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Dining / Feasting
A plandemic target?
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Since listening to a brief exchange in the Exodus seminar series1 about “eating together,”2 I have been thinking about what happened to dining and feasting during COVID. What part did lockdown and isolation play in exacerbating fear, stress, distrust, and simmering anger — not against the “authorities,” but against those (including family members) who did not wholeheartedly accept the official narrative? How many “infected” family members, including young children, were quarantined in their bedrooms for 14-day stretches and mandated to mask and eat alone? And what of the communal dining-room closures in senior and other care-giving facilities? Isolation upon isolation.
Our obsessions with social media, sports, and work have already disrupted in large measure family “eating together” patterns, but COVID thrust an even broader wedge into every aspect of human sociality, celebration, commemoration, and fellowship. No church suppers. No wedding, reunion, anniversary, grad, club, or society banquets. No funeral luncheons. No dine-in cafes or restaurants for get-togethers or date-nights.
At times, “eating together” seemed almost a targeted activity. Remember the fear-alarms at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas? And remember the vax-passport phase-in for resuming “eating together” in public?
On the other hand, have we noticed in scripture:
▪ how often God commanded feasting in preparation or commemoration of memorable events3?
▪ how angels or messengers were entertained with feasts4?
▪ how the “certain man” sent servants out into the streets and lanes, highways and hedges to gather all who would come to his supper / feast after the initial invitees had made excuse5?
▪ how the prodigal son was welcomed home with a feast6?
▪ how feasting was almost always a part of important milestones7?
▪ how feasting has been used as a spiritual metaphor for God's word8 and for judgment and millennial days9?
▪ how even the miraculous multiplication of simple bread and fish at the feeding of five thousand and four thousand was a feast because of the amount of leftovers gathered up10?
In the previously mentioned
Exodus clip, Dennis Prager observed:
“The center of Jewish religious life is the house and the center of religious life in the house is the table.”.
How many of us can say: The center of
our religious life is the home and the center of religious life in
our home is the table?
11 Could there be any typology between our dining tables and God's shewbread table so meticulously placed in His tabernacle with its dishes, spoons, covers, bowls, and shewbread12?
Perhaps corrupted
powers have a paranoia about people freely congregating in celebration, commemoration, thanksgiving, and fellowship, because they might freely share opinions and observations, or discuss matters of import or action? Is that why the
powers are predicting (orchestrating?) a coming food shortage / famine,
13 so “eating together” becomes a zero-sum, existential paranoia? so that sociality and fellowship revert to competitive survival — even savagery?
Next time we see “eating together” deemed a dangerous, targeted activity, let us ponder the source and purpose.
As a troubling aside: as of 2022, we no longer have the option of meeting as friends or family to eat together in temple cafeterias.
14 Does the reason “to simplify temple operations” weigh sufficiently against the blessing of sharing food with fellow servants in the house of the Lord? a place of peace, quiet, and fellowship unparalleled in the outside world. For many temple-goers, nearby(?) food establishments immersed in the noise and poisons of present Babylon has no allurement. They seek to retain and carry home the spirit felt in the temple. Of course, some readers may be offended by this criticism, but for many who know the spirit of the temple (even in its cafeteria), they feel a sense of loss that dining together there has been foreclosed. (And what of the loss of hundreds of jobs?) For some, the hope and prayer is that before they auction off the kitchens, they reconsider the costs v. benefits; perhaps even to survey the wishes and will of the members and service workers impacted. For the most part, an imported sack lunch does not have the same flavor, presentation, or fellowship as a savory, hot meal served with “dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls,” and ambience. To simplify operations does not necessarily simplify life's necessities for service givers. Should reciprocal service be a prime consideration?
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1.
https://www.dailywire.com/episode/exodus-episode-5 (from min. 45:38 to 57:14)
2. Excerpt from footnote 1: The Key to Peace With Russia[?] (Jordan B Peterson Clips | Dec 16, 2022 | Time 7:05 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2Ivm
3.
Old Testament | Exodus 5:1 1 AND afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
Old Testament | Exodus 10:9 9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
Old Testament | Exodus 12:14, 17 14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. .
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17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
Old Testament | Exodus 13:6 6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
Old Testament | Exodus 23:14-16 14 ¶ 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.
