Going Old School: Party Time!

It can never be said about God that He doesn’t want His people to enjoy their lives and the fruits of their labors.  To the contrary, God wants us to enjoy life to the fullest!  In Leviticus 23, in addition to Sabbath given every seventh day, God gives the people several national holidays for celebration, fellowship, and worship.  He wanted to set aside special days for the people to come together for rest, refreshment, and to remember and give thanks for all that He had given them.  Much can be learned from the way people celebrate their holidays.  What do your holiday traditions say about you and your values?  Do your holidays and celebrations reflect your relationship with God, or are they all about you?

The Festival of Unleavened Bread (vv. 5-8)
God established the Festival of Unleavened Bread to remind Israel of their great escape from Egypt.  For seven days they ate unleavened bread, just as their ancestors had done before leaving Egypt.  The symbolism of the unleavened bread (bread made without yeast) was important to the Israelites.  The bread itself was very unique, and i marked the Israelites as unique among all the nations.  They were God’s people, chosen to reflect Him to everyone in the world!  Also, yeast was a symbol for sin, so yeastless bread would show Israel’s moral purity (another good example to the world).  Of course, since there was no yeast in the bread and the baker didn’t need to wait for it to rise, the bread could be made quickly.  This reminded the Israelites to obey quickly, as their ancestors had when then left Egypt quickly.

Celebration of First Harvest (vv. 9-14)
The First Harvest Festival required that the first of the harvested crops be offered to God.  The Israelites were not allowed to eat any of their harvest until the offering was made.  We may not all be farmers any more, but God still expects us to put His portion aside first (the first-fruits of our labor) to express our thanks to Him for providing for us.  Just giving leftovers isn’t really showing that much thanks, is it?  What are your “first-fruits” today and how to you thank God for them?

The Festival of Harvest (Festival of Weeks) (vv. 15-22) - Shavuat
This was a celebration of the harvest itself, held seven weeks after the First Harvest Festival.  The people celebrate with God, and they were forbidden from working any more in the fields on this special Sabbath day.  Also, in v. 22, God once again reiterates to the people that they are not to pick up grain that they’ve dropped harvesting their field, it is to be left for the poor and needy among the Israelites.  The Harvest Festival could thus be shared and celebrated among all the people, not just the rich!

The Festival of Trumpets (vv. 23-25) – Rosh Hashanah
This festival is traditionally held as the “new year” celebration for people, animals, and legal contracts.  Jews believe that this holiday also denotes the Creation of the World.

The Day of Atonement (vv. 26-32) – Yom Kippur
This was the most holy day of the year for the Jewish people (and still is today).  Yom Kippur occurrs nine days after the Festival of Trumpets.  Most Jews observe Yom Kippur with 25-hours of fasting and prayer, to atone for their sins.  The ancient Israelites also gathered at the Tabernacle and the priests made sacrifices to God to atone the people’s sins as a nation.  The people were forbidden to work on Yom Kippur, and they were to treat it as a Sabbath if it did not fall on Sabbath.

The Festival of Shelters (vv. 33-43) – Sukkot
The Festival of Shelters (or Tabernacles, or Booths) also called Festival of Final Harvest (Ex. 23:16) or Festival of Ingathering (Deut. 16:13-14)was a celebration that involved the whole family!  Like the Passover, the festival showed family members of all ages God’s character and and everything He had done for them.  It was also a time when the whole family renewed their commitment to God.  Our families celebrate similar rituals today, to renew our faith and pass it on to our children.  Other than Christmas and Easter, what else does your family do to celebrate and commemorate God’s goodness?

Worship doesn’t just involve confession and solemn rule keeping, it involves celebration too!  In Israel’s holidays, the balance is way more in favor of celebration than towards confession: 5 celebrations and 2 solemn holidays.  God encourages joy, and if He intended for our worship of Him to just be meditation and introspection, He would have created more solemn holidays than joyous ones.  Serious reflection and confessing our sins is always important,  but it needs to be balanced by celebrating who God is and what He has done for you!

Encounter: Will you take some time to celebrate what God has done in your life?  The lives of your friends and family?