Overview
The Thanksgiving
holiday or Holy Day is rooted in Christianity.
It is a day to praise our Father in Heaven for the final harvest of the
year. The original Pilgrim celebration
of Thanksgiving was called a harvest festival. The Pilgrims were known for their Christian
beliefs and the importance they put on studying the bible, so it is certain
that they were aware of the Feast of Tabernacles and the importance of
thanksgiving to Yahweh.
The Mayflower
Compact stated their mission was for the glory of God:
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and
honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the
Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the
presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into
a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance
of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame,
such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from
time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good
of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact
Edward Winslow, in Mourt's Relation, documented their first Thanksgiving as follows:
Our
harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we
might after a special manner rejoice
together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one
day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other
recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and
among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days
we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we
brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain
and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time
with us, yet by the goodness of God,
we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
The time of
the festival:
The
Pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in
1621. The exact time is unknown, but James Baker, then Plimoth Plantation vice president of research, stated in 1996,
"The event occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11, 1621, with the most
likely time being around Michaelmas (Sept. 29), the traditional time."
From
US Pilgrim Harvest Festival http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)#Harvest_festival_observed_by_the_Pilgrims_at_Plymouth
Feast of
Tabernacles
Based on Edward
Winslow’s writings above, their harvest festival was celebrated just like the
Israelite Feast of Tabernacles. The
Israelite Thanksgiving celebration was called the Feast of Tabernacles or
Booths or Ingathering’s. Based on the
solar calendar, the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated from October 2nd to 8th. It was commanded that we celebrate this, as
follows:
“Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15 Thou
shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread:(thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven
days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it
thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16 And the
feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the
field: and the feast of ingathering,
which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of
the field.” Exodus 23: 14
“And thou shalt keep the feast of the harvest of first fruits of
thy labors, whatsoever thou shalt have sown in thy field, and the feast of completion at the end of the year
in the gathering in of thy fruits out of thy field.” 1851 Septuagint Exodus 23:16
“You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat
harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at
the year's end.” Exodus 34: 22
"You shall keep the Feast
of Booths [Tabernacles] seven days, when you have gathered in the produce
from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast,
you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant,
the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your
towns. For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the
place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your
hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.” Deu 16:13-15
Thanksgiving
The Pilgrims
studied the bible, therefore knew the importance of thanksgiving or praise to our
Father in Heaven. The word
‘thanksgiving’ appears in the English Standard Version of the bible 35 times,
here are some examples:
“And when you
sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice
it so that you may be accepted. “ ESV Lev 22:29
“He also
restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings
and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God
of Israel.” ESV 2Ch 33:16
“The one who
offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his
way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” ESV Psa_50:23
“Enter his
gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him;
bless his name!” ESV Psa_100:4
“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace
extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the
glory of God.”
ESV 2Co_4:15
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” ESV Col 2:6-7
It is no coincidence that the US Pilgrims and
the Israelites both celebrated the final harvest, at the same time of the year,
for a week of giving thanks to our Father in Heaven!
For further reading:
The Christian Quartodeciman Passover Controversy https://ephraimamerica.blogspot.com/2026/11/the-christian-quartodeciman-passover.html
Welch White Indians settled on the Missouri River https://ephraimamerica.blogspot.com/2018/04/1792-news-welch-white-indians-settled.html
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