Several New Orleans Saints members rode on the Marti Gras float during their annual parade in 2020. It’s pretty common for famous NFL players to participate in the yearly event. Their float was entitled “Beastly Kingdoms of Orpheus. Marti Gras, or Fat Tuesday, was instituted by French Catholics to indulge in rich, fatty foods before their six-week ritual of Lent. The celebration is symbolized by a fat bull, which also symbolizes the ancient god Baal. Marti Gras party animals wear masks and costumes of fairies, animals, and mythical figures. Since 1989, women have exposed themselves in exchange for beads. The French Quarter of New Orleans becomes crowded with revelers looking for such “flashes.” Drunkenness is common on Bourbon Street.

Leviticus 23 – “If Any Man Thirst, Let Him Come to Me and Drink”

Knowingly or unknowingly, the revelers praise Bacchus, the Greek god of wine; Venus, the Greek goddess of sex; Orpheus, the god of music; and Amor, the god of eroticism. Religious pagans celebrate Marti Gras with debauchery, but God’s feasts in Leviticus 23 honored Him with purity. In instituting His feasts, God used pictures rather than theological terms to highlight salvation. These joyful celebrations brought the tribes of Israel together. Only the Day of Atonement was somber.

Israel added two rituals to God’s feast days. First, the people carried water from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple to remind themselves of God’s supply of water in the desert. When Jesus cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink (John 7:37),” He was observing this ritual of the Feast of Tabernacles. Second, the Jews lit four candles to remind themselves of God’s leading by a pillar of fire in the wilderness. Jesus said: “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12).

Bible Memory Verse – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.” Leviticus 26:13 (LSB)