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In
the Old Testament book of Leviticus, Chapter 23, are listed seven
festivals that God gave to ancient
Israel
when they left the
land
of
Egypt
. Although given to ancient
Israel
, these festivals carry a great deal of symbolism and meaning for
Christians today. The meaning of these festivals in our daily lives has
been lost to most of us, but was brought home to me again through the
recent death of my friend and neighbor, Dave Hitchcock. In these little
known festivals is tremendous hope that can carry us through our grief
and sorrow at Dave’s passing.
One
of these festivals occurs in the fall season of the year and is named in
the book of Leviticus as “The Day of Atonement”, called Yom Kippur
by the Jewish people today. For
them, this day is the one day in the year when all their sins are
forgiven and they stand clean before the Lord God. This day also
symbolizes our relationship to the Creator and the great hope in which
we now live: that, one day, all of us will be truly “At-One” with
God, free from hurt and
pain, free from death, and free from all the things that separate us
from our God and from one another. We will be free from the limits of
this human life and this temporary body in which we now dwell, and will
live with God and each other for all eternity.
Several
days after the Day of Atonement comes the seventh and final festival
that God gave to ancient
Israel
in Leviticus 23: the Feast of Tabernacles. Also called the Feast of
Booths (or “Sukkot” to
the Jewish people today), this was a festival that required the
Israelites to perform a unique act each year: everyone had to make
temporary shelters (“booths”) for themselves and live in them for
the seven days of the festival. If you go to a Jewish temple today
during this festival time, you might see a small “tabernacle” or
lean-to like structure that they have constructed specifically for this
time. This festival teaches us about the temporary nature of this human
life. All that we have in this life, even the very bodies in which we
live, even death itself, are temporary and are destined to pass away. If
God goes to such great lengths to impress upon
Israel
that this life is temporary, it is because there must be something
awaiting us that is permanent and eternal. With God, we have a permanent
home, not in temporary bodies that are destined to decay, but in
permanent bodies that can inhabit eternity with Him.
The
Day of Atonement this year was on
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005
– the day that Dave passed away from us. Dave
is now “At-One” with God, and his passing reminds us that we cannot
be truly “At-One” with God in this life.
Although we grieve his passing and its suddenness, we can rejoice
that his temporary stay on this earth is finished – only a permanent
future, filled with love, light, and power await him now.
The
first day of the Feast Of Tabernacles this year is on
Tuesday, Oct 18, 2005
– the day that we will all gather to honor Dave’s life and lay him
to rest. Let us be mindful that this life, and the sorrow and grief we
bear this day, is only temporary. We will see Dave again, we will again
embrace him and laugh with him, and so it will ever be, from that day
forth, and forever.
Tim
Taff
October 17, 2005
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