Title: Thanksgiving
Deuteronomy 16:8-10 (Thanksgiving of the Harvest Festival)
Let's give thanks to God for giving us abundant firstfruits as always this year.
This year, it is said that not only plums but also spring fruits bore abundant fruit due to the good weather.
Due to the fact that there are too many fruits, the sales amount per 1kG has decreased, so it is said that this is a bit too... Anyway, don't think too much about us, think about the people of the city, and provide delicious fruits at a low price , let's enjoy ourselves.
When we have this kind of heart, we believe that God will bless us as well.
Today, as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, we want to be a time to receive grace together by thinking, 'How should we give thanks to God?'
Thanksgiving can be thought of in two main ways.
1. Thanks for the first harvest.
After the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, where they lived without dying, and after 40 years of living in the wilderness, they settled in the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey that God had promised.
And in the first year, we had the joy of the first harvest of barley and wheat.
So how happy are you?
All this was by the grace of God.
Because even when they were exodus from Egypt, God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with ten plagues that have never been seen before in the land of Egypt.
Also, during their 40 years of living in the wilderness, they fed and clothed them not only with miraculous manna from heaven and water from the rock, but also their shoes and clothes so that they did not wear out.
And because he conquered the land of Canaan, which could not be conquered by his own strength, with the miraculous help of God, he received such a bountiful first harvest.
That is why the people of Israel had no choice but to thank God by keeping the Feast of Harvest because everything was God's grace.
Not only that, but God also wanted us to remember and keep this Feast of Harvest, so he commanded us as he said today.
Because humankind’s rise and fall is in God’s hands, and personal life and death is in God’s hands, this relationship of right service with God is a source of blessing. It was to enjoy God's protection, guidance, and blessings.
So I can't help but be grateful for this.
That is why the Israelites had to keep the thanksgiving of the first harvest without forgetting it.
Then, why should we, not the people of Israel, observe and give thanks to this feast of harvest?
Because we believe in God, we have become the spiritual people of Israel, that is, the spiritual people of God.
Because we have become such a spiritual people of God, we need to thank God more and more.
This is because the Israelites were freed from the slavery of Satan and the devil, which was more terrible than the slave life in Egypt where they lived without death.
Also, just as the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey while they were living in the wilderness, they found happiness, because He gave us a church where we can taste the kingdom of heaven and live in the midst of life's sojourners. We too should inherit the spirit of the Feast of Harvest, give thanks more and more to God for giving us the first harvest, and serve God well.
This is the thanksgiving of the first harvest.
2. It is thanks to you for gaining eternal life.
No matter how good we are on this earth, and no matter how much we enjoy riches and honors on this earth, if it ends with our life on this earth, what good is this?
So, even the heroic hero and billionaire who lived on this land could not endure the emptiness in the face of death and met their end.
King Jinsi was also looking for a candle, but he could not find it, and he died in vain.
Alexander the Great, who conquered the world, said this when he died.
“When I die, make a hole in the coffin so that my arms can come out. So let all people see that I, Alexander, will die too!”
King Solomon, who enjoyed wealth and glory, also confessed in the last years of his life, “Vanity and vanity, vanity and vanity, all things are vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
In this way, death is what makes everything futile and fades away.
However, if we realize the spiritual meaning of Harvest Festival, we can blow away this void of death at once.
So, what is the spiritual meaning of the Feast of Harvest?
The period of Harvest Festival is 50 days.
This refers to the entire first crop harvesting period of 50 days.
On the first day, bundles of barley harvested were bundled and presented to God as a gift.
This very first day coincides with Easter, when Jesus was resurrected.
The Bible refers to the resurrection of Jesus as the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20).
Everyone! As we know, if a fruit tree bears its first fruits well, then of course the subsequent ones will also bear well.
Therefore, the first fruits of the resurrection of Jesus are the guarantees of the fruits of our resurrection.
That is why we confess that it is “the inner resurrection of Jesus.”
By the way, this feast of harvest is also called the feast of the seventh week or the day of Pentecost.
This is because the last 50th day of the Feast of Harvest Festival is called the Feast of Weeks, meaning that it is the week after seven weeks from the first day of the Feast of Harvest Festival, and it is also called the Day of Pentecost because it is the 50th day from the first day of the Feast of Harvest.
So, on this 50th day, we gathered together as a holy day and kept the Feast of Harvest.
However, the most important thing is that on this fiftieth day, in Acts 2 of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit came down.
That is, it is the event of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
So today, this day is observed as Pentecost Sunday.
This year, because Easter was on April 20, the 50th day, June 8, was Pentecost, or Pentecost Sunday, and in fact, we have to keep this day as the Feast of Harvest.
But why do we keep this day, the first Sunday of July, as Thanksgiving Day?
It is the season of the first harvest in Korea, so the first week of July is appropriate, so we keep it this way.
Therefore, the important thing is to know and keep the meaning of the Feast of Harvest, whether we keep it on Pentecost, on Pentecost, or on the first week of July according to the seasons in Korea.
Therefore, the spiritual meaning of the Feast of Harvest is that the Holy Spirit has descended on us who believe.
That is, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in those who believe.
Because of this, we have now received the resurrection where only our souls have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, but on the last day when Jesus returns, our bodies will also be resurrected like Jesus who became the firstfruits.
Romans 8:11 testifies to this.
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Hallelujah!
Therefore, this Feast of Harvest, which we keep, is the feast that proves the certainty of our resurrection.
That is why, on the Feast of Harvest Festival, we should remember and keep this eternal life in mind with infinite gratitude.
Today, we thank God for giving us the first harvest, which is the two meanings of this festival of harvest, and furthermore, we give thanks for getting eternal life, and I pray in the name of the Lord that it will be a Thanksgiving Day that gives great praise and glory to God. .