Thanksgiving is a day that most people eat turkeys, sometimes pigs, that are slaughtered yearly in “thanks” for things, they believe, their elohim [their lawmaker and judge] has done for them. Does Israel keep a Thanksgiving?
I see that many who would like to think of themselves as Yehovah’s people have stopped celebrating Christmas and Easter because they have come to see all the paganism that is associated with those two “Christian” and national holi-days which are celebrated throughout the world. AND many of those folks also have come to understand that nether of these two holi-days are considered one of Yehovah’s feast days.
But what does Yehovah say concerning the American tradition and US holi-day called Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is so much a sacred day of rest for most US citizens that even their money makers take a respite on that day.
Here Are My Reasons For Not Keeping Thanksgiving
There are many reasons why I have chosen not to associate myself with this man-made holi-day any longer.
First, and my original reason for banning Thanksgiving was what Yehovah said through His prophet Amos.
“I hate, I despise YOUR feast days, and I do not savor YOUR sacred assemblies. Though YOU offer Me burnt offerings and YOUR grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard a thanksgiving slaughter of your fat beasts. (Amo 5:21-22)
“Feast days” have to do with food slaughtered to an elohim, and “sacred assemblies” are gatherings of people. He “hates” and “despises” YOUR feast days because they are not what He asked Israel to do. All Yehovah’s feasts, which He told His called-out men to keep, are codified in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 12.
Second, His people are the men (with their families) whom Yehovah called-out of the kingdom of their birth, joined themselves to Him and His other called-out men and then entered into covenant with Him at His first yearly feast, Passover.
I renounced my citizenship, came out of the kingdom of my birth (the corporation called the UNITED STATES), and joined myself to Yehovah’s kingdom & people in 1999 and then came into covenant with the Creator in 2006; when as a Ger of 7 years I realized that I had both a duty and a privilege to become an Ezrach, a son and heir of Yehovah.
What business would I, an ambassador for Yehovah’s kingdom, have in keeping the feasts of another kingdom? If I were to do so, would I not be perverting the light that He commanded me to shine into the world by adding to His instructions?
Then Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Israel’s son/seed (perversely know as “the children of Israel”, and say to them: ‘I am Yehovah, your Elohim. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you   shall    not   do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you   shall   not   do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am Yehovah, your Elohim. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am Yehovah’. (Lev 18:2-5)
One of the hardest things for most people to understand, is that while turkey is a “clean” bird it was not slaughtered according to Yehovah’s statutes as codified in Leviticus 17. In fact, it was slaughtered in concordance with the elohim [lawmakers and judges] of the land, who practically everyone serves and has multiple covenants with. Their instructions are codified in the statutes that govern the USDA concerning what is an acceptable way to slaughter and prepare animals [behemah] and birds for consumption by their people.
Yehovah’s men do not provide any meat for their families that they, or their brothers, did not slaughter in accordance with His instructions. The meat which can be purchased at any store is meat slaughtered according to the instructions of other lawmakers and judges, who are not Yehovah.
For those who don’t believe that “ignorance is bliss”; I have written a series of 9 articles which discuss what it means to eat meat “sacrificed to idols.” Here is the first one. Meat sacrificed to idols (part 1)
Finally, Yehovah’s people already have a holy day, a feast day, to thank Him for all that He has given us during this season, It is called Sukkot.
But don’t let me rock your boat or rain on your parade. Until we leave the kingdom of our birth and become Yehovah’s men, we have no obligation to follow Yehovah’s instructions. Yehovah never told the Egyptians to do anything except let His son, His firstborn, go that he may serve Him.
So, enjoy YOUR Thanksgiving!