Biblical Feasts & Hanukkah ~ Part 1

Harrison got to light the candles on the 2nd night
of Hanukkah this year.  We enjoy lighting them as we
start dinner so that we can enjoy them, pray and read
while we eat. 

More than three years ago, the topic of the Biblical Feasts kept being put in front of me.  I wasn't searching.  In fact, I had never even really knew about them.  I had heard of them once or twice, but just assumed they were some Jewish cultural thing that really wasn't significant and didn't matter.  God wouldn't let up, though, and in different ways the Feasts just kept showing up, so I finally gave in and did what I love to do - read and search for "treasures".

What I found was really interesting.  I wasn't quite sure what it would practically mean to us, if anything, but I was enjoying the newfound knowledge and understanding of Bible history and Hebrew culture.  I tried to stay unbiased and just search the scriptures, along with other resources to see what I would find rather than trying to prove one point or the other.

The first thing I found was Leviticus 23.   Now quite frankly, Leviticus isn't a book of the Bible that I have ever spent any amount of time reading.  It's really pretty boring reading about all those mundane details of how, exactly, God wanted them to sacrifice, worship, create government, etc etc.  I never felt like any of that applied to us today anyway - so why spend the time reading and trying to figure it out?  But as I began to read this time, things began to stand out in a new way.  Three different times in this chapter, it repeats that these are a "feast to the Lord…It is a statute forever, throughout your generations".  

First of all, these are God's feasts.  His days ~ set up for His honor, to meet with His people and so that all those following Him would know and remember the things He wanted them to remember.  Interesting, right?  I began to have a long list of questions I wanted answered.  Secondly, that word 'forever' stood out to me.  Forever is forever - before and after Jesus.  I believe when God said it, He meant it - forever.  So if they were so important to Him and He wanted them celebrated forever, why didn't I know anything at. all. about them?  Something inside me wouldn't let it rest, and I kept searching.

1 Thess 5:21 says, "Test all things.  Hold fast to what is good."

Here are some questions for you ~ How well would you understand the Pilgrims without a Thanksgiving celebration?  Would you remember all the details of the story?  The names of the ships, how they came to America, the struggles they had, how they learned to plant corn and other food with the help of the Native Americans?  Would you remember their names, their dress, and what foods might have been on the table that first Thanksgiving?   Or, without the celebration, would the first Thanksgiving be just another point of history that you learned and let it quickly fade from your mind?

Maybe it's because my background is in education, but I think it's pretty amazing that God gave us a hands-on, participatory, FUN way to learn about "His Story" through His holy days!  When I realized that, I had an "A-ha Moment" of my own.  Well, of course He did it that way.  He created these brains of ours after all, and He knows best how they work and how we learn.  God is good!  He loves us and desires the we bury the truth of Him and His Word deep in our hearts.  I think He knew from the very beginning that we would need repititous, hands-on, enjoyable learning to get that accomplished.

In a nutshell, there are 7 feasts laid out in Leviticus that are to be celebrated and remembered forever. They are divided into two groups ~ the Spring Feasts & Fall Feasts.  Together, they literally symbolize and tell Christ's story from beginning to end.  In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul tells the Gentile believers that the holy days "are a shadow of things to come."  The Spring Feasts point to Christ's death, burial and resurrection.  Jesus was sacrificed for our sins on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread and rose again on Firstfruits.  The fall holidays are a picture of His first and second coming and the beginning of the Messianic reign of Christ.

Each feast is a huge opportunity to learn more about our Creator, our Savior and His plan for us.  Why waste it?  Each one is filled with details that are absolutely and incredibly amazing to me.  We learn more every year.  They've quickly become very dear to our hearts.  I hope that even if you don't share our feelings about the Feasts, that you'll learn a thing or two about scripture this week that will inspire you to dig for some treasures of your own.