Old Testament | Exodus 34:22 22 ¶ And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
Old Testament | Leviticus 23:39, 41 39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. ..
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41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
Old Testament | Deuteronomy 16:16 16 ¶ Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
New Testament | Matthew 26:17 17 ¶ Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
4.
Old Testament | Genesis 18:1-8 1 AND the LORD appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Old Testament | Genesis 19:3 3 And he [Lot] pressed upon them [the two angels] greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
5.
New Testament | Luke 14:16-24
16 Then said he [Jesus] unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
New Testament | Luke 14:13 13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
6. Prodigal:
New Testament | Luke 15:22-24 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
7.
Old Testament | Genesis 21:8 8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
Old Testament | Genesis 26:30 30 And he [Isaac] made them [his former adversaries] a feast, and they did eat and drink.
Old Testament | Genesis 29:21-22 21 ¶ And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.
Old Testament | Judges 14:10 10 ¶ So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
Old Testament | 2 Samuel 3:20 20 So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.
Old Testament | 1 Kings 3:15 15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
Old Testament | 1 Kings 8:65 65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.
Old Testament | 1 Kings 10:4-6 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,
5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.
6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
Old Testament | Esther 1:3-5 3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;
Old Testament | Psalms 128:3 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
New Testament | Matthew 27:15 15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.
New Testament | Luke 5:29 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
New Testament | John 2:8-9 8 And he [Jesus] saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
New Testament | John 5:1 1 AFTER this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Book of Mormon | Alma 18:9
9 And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy horses. Now the king had commanded his servants, previous to the time of the watering of their flocks, that they should prepare his horses and chariots, and conduct him forth to the land of Nephi; for there had been a great feast appointed at the land of Nephi, by the father of Lamoni, who was king over all the land.
8.
New Testament | John 7:37 37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 9:51 51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.
Book of Mormon | Jacob 3:2 2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.
Book of Mormon | Alma 32:42 42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
9.
Old Testament | Isaiah 25:6 6 ¶ And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
Old Testament | Zechariah 14:16 16 ¶ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 58:8-9 8 And also that a feast of fat things might be prepared for the poor; yea, a feast of fat things, of wine on the lees well refined, that the earth may know that the mouths of the prophets shall not fail;
9 Yea, a supper of the house of the Lord, well prepared, unto which all nations shall be invited.
Old Testament | Ezekiel 39:17-24 17 ¶ And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23 ¶ And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
New Testament | Luke 22:29-30 29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
New Testament | 1 Corinthians 10:21 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
Old Testament | Malachi 1:5-12 5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.
6 ¶ A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 ¶ But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
10.
Five Thousand
New Testament | Matthew 14:19-21 (Mark 6:35-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 5:5-13)
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
Four Thousand
New Testament | Matthew 15:32-38 (Mark 8:1-9) 32 ¶ Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.
38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
New Testament | Matthew 16:6-10 (Mark 8:14-21)
6 ¶ Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
11. Remember David O McKay:
“The home is the first and most effective place to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self control, the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no worldly success can compensate for failure in the home.” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/287590-the-home-is-the-first-and-most-effective-place-to
12.
Old Testament | Exodus 25:23-30 23 ¶ Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.
25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.
28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.
30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
Old Testament | Leviticus 24:5-9 5 ¶ And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.
6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.
7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
9 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.
New Testament | Hebrews 9:1-2 1 THEN verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
Old Testament | 2 Chronicles 29:18 18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
Old Testament | Ezekiel 41:22 22 The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the LORD.
https://www.albanymissionarybaptist.org/table-of-shewbread/
https://www.amazingsanctuary.com/the-furniture-of-the-tabernacle/the-table-of-showbread
https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2017/12/the-table-of-showbread/
13.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2022/09/Cafe-Econ-a-looming-Food-Crisis
https://www.theepochtimes.com/edition/the-coming-food-crisis_4645292
https://www.raptureready.com/2022/04/03/60067/
https://www.wfp.org/emergencies/global-food-crisis
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/05/19/the-coming-food-catastrophe?
14.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2021/11/5/23217666/temple-cafeterias-permanently-close-in-early-2022https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/temple-cafeterias-closing
