Gail Landgraf posted: " Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Pexels.com LEARNING ABOUT THE CREATOR FROM ELEMENTS OF HIS CREATION It is amazing when we begin to think about the fact that God created every single thing on this earth. Not ONE little thing is the same as anothe"
LEARNING ABOUT THE CREATOR FROM ELEMENTS OF HIS CREATION
It is amazing when we begin to think about the fact that God created every single thing on this earth.
Not ONE little thing is the same as another!
This is certainly true of people. None of us are alike; even though some of our characteristics may be the same. All of us will always each have many differences.
Just considering the number of things God created when the world was first born is such an astounding thought.
There was so MUCH to comprehend.
GOD CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
How many zillions and zillions of years would it take any superhuman person to do all that God managed to do in just seven little days?
No one could ever do it.
Only God can handle the vast number of things that make life happen exactly the way it needs to happen; and only God can conceive of all the things that make up zillions and zillions of human beings; not one of them alike.
So many blessings come to us from One Creator!
Let's try to squeeze that many blessings into our seven days here at The Feast of Tabernacles.
We humans are so limited and God is so unlimited.
LEARNING MORE OF GOD THROUGH OBSERVING HIS CREATION
God has built-in certain facts in the existence of each thing that He created which teach us more about The Kingdom of God.
The created are able to learn more of The Creator from even the smallest and simplest elements of the creation.
One drastic difference in The Kingdom of God and life on earth is that all of God's Heavenly Kingdom is forever in constant unity.
Humans are definitely not there yet.
THE WONDERS OF EXISTING IN PEACE AND UNITY
Wouldn't peace and unity be a wonderful way to live here on earth too?
We get to experience a small temporary portion of peace and unity every time that we travel to The Feast of Tabernacles and begin rehearsing the World To Come.
It is a small taste of The Kingdom of God that will one day exist forever. This will be our spiritual inheritance if we remain God's true children. For now; we get a small annual taste and we are reminded of this through the lulav and the etrog that we place inside our sukkahs at our festival.
THE ETROG AND THE LULAV
The citron fruit called the etrog, and the four branches of certain trees called the lulav, help us experience the definition of true unity.
Because these elements of symbolism are so very central to the purpose and wisdom of The Feast of Tabernacles; we will use this fourth day of our feast to focus on the facts they represent. Many things in our day will be aimed at developing a better understanding of true unity and how it is achieved while living in a chaotic world that desperately needs peace.
This is something that the Jewish People of God have practiced at The Feast of Tabernacles for years and years. There is a message that is also very beneficial for Christians to know within this old ancient ritual.
WHAT IS AN ETROG?
The citron is a citrus fruit with a fragrant peel.
The Jewish people call it an "etrog."
A good etrog will have unblemished skin and the pitam (the fruit's pointy tip) will be prominent.
So; every year the people look for a perfect fruit with a comely shape and smooth skin and they wrap the citron in a wrapper that will protect it, then they place it inside a decorative box which is taken to the sukkah until it is taken out to be used for pronouncing blessings over the sukkah.
SPECIAL FRUIT REQUIRES EXTRA CARE TO GROW TO BE USEFUL
One thing to be remembered in the growing of the citron is that they produce long thorns as well as fruit. The branches of the plants must be tied back in a certain way in order to keep them from swaying in the wind and puncturing the fruit.
Leaves are also trimmed so that they don't rub against the fruit as it grows.
Mesh nets above these plants/trees provide just the right amount of light for growing.
Pesticides containing animal fats are never sprayed on these plants.
ONLY A FRACTION OF CITRONS BECOME ETROG
You can carry out all of these steps to grow a citrus; but only a fraction of the fruit will qualify for use at Sukkot.
Even a few little scars or marks on the fruit can disqualify its use.
The pitam cannot be broken if the fruit is going to be used for Sukkot.
But why is all of this so important?
FULFILLING AN ANCIENT COMMANDMENT
Because the people are hunting for the perfect fruit that will fulfill an ancient commandment; "You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of an etrog tree, the branches of date palms, twigs of myrtles and brook willows." (Leviticus 23:40.)
The people celebrating Sukkot in Israel (and many other lands too) traditionally hold the branches of the date palm, willow and myrtle in one hand and the etrog in another. They clasp their hands together and shake the branches and fruit combined, six times in all directions.
This shaking for six times is symbolic of the fact that God is everywhere. Six is the number for mankind and basically the symbolism here is that God can be found anywhere that mankind dwells if we are diligently seeking His face.
The four items they hold in their hands represent the heart, the eyes, the lips and the spine of a Servant of God.
If you are truly faithful with your faith toward God, you will be dedicating your heart, your eyes, your lips and your spine to the work of God as you journey through this lifetime on earth.
EACH SPECIES IS DIFFERENT
The four items represent different types of people living on the earth. There are those who are well educated and use their wisdom for God's glory.
Some though are educated to be wise; but they never use this wisdom to follow God or to do good deeds.
Many others are not able to receive a good education (for one reason or another) yet they still manage to perform good deeds that make the world a better place.
Then there is the type of person who neither has wisdom, nor the desire to perform the good that gives glory to God.
