www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
By Ron White
Isaiah 25:6-10
On this mountain the God of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And God will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; death will be swallowed up forever. Then God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of God's people will be taken away from all the earth, for the Sovereign One has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; the One we have waited for, so that we might be saved. This is the God for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in salvation. For the hand of God will rest on this mountain.
Have you ever asked yourself how humanity became so enamored with delicacies carefully prepared for the palate? How did we humans move from eating to live - like every other creature on earth - to living to eat? We can trace the practice back at least as far as these verses written during Old Testament times when eating carefully prepared foods at a celebratory feast was the main event at an Israelite religious festival. Annual feasts were held on seven separate annual "sabbaths," occasions which the Torah specified as times for observance of the wonderful acts that God performed for the people of Israel. The sabbaths were specifically tied to Biblical events, all of which the worldwide Jewish community still observes, some of which are still observed in the Christian community. For example, Passover is observed in most churches of either faith, though in the Jewish temple, it is observed as a High Holy Day. Pentecost is another feast day that is observed in both religious traditions. In every Biblical celebration, whenever it is held, food is a central focus, in Jewish observance even including an annual observance of the withholding of food, a day of fasting. Each of the seven annual sabbaths foreshadowed for Israel the coming eternal Kingdom which the Torah promised. The ushering in of that spectacular future would begin with the feast which Yahweh-God would prepare for God's people. Can you imagine a more spectacular vision of eternal life than being recreated in a perfect body and eating perfectly prepared delicacies?
Israel lived by the grace of God's natural creation, eating and drinking according to the abundance or scarcity of food and water which the earth provided out of its bountiful resources. Today, we are no less dependent upon the generosity of Yahweh-God for our sustenance. If we strip the soil of the nutrients implanted and sustained in the soil by the cycle of nature, then we have honored neither God's creation nor God's self.
How often do we stop to reflect upon the gifts which the earth gives us every moment we are alive? The sunlight, clean air, the rain, wind to redistribute particles as needed, fresh water renewed in streams every mile they flow, and so very much more - all are gifts we cannot earn and can only be thankful for receiving. How more natural and logical can we be than to show our thankfulness to God, and to do so by celebrating God's generosity to us through a feast composed of the earth's bounty?
Lord God, help us to be mindful of you every moment we breathe and live. Help us to thank you for the "manna" that you provide for us just as you did for Israel when they wandered in the "wilderness" for forty years.
