The Thanksgiving Feast
1 Thessalonians 5:18
INTRODUCTION: The first American Thanksgiving didn’t occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with a group of friendly Indians. The first recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it wasn’t a feast. The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60. The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come. When help arrived, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.
***Did you know that Thanksgiving may be the most Biblical of all holidays?
We often think of Christmas as being the most “Christian” holiday, and in a way it is: We are celebrating the birth of the Christ. But in terms of how special days were celebrated, Thanksgiving is much more Biblical.
The Old Testament talks about special days set aside for events. In fact there are seven feasts that mark special occasions in the scripture.
• Feast of Unleavened Bread - (Hag Ha Matzah)
*** A week of eating bread made without yeast (Matzah),
to remember how God brought the Isrealites out of Egypt in haste.
• First Fruits - Yom HaBikkurim
*** Known as the Feast of First Fruits. Presenting a sheaf of the first harvest. This was the Harvest Offering on the First day after the Sabbath after Passover.
• Shavuoth - (Feast of Weeks - Pentecost)
*** Celebrates the time of the giving of the Law to Moses on
Mount Sinai. Offering Fifty Days (hence: Pentecost) after Passover.
• Rosh Hashanah - (Feast of Trumpets) “The Jewish New Year”
*** Celebrates the beginning of the Jewish Civil year. It is both a time of rejoicing as well as a holy occasion. The Shofar (Ram’s horn Trumpets are blown to proclaim a gathering for worship.
o Yom Kippur - (Day of Atonement)
*** Is the holiest day of the Jewish year. Sacrifices for sins of the nation were made.
• Succoth - (Feast of Tabernacles/Booths)
*** Recalls 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, living in tents (booths) and worshiping in a portable tabernacle.
• Pesach (Passover)
*** Remembers the Exodus from Egypt. Remember Israel’s
deliverance from Egypt.
Each of these feasts were marked by four things. They share amazing similarities to our feast of Thanksgiving.
I. Gathering of Community
a. Everyone in the nation would take part in these holidays
i. The community would stop in observance
ii. All focus was on the special occasion
b. Thanksgiving gathers us together as a community. This is important because it involves:
i. Coming together (the definition of community)
o Illustration: “Not only your family” On Thursday it will not only be your family that stops to give thanks. Millions of Americans will focus on the occasion. Most businesses and shops will not be open in honor of the important day.
o The community will come together for a celebration, each home celebrating in their own way
ii. Service to others (the power of community)
o The cooks of the home often get started on the Thanksgiving feast hours (sometimes days) before the actual event
o They offer a service to their community/family
iii. Love for others (the spirit of community)
II. Giving of Thanks
a. During each of these feasts the nation of Israel would pray and rejoice to God for all of His blessings
i. Listen to this text referring to the feast of weeks
ii. Deuteronomy 16:11 “You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.”
iii. Everyone in the community, mother, father, son and daughter – took the time to rejoice and give thanks for God’s blessings
b. Illustration: “Giving thanks is really a lost art” A ministerial student in Evanston, Illinois, was part of a life-saving squad. In 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.
i. Most of us forget to give God thanks
o Illustration “Thank God for that which is truly wonderful” A teacher asked her students to list what they thought were the present Seven Wonders of the World. The students cast the most votes for:
1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter’s Basilica
7. China’s Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not turned in her paper yet. She asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list.
The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."
The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
1. to see
2. to hear
3. to touch
4. to taste
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. to love – These are the truly wondrous things, and they were all given to us as gifts from God
ii. We often forget to give thanks because we forget why we should, which is the third mark of these feasts:
III. Remembrance
a. Each feast brought the things of God to mind in a specific way
b. This included remembering His Law, His forgiveness and His presence
i. Feast of Unleavened Bread – Remembered the exodus from Egypt
ii. First Fruits – Remembered the responsibility of giving God their best
iii. Feast of Weeks – Remembered the giving of the Law
iv. Feast of Trumpets – Remembered to gather for worship
v. Day of Atonement – Remembered God’s forgiveness
vi. Feast of Tabernacles – Remembered the wilderness wanderings
vii. Passover – Remembered the Lord’s sparing of the Israelite first born in Egypt
c. Thanksgiving brings to mind God’s blessing on our nation which was founded on the principles of the Bible
i. Our country was not founded on religion
ii. It was founded on the Gospel of Jesus Christ
d. Thanksgiving is expressively Biblical when God is at the center of our thanks
IV. Feast (The best part of the Thanksgiving tradition)
a. In every Old Testament holiday there was an accompanying feast
i. Some, like Passover, are laden with symbolism
ii. The blood of the lamb, the unleavened bread, all of which had important significance
b. It amazes me sometimes how important food is in Scripture as a representation
i. Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of life and as Living Water
ii. Heaven is symbolized by a wedding feast
iii. ***In fact Jesus’ first miracle was at a marriage supper
c. The greatest feast we share as Christians is the Lord’s Supper.
i. We gather together as a community of believers
ii. We thank God for the sacrifice of His Son
iii. We remember the promise we have through Him
CONCLUSION: The feasts of the Old Testament were not only looking backward, but also looking forward to the coming of Christ. They were a shadow of things to come.
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is Christ’s.” Col 2.16-17
Illustration “The Shadow to Come” Imagine Jesus approaching you with the sun behind Him. Even before Jesus reaches you, you will see His approaching shadow. Thus, as shown by this verse, a feast functions like a *Shadow* of things to come.
o Feast of Unleavened Bread – A picture of our salvation through Christ from the bondage of sin
o First Fruits – Pictures Jesus’ resurrection: He is "the firstfruits" from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20,35)
o Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) – Holy Spirit was given the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection
o Feast of Trumpets – Representative of The Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when the final trumpet shall blow
o Day of Atonement – Christ fulfilled our needed atonement on the cross by becoming our perfect sacrifice
o Feast of Tabernacles – Picture of the church age, which we are in now; We will one day shed these tabernacles (bodies) for our eternal place with God
o Passover – A wonderful picture of Christ, our Passover lamb
