Sunday, May 19: “Encouraged in the Midst of Suffering”

Deuteronomy 16: 10a, 11a: “You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God … and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.”

These verses are usually taken as a command: “Celebrate the Feast of Weeks!” (Pentecost), and so they should be. But can they not also be taken as a promise? After centuries of slavery, after forty frustrating years in the wilderness, which has often been a one-step-forward-two steps-back experience, the Lord tells His people: “You WILL celebrate! You WILL rejoice before Me when you remember how I delivered you from the suffering, reproach, mourning, and grief of Egypt.” (v. 12) Let any in the midst of such suffering today likewise believe and receive this promise; you will yet celebrate, and you will rejoice before the Lord. So, may you all celebrate a blessed Feast of Pentecost today!