Your prayers and support for our ministry is greatly appreciated!
THANK YOU FOR STANDING WITH US!!!
GO FUND ME - BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES MONTHLY SUPPORT 2025 - 2026
gofund.me/e3172e6d
Donate through Zelle - Stephen Fletcher at email Fletchdr222@yahoo.com
For those of you who would like to be able to help us by sharing our ministry with others, we have prepared a brochure with an overview of our ministry activities. Godhas been so faithful, and we are super excited to continue in His service and see how He will continue to work through us in the coming months.
BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES ENGLISH BROCHURE
drive.google.com/file/d/1MtcQ_Ejabuz-zZz85JWce41I8…
BRIDGE OF LOVE MINISTRIES SPANISH BROCHURE
drive.google.com/file/d/1gGuIN_OULnTN3Bih7zGxY1EYz…
4 days ago | [YT] | 26
View 4 replies
STEVE FLETCHER 222
### 1. **Hanukkah and the Temple**
* **Historical Background:** Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication, John 10:22) celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 BC. He set up an idol of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed swine on the altar.
* **Prophetic Pattern:** Many Bible scholars see Antiochus as a foreshadowing of the **Antichrist**, since Jesus Himself referenced the “abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15) in connection with end times.
### 2. **The Antichrist and the Temple**
* **Prophecy of a Future Temple:** Paul wrote that the Antichrist will sit in the Temple of God, declaring himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). This means the Temple in Jerusalem will need to be rebuilt in the last days.
* **Connection to Hanukkah:** Just as Antiochus desecrated the Temple during the events leading to Hanukkah, the Antichrist will desecrate the Temple in the Tribulation. Hanukkah therefore becomes a **prophetic shadow** of the end times.
### 3. **The Rapture and Hanukkah**
* **Jesus at Hanukkah:** In John 10:22–30, during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), Jesus speaks of His sheep hearing His voice and no one being able to snatch (Greek *harpazo*, the same word used for “rapture” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17) them out of His hand.
* **Symbolism:** Hanukkah is the festival of **light**, which ties into Jesus as the “Light of the world” (John 8:12) and the idea of believers being “caught up” (raptured) before the darkness of the Tribulation.
### 4. **The Tribulation and Hanukkah**
* **Foreshadowing Tribulation:** The suffering under Antiochus—the persecution of the Jews, the banning of Torah, forced idolatry—is a **preview of the Tribulation period** under the Antichrist.
* **Rededication and Victory:** Hanukkah ends with the Temple being cleansed and rededicated, symbolizing the **end of the Tribulation** when Jesus returns, defeats the Antichrist, and establishes His kingdom, with the Millennial Temple (Ezekiel 40–48).
### 5. **Putting It All Together**
* **Hanukkah** → Past: Temple desecrated, but also prophetic pattern.
* **Temple** → Must be rebuilt; becomes the center of the Antichrist’s deception.
* **Antichrist** → Will perform the ultimate “abomination of desolation.”
* **Rapture** → Believers taken out before God’s wrath (John 10 / 1 Thessalonians 4).
* **Tribulation** → Time of persecution and darkness, ending in Messiah’s victory and rededication of the Temple and Jerusalem.
✨ So, Hanukkah isn’t just a Jewish holiday—it’s like a **prophetic key** that links the first desecration of the Temple to the final one, bridging the historical Antiochus to the future Antichrist, while also hinting at the Rapture and the Tribulation.
5 days ago | [YT] | 26
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STEVE FLETCHER 222
POWERFUL TRUTHS FROM SCRIPTURE ABOUT HANUKKAH RAPTURE
5 days ago | [YT] | 13
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STEVE FLETCHER 222
HANUKKAH PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy...
6 days ago | [YT] | 9
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STEVE FLETCHER 222
We had a wonderful day today after our trip to Merida, which was very good very positive results and good news from the doctor that things are going well with the baby that got checked today and it was also a blessing that the doctor had a lot of the medicines that the baby needed and gave them without cost to the mom…
Then after we got back and had a little rest, we had our cell group tonight and at our meeting we had a family that wanted to dedicate their baby and so we had a very nice service, a message for the family, a baby dedication, baby‘s name is Ethan Uriel.
We are truly blessed to have so many opportunities to serve the Lord down here in Yucatán Mexico . Thank you all for your prayers and support for our ministries. God bless you all.
6 days ago | [YT] | 62
View 2 replies
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