The people of God are festive people, because God is a God of parties. In the Bible there are numerous references to festivals celebrated by the people of Israel, instituted by God. They were solemn festivals set to be held from time to time, as a memorial and celebration before the Lord:
- Feast of the Passover (Exodus 12:11-14)
- Harvest Festival
- Feast of Unleavened Bread (2 Chronicles 30:13)
- Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Deuteronomy 16:13-15)
- Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:9-11)
Other festivals were occasional, such as wedding feasts and other banquets held in celebration of some notable event, as, for example, in the parable of the prodigal son.
The first miracle described by Jesus in the Bible took place at a wedding party in Cana in Galilee. There Jesus turned water into wine, freeing the hosts and guests from enormous embarrassment (John 2:11). Also the greatest miracle, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ happened during the Easter festival. He is our paschal lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
Parties are moments of Joy (Luke 15:7) and when Jesus is present we can truly enjoy pleasant moments before the Lord! Feasts also involve work, service, and acceptance of the invitation (Matthew 22:2-14).
The Bible tells us about a wonderful feast that will take place in Heaven, an incomparable banquet that is being prepared for the Lord’s Church. It is the wedding feast of the Lamb, or the wedding banquet of Christ and his bride, the Church (Revelation 19:7).
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Party in the Bible
On this mountain the Lord of hosts
will prepare a rich feast
for all people,
a feast of aged wine,
with succulent meats
and the best wine.
When you eat, be ready to go: belt in place, sandals on your feet, and staff in your hand. Eat quickly. This is the Lord’s Passover. “That same night I will pass through Egypt and kill all the firstborn, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood will be a sign to indicate the houses in which you are; when When I see the blood, I will pass on. The plague of destruction will not touch you when I strike Egypt.” This day will be a memorial that you and all your descendants will celebrate as a feast to the Lord. Celebrate it as a perpetual decree.
An immense crowd gathered in Jerusalem in the second month to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
“Count seven weeks from the time you begin harvesting grain. Then celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord your God and bring a freewill offering according to the blessings you have received from the Lord your God. And rejoice before the Lord your God in the place he chooses to dwell in his name, with your sons and your daughters, your menservants and your maidservants, the Levites who live in your city, the foreigners, the orphans and the widows who live with you.
And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, in the year of cancellation of debts, during the festival of booths, when all Israel comes to present themselves to the Lord your God in the place he chooses, you will read this law before them so that they may listen to it. Gather together the people, men, women and children, and the foreigners who live in their cities, so that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord their God, and faithfully follow all the words of this law.
You go to the party; I will not go to this party yet, because the appropriate time has not yet arrived for me.”
The Jewish festival of Passover was approaching.
Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be new and unleavened dough, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, was sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old yeast nor with the yeast of wickedness and perversity, but with unleavened bread, the bread of sincerity and truth.
I will end your joy:
its annual festivals,
your new moons,
your sabbath days
and all its fixed parties.
On the occasion of the festival, it was the governor’s custom to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.
“Also celebrate the festival of the booths for seven days, after you have gathered the produce from the threshing floor and from the grape pressing pool. Rejoice in this festival with your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, the Levites, foreigners, orphans and widows who live in your city. For seven days they must celebrate the feast dedicated to the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be full.
“Three times a year all their men shall present themselves to the Lord their God at the place he chooses, at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks and the feast of booths. None of them shall present themselves to the Lord of empty hands: each of you will bring a gift according to the blessings received from the Lord your God.
The paths to Zion mourn,
because no one shows up
to their fixed parties.
All its doors are deserted,
your…