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Thanksgiving Day: The Reenactment of Israel’s First Passover in Canaan (Part Two)
| Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:13 PM |
comments (1)
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Text: Joshua 5:10-12
In Part One of this
sermon, I proposed that the Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America is
the reenactment of Israel’s first Passover celebration in Canaan. My conviction stems from the fact that Israel
and America have lots in common. Both
were delivered from slavery: Through Moses and Aaron God saved Israel from
slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. America was founded as a
result of Christian men and women who were enslaved by a new law enacted in
England. The law required every subject of the kingdom to be a member of the Church
of England. Those who were opposed to this unbiblical law became enemies to the
kingdom.
The
militant Protestants/Puritans were in complete religious slavery.
Like Moses, God raised up William Bradford, and others, who became leaders and
lead them to the new Land of Liberty via Holland. Having discussed the
commonality with regard to slavery and possession of the land in Part One, the
next and final point is that both celebrated a feast with the first
produce of the land.
Third,
both celebrated a feast with the first produce of the land praising God for His
provisions and blessings upon them. The people of Israel had never previously farmed
the land. During the warfare, many
people of Canaan, in fear of the Israelites, took refuge in Jericho. They left
their barns and fields, and all that was in them. These served for the subsistence of this
great army headed by Joshua, son of Nun. M. Henry affirms,[2]
Verses 11-12 read, “The day after the Passover, that
very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and
roasted grain. The manna stopped the day
after they ate this food from the land; ....” It was now time for them to
return to the curse of Adam and his descendants: “… It [that is the ground]
will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the
field. By the sweat of your brow, you
will eat your food until you return to the ground…” (Gen 3:17-19).
Initially those who
escaped the religious persecution in England did not enter the new land with
warfare like the Israelites, though it developed later. They were trained by some of the indigenous
people how to farm the land and hunt, and how to do successful fishing on the
river for their subsistence. History
tells us that during the harvest, a great Thanksgiving feast was held (-click
on this link http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/videos
for details). Probably
not all the staples we use in America for Thanksgiving basket were the very
food items they used then. However, I understand that Thanksgiving food varies
from country to country. For example, in
Liberia, 95 percent of the people prepare special food from their regular
produce of the land. Five percent of Liberians that have traveled in America do
purchase turkeys and use a traditional Thanksgiving meal as is done in the
United States. I believe this unique celebration
was the reenactment of Israel’s first Passover in the Promised Land. These men
knew their Scripture and reflected on this fact. They remembered that, in the
same way God guided the Israelites, in spite of their stubbornness, He also
guided them through the storms of the sea, gave them favor with some of the
indigenous people, and were now in their new home with religious freedom, with
Liberty and Justice for all. In the Congress, July 4, 1776, the unanimous
declaration of the thirteen United States of America declared, “We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As we celebrate the Thanksgiving
Day this week, I have something to thank God for. I praise God for:
I believe Israel, and
the Pilgrims had something to thank God for: They praised Him for delivering
them from slaveries: For Israel, from Egypt to the Promised Land, and the
Pilgrims, from England to this land of Liberty. In some part of Africa, the
people believe that having a meal is a form of worship. Therefore, a man would invite a friend thus:
“Come and join me in talking with God.” Who are you inviting at your Thanksgiving
table? Happy Thanksgivings!
Special appeal: If my weekly Journal has been
a blessing to you, please forward it to those in your e-mail as well as your
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access to my Journal’s achieve which contains some scholarly articles. [1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Church_of_England
accessed November 21, 2012. [2] M. Henry.
(1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the
whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume (Peabody: Hendrickson,
1994) Josh 5:10–12. |
