Celebrating in the Sand

So, this is the next stop in my thinking about joy and the Christian life. If you missed the first post, just click here.

The Israelites have been brought out of Egypt, liberated by the Lord, on their way to the land that he'd promised them long ago. A land, according to Exodus 3:8, "flowing with milk and honey." And yet, to get there, they had to pass through the desert. Reading the book of Exodus, there's no way for anyone to confuse that it was God who brought them out of Egypt, nor that it was his decision to take them through the desert, the "long way" as it were, to get to their destination. He had a purpose. Actually, he had several. He wanted them to learn to trust him. He wanted to teach them his ordinances and his laws. He wanted to test their faith and their obedience. He wanted to "fit them" to inherit the land that he had set aside for them. Much of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are the accounts of this "fitting," of God sanctifying his people for the new life he had prepared for them. The really cool thing about these accounts is that none of them try to make this process sound like anything other than what it was: hard. The Israelites were in the desert, it was hot, there were a lot of them, and they had to move in this sort of cumbersome herd. They needed water, they needed food. They didn't know where they were nor where they were going, and in the midst of all this. In the moments of testing and sanctifying, God instituted festivals and feasts, times when he instructed his people to stop and party.

Depending on how you count and what you count, there are anywhere from 10-12 times every year that God told his people to stop working and party. Sometimes these were more solemn: Passover (Exodus 12:1-14; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:1-14;28:16; Deuteronomy 16:1-3a;4b-7) and Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14), but other times they were just loud expressions of joy: Feast of the Tabernacle or Booths (43; Numbers 29:12-34; Deuteronomy 16:13-15; Zechariah 14:16-19) and Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6). Times designed for people to be joyful, happy, and in a mood of celebration. Times when music was played, when the entire camp would be filled with the aroma of animals being given as burnt offerings. Times when no "ordinary" work should be done, but instead the work of celebrating was the order of the day.

Now, here's the thing: if I'd been there, I probably would have been that guy saying, "Wait a minute, we're in the desert! Don't you see all this sand around you! You know as well as I do how hard it is to grow grain here, to keep our bulls alive and fed, and now we're gonna just burn them. What about if we need them tomorrow? What will we do then? God has already tested us before by having us wander over hard and difficult paths, what if he does that again? Besides, partying and celebrating are for those who don't really understand our God. He's a serious God. Not some frivolous thing to just blow trumpets at." To use the modern day vernacular: every party has a pooper, that's why we invited you!

The interesting thing about these feats and festivals is that God commanded the people to celebrate, and for hundreds of years, the morning after each celebration, they woke up still in the desert. The sand hadn't magically disappeared, and the daily grind was still there. And yet God commanded praise, he commanded celebration. And, lest we think these were anything subdued or quiet, just imagine over five thousand people shouting, laughing, blowing trumpets, and in a party mood. It was loud, it was chaotic, it was (dare I say it) fun!

How does this look practically? Well, I've got some thoughts about that coming soon. For now, I'm just simmering in the idea that celebration isn't just okay, it's commanded, and that I have been far too disobedient for far too long.