{"id":18464,"date":"2021-11-09T22:00:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/leviticus_23_15-25-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-11-04T23:18:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T06:18:26","slug":"leviticus_23_26-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/leviticus_23_26-44\/","title":{"rendered":"So Many Reasons to Give Thanks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leviticus 23:26-44\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Leviticus 23:26-44.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Leviticus 23:26-32 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses,
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0by fire.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day.
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 26-32:\u00a0\u00a0Verses 26-32 describe the Day of Atonement, a day when the people remembered how God atoned for their sins so that they could be forgiven.\u00a0\u00a0Why was God so strict about people not doing any work on the Day of Atonement?\u00a0\u00a0In part it was to emphasize that\u00a0we cannot work for and earn our atonement.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, our atonement was and is God\u2019s work, something He does on our behalf so that we could receive it freely.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.\u201d (Ephesians 2:8-9).<\/p>\n

Leviticus 23:33-44 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses,
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the\u00a0LORD’s Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days.
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work.
\n36\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For seven days present offerings made to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work.
\n37\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0(“‘These are the\u00a0LORD’s appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing offerings made to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0by fire–the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day.
\n38\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0These offerings are in addition to those for the\u00a0LORD’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the\u00a0LORD.)
\n39\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest.
\n40\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God for seven days.
\n41\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Celebrate this as a festival to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month.
\n42\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths
\n43\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God.'”
\n44\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the\u00a0LORD.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 33-44:\u00a0\u00a0The biggest party of the Jewish calendar year was called the Feast of Tabernacles, a 7 day celebration described in\u00a0Leviticus\u00a023:34-44.\u00a0 It was so big and popular people just called it the “Feast” (e.g. John 7:37).\u00a0 People were to celebrate this festival by moving out of their normal homes and going camping in tents decorated with tree branches (Lev\u00a023:40, 42-43).<\/p>\n

God instituted the Feast of Tabernacles as a way for the Jews to celebrate the entire year of harvest (Lev\u00a023:39), to commemorate how their ancestors had wandered in the wilderness in tents (Lev\u00a023:43) and to simply be refreshed and have fun (“rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days”) (Lev\u00a023:40).<\/p>\n

Later on the Jews added other traditions to the Feast.\u00a0 For example, during the Feast the Jews would draw water from the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem and pour it on the altar.\u00a0 It was their way of remembering how\u00a0God drew water from a rock to quench His people’s thirst\u00a0when they were wandering in the desert (Numbers 20).\u00a0 With that in mind, we can appreciate better why Jesus, on the last day of the Feast, stood up and shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink…and streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-39)<\/p>\n

From the Feast of Tabernacles, we can learn three important lessons:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0God wants us to take time each year to rest, get refreshed and celebrate by doing something we don’t normally do.\u00a0 Vacation is a godly thing!\u00a0 Joy is a God thing!<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0God wants us to remember and appreciate the experiences of our ancestors.<\/strong>\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget where you came from and the sacrifices that your ancestors made to make your life today possible.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Only Jesus is the true living water, and only in Him do we find lasting satisfaction and true refreshing.<\/strong>\u00a0 Whoever drinks the water Jesus gives will never thirst again (John 4:14).<\/p>\n

Thank You Jesus for giving us reason to celebrate and be glad.\u00a0 Thank You for\u00a0<\/em>commanding<\/em>\u00a0Your people to celebrate and rejoice.\u00a0 It shows what a joyful, refreshing, fun and big hearted God you are, that You want us Your people to be refreshed and full of joy.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Leviticus 23:26-44.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Leviticus 23:26-32 (NIV)
\n26\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses,
\n27\u00a0\u00a0“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0by fire.
\n28\u00a0\u00a0Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God.
\n29\u00a0\u00a0Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people.
\n30\u00a0\u00a0I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day.
\n31\u00a0\u00a0You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
\n32\u00a0\u00a0It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”<\/p>\n

On verses 26-32:\u00a0\u00a0Verses 26-32 describe the Day of Atonement, a day when the people remembered how God atoned for their sins so that they could be forgiven.\u00a0\u00a0Why was God so strict about people not doing any work on the Day of Atonement?\u00a0\u00a0In part it was to emphasize that\u00a0we cannot work for and earn our atonement.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, our atonement was and is God\u2019s work, something He does on our behalf so that we could receive it freely.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.\u201d (Ephesians 2:8-9).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18468,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18464"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18465,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18464\/revisions\/18465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}