Thanksgiving in the Bible

This season of Ordinary Time has drawn to a close. I was debating whether to dive into Christ the King Sunday or a theme of Thanksgiving. Since I had written posts in 2013 and 2018 on Christ the King Sunday and posts in 2012 and 2020 on Thanksgiving, I don't feel a need to "reinvent the wheel" for the sake of publishing a post today. I considered discussing Pollyanna's Rejoicing Texts, but once more, I did that in 2013. 

So this year, let's take a step back from the American holiday of Thanksgiving and consider the biblical side of thanksgiving (30), giving thanks (6), and give thanks (48).

 

As we look at summaries of these verses, let us consider: 

-What verses are presented as historical examples? (i.e. They dedicated the wall with songs of thanksgiving)

-What verses are presented as commands/instructions? (i.e. Sing to the Lord with praise and thanksgiving)

-What verses are future-oriented/prophecies? (i.e. There will be future thanksgiving)

-What are the outlier verses about? How would you categorize them? 

-What can we learn from the historical examples? 

-How can we summarize the commands and instructions? (There are 13 command bullet points. Can we reduce them down further?)

-What WILL cause future thanksgiving of God? 

-When can we expect future thanksgiving? 

-What can we learn about the outlier verses? 

-Would you sort these in a different manner? How would you sort them? 

-What can we learn about thanksgiving, giving thanks, and give thanks from our blitz through the Bible? 

Thanksgiving in the Bible

• Fellowship offering of thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:13, Leviticus 7:15)
• Sing to the Lord with praise and thanksgiving (Ezra 3:11)
• There was a (music) director and associates who led in thanksgiving and prayer (Nehemiah 11:17, Nehemiah 12:8, Nehemiah 12:46)
• One service had people standing to give praise and thanksgiving, and one section responded to the other (Nehemiah 12:24)
• The newly rebuilt wall of Jerusalem was dedicated with songs of thanksgiving (Nehemiah 12:27)
• A psalmist praises God’s name in song and glorifies Him with thanksgiving (Psalm 69:30)
• A psalmist urges the people to come before God with thanksgiving and to extol Him with music and song (Psalm 95:2)
• A psalmist urges the people to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. We are to give thanks to Him and praise Him (Ps. 100:4) 
• The prophets prophesied future thanksgiving (Isaiah 51:3, Jeremiah 30:19)
• In our modern Bibles, “thanksgiving” shows up as the heading of multiple passages of Scripture. So these would be good passages to expand out into the complete passage. (1 Corinthians 1:4, Ephesians 1:15, Philippians 1:13, Colossians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Timothy 1:3, Philippians 1:4)
• Paul talks about the cup of thanksgiving in regards to communion/the Lord’s supper. (1 Corinthians 10:16)
• Paul notes that people cannot agree with our thanksgiving if we aren’t speaking the common language (1 Corinthians 14:16)
• Paul wants thanksgiving to overflow, so God may be glorified (2 Corinthians 4:15)
• Paul notes that when we are generous and empower workers to carry out God’s calling, then this will result in thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:11)
• We should have thanksgiving instead of improper topics of conversation (Ephesians 5:4)
• We should pray and petition in every situation with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6)
• We should pray, petition, intercede, and offer thanksgiving for all people (1 Timothy 2:1)
• God created food to be received with thanksgiving and so we shouldn’t reject any food if we receive it with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:3-4)

Giving Thanks in the Bible

• Daniel continued praying and giving thanks to God, even after a law was passed that made it illegal (Daniel 6:10)
• Paul notes that giving thanks while speaking in tongues works for us, but doesn’t edify others. (1 Corinthians 14:17)
• Paul was giving thanks for the Ephesians as he remembered them in his prayers (Ephesians 1:16)
• Paul was giving (joyful) thanks to the Father (Ephesians 5:20, Colossians 1:12, Colossians 3:17)

Give Thanks in the Bible

• Command: Give thanks to the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 118:1/29, Psalm 136:1-3/26, 1 Thessalonians 5:18)
• Petition: Save us, so that we may give thanks to You (1 Chronicles 16:35, Psalm 106:47
• Someone's Job: People were chosen and designated to give thanks to the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:41, 2 Chronicles 20:21, 2 Chronicles 31:2, Nehemiah 12:24, Nehemiah 12:31)
• Prayer: we give thanks to You (1 Chronicles 29:13) 
• Musicians gave praise and thanks to God (2 Chronicles 5:13)
• Plan: I will give thanks to You/the Lord (Psalm 7:17, Psalm 9:1, Psalm 35:18, Psalm 118:19/21, Psalm 119:62)
• Instructions: Let them give thanks to God (Psalm 107:8/15/21/31)
• Prophecy: There will be people calling for others to give thanks to God (Jeremiah 33:11)
• Jesus’ example: Jesus had given thanks before eating and drinking (Matthew 15:36, Matthew 26:26-27, Mark 8:6, Mark 14:22-23, Luke 22:19, Luke 24:30, John 6:23, 1 Corinthians 11:24) 
• We should give thanks to God when we eat or abstain (Romans 14:6)
• Paul thanks God because of His grace given to us (1 Corinthians 1:4) *this one has “thank” and “give”, but doesn’t quite fit in the theme. 
• We give thanks for the cup of thanksgiving (1 Corinthians 10:16)
• Thank God; He gives us victory through Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:57) *this one has “thank” and “give”, but doesn’t quite fit in the theme. 
• Many will give thanks for the successes of the missionaries because of the prayers of the church (2 Corinthians 1:11)
• We will give glory, honor, and thanks to God (Revelation 4:9)
• We will tell God that we give thanks to Him (Revelation 11:17)