As Americans, we continue to celebrate that
first Thanksgiving for our continued freedom and the bounty that we continue to
strive for and enjoy. But long before the Pilgrims came to the Americas, there
had been another Thanksgiving celebrated on another shore and country. That
Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated by the Israelites as they moved into their
promised land. A land that promised freedom from bondage and a land that would
provide for them a refuge and safe haven to worship their God in the way that
He was requiring them to. A land that was abundant in its rich resources.
Unlike the manna that they had been eating for forty years as they wondered in
a complete circle waiting for what God was promising them.
Manna was a substance that God gave them miraculously to keep them alive and while it was abundant, God restricted their use of it by not allowing them to store it. They were only allowed to eat what they needed to survive. At first they did not even know what it was! The very word manna means “What is it?” the Manna sustained them and they received nourishment from it, but it was not a permanent substance.
God’s manna was never intended to satisfy the Children of Israel, but was intended to keep them alive until they reached the place where the good stuff was! While the manna was sweet and wonderful at first…they eventually murmured and complained about it, saying, “our soul loathes this light bread”. You see while it kept them alive, it never satisfied them. They found no lasting joy in it. God used the Land of Canaan or the Promise Land as a place where His promises of spiritual blessings and joy could be experienced and enjoyed, when the time was right.
God had told them in Deuteronomy 26 as they stepped over into the promised land that it would flow with milk and honey, and to show their gratitude, they were to take the first fruits of the ground, place them in a basket and take it to the priest to give honor to God as a thanksgiving offering for their bounty and blessings.
Like the Israelites before them, the Pilgrims also wanted to show their gratitude for the bounty that they had received and from their deliverance from hunger that they would have continued to experience had God not intervened on their behalf and taught them how to survive in the new land. For the Israelites, their thanksgiving was understood and seen as an act of God as He delivered them from their bondage in Egypt as He brought them into their new land that flowed with milk and honey symbolizing the good things that God was offering His people if they would follow Him (for many died in the dessert and were not allowed to enter the promise land because of their complaining).
The Pilgrims gave thanks for a similar deliverance which came to them during those first years on the North American shore. They too were delivered from religious bondage that kept them from worshipping in the way that they felt God was leading them to and from hunger by a good summer’s crop, from war through peacefully living with the Indians, and protection from the cold by building strong sturdy homes. Those deliverance's brought thanksgiving into all their hearts.
I am reminded today that whenever God delivers me from my land of bondage, He delivers me into another land that always flows with milk and honey. A land of deliverance and promise if I will dare to be set apart and be His people. “But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that flows with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which has separated you from other people.” Leviticus 20:24
Earlier this past week, I had made a list of the things that I am most grateful for. But today my thoughts are pondering on being thankful for those things I have been delivered from and even those things that I will not have to experience; because He has or will spare me from them. I too am a blessed Pilgrim, as I think about the land that I myself have traveled from and the new land that I have entered!
Praise Him for it all!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Everyone!
Love you so much,
Bren
Manna was a substance that God gave them miraculously to keep them alive and while it was abundant, God restricted their use of it by not allowing them to store it. They were only allowed to eat what they needed to survive. At first they did not even know what it was! The very word manna means “What is it?” the Manna sustained them and they received nourishment from it, but it was not a permanent substance.
God’s manna was never intended to satisfy the Children of Israel, but was intended to keep them alive until they reached the place where the good stuff was! While the manna was sweet and wonderful at first…they eventually murmured and complained about it, saying, “our soul loathes this light bread”. You see while it kept them alive, it never satisfied them. They found no lasting joy in it. God used the Land of Canaan or the Promise Land as a place where His promises of spiritual blessings and joy could be experienced and enjoyed, when the time was right.
God had told them in Deuteronomy 26 as they stepped over into the promised land that it would flow with milk and honey, and to show their gratitude, they were to take the first fruits of the ground, place them in a basket and take it to the priest to give honor to God as a thanksgiving offering for their bounty and blessings.
Like the Israelites before them, the Pilgrims also wanted to show their gratitude for the bounty that they had received and from their deliverance from hunger that they would have continued to experience had God not intervened on their behalf and taught them how to survive in the new land. For the Israelites, their thanksgiving was understood and seen as an act of God as He delivered them from their bondage in Egypt as He brought them into their new land that flowed with milk and honey symbolizing the good things that God was offering His people if they would follow Him (for many died in the dessert and were not allowed to enter the promise land because of their complaining).
The Pilgrims gave thanks for a similar deliverance which came to them during those first years on the North American shore. They too were delivered from religious bondage that kept them from worshipping in the way that they felt God was leading them to and from hunger by a good summer’s crop, from war through peacefully living with the Indians, and protection from the cold by building strong sturdy homes. Those deliverance's brought thanksgiving into all their hearts.
I am reminded today that whenever God delivers me from my land of bondage, He delivers me into another land that always flows with milk and honey. A land of deliverance and promise if I will dare to be set apart and be His people. “But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that flows with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which has separated you from other people.” Leviticus 20:24
Earlier this past week, I had made a list of the things that I am most grateful for. But today my thoughts are pondering on being thankful for those things I have been delivered from and even those things that I will not have to experience; because He has or will spare me from them. I too am a blessed Pilgrim, as I think about the land that I myself have traveled from and the new land that I have entered!
Praise Him for it all!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Everyone!
Love you so much,
Bren
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