The palm branch, the myrtle, the willow together with the etrog represent all of the different characteristics of humans. For this blessing they are joined together and held in unity as they are waved in all directions.
WE ARE LIKE LIVING LULAVS AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
When we arrive at the Feast of Tabernacles; everyone is a little like the characteristics of these branches being joined with the etrog; no matter their wisdom or knowledge or their goodness or lack of goodness; all branches are united under the same roof, and everyone needs to be treated as an equal part of the blessing.
There is a difference between being "equal" and being "the same."
Those who are "equal" are all precious in the eyes of God, all are types of his children, and all types of His children are loved by God the Father.
All of God's children are worthy of the same amount of respect; no matter their status in the world. The lower is in unity with the higher, and the higher is in unity with the lower.
This doesn't mean that we all have the same mission on this earth.
God gave each of us unique and different qualities and talents.
Each of us are responsible for using all that God gave to us for the good of all of humanity.
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITY
We must come together in unity and love for one another for this to be possible.
Let's think about the words of 1 Corinthians 12:12 - 27, which are:
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
THE BODY OF CHRIST MUST LIVE IN UNITY
All of the branches, when held together are called a "lulav."
They combine in the blessing with the etrog.
The etrog represents the heart.
The branches represent the rest of our body; the spine is the palm, the willow leaf (having the shape of our mouth) represents our lips, and the myrtle leaves (which have the shape of eyes) represents our eyes.
As we shake them in six directions in the blessing/prayer; we are praying with our WHOLE being and we are acknowledging that The Divine Presence of God exists all around us.
Waving the branches with the etrog together and proclaiming that God's Divine Presence is all over the earth; and all around us. In these moments of movement; we offer our whole body like a prayer before God.
IF ONE PART IS MISSING; THE BODY IS NOT WHOLE
How many times have we spoken of what makes up The Body of Christ?
We quote that scripture that expresses if only one part of the body is missing, the rest of the body knows and cannot exist without it.
It takes all of us to make up The Perfect Body of Christ; and when we come before God in such unity, and we pray for a blessing together; God's Holy Spirit moves within our souls. God blesses the whole group as one single unit that is living together and whole.
When we move together and not act as just some or a few; but ALL; then ALL of us come closer to God.
This is the blessing that hides inside the simple little act of waving the lulav.
A SYMBOLIC ACT THAT BESTOWS A BLESSING
So; you can understand how we need to discuss and focus on this message at The Feast of Tabernacles.
This symbolic ritual of waving the lulav shows us how God wishes for each of us to live together in unity and love.
I've tried to think of ways to incorporate these lessons into our days at The Feast of Tabernacles.
Of course the perfect way is to have everyone wave their lulav and etrog together, and to give the blessing of the Sukkah.
There is no way for me to get fresh palm, willow and myrtle branches (enough for 14 people) out to our temporary dwelling for the feast this year.
Also; I have no way to order 14 etrogs that would arrive in time to meet us at the feast; maybe in some future year I can do this.
So; I'm going to find some coloring pages, and we will let (and help) the kids color them for all of us; and then we will cut them out and staple them together; one set for each of us.
We will make one of each of the five species for every person at the festival and before breakfast on this fourth day (a lot of people do this on the first day as indicted in the scripture), after we discuss the symbolism and significance of the five species; we will all hold them together and wave them before God from our sukkah as we sing a morning blessing.
(Perhaps we will sing an old Thanksgiving song called WE GATHER TOGETHER.) This song sounds so appropriate when we let the words sink in. We gather TOGETHER to ask the Lord's BLESSING......
REPRESENTING THE NAME OF GOD
Yet another beautiful and symbolic thing about the lulav and etrog, it that the four-letter name for God that is never spoken – Yud Hey Vav Hey- is supposedly represented by the four species; with the lulav itself representing the Hebrew letter vav.
So, when we wave or shake the lulav, we bring the letters of God's name together. This acts like a prayer between the people participating and God, expressing their desire for unity in His Holy Name.
To unite under God's Name is the only true path to perfect peace and unity.
A SYMBOLIC PRAYER
There are so many ways to look at this symbolic prayer; another is to know that taste represents learning. Smell represents good deeds. The Etrog has both taste and smell.
The lulav has taste but no fragrance.
The myrtle has smell but no taste.
The willow has neither.
Each branch represents a different type of person. Some people have learning and good deeds; some have good deeds but no learning; some have learning but no good deeds. Some have neither.
We experience unity in community by combining all of these traits together under one roof; as we are doing here at the Feast of Tabernacles.
THE PERFECT COMBINATION UNDER GOD
As one family; we are all accepted and equal.
It takes all of us to make up the world by becoming the community of God's creation.
Since we have chosen to study and learn from elements of creation today; we will also enjoy and celebrate the day with some nature walks and hikes through some of the places on The Antebellum Trail. There are many lovely rivers, lakes, farms and gardens to enjoy strolling through in the area.
Our sukkah story for today will be the story of Joseph's Sukkah. Joseph's family is a perfect example of how God uses all kinds of people together in relationships that help to bring about His perfect will. God even takes the mistakes and evil deeds of some men and turns it all around for good. Joseph had the uncanny ability to notice this fact and he forgave his brothers and loved them in spite of their faults.
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