Recently, I shared a terrific series concerning the debate about making regular pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the feasts. As previously shared, Bob Parham demonstrates with clarity that the eleven most common objections do not hold water when held to the light of Scripture.
As if that were not enough, the Barking Fox, who has reblogged and commented on the series, has written a fantastic wrap-up that is at once exciting and challenging. I commend it to you as a must read and call you to prayerfully consider how this will alter your plans for the coming year!
Come, let us go up!!
The Jerusalem Debate – The End of the Matter
There is a children’s story about a Little Red Hen who worked diligently to feed her chicks and keep her house in order. One day she found some grain, which she decided to plant. She asked the other barnyard animals to help, but each of them refused for one reason or another. The same thing happened each time she asked for help in tending the plants, harvesting the wheat, taking it to the mill to grind into flour, and bake the flour into bread.
At the end of this lengthy process, as the Little Red Hen pulled the fresh bread hot from the oven, all of the animals came running to help her eat it. But before any of them could come near, she said, “Not one of you helped me plant the grain, nor tend it, nor harvest it; none of you helped me take it to the mill, and you did not help me bake it into bread. Why should I share the bread with you now? It is for my chicks and I, and we will eat it ourselves.” Whereupon she shut the door, leaving her neighbors to watch longingly as her family enjoyed the fruit of her labors.
This story contains a moral for Hebrews who are debating whether the commandment to go up to Jerusalem for the Feasts of YHVH applies to them. Quite simply, if we are to enjoy the benefits of a restored Temple of the Living God, and of the nation that will be restored around it, then we had best be doing all we can to help in the process now.
11:3 Restoration 