Leviticus on Thanksgiving
LEVITICUS ON THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, defined by Webster's Dictionary as a public acknowledgment of a celebration of divine goodness, while the first mention of thanksgiving in God's Word is found in the seventh chapter of Leviticus. So what does Leviticus 7:11-15, in particular, teach about thanksgiving?
Thinking on these verses, I came to the conclusion that a person cannot be thankful about anything unless he also experiences peace. Thankfulness and peace go together, like turkey and cranberry sauce.
"And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord: 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. 7:11-12).
The emphasis here is upon the fact that the sacrifice must be a freewill offering, one that is given without coersion, and the reason it is given is for thanksgiving. That this has a special meaning for us today can be found in Hebrews 13:15 - "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, always giving thanks to his name." That is to tell us that we cannot give thanks if we are forever complaining and have a criticizing spirit. Complaining and criticizing are diametrically opposed to having a thankful spirit. Two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
THE PEACE OFFERING
The peace offering in this chapter pictures how Christ satisfied the wrath of God against sin and made peace between God and every person who will trust in Messiah Yeshua. It also pictures the inner peace we have through Messiah - that is, the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding" (Philippians 4:7).
The offering was a multiple one which speaks to the fact that we are to give "thanks always for all things unto God" (Ephesians 5:20). We should not pick and choose good things for thanksgiving and ignore that which is unpleasant. We should be thankful for everything, good and bad. The ability to give thanks for all things gives us a blessed inner peace from God.
Peace, also known as peace of mind, is connected to our practice of thanksgiving. Colossians 3:15 teaches us to "let the peace of God rule in your hearts . . . and be ye thankful." It is virtually impossible to have this peace if our hearts are unthankful. A complaining spirit cannot experience the peace of God. Likewise, if we are only mindful of our needs and ignore our blessings we cannot have the peace of God. We will be troubled and continually distressed. To have peace, we must be thankful. To be thankful we must have peace.
Latest Articles