Thursday, Nov. 21
Numbers 28:16 – Chapter 29 Click here to read
Today’s reading doesn’t cover any new ground; it is a restatement of the feasts and holidays the people are to observe each year. It concludes with, “Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord commanded him.”
It’s easy to pass over (pun intended) a list of holidays as just an accessory to real life, but holidays and observances do a lot to shape and define a culture.
Consider the number of holidays and observances (whether legal or less official) that produce conflict or at least conversation every year even in our modern day: Columbus Day, Halloween and Juneteenth are often flash points.
Then there’s the annual hand-wringing over “Happy Holidays” vs. “Merry Christmas.” Various affinity months like Black History Month, Women’s History Month and the like often prompt discussion, both positive and negative…and “pride” observances are a focal point in contemporary culture wars.
Even arguments about history curriculum and building names are really about what society wants to lift up for remembrance, because what we collectively remember shapes our collective identity.
The special days in Numbers were meant to shape the identity of God’s people as a people that God has redeemed from slavery and continues to redeem. Even if we don’t follow the same holiday calendar any more, that’s an identity to hold on to.