This Thanksgiving season we need to remember all those in our church who had trouble when they were traveling - on the highways, in the airways, and even the waterways. You might say that you don’t know any who had trouble, but I remember the prayer requests before they started their journeys, and I sure don’t remember too many praises thanking God for their safe return. So I assume they must have had trouble in their travels! Either that, or maybe we haven’t been as thankful to God as we should be.

We can make up for all those lost times this Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time when we think of all the things we are thankful for. It is a time of reflection and a time of gratitude.

A young boy in the church was constantly being kidded about wearing glasses with the other children calling him names such as "four eyes." So when the Sunday School teacher asked the children what they were thankful for, she was surprised that he answered, "my glasses." He explained, "They keep the boys from fighting me and the girls from kissing me."

When the people in the Old Testament were thankful for something, they went to the Lord and presented a thank-offering, as Clark points out, "for mercies received." Since we have all received mercies this year, I thought it would be a good idea to look at this thank-offering instituted three and a half thousand years ago, and see how it might apply to our present day situation.

The thank-offering was one of three peace offerings. When we think about the implications of that, we will realize the importance of this connection. It is because of what God has done for us to remove the separation of sin from our lives that we are able to enter into the divine presence. Because of the peace offering which Jesus gave us, we are able to give a thank-offering. We have been given peace with God as well as peace in our soul. It is only natural that we should be filled with gratitude for all that God has done for us.

The thank-offering was part of the Passover Meal celebrated by Christ with his disciples at the Last Supper. Every time we take communion we are celebrating that thank-offering as part of Christ’s peace offering to us.

There are three different breads which were to be offered for the thank-offering:

• unleavened cakes mixed with oil
• unleavened wafers anointed with oil
• cakes of blended flour mixed with oil

Clark points out, "According to Jewish tradition, there were to be ten cakes of each kind of bread in every Thank-offering." The first cakes were what we would describe as a cracker. The dough was blended with oil. The next cakes were called wafers. The wafers were notoriously thin. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia they were coated on the upper surface with olive oil and took on a glossy brown color in cooking. The third cakes were of finer flour blended together. In a way these three different kinds of cakes speak of the way we need to show our gratitude - with our whole being, body, soul, and mind.

As we look at Biblical symbolism, we often see bread expresses the human condition and oil the Holy Spirit. So our thank-offering is to be a blend of human obedience along with the Spirit’s anointing. Being thankful must be more than merely speaking the right words or going through the motions. It must involve our spiritual side as well, as we allow the Holy Spirit to anoint us and cause us to worship with our whole heart.

This offering was also to include leavened bread which would be tastier than the unleavened cakes. Notice this verse calls this the sacrifice of thanksgiving. We need to sometimes give a sacrifice of thanksgiving. There will be times when turmoil, doubts, or tragedy may rob us of our joy and we may not feel very thankful. But the thank-offering was to be a sacrifice to God. Sometimes we need to sacrifice to God - sacrifice pride, sacrifice emotions, sacrifice material goods, sacrifice time, sacrifice commitment. A sacrifice is not a sacrifice if it doesn’t cost us something.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia explains why the bread was such an important part of the thank-offering, "...all life was seen to be dependent upon the grain harvest, this in turn depended upon rain in its season, and so bread, the product at bottom of these divine processes, was regarded as peculiarly ‘a gift of God,’ a daily reminder of his continual and often undeserved care."

Do you realize that you receive gifts from God each day? Thanksgiving is when we take the time to count all the blessings God has given us, our family, and our church. We have been receiving gifts throughout the year. Sometimes we have thanked God for them, but most of the time we have just taken them for granted.

One night at a prayer meeting, a Christian brother related a long, complaining strain of experiences, trials and difficulties that are encountered on the way to Heaven. At the end of his talk, another brother arose and said, "I see that our brother, who just sat down, lives on Grumbling Street. I lived there myself for some time, but I never enjoyed good health. The air there is bad; the houses are bad, the water is bad; the birds never came and sang in the street, and I was gloomy and sad enough. But finally I moved. I moved to Thanksgiving Street, and ever since then I have had good Health and so have my family. The air is pure, the water good, the houses are good; the sun shines all day; the birds are always singing; and I am happy as I can be. Now, I would suggest to our brother, that he, too, move. There are plenty of houses still available on Thanksgiving Street."

As described in Numbers 15:20, the heave offerings were lifted up and consecrated by the priest from the first of the dough. As we consider all our blessings, perhaps we need to make a heave offering too. We need to lift up to God our worship and adoration. We need to allow our heart and mind to soar up to the heavenly realm. We need to allow our spirit to be lifted out of the cares of today and tomorrow and commune with our heavenly Father, not distracted by the things of this world. Let us show our gratitude to God through genuine praise.

Henry Ward Beecher said, "If one should give me a dish of sand and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes, and search for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet and sweep through it, and it would draw to itself the almost invisible particles by the mere power of attraction. The unthankful heart, like my finger in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings; only the iron in God’s sand is gold."

The other two peace offerings did not have this requirement. You could eat the other offerings over a period of two days, but the thank-offering had to be consumed all in the first day. The main purpose of this requirement seems to be so that others might share in this offering. It was a sign of the abundant blessings that God had given that the thank-offering must be shared. Whenever we have something to be thankful for, let us be willing to share it with others, and to do it immediately - the same day. God loves it when we share our blessings with family and friends.

Matthew Henry wrote about this verse in 1710, "And some think that it instructs us speedily, and without delay, to partake of Christ and his grace, feasting and feeding thereon to-day, while it is called to-day...."

Last year at this time, my siblings and our families gathered together at Mom’s house one last time for a Thanksgiving dinner. Mom wasn’t with us anymore so it was a time of sadness, but we were also thankful for God’s blessings. We were thankful for all that Mom had meant for us and for all that God had given us. In spite of tragedy, we gathered together to show our thankfulness. As I looked at my two sons, and my two grandchildren, I realized that I had a great deal to be thankful for.

What has God done for you that has made you thankful? For what gifts of blessings do you need to thank him? This Thanksgiving, make a sacrifice to God. Spend some time presenting your thank-offering to him. Let God know how much you appreciate all that he has done for you.

This study on Leviticus 7:11-15 © 1999 by David Humpal, all rights reserved.
All scriptures unless otherwise noted are from the New King James Version © 1982, Thomas Nelson Publishers

Clark: The Speaker’s Commentary, vol. 1, pg. 530, Baker Book House

Clark: The Speaker’s Commentary, vol. 1, pg. 530, Baker Book House

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 1, pg. 516 © 1939, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 1, pg. 516 © 1939, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Story of Prayer Meeting from Christian Clippings pg. 19, November 1999

Beecher: quoted in Christian Clippings pg. 18, November 1999

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 1, pg. 469-470, MacDonald Publishing Company