Thanksgiving Meal

Deuteronomy 8:1–14 “1 “Carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your ancestors. 2 Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these forty years in the wilderness, so that he might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years. 5 Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 So keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper. 10 When you eat and are full, you will bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, 13 and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, 14 be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”

Why Dedicate a meal where we all gather to Give Thanks to the LORD every year?

It reminds us that life not just salvation and the means of life are a precious gift provided by God.

Gulf War Miracle

General Charles Krulak (USMC, retired) had this story to tell about his experience in the Gulf War in 1991:

There is a precious commodity in the Middle East. It's been fought over for hundreds of years. Christians fought for it, Muslims fought for it, nation states swept across the Arabian Peninsula and fought for it. And during the Desert Storm War, this commodity was critical to both the Iraqi army and the United States forces. Oil? No. Water.

Here was the ground scheme of maneuver of the United States Marine Corps during Desert Storm. We were to assault up the Saudi Arabian coast with the Persian Gulf on our right into southern Kuwait, push through the minefields in southern Kuwait, and capture Kuwait City. To effect the movement of eighty thousand Marines up that coast we had to build a logistics support base. We built that base at a location called Kabrit, 30 kilometers south of Kuwait and 30 kilometers in from the Persian Gulf. We picked Kabrit because it was an old airfield that had water wells that provided one hundred thousand gallons of water a day. The United States Marine Corps was going to need that much water on a daily basis to carry its forces into Kuwait.

Fourteen days before the war began, General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander-in-chief of the central command, decided to make a daring move, called the "great left hook." It was a sweep of forces—instead of right up the gully, so to speak—a flanking of the Iraqi army. That forced the Marine Corps to move 140 kilometers to the northwest and locate a new logistic space at a place called the Gravel Plains.

There was no water at the Gravel Plains. For 14 days we had engineers digging desperately to find water. We went to the Saudi government and asked them if they knew of any water in this area, and their answer was no. We brought the exiled Kuwaiti government down to our command post and pored over maps and asked them, "Do you know if there's any water in this area?" They said no. We went to the Bedouin tribes and the nomads, the people who lived in that area, and said, "Do you know where there's water on the Gravel Plain?" They said, "No, there's no water there." We kept digging wells hundreds of feet deep—to no avail.

In 1976, I became a Christian and every morning at 7:15 since that day I've held devotions. During this 14-day period, I obviously asked the Lord to help us with this need for water.

Finally on the Sunday before we were to go into Kuwait I was in a tent where we were holding a chapel service and were praying for water when a colonel came to the tent and asked to see me. I went outside and he said, "General, I need to show you something."

We got in his vehicle and drove down a road we had built through the desert from the Gravel Plains to the border of Kuwait. I had driven down that road at least 70 times. Over sixty thousand Marines had passed down that road. We drove about a mile down that road, and the officer said, "Look over there." About 20 yards off the road was a tower that reached 15 feet into the air. It was a white tower, and at the top of the tower was a cross. Coming off of the ends of the cross were canvas sleeves—sleeves used in old train stations to put water into train engines. At the base of that cross was an eight-foot-high pump newly painted red. Beside that pump was a diesel engine. Beside the diesel engine were four batteries still in their plastic. It was a diesel engine. The United States military in Desert Storm did not use diesel fuel. We had no diesel fuel. But beside this engine was a 500 gallon tank filled with diesel fuel.

On the engine was an "on" button and an "off" button, and between those two buttons was a keyhole. I asked the officer, "Has anybody seen the key?" He said, "Sir, there is no key."

I pushed the "on" button, and the engine kicked over immediately. I called one of my engineers and said, "I want you to test the flow coming out of these pipes." In my heart I knew what his answer was going to be. An hour later he said, "Sir, it is putting out one hundred thousand gallons a day."

I went back to the well five days later. The wind and sand had sandblasted the new paint off. A reporter from the London Times wrote an article that made the front page, entitled "The Miracle Well."

By God’s Word all existence came into being. By His Word, the Garden bore fruit. They had all they needed. When they walked away from God and distrusted His Word, they diminished themselves and life. They allowed the cycle of death to enter. Yet God

Point: we recognize the purpose of our trials. Seven ways that trouble ministers to us:

It corrects us when we've sinned (Hebrews 12:6)

It causes greater dependence on God

It confirms our testimony to others

It brings spiritual maturity and Christlikeness

It proves our faith genuine (1 Peter 1:6-7)

It teaches obedience even when we don't understand

It prepares us for future glory (Romans 8:18)

As Rogers powerfully stated: "God had only one son without sin, but He's never had a son without suffering"

It looks forward to the ultimate meal of praise with the Father

Every meal points forward to the ultimate feast. Jesus established the Lord's Supper during Passover—itself a thanksgiving meal celebrating God's deliverance from Egypt. When Jesus took bread and said, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me," He transformed the Passover into a memorial of God's ultimate act of salvation.drmsh+3​

Michael Heiser notes that the Lord's Supper creates "solidarity with God" and should cause us to "grow in gratitude and thanksgiving that our sins have been forgiven". We don't "get grace" by eating the elements; rather, we receive what the Old Testament priests received by Paul's analogy: fellowship with God, which ought to overflow in gratitude.drmsh+1​

The Lord's Supper has only one commanded purpose in the New Testament: remembrance (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). We remember Christ's death until He comes. We remember that we were spiritually dead, but "God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love...made us alive together with Christ". This is the ultimate reason for thanksgiving.calvarychapeljonesboro+2​

Revelation promises a final wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9). Every meal we eat, every thanksgiving we celebrate, points forward to that eternal feast when Christ will gather His people from every nation. We will once again have access to the tree of life, and we will enjoy an eternally life-giving meal in His presence.bibleproject​