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God’s Invitation
“You are invited!” We eagerly read an invitation with excitement and anticipation of being in a party atmosphere, celebrating with family or friends.
Holidays, too, are wonderful reasons to celebrate. Whatever we are celebrating, holidays give us a sense of belonging. Often they define us as individuals, as a family, or as a people. They connect us to ourselves, to our communities, to our nation, and to our God. They help us remember where we’ve come from as we look forward to where we’re going.
For those reasons and more, God gave Israel a calendar full of holiday celebrations. God designed them to establish and perpetuate a community who would abide in relationship with Him and with each other. God’s holidays were times of remembering, rejoicing, and resting in His love and His goodness. Above all, they were opportunities to worship and to celebrate Him.
There was a holy day every week, every month, and eventually nine annual feasts! These celebrations were to be observed for all generations, and they are an integral part of Israel’s identity to this day.
Although most of the celebrations commemorate events in Israel’s history, God intended them to reveal His character and His plan of redemption through Jesus. Jesus is the heart of every celebration—it is He who is sending an invitation to all who know and love Him to come to His parties. For this reason, I submit that the feasts are neither Jewish nor Israeli, but rather celebrations of the Kingdom of God, created to be enjoyed and embraced by us all, both Jew and Gentile.
Because the feasts are rooted and grounded in the eternal character of God, they are anchors to our souls.
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