Hi how are you today? I am well and have just spent two weeks on holiday. There is something about a holiday that we all need, even if only for a week. What is your favourite place to holiday?
So where was my holiday? On a beautiful cruise to Fiji. Cruises are the best holidays as they force you to totally relax. Someone cooks and cleans for you – you really don’t have to do anything, except your washing ( unless you pay to have it done).
So if holidays are good for us, are they God ordained. I believe they are.
In the Old Testament, under Moses, God instituted different feasts for his children to follow. All the men had to go at least three times a year to attend these feasts. They were not only a time of remembering or celebrating certain things, most were full of feasting and no work.
Let’s look at them one by one. They are all found in Deuteronomy 16. There are deeper meanings to them all but I just want to look at them in the context of holidays or holy days.
But first, let’s look at the verse where God commanded them to attend these feasts. It is verse 16 and states in the NIV Bible:
Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed:
The first one is the Passover followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These are on the 14th and 15th to 21st days of the first month. The Passover starts at twilight then the feast starts the next day.
The Israelites are to eat unleavened bread for seven days and rest on the 15th and 21st day.
This is in addition to the Sabbath rest if the Sabbath doesn’t fall on those days.
The second feast is the feast of weeks. This feast occurs seven weeks after the harvest starts.
This was also a day of celebrating and not doing any work.
The last one is the Feast of Tabernacles which is for seven days.
This is a sacred feast for seven days to celebrate the end of the harvest.
These were rest times and celebration for the Israelites.
All the men were required to attend these three feasts every year and were required to travel to the temple in Jerusalem.
God had an even greater rest period for them all. Every seventh year was to be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land but also for the people. They weren’t allowed to sow crops or prune vines. They were to eat whatever the ground produced. This was sort of like the Garden of Eden.
Then every fiftieth year, the same would happen again. They would literally go two years without sowing crops or planting vineyards.
God created these times of rest and celebration for the Israelites. If He created it for them, it is probably important for us too- to rest and recharge and remember Who our provider and sustainer is.
The next time you go on holidays, have a rest in God and see what He wants to impart to you.
It will be worth it.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
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