Jews in Jerusalem wrote a letter to Jews living in Egypt. They prayed that God would bless them, remember his promises, and bring them together. They reminded the Egyptian Jews about a past crisis when enemies had burned things and caused trouble. They asked them to celebrate a festival in the month of Kislev.
A second letter was also included. In it, the Jews told a wonderful story about how God rescued them. A powerful king named Antiochus tried to steal treasure from a temple in Persia. The priests tricked him inside, then dropped stones from above and killed him. The Jews said this was God's blessing.
The letter also told a story from long ago. When Jewish priests were taken away to Persia as captives, some of them secretly hid a fire from the altar. Years later, when Nehemiah was allowed to go back and rebuild the temple, he sent people to find that fire. They only found a thick liquid instead.
When Nehemiah had the liquid poured on the offering and the sun came out from behind the clouds, a great fire burst up and burned the sacrifice. Everyone was amazed. Nehemiah prayed to God asking him to gather his scattered people and protect them. The king of Persia heard about the miracle and set aside the place as sacred. This special liquid was called Naphthar, which means purification.
Historical Context
This chapter contains two letters. The first was written around 124 BC, and the second around 164 BC. They were sent to Jewish people who had moved to Egypt. Many Jews lived in Egypt at this time, and the Jerusalem community wanted to keep them connected to the temple and its festivals.
The second letter talks about events from around 165 BC, when Judas Maccabeus and others had just purified the temple after it was defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. The Hanukkah festival came out of these events. The miracle fire story pointed back even further to the time of Nehemiah, connecting the past to the present to show God's faithfulness.
