Daily Lesson for November 15, 2017

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Nehemiah chapter 8 verses 14 through 17:

14And they found it written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the people of Israel should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month, 15and that they should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem as follows, ‘Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.’ 16So the people went out and brought them, and made booths for themselves, each on the roofs of their houses, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them.

Jews have a special week-long festival at the end of the harvest season called Sukkot, when Jews build and live in small huts or “booths” in commemoration of the temporary domiciles the Israelites dwelled in during the 40 years.  The festival is a time of remembering the exodus experience and God’s provision in the wilderness. 

Sukkot is a humbling experience, as even the wealthy live in very modest domiciles. It is a reminder of all the people’s humble origins and their absolute dependence upon the mercies of God to set a table in the wilderness. 

Thanksgiving may be America’s closest thing to Sukkot. Yearly we remember the exodus experience of those early pilgrims as they sought greater religious freedom in the New World and we commemorate God’s provision for them and for us in whatever wildernesses we have come through. Like Sukkot, the season of Thanksgiving is a reminder of just how fragile life for our forbears once was and how faithful God was to provide in their time of need.

Thanksgiving is nearing. Shopping is being done. In two days many schools will dismiss for the week. It’s going to be great. 

But let’s remember the reason for this season also. We’ve come through the wilderness. We’ve pilgrimed through the barren land. We’ve come to a place of freedom. God has delivered us. 

God has been good — to our forbears, and also to us.