The Oasis: Times of Refreshing

Times of Refreshing

(All scripture quotations are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted. Scriptures designated KJV are from the King James Version.)

When Walt Disney translated his dreams from the movies to the real world by creating Disneyland in California in the mid-1950s, he inspired a whole new generation of recreational possibilities, the advent of the Theme Park. Vacationers could sample a wide variety of experiences in one central location that would take years to travel to otherwise.

In fact, some of those experiences would be impossible anywhere else, as they were based on history, fantasy, and science fiction. Walt created a number of "lands" that took only a short walk to move between. There was a Frontierland, going back in history, Tomorrowland, going into the future, Fantasyland, going into the imagination, and much more.

Later this same Theme Park idea was exported across the country to Florida and came to life as Walt Disney World. It was much like Disneyland, with some of the same attractions, only on a grander scale. Before he died in the early 1970s, Walt also envisioned another World that he wished to make available to vacationers. He didn’t live to see its completion, but his associates took his idea for an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow", adjusted it for changed conditions, and created EPCOT Center.

Here vacationers could not only go backward in time for a peek at the history of communications, forward into new frontiers of science, but also around the world for miniature visits to such lands as China, Mexico, England, and Norway.

Since the 1950s, many other Theme Parks have sprung up across the country and around the world. Busch Gardens re-creates for visitors various animal habitats from around the world, from an African veldt with giraffes and elephants, to misty jungle environments populated by "Gorillas in the mist". Sea World recreates the oceans of the world, from a south polar penguin exhibit to tropical ocean settings with sharks, sting rays, and giant turtles.

What is the appeal of such Theme Parks? Why do people spend large amounts of money and time to travel from all over the world to such places as Walt Disney World?

Theme Parks give them an opportunity to:

Come out of their everyday world with its stress—or boredom—and thus be refreshed.

Experience a small sample at least of a variety of environments they might never otherwise visit.

Learn things about their world and themselves that can’t be learned just by reading or watching a video

Into Another World

If you have ever gone to Disneyland or Walt Disney World, you are familiar with one of the typical ways you enter a new experience in such a Theme Park. As you approach the attraction, after waiting in line for a time, you find yourself alongside a conveyor belt. It is going a different direction from the one you were headed, at a different speed. Once you step on it, you are propelled where those walking by outside cannot see—into "another world". Usually you step from that conveyor belt into a vehicle of some sort, pull down the safety railing, and sit back as you turn the corner into an environment totally unlike that which you came from.

God Himself built into creation, long before the birth of Walt Disney, several such Theme Parks. But unlike our Theme Parks, they don’t occupy a special "place" you can fly or drive to. They are actually Theme Times—they occupy special times.

Our daily world occupies a certain "time frame". We move along in it at a certain rate, based on our perception of time—days, weeks, months, years. All of this is connected in our minds with the calendar we use. But most people, including most folks who would label themselves as "Christians," are unaware that the Bible itself does not use the same calendar we do in 21st Century America. The characters in the Bible lived by a totally different calendar. It’s as if we and they are on two conveyor belts, going in different directions at different speeds.

If you step off our belt, onto the other one—into "Bible time"—you can experience a different dimension. It’s not a "3-D" one like Disneyland. You’ll have to use your imagination more, and your Bible to get your bearings. But if you take that step, you will find that you will get some of the same benefits that vacationers do at EPCOT Center. You will

Come out of your everyday world with its stress—or boredom—and be refreshed.

Experience environments—past, present and future—you may not have even known existed.

Learn things about God’s creation and yourself that can’t be learned just by reading about them—even by reading the Bible!

God created His "conveyor belt of time" so that there are varied themes to experience depending on the time of year you choose to step on that belt, away from your regular way of counting time. We will explore a few of those themes in future articles.

But first you need to understand just how different "time" is in the Bible.

Time Travel

If you want to make an appointment to see a friend later this year, you will both likely look at a calendar on your wall or your desk, and discuss what month and day you will meet. But you will not likely pause to wonder where the names of the months came from, how they got in the order they are in, why they have varying numbers of days, why we have a "leap year" at times with an extra day in February, and so on. Most of us just learned these facts by memory in our grade school years, never questioning their origin. The assumption of most may be "it’s always been this way." But it hasn’t "always been this way"!

Just as a quick sample, consider the name of our "tenth month". It is called "October"—yet the prefix "oct" means "eight". Think of such words as "octopus" (an eight-legged creature) and "octet" (a singing group with eight members). Obviously, something is amiss here! In fact, the last four months of our year have names which should indicate "seven, eight, nine and ten"—since sept- refers to seven, oct- eight, nov- nine, and dec- (like in "decimal") refers to ten.

Another question most don’t ever ponder is why we change the "calendar year" on January 1. It is not the intention of this article to explain all of the details of the current calendar— merely to note that all of its details have been developed by man. If you would like to learn about how we got our current calendar, the article on "calendars" in any good encyclopedia should be able to meet your need.

In the Bible, however, there is a system of dividing up the year that was in place from the beginning of the creation. God, at the point of the Genesis 1 creation account, built into the creation a calendar and a clock. They did not need gears or paper or computers to keep working. For the components were the sun, moon, and stars. The year is not how long it takes you to flip the pages on your calendar from January to December. Rather, it is how long it takes the earth to go around the sun.

