It is State Fair time and the place we gather is Lebanon Tn. One of my morning devotionals is Our Daily Bread and this morning’s subject was a devotion which was right on time. I have been struggling to pick a topic for this weeks blog and there it was. Some day I will share with you the process I go through to gather a subject for each week. First a quick trip encyclopedia.com 

“Fairs have existed for centuries and can even be dated back to ancient Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C. Modern American fairs grew out of an 1807 idea by Elkanah Watson, a banker and farmer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He decided that the best way to convince other farmers to raise sheep was to show them his own animals.By the 1990s state fairs have come to represent a nostalgic, “old-fashioned” form of family entertainment that emphasizes state and national pride, agricultural roots, and good times.” (encyclopedia.com)

After attending some large events in the UK and US, researcher Daniel Yudkin and fellow researchers found that these large festivals do have an impact on our moral views and in most cases increase our willingness to share time and resources with others. In ancient times you might say Festivals were their fairs but they were a part of a means of communing with God. People experienced that connection to God when they gathered in Jerusalem for their sacred festivals throughout the year. There were three festivals and Jews traveled from far and wide with no convince of our modern transportation systems to be there for each one of them. These sacred festivals also attracted people from all walks of life and beliefs. The festivals were as follows…

“the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles”, more about those in a moment. 

16:16 NIV16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.^u No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed:

“These gatherings were times of solemn remembrance, worship, and rejoicing “before the Lord” with family, servants, foreigners, and others” (Kirsten Holmberg) We should also take note all of verse 11, which gives us insight as to others that were drawn to the festivals…

 And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you (Deuteronomy 16:11)

Now about those festivals…I have taken the liberty to insert information on each and have listed their source for you to continue more study if you wish.

 Festival of Unleavened Bread is a celebration of the liberation of the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt.This feast lasts seven days, beginning with Passover. (christianity.com)

Festival of Weeks… Shavuot, or Shvu’es in some Ashkenazi usage, commonly known in English as the Feast of Weeks, is a major Jewish holiday, one of the three pilgrimage festivals, that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. In the Bible, Shavuot marked the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel. Wikipedia

Festival of Tabernacles…The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths and Sukkot, is the seventh and last feast that the Lord commanded Israel to observe and one of the three feasts that Jews were to observe each year by going to “appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose” (Deuteronomy 16:16). The importance of the Feast of Tabernacles can be seen in how many places it is mentioned in Scripture. In the Bible we see many important events that took place at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. For one thing, it was at this time that Solomon’s Temple was dedicated to the Lord (1 Kings 8:2). (gotquestions.com)

Back in the day there were tent meetings and revivals where the faithful would gather to commune with God…often referred to as a time to get right with God. Things have changed and now we look to church conferences, youth conferences, denominational meetings and such to get us on the right path again. Yes it is State Fair time in Tennessee and we will come together to celebrate “old-fashioned” form of family entertainment that emphasizes state and national pride, agricultural roots, and good times.” As a foot note: According to fair officials, 776,195 visitors attended the state fair this year which is 295,000 more attendees than last year and 186,966 more people than a previous record that was met in 2013. (These numbers are for 2022)

829 words or so to simply say…We need to have more Festivals to remind us of what our God has done for us.

Life is Good

jk