Word of The Day: Holiday
A day of joy, a day of exemption from labor; a day of amusement.
What a beautiful description of the word holiday! Holidays or festivities go back to Bible times and sometimes certain holidays will be different from others and that will depend on the traditions of the country, the traditions of the culture, or the traditions of your religion. Some will take advantage of the holidays to spend that extra time with the family while others will use that time to gamble or get drunk; while one is good and the other is bad at the end of the day it is a personal choice.
The Jews have some really nice festivities and they literally stop to celebrate those wonderful festivities. One example is Yom Kippur which is a holiday to remind people to reconcile with others, with themselves, and with God. Miriam, Moses' sister gave us an example and that was to celebrate and praise God for the battles won.
As I was writing this post and was also doing my research about the Jewish holidays I came to find out that a lot of Jews celebrate their holidays without even knowing the story behind each holiday. That just made me really sad but if we are not careful we as Christians could fall under that same category of not teaching our children the meaning of Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter Sunday and so many other holidays… First and foremost, we have to remember that Jesus was Jewish who was taught by Joseph and Mary his parents to follow their traditions to the fullest. Traditions that later on were not going to be needed because those traditions were just a small representation of what was to come.
I love all the holidays of the year, but there is one of which I love to meditate on and that is Passover, for those of you who don't know what Passover is - it's basically about when Jews were slaves to Egypt for 400 years. God raised up a leader who was Moses who would free His people (Israel) from their slavery and God also prepared him for that days ahead.
Exodus 1:8
Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
Moses told Pharaoh on ten different occasions "Let my people go" the more he said it the more Pharaoh hardened his heart. Pharaoh refused to let God's people go on ten different occasions. God send Pharaoh ten different plagues and those were: 1. the waters turned into blood 2. the country flooded with frogs 3. Egyptians only were attacked by gnats or lice 4. flies 5. caused their animals to die 6. made people sick with boils on their skin 7. sent fire hailstones 8. lots of locust 9. darkness covered the land 10. around midnight the Lord would travel through the land of Egypt, every firstborn son would be killed from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the first of the slaves.
Exodus 8:1
And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
The tenth plague was the most significant for all the citizens of Egypt, the requirement to save the firstborn was that each man bring a perfect lamb and kill it on the 14th of the month. Then they would take the blood of the lamb and put it on the top and on the sides of the door frames of their houses and that day the Lord passed through Egypt and killed every firstborn, both men and animals, but the blood was the sign for them. when God saw the door frame with the blood, He passed over that house (Passover over them). In His grace, God was faithful not only to the Jews, but He also offered opportunity to the Egyptians. I don't know if an Egyptian followed God's commandment, but if that Egyptian did he also had the opportunity to save the life of a first-born. God kept His promises. His people were no longer enslaved after the death of Pharaoh's firstborn, Pharaoh let God's people go.
Exodus 11:4-5
And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
Exodus 12:30-32
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.
But the story does not end there, that was just a small representation of the greater act of redemption that was to come which was the birth of our Messiah, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. The blood represented the blood that one day was going to be shed by our Savior Jesus Christ on the Cross to save us from our sins and to give us eternal life in Heaven. Some Jews have the tradition to retell the story of the Exodus, meaning that they are no longer slaves to Pharaoh but Jesus provides the true freedom from our own sins and when He sets us free we are free there is no turning back. They also recite certain portions from the book of Exodus but History is still being written, the Messiah will once again return for His people and that is called the second coming. His suffering was professed in the book of Isaiah and this is why I love so much the Jewish holiday of the Passover since then the Lord has been telling of His love towards us the world which we don't deserve that great love.
Isaiah 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
As you are reading this post you are probably telling yourself that this holiday is so irrelevant to the upcoming holidays but with so much respect let me tell you that it is not. We in America pause to celebrate Thanksgiving Day because of some Christians who were saved by the blood of Jesus thought it was necessary for them to give thanks to the Lord for their first harvest in the New World in 1621. in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln thought it was necessary to commemorate this event as a Holiday for all families to pause and give thanks to our God and since 1941 Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month.
If you don't celebrate yet because you are from another country that did not celebrate this holiday, don't take it for granted Thanksgiving Day is a day to spend with loved ones, family, and friends. I know times are different nowadays especially with this pandemic that still going on but get some discernment, ask God to give you wisdom. This is not the moment to put your family in a bubble or to distant yourself from other members of your family. The devil is here to destroy every little good thing that comes from us and let's not let him get away with it. Enjoy Thanksgiving Day to the fullest. If you are reading this post there is still time and hope to get right with others just like the holiday of Yom Kippur that reminds Jews to reconcile with others, with themselves, and with God. My family enjoys the table setting with food, treats… we really go all out and try to make it big and spend the rest of the week eating leftovers :-) That is the tradition that follows after the Thanksgiving Day!
1 Thessalonians 5:18
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Psalms 50:14
Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
Conclusion: The holidays are just around the corner. Enjoy your family, find ways to show the love of Christ to others. Times are tough, but we, as Christians, must always focus on the good and recognize that this is not our home, our home is in heaven. My husband often times works with Jews and when it comes to their holidays they ask him questions regarding their holidays because many do not know the background of the Old Testament holidays because they have not read it. Let's not be like them, let's teach our children the reason for each holiday.
*Please let me know if this post has been a blessing to you through a comment, for it would be a blessing for me to know.
have added some verses down below for those who are not sure if heaven is your future home. Please share with me if you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior through this post. I will be happy to rejoice with you!
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:9–13
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