Do Harvest Festivals Please God?

LUSCIOUS fruits, delightful vegetables, and sheaves of healthy corn piled high present an appealing picture. At harvesttime such displays adorn the altars and pulpits of churches throughout England. In Europe, as elsewhere, numerous festivities mark both the beginning and the end of the harvest season.

Those whose livelihood is dependent on the soil are especially thankful for the land’s produce. Indeed, God called on the ancient nation of Israel to celebrate three annual festivals that were closely associated with the harvest. In early spring, during the Festival of Unfermented Cakes, the Israelites presented to God a sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest. At the Festival of Weeks (or, Pentecost) in late spring, they offered loaves made from the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. In the fall came the Festival of Ingathering, which marked the end of Israel’s agricultural year. (Exodus 23:14-17) These festivals were “holy conventions” and times of rejoicing.—Leviticus 23:2; Deuteronomy 16:16.

What, then, of modern-day harvest celebrations? Do they please God?

Pagan Links

Disturbed by the secular nature of the traditional harvesttime banquet and the drunkenness associated with the celebration, an Anglican clergyman in Cornwall, England, decided in 1843 to revive a medieval harvest custom. He took some of the first grain harvested and from it made bread for the communion celebration in his church. Doing so, he perpetuated the festival of Lammas—a “Christian” celebration that some say had its origin with the ancient worship of the Celtic god Lugh.a Thus, the modern Anglican harvest festival has a pagan origin.

What about other celebrations that take place at the end of the harvest season? According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, many of the customs that mark these festivities trace their origin to “the animistic belief in the corn [grain] spirit or corn mother.” In some regions the farmers believed that a spirit resided in the last sheaf of grain to be harvested. To chase out the spirit, they beat the grain to the ground. Elsewhere they wove some blades of the cereal into a “corn dolly” that they kept safe for “luck” until seed-sowing the following year. Then they plowed the ears of grain back into the soil in hopes that this would bless the new crop.

Some legends associate harvesttime with the worship of the Babylonian god Tammuz, consort of the fertility goddess Ishtar. Cutting off the ripe head of grain paralleled Tammuz’ untimely death. Other legends even connect harvesttime with human sacrifice—a practice that Jehovah God detests.—Leviticus 20:2; Jeremiah 7:30, 31.

What Is God’s View?

God’s dealings with ancient Israel clearly reveal that Jehovah, the Creator and Source of life, demanded the exclusive devotion of his worshipers. (Psalm 36:9; Nahum 1:2) In the prophet Ezekiel’s day, the practice of weeping for the god Tammuz was a ‘great detestable thing’ in Jehovah’s eyes. This, along with other false religious rites, caused God to shut his ears to the prayers of those false worshipers.—Ezekiel 8:6, 13, 14, 18.

Contrast this with what Jehovah God instructed Israel to observe in connection with the harvest. At the Festival of Ingathering, the Israelites held a solemn assembly during which young and old, rich and poor, lived in temporary dwellings decorated with the lush foliage of splendid trees. This was a time of great rejoicing for them, but it was also a time to reflect on the deliverance God had granted their forebears at the time of the Exodus from Egypt.—Leviticus 23:40-43.

During the Israelite festivals, offerings were presented to Jehovah, the only true God. (Deuteronomy 8:10-20) As for the aforementioned animistic beliefs, the Bible nowhere speaks of produce, such as sheaves of wheat, as having a soul.b And the Scriptures clearly show that idols remain inanimate, unable to speak, see, hear, smell, feel, or offer their worshipers any help.—Psalm 115:5-8; Romans 1:23-25.

Christians today are not under the Law covenant that God concluded with the ancient nation of Israel. Indeed, God ‘took it out of the way by nailing it to Jesus’ torture stake.’ (Colossians 2:13, 14) Jehovah’s modern-day servants live by “the law of the Christ” and respond appreciatively to all that God provides.—Galatians 6:2.

The apostle Paul plainly stated that the Jewish festivals were “a shadow of the things to come,” adding, “but the reality belongs to the Christ.” (Colossians 2:16, 17) Consequently, true Christians accept the Scriptural reasoning: “The things which the nations sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God . . . You cannot be drinking the cup of Jehovah and the cup of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:20, 21) Moreover, Christians heed the directive to “quit touching the unclean thing.” Do harvest festivals in your neighborhood have pagan or false religious overtones? If so, genuine Christians may avoid displeasing Jehovah by declining to have any involvement in such contaminated worship.—2 Corinthians 6:17.

When an appreciative child receives a present from his father, whom does he thank? A complete stranger or his parent? By heartfelt prayer God’s worshipers daily thank Jehovah, their heavenly Father, for his bounteous generosity.—2 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 18.

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