Rejoice in All the Good Things

The Fellowship  |  May 24, 2023

“When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name…” (Deuteronomy 26:1-2)

Beginning at sundown on May 25, the Jewish people will celebrate Shavuot, the commemoration of the gift of God’s Word at Mount Sinai, as well as the biblical “Festival of Weeks” and “Festival or Harvest.” The Bible also calls Shavuot “the day of firstfruits” (Numbers 28:26).

This photo was taken in Jerusalem in 1937… a decade before the declaration of the Jewish state’s independence, and even as the winds of war and hatred were blowing in Europe, threatening God’s children.

But here, in this photo taken in God’s Holy City, on this day of firstfruits, Jewish children do as the Bible commands them on Shavuot, declaring, “Now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, LORD, have given me” and obeying the biblical command to “rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household” (Deuteronomy 26:10-11).

To our Jewish friends, we wish a Happy Shavuot, and to you all, Shabbat Shalom.