THANKSGIVING
By DR. ELIAS E. HIDALGO
THANKSGIVING DAY
THANKSGIVING DAY IS INDEED A UNIQUE CELEBRATION WITHIN OUR COUNTRY (U.S.A.), AS A DAY IN WHICH WE OFFER OUR INDIVIDUAL GRATITUDE FOR THE BOUNTY AND BLESSING THAT IS BESTOWED UPON US AS A RESULT OF GOD’S BENEFICENCE UPON OUR LAND.
NOW, THIS DAY SHOULD BE ONE OF GIVING OF THANKS, DID YOU GET THAT, GIVING OF THANKS. WHERE DID ALL OF THIS BEGIN?
WELL, SOME MAY SAY
WELL, SOME MAY SAY WHEN THE PILGRIMS TOUCHED THESE SHORES AND ELEVATED THEIR PRAYERS OF THANKS BEFORE GOD, WHILE OTHERS MAY SAY, THAT, THROUGH HARD AND EARNEST WORK OF OUR FORE FATHERS, THAT’S WHAT PAVED THE WAY FOR US TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF THEIR LABORS TODAY IN THANKSGIVING.
WE, AT SHALOM SCRIPTURE STUDIES
WE, AT SHALOM SCRIPTURE STUDIES ALWAYS GO BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD FOR DIRECTION IN KNOWING THE ‘GENESIS’ (BEGINNINGS) OF ALL THAT SURROUNDS US TODAY, SUCH AS, CREATION, CONTINUATION, AND CONSUMMATION.
IN BETWEEN WHAT WE HOLD SACRED, I.E., CONCEPTION, BIRTH, LIFE, LABOR AND DEATH THERE IS THE MATTER OF OBEDIENCE TO EL SHADDAI (THE ALMIGHTY GOD).
IN OUR SEARCH
IN OUR SEARCH FOR THE FIRST MENTION OF THANKSGIVING IN SCRIPTURES, WE FIND IT IN LEVITICUS 7: 12, ‘IF HE OFFER IT FOR A THANKSGIVING, THEN HE SHALL OFFER WITH THE SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING UNLEAVENED CAKES MINGLED WITH OIL, AND UNLEAVENED WAFERS ANOINTED WITH OIL, AND CAKES MINGLED WITH OIL, OF FINE FLOUR, FRIED.’
DURING THE SACRIFICIAL TIME IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE LORD GOD REQUIRED OF IT’S ADHERENTS OFFERINGS OR SACRIFICES OF THANKS AND THEY HAD TO BE IN A PRECISE ORDER AND MANNER.
LET US NOTICE
LET US NOTICE, THAT FIRST OF ALL THEY WERE TO BRING UNLEAVENED CAKES MINGLED WITH OIL. AS YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW THAT ‘LEAVEN’ AS MENTIONED IN THE WORD OF GOD, TYPIFIES AND SYMBOLIZES THE ASPECT OF ‘SIN’, THEREFORE, IN THE MATTER OF GIVING THANKS, IT MUST BE ELEVATED BEFORE THE LORD WITH A PURE AND ‘SINLESS’ HEART. SECONDLY, IT MUST BE MINGLED WITH OIL, WHICH IS A PICTURE OF THE RUACH HA-KODESH (THE HOLY SPIRIT), WHO PERMEATES THE ENTIRE SACRIFICE AND IN A PHYSICAL SENSE ALLOWS THE DOUGH TO BE PLIABLE AND TASTY TO THE TASTE, ESPECIALLY, ‘A SACRIFICE ACCEPTABLE, WELLPLEASING TO GOD’ (PHILIPPIANS 4: 18C).
AND, LASTLY, IT WAS TO BE FRIED, YUMMY. NOW IF YOU JUST THINK OF IT, THE CAKES WERE FRIED AND PRESENTED BEFORE THE LORD, IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE A DUNKING DONUT, WITHOUT THE LEAVEN!
LIKEWISE, OUR SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING BEFORE THE LORD CAN ACTUALLY BE A TIME OF JOY, AS WE REMEMBER THE UNIQUE AMERICAN HOLIDAY OF: ‘THANKSGIVING’.
BY THE WAY
BY THE WAY, THE LAST MENTION OF THANKSGIVING IN SCRIPTURE IS FOUND IN PHILIPPIANS 4: 6, ‘BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING; BUT IN EVERY THING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITH THANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE KNOWN UNTO GOD’.
