Commemoration

The act of remembering particular people, places or events in order to reflect on and be thankful for God's faithfulness.

Commemoration of people

2 Chronicles 35:25–27 See also Judges 11:28–40; 1 Kings 11:41 parallel 2 Chronicles 9:29

Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments. As for the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of loving devotion according to what is written in the Law of the LORD— his acts from beginning to end— they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Commemoration of Jesus Christ

Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26

And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Commemoration of places

Genesis 35:1 See also Joshua 4:19–24; Judges 6:24; 2 Samuel 24:18

Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

Commemoration of events

Commemoration of God's creation of the world

Exodus 20:8–11 parallel Deuteronomy 5:12–15 See also Exodus 31:12–17

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work— neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Commemoration of God's acts in history

Exodus 12:14–17 See also Exodus 13:1–10; Psalm 9:1–6, Psalm 126:1–3

And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals — that is all you may do. So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must keep this day as a permanent statute for the generations to come.

Commemoration of God's provision of food

Leviticus 23:9–14 See also Leviticus 23:15–22 parallels Numbers 28:26–31, Deuteronomy 16:9–12; Leviticus 23:33–43 parallels Numbers 29:12–39, Deuteronomy 16:13–17

And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD, along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil — a food offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma — and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine. You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you have brought this offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live.