The Temple
This is a post-Mosaic Fesitival. Josephus in his book of antiquities 12:324-325 states, "Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of their customs, when after very long intermission, they unexpectedly had regained the freedom of their worship, that they made it law for their posterity, that they should keep a festival. on account of the restoration of their temple worship for eight days. And from that time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights.
Alfred Edersheim, in his book The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, explains the Feast of Dedication this way:
The Feast of the Dedication of the Temple
"2. The Feast of the Dedication of the Temple, Chanuchah ('the dedication'), called in 1 Maccabees iv. 52-59 'the dedication of the altar,' and by Josephus (Antiq. xii. 7, 7) 'the Feast of Lights,' was another popular and joyous festival. It was instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 164 BC, when, after the recovery of Jewish independence from the Syro-Grecian domination, the Temple of Jerusalem was solemnly purified, the old polluted altar removed, its stones put in a separate place on the Temple-mount, and the worship of the Lord restored. The feast commenced on the 25th of Chislev (December), and lasted for eight days. On each of them the 'Hallel' was sung*1, the people appeared carrying palm and other branches, and there was a grand illumination of the Temple and of all private houses. These three observances bear so striking a resemblance to what we know about the Feast of Tabernacles, that it is difficult to resist the impression of some intended connection between the two, in consequence of which the daily singing of the 'Hallel,' and the carrying of palm branches was adopted during the Feast of the Dedication, while the practice of Temple-illumination was similarly introduced into the Feast of Tabernacles. *2
*1 The "Hallel" comprised Psalms 113 to 118.
*2 In point of fact, the three are so compared in 2 Maccabees x. 6, and even the same name applied to them, i. 9, 18.
All this becomes the more interesting, when we remember, on the one hand, the typical meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles, and on the other that the date of the Feast of the Dedication— 25th of Chislev— to have been adopted by the ancient Church as that of the birth of our blessed Lord—— Dedication of the true Temple, which was the body of Jesus (John 2:19) *3
*3 Listen to a sermon by D.A. Carson on Jesus as the temple of God @ http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/a/Part-2-Jesus-the-Temple-of-God-John-213-25
The Origin of this Festival
From the hesitating language of Josephus (Antiq. xii. 7, 7), we infer that even in his time the real origin of the practice of illuminating the Temple was unknown. Tradition, indeed, has it that when in the restored Temple the sacred candlestick * was to be lit, only one flagon of oil, sealed with the signet of the high-priest, was found to feed the lamps.
* According to tradition, the first candlestick in that Temple was of iron, tinned over; the second of silver, and then only a golden one was procured.
This, then, was pure oil, but the supply was barely sufficient for one day—, lo, by a miracle, the oil increased, and the flagon remained filled for eight days, in memory of which it was ordered to illuminate for the same space of time the Temple and private houses. A learned Jewish writer, Dr. Herzfeld, suggests, that to commemorate the descent of fire from heaven upon the altar in the Temple of Solomon (2 Chron 7:1), 'the feast of lights' was instituted when the sacred fire was relit on the purified altar of the second Temple. But even so the practice varied in its details. Either the head of a house might light one candle for all the members of his family, or else a candle for each inmate, or if very religious he would increase the number of candles for each individual every evening, so that if a family of ten had begun the first evening with ten candles they would increase them the next evening to twenty, and so on, till on the eighth night eighty candles were lit. But here also there was a difference between the schools of Hillel and Shammai— former observing the practice as just described, the latter burning the largest number of candles the first evening, and so on decreasingly to the last day of the feast. On the Feast of the Dedication, as at Purim and New Moons, no public fast was to be kept, though private mourning was allowed.
.... But there cannot be a doubt that our blessed Lord Himself attended this festival at Jerusalem (John 10:22), on which occasion He told them plainly: 'I and My Father are one.' This gives it a far deeper significance than the rekindling of the fire on the altar, or even the connection of this feast with that of Tabernacles."
Here is a link to read the book online if you'd like to read more: philologos.org/__eb-ttms/
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