Proverbs 10:19
This sounds just like a Chinese fortune cookie!
But I guess, like so many other snippets of wisdom, it is.
It is way too easy to embroider the truth. Best to stick to the facts and then shut up.
OT Leviticus 22:17-23:44
This section names the feast days that the Israelites were to observe. We already know about Passover and Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement), but this list adds another, one we haven’t heard about yet. It is known as the Feast of the Tabernacles or The Feast of Booths. It is also called Sukkot.
During Sukkot which lasts for seven plus 2 days, the Jews are commanded to live in booths, so that they will remember the wandering in the desert when God brought them out of Egypt. It is a joyous time, a feast time. A small shelter is built with branches and a low bench. Many observant Jews sleep out there but most have their evening meal in the booth. It is a harvest festival and during Jesus’ time, a trip to Jerusalem to the Temple was usually in order.
The foods eaten are harvest foods – lots of fruits and vegetables especially stuffed vegetables to represent the abundant harvest. The cornucopia originated here.
The Mishnah which is a rabbinic commentary on the Torah, says that when the Messiah comes, all will live in booths and all will be in Jerusalem. That is why Peter wanted to build booths for Jesus, Elijah and Moses.
An interesting tidbit about Sukkot is that our American Thanksgiving may be modeled on the Jewish festival of Sukkot. The Pilgrims wanted a harvest festival and searching their Bibles, they found one.
NT Mark 9:30-10:12
Check out this video regarding our passage for today:
Tomorrow is a free day because Bible in a Year does not recognize Leap Year. I am not going to take the day off. Instead, I am going to read Judith in the Apocrypha. I also highly recommend 1st and 2nd Maccabees for a great intertestament book. It gives the basis for Hannukah.
You can find the books on the web – type in Book of Judith and you should find several translations.
Blessings to you.
Alfred and I always thought the idea of Thanksgiving came from the Indians. Very interesting. We continue to learn so much!
ReplyDeleteMany Americans, upon seeing a decorated sukkah for the first time, remark on how much the sukkah (and the holiday generally) reminds them of Thanksgiving. This may not be entirely coincidental: I was taught that our American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, borrowed the idea from Sukkot. The pilgrims were deeply religious people. When they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, they looked to the Bible for an appropriate way of celebrating and found Sukkot. This is not the standard story taught in public schools today (that a Thanksgiving holiday is an English custom that the Pilgrims brought over), but the Sukkot explanation of Thanksgiving fits better with the meticulous research of Mayflower historian Caleb Johnson, who believes that the original Thanksgiving was a harvest festival (as is Sukkot), that it was observed in October (as Sukkot usually is), and that Pilgrims would not have celebrated a holiday that was not in the Bible (but Sukkot is in the Bible). Although Mr. Johnson claims that the first Thanksgiving was "not a religious holiday or observance," he apparently means this in a Christian sense, because he goes on to say that the first Thanksgiving was instead "a harvest festival that included feasts, sporting events, and other activities," concepts very much in keeping with the Jewish religious observance of Sukkot.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Introduction/lessonplandebunk.php