A month is not how long it takes before you flip one of the pages on your calendar. Rather, it is how long it takes the moon to go through all its "phases"—from a tiny sliver, to a crescent moon, to a full moon, to a crescent in the other direction, to totally black… and then starting again as a crescent.

Even though we use the word "month" (which is derived from the same root as "moon") to indicate a period just about as long as this process takes (around 30 days), on our calendars the month is not in any way connected to that process now. Check your calendar if you have one that notes the "phases of the moon". The "new moon" is at a different time on every calendar month.

But in the Bible, the situation is very different. For whenever a Biblical passage speaks of the "first day of the month," it actually does mean that day when the moon is new. It is important that you understand this principle if you are to clearly understand some of the events in the Bible.

Another important thing to know about the calendar of the Bible is that the year begins, not in what we call January, but in the spring of the year in the Middle East where Biblical events took place. Thus, if a Biblical passage speaks of the "First month," it means that month around the time of the Spring Equinox (the time when the day and night are equal in length).

Once you understand these two principles—that months are based on the changes in the moon, and the year begins in spring—you can begin to learn about the Theme Times that God created for Mankind.

Festivals

This idea of Theme Times shouldn’t be totally foreign to you. People all over the world get excited about such times they have created for themselves. I grew up in a small town in northern Michigan that was known as the "Cherry Capital of the World" for its many cherry tree groves. And thus its civic leaders decided many decades ago to create a week-long "National Cherry Festival."

As with most such town and city festivals, it featured a carnival with rides, a parade with floats and bands through the city streets, competitions at the fair grounds (such as cherry pie-eating and cherry-pit spitting contests), community decorations, fireworks displays at night, special guest performers and celebrities. In fact, this festival grew so large in later years that the parade eventually drew an audience of tens of thousands, and one year President Gerald Ford was the Grand Marshall. Taking care of arrangements for this annual Theme Time has by now become a year-round occupation for some in the town!

Perhaps your town or city has a similar festival—most do. In Michigan, for instance, there are festivals honoring everything from Maple Syrup to Ice Fishing. Why is this so? What is there about Theme Times that appeals to people?

I believe that God built into man the absolute need for regular rest and refreshment, both on a weekly level, and at periodic times throughout the year. And I believe He also built in a desire and appreciation for decoration, pageantry, variety, surprise, excitement. Meeting these needs and desires allows for physical, mental, and spiritual rejuvenation.

And God created in His plan for Mankind from the very beginning a way for those needs and desires to be fulfilled. But the knowledge of that way has been lost by most of mankind. And thus they have, in order to meet these subconscious needs and desires, created festivals, fairs, conferences, camp meetings, and a variety of man-made holidays to try and fill that void.

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years ... (Gen 1:14)

In this passage about the creation, the word "season" is not translated from a Hebrew word that has anything to do with the concepts of summer, winter, spring, and fall. It is, rather, from the word moedim—which means appointed times. That is, appointed times of festivals. Thus the sun, moon, and stars are used to calculate the calendar by which God indicates times He intended to be for regular refreshment for His people.

For God intended His people to have Theme Times, times of feasting, parades, parties, even costumes and decorations. But His intent from the very beginning is that those special times be centered around worshipping and rejoicing before Him. He intended for those times to be joyful and fun—but for the centerpiece, rather than honoring Maple Syrup or Cherries, to be honoring Him. There is nothing wrong with man-made festivities related to these kind of local specialties. But what "lessons for life" does one learn from such times? Since most people have only limited "vacation time", would it not seem more suitable for Christians to find out what "times" God created specifically for them, and use those times to full advantage? And since the Bible is the foundation of the Christian Faith, wouldn’t it be sensible for Christians to look in that book to find how and when God intended for them to rejoice before Him?

Bible Theme Times

The Theme Times in the Bible are based on the calendar of the sun, moon and stars. When God took Israel out of bondage in Egypt, He told them

This month [beginning with the first new moon in Spring] is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. (Exo 12:2)

And then later He told them about the moedim—the appointed times they were to have to rejoice before Him.

The LORD said to Moses,"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. ( Lev 23:1-2)

Note that He didn’t say, "These are your feasts," or "These are the feasts of the Jews," or any such limiting designation. He said these are "my appointed feasts." He put in place the sun, moon, and stars so that men could see when the time approached for such celebrations!

There are three such annual times of celebration, with seven special days connected to them. Future articles at The Oasis will cover some of the Biblical details about these special times. Each one has many lessons built in to the observance, lessons about history, the future, prophecy, the ways of God, the truth of the Bible. And, most important of all, each one points directly to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a complete set, these celebrations teach about His life, death, resurrection, empowerment of His church with the Holy Spirit, and His eventual Return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

God did not intend these to be times of solemn, gloomy, boring "religious rituals." He intended for them to be, in one sense, regular "family reunions" of those who call Him Father, and who call Jesus Elder Brother. He intended His people to have fun at these times, rejoicing in many ways including singing, feasting, laughing, enjoying camaraderie among people of all ages. They are not times when just individual families stay in their isolated homes to have small parties, but rather times when all the members of the "Family of God" in an area get together and celebrate.

Future articles at The Oasis will show you how to use your Bible to step out of this present world onto the "conveyor belt" that will take you into the Theme Times of God.