The First Thanksgiving Feast

The First Thanksgiving Feast
Read Deuteronomy 26

“And you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.”

When we speak of Thanksgiving, we think of the first celebration when the Pilgrims, joined by the Wampanoag tribe for a feast that celebrated God’s provision and the treaty they formed with the Wampanoag people. As time progressed, it was a custom for the New England colonists to commemorate a “Thanksgiving,” in which they would offer prayers to God for his blessing and protection. However, it was not until President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26, that it became a national holiday. In part, he declared, “I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.”  From this day onward, every president has annually proclaimed the holiday. However, it was not until a joint resolution of Congress in 1941 that the fourth Thursday in November was established as the yearly date for Thanksgiving Day.

However, there was Thanksgiving celebration long before this.   In Deuteronomy 26, we find the ordinance prescribed for people of Israel. When they entered the land and started to harvest the crops and fruits, they were to take some of the first fruits of the harvest and bring them before God in the temple and offer them as a sacrifice of praise and Thanksgiving for God’s provision. This celebration focused on three lessons. First, it was an object lesson to point back to their deliverance of Egypt. The Israelites were to remember that God purchased them from bondage, and he made them his people. Because of this, they belonged to him. This was to shape their whole worldview that they always remembered that they belonged to God and were to worship him alone. Second, the feast of the first fruits also served as a reminder that God is their owner if they are the recipients of his blessing. Furthermore, because he is the owner of all things, it reminded them that they were to be good stewards of the land given to them. Third, because the offering of the first fruits was to be conducted at the beginning of the harvest, it served as a promise that God would bring the rest of the harvest. Thus, it was an act of trust that God would bless them with a bountiful harvest to come. Thus it \ reminded them that everything they had came from him. He is the source of the harvest.

When we celebrate Thanksgiving, this same attitude should be in our hearts. Thanksgiving is not a culinary celebration, but a spiritual celebration of what God has done for us in providing for our daily needs. It reminds us that everything we have is a gift from God and a demonstration of his grace. So, this Thanksgiving, express your gratitude for God’s provision and affirm your submission to him, recognizing that he is the one who gives us all things and provides for us both now and in the future.