An Ancient Act of Thanksgiving
The act of celebrating a harvest festival is as old as time.
We read of one such feast 3000 years ago. "When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you," begins Deuteronomy 26. Take some of the first fruit from the fields of your new home and offer them to the LORD and remember how your God brought you here. Rejoice - have a feast - you, and the people without land of their own, and the foreigners living in your midst.
This celebration comes as Israel celebrates its first harvest in the land of promise. That ritual sounds more than a little familiar as we celebrate our national holiday of Thanksgiving.
But pay attention to some of the words of this story: wandering, mistreatment, suffering, misery, toil, and oppression. The Israelites' story is not one of "winning the lottery." It's the story of a people on a journey.
The children of Abraham wandered through the land Canaan, living on the fringes of civilization. Then they went down to Egypt, where they were made into slaves. Then they escaped and lived in the desert. They endured this difficult journey because they believed God had promised them a glorious future. They believed God had called them to be his people.
When the Israelites celebrated their first harvest in Canaan land, it was a celebration of God's promise, presence and power that had brought them to this place. And yet, even this was not the end of the journey. The author of Deuteronomy says that the Israelites offered the "first fruits" . There was more to be produced. This was end of one phase of their life in God, and the beginning of yet another.
A pilgrim is a person on a long journey. While it's not a word that we normally apply to the people of Israel, it's perfectly appropriate. In describing Abraham and the Old Testament heroes of faith, the author of Hebrews says:
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:13-16)
God's people are always pilgrims. At points along the way, it's good to remember how God has blessed us on the journey, and to share these blessings with others.
Related:
A Pilgrim Thanksgiving
Proclaiming a Day of National Thanksgiving
- (Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation)
Thanksgiving in Time of Conflict and Struggle
- (Lincoln and Thanksgiving in 1863)
