Thank God!

Leviticus 23:1-8

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.

For six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.

These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover-offering to the Lord, and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations.

The passage for today’s reading is the beginning of a series of Festivals that the Israelites were supposed to celebrate.  These festivals were the three listed today, as well as the Day of Atonement, Purim, Feast of Weeks, etc.  Wait a second did I just type three festivals listed today?  Aren’t there just two?

Well, no, not quite.  Take a look.  The first is the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was deemed to be a weekly “festival” of sorts.  It was a time when work was not supposed to be done, so that the family or individual could celebrate all that God has done in that person/persons life.  It was a moment to take time to thank God and rest with God’s word.  We often forget that many of these festivals revolved around celebrating the accomplishments of God.  The Sabbath would be included in that one.  God provided blessings throughout the week such as work, family, a home, etc.  The Sabbath was a time to recognize and thank God for those blessings through a focus on him rather than anything that might distract.  It was a time to rest too after a long week.

The second festival was Passover.  Celebrated as the text reads, the 14th day of the first month.  For those who were reading, the first month would be our March/April, don’t forget we are working from different calendars.  Many people when reading the Old Testament impose the Gregorian calendar onto the Old Testament calendar, when they would have been following a much different calendar as well as time passage.  But, back to the point.  Passover was a one day event where the people would celebrate and reflect on the freedom that they have been given by God from Egypt.  Again, it was a day to thank God for all that he did for their people.  It reminded the people about Moses and the gift of God.

The Festival of Unleavened Bread which was on the 15th of the month and lasted one week, was to celebrate the harvest of the year.  I originally thought it would be to celebrate the manna that was given in the desert, but it was a harvest festival.  The point was to thank God for all that he had provided from the ground.

Eventually, Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread would become one Festival.  We see this already in the time of Jesus.

So, what can we learn from this Leviticus text.  I guess the lesson for me is not to lose site of celebrating all that God has done in our lives.  Too often we pat ourselves on the back, each other, our investments, but how often do we thank God.  All of these festivals were around thanking God for all that he did.  Whether it was a weekly festival or one that happened once a year.  Thanking God was central.  How have you thanked God recently?

Let us pray.

Good sweet Lord, Thank you for all you have done in our lives.  Help us to give you praise always.  Help us to see you in all that we have been given.  Amen

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