Overview
The Thanksgiving holiday or Holy Day is rooted in Christianity. It is a day to praise our Father in Heaven for the final
harvest of the year. The original Pilgrim
celebration of Thanksgiving was called a harvest festival. The Pilgrims were known for their Christian
beliefs and the importance they put on studying the bible, so it is certain that
they were aware of the Feast of Tabernacles and the importance of thanksgiving
to our Father in Heaven.
The Mayflower Compact stated their mission was for the glory
of God:
Having undertaken, for the Glory of
God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and
Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia,
do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one
another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for
our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid;
and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws,
ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be
thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which
we promise all due submission and obedience.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact
[note: I am a descendant of Degory Priest, a signer of the compact.]
Edward Winslow, in Mourt's Relation, documented their first Thanksgiving as follows:
Our harvest
being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after
a special manner rejoice together after
we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as
much fowl as, with a little help beside, served
the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we
exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their
greatest king Massasoit,
with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they
went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed
on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always
so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you
partakers of our plenty.
The time of the festival:
The Pilgrims
celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621. The
exact time is unknown, but James Baker, then Plimoth Plantation vice
president of research, stated in 1996, "The event occurred between Sept.
21 and Nov. 11, 1621, with the most likely time being around Michaelmas (Sept. 29, Day of Atonement), the traditional time."
Feast of Tabernacles
Based on Edward Winslow’s writings above, their harvest
festival was celebrated just like the Israelite Feast of Tabernacles. The Israelite Thanksgiving celebration was
called the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths or Ingatherings. Based on the solar calendar, the Feast of Tabernacles is typically celebrated from about October 2nd to 10th which is 5 days after the Day of Atonement that is also known as Michaelmas. In Canada their Thanksgiving holiday is observed during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. It was commanded that we celebrate this, as
follows:
Exodus 23: 14
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15 Thou shalt keep the
feast of unleavened bread:(thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I
commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest
out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16 And the feast of
harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and
the feast of ingathering, which is in
the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
1851 Septuagint
Exodus 23:16 And thou shalt keep the feast of the harvest of first fruits of
thy labors, whatsoever thou shalt have sown in thy field, and the feast of completion at the end of the year
in the gathering in of thy fruits out of thy field.
Exodus 34: 22
You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.
Deu 16:13
"You shall keep the Feast of Booths
seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor
and your winepress. 14 You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and
your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the
sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. 15 For
seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the
Lord will choose, because the Lord your God
will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that
you will be altogether joyful.
Thanksgiving
The Pilgrims studied the bible, therefore knew the
importance of thanksgiving or praise to our Father in Heaven.
The word ‘thanksgiving’ appears in the bible many times. It appears in the World English Bible 33 times, as follows:
Lev 7:11-15 "'This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall
offer to Yahweh. If he offers it for a thanksgiving,
then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving
unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and
cakes mixed with oil. With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his
offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving. Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for
a heave offering to Yahweh. It shall be the priest's who sprinkles the blood of
the peace offerings. The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day
of his offering.
Lev 22:29
"When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving
to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.
2 Chron 33:16 He
built up the altar of Yahweh, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-
offerings and of thanksgiving, and
commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Neh 11:17 and Mattaniah
the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the chief to begin
the thanksgiving in prayer,
Neh 12:8
Moreover the Levites:Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, [and]
Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving,
he and his brothers.
Neh 12:46 For in
the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and songs
of praise and thanksgiving to God.
Psalm 26:7 That
I may make the voice of thanksgiving
to be heard, And tell of all your wondrous works.
Psalm 50:14
Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Pay your vows to the Most High.
Psalm 50:23
Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving
glorifies me, And prepares his way so that I will show God's salvation to him.
"
Psalm 69:30 I
will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 95:2 Let's
come before his presence with thanksgiving.
Let's extol him with songs!
Psalm 100:1 ((A
Psalm of thanksgiving.)) Shout for
joy to Yahweh, all you lands! 2 Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before his
presence with singing. 3 Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us,
and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into
his gates with thanksgiving, Into
his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. 5 For Yahweh is
good. His loving kindness endures forever, His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 107:22 Let
them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare his works with singing.
Psalm 116:17 I
will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call on the name of Yahweh.
Psalm 147:7 Sing
to Yahweh with thanksgiving. Sing
praises on the harp to our God, 8 Who covers the sky with clouds, Who prepares
rain for the earth, Who makes grass grow on the mountains.
Isaiah 51: 3 For
Yahweh has comforted Zion; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made
her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and
gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving,
and the voice of melody.
Jer 17:26 They
shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem,
and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-
country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and
meal- offerings, and frankincense, and bringing [sacrifices of] thanksgiving, to the house of Yahweh.
27 But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to
bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then
will I kindle a fire in the gates of it, and it shall devour the palaces of
Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
Jer 30:19 Out of
them shall proceed thanksgiving and
the voice of those who make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not
be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
Jer 33: 11 the
voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the
voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Yahweh of Hosts,
for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever; [and of them] who
bring [sacrifices of] thanksgiving
into the house of Yahweh. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return
as at the first, says Yahweh.
Amos 4:5 Offer a
sacrifice of thanksgiving of that
which is leavened, And proclaim free will offerings and brag about them: For
this pleases you, you children of Israel, "says the Lord Yahweh.
Jonah 2:9 But I
will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving.
I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh. "
2 Cor 4:15 For
all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the
many, may cause the thanksgiving to
abound to the glory of God.
2 Cor 9:10 Now
may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply
your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; 11 you
being enriched in everything to all liberality, which works through us thanksgiving to God. 12 For this
service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints,
but abounds also through many givings of thanks to God;
Phi 4:4 Rejoice
in the Lord always! Again I will say, Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known
to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by
prayer and petition with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God.
Col 2:6 As
therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him, 7 rooted and built
up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in
it in thanksgiving.
Col 4:1 Masters,
give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have
a Master in heaven. 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving; 3 praying together for us
also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of
Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
1 Thes 3:9 For
what thanksgiving can we render
again to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sakes
before our God;
1 Tim 4:1 But
the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 through
the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a
hot iron; 3 forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God
created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the
truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if
it is received with thanksgiving. 5
For it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.
Rev 7:10 They
cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation be to our God, who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb!" 11 All the angels were standing around the
throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces
before his throne, and worshiped God, 12 saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory,
wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power,
and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
It is no coincidence that the US Pilgrims and the Israelites both
celebrated the final harvest, at the same time of the year, for a week of giving
thanks to our Father in Heaven!
History of
Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims to "Franksgiving"
Ben Shapiro: The
Truth About Thanksgiving
Plymouth Colony:
"The Pilgrims" 1955 Encyclopaedia Britannica Films American History
22min