YOU SEE, THERE IS A PHYSICAL TIME OF THANKSGIVING AS WELL AS FOR A SPIRITUAL TIME OF THANKSGIVING.
THE KEY INGREDIENT
THE KEY INGREDIENT THAT THE LORD REQUIRES OF US IN OUR SPIRITUAL THANKS IS, IN EVERY THING THERE NEEDS TO BE ‘PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION’. THE MATTER OF PRAYER AND OUR TOTAL RELIANCE UPON HIM MUST BE THE KEY IN PRESENTING OURSELVES BEFORE THE LORD WITH JOY, JOY AND MORE JOY. A GOOD REMINDER OF THAT BEAUTIFUL ENGLISH WORD ‘JOY’ IS,
FIRST GIVE ALL MATTERS TO ‘JESUS’, THEN CONSIDER ‘OTHERS’ NEXT, AND LASTLY PLACE ‘YOU’ (YOURSELF) IN COMPLETE DEVOTION AND DEDICATION TO GOD THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT, THEN, YOU AND I WILL HAVE A MOST BLESSED DAY (AND YEAR) OF THANKSGIVING.
WE ALSO CONTINUE
WE ALSO CONTINUE LOOKING IN SCRIPTURE FOR THE FIRST MENTION IN OUR STUDIES OF THE WORD THANKSGIVING WHICH RELATES TO AND OR IS SPOKEN BY OUR BLESSED AND BELOVED SAVIOUR, Y’SHUA HA-MASSHIACH ADONAI (THE LORD JESUS CHRIST). AND THAT IS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF MATTHEW 15: 36, ‘AND HE TOOK THE SEVEN LOAVES AND THE FISHES, AND GAVE THANKS, AND BRAKE THEM, AND GAVE TO HIS DISCIPLES, AND THE DISCIPLES TO THE MULTITUDE’.
WHAT A WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL
WHAT A WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF THANKSGIVING… HE, JESUS OUR LORD GIVING ‘THANKS’ AS HE DISTRIBUTED TO THE MULTITUDE THEIR ‘DAILY BREAD’, BUT NOTICE THAT AS HE DID THAT, HE ALSO WOULD PROCLAIM HIMSELF AS THE BREAD OF LIFE.
LASTLY
LASTLY, THE GREATEST OF ALL ‘THANKSGIVINGS’ IS FOUND IN AN ADDRESS BY OUR LORD JESUS TO A JEWISH RABBI, BY THE NAME OF NICODEMUS, A RULER OF THE JEWS IN THE DAYS WHEN OUR LORD MINISTERED HERE ON EARTH, IN JERUSALEM, ISRAEL.
OUR REDEEMER
OUR REDEEMER SAID TO THE RABBI, ‘FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.’ (JOHN 3: 16).
DID YOU NOTICE THE ASPECT OF ‘GIVING’, AS GOD THE FATHER ‘GAVE’ TO THE WORLD, WE, HAVE THE ONE AND ONLY OPPORTUNITY, FIRST OF ALL OF NOT PERISHING, BUT RATHER RECEIVING FREELY THROUGH THE LOVE OF GOD, ETERNAL LIFE.
HAVE YOU TAKEN A MOMENT
HAVE YOU TAKEN A MOMENT TO CONTEMPLATE THIS MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT ? IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH, IT WILL DETERMINE WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY, AFTER THIS ‘PHYSICAL’ LIFE IS OVER.
YOU KNOW VERY WELL THAT THE SACREDNESS OF CONCEPTION, BIRTH AND LIFE (AS WELL AS DEATH) ARE ALL IN THE HAND OF THE ALMIGHTY, AND ANYONE THAT INTERFERES WITH THIS IS
IN DANGER OF SPENDING ETERNITY IN HELL AND ULTIMATELY IN THE LAKE OF FIRE, ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD.
THEREFORE, SETTLE IT
THEREFORE, SETTLE IT ONCE AND FOR ALL BY RECEIVING AND BELIEVING ON JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOUR AND YOU WILL HAVE THE MOST BLESSED THANKSGIVING EVER AND FULL OF JOY.
Lev 7:12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.
Lev 7:13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
Lev 7:15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.
Lev 22:29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.
Neh 11:17 And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
Neh 12:8 Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren.
Neh 12:46 For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God.
Psa 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
Psa 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
Psa 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
Psa 147:7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
Isa 51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Jer 30:19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
Amos 4:5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
Jon 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2 Co 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
Phl 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Col 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
I Ti 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
I Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
Rev 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.