Feast of Tabernacles 2015

Feast of Tabernacles  2015                           September 12, 2015

 

7 Days of Feast of Booths (2 Chron_8:13) or Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16) is another name for the Feast of Tabernacles.  7^th month:  Tishri  

Leviticus 23:34-35 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD.  (35)  On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 

Notice, 7 days only with the first day is a holy convocation. 

Holy: qôdesh (ko'-desh); a sacred place or thing; consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, sanctuary. 

Convocation: miqrâ (mik-raw'): something called out, a rehearsal: - assembly, calling, convocation, reading. 

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 

We are also strangers and pilgrims on the earth as this is a public confession as an outward sign that we are not at home yet, that we are looking for something far better.  Just as Abraham 

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  (9)  By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;  (10)  for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 

Leviticus 23:39-43 NKJV  'Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.  (40)  And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.   

(41)  You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.  (42)  You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths,  (43)  that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.' " 

(44) So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD. 

Booths: sûkkâh: hut or lair: - booth, cottage, pavilion, tabernacle, tent. 

What do we do during the Feast of Tabernacles, we take off work, go to the feast, attend services, eat out and enjoy ourselves, help others when we can, also means vacation, travel, the adventure of new experiences, seeing old friends and making new ones.  We go and live in a temporary dwelling.   

These are all good, but the feast is to teach us a lesson.   

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 "You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress.  (14)  And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.   

(15)  Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice. 

Living in a temporary dwelling will teach us that our bodies in this life are only temporary.  It is not meant to last forever.  The Apostle Paul tells us: 

2 Corinthians 5:1-2  For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  (2)  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 

2 Peter 1:13-14 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,  (14)  knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.

The Feast is a time to rejoice because it pictures the World Tomorrow, 1000 year Millennium. 

What will it be like to live during the Millennium under the rule of the Jesus the Messiah, Creator Lord in the Kingdom of God. 

Micah 4:1-5 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it.   

(2)  Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  (3)  He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. 

(4)  But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.  (5)  For all people walk each in the name of his god, But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God Forever and ever. 

We will have a 1,000 years of peace and prosperity. We will be the firstfruits of God's spiritual born into God's Family.  We will have the opportunity of bringing Word of God to every human then alive and to those born during the Millennium. 

We see from Scripture that Jesus Kept or observed the Feast 

John 7:2 Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 

Jesus told his followers to do what: 

John 7:8-10 You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  (9)  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. 

(10)  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 

Jesus also kept the feast.  

John 7:11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" 

Notice the Jews expected Jesus to be at the feast, as was His custom and example. 

Why did Jesus not go up with His Followers? 

John 7:1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 

John 7:14 NKJV  Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 

Are we not to follow Jesus example in life. 

1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 

1 John 2:3-6 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  (4)  He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  (5)  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.  (6)  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. 

Jesus in His life set us an example to follow and we are to do likewise. 

The Feast of Tabernacles pictures Jesus dwelling with mankind and ruling over the nations for 1,000 years.  The start of the Millennium.

All people will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacle during the Millennium. 

Ezekiel 45:25 "In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall do likewise for seven days, according to the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil." 

Zechariah 14:1-4 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.  (2)  For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.  (3)  Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. 

 

(4)  And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

Zechariah 14:16-19 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.  (17)  And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.   

(18)  If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.  (19)  This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 

After returning to the earth in power and glory, Jesus will reeducate the people through His annual festivals.  It is so much harder to unlearn “false things” than to learn new truths. 

Jesus will rule with a rod of iron, He will have to force individuals to be happy. 

Revelation 12:5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 

We saw from the past that Jesus will rule from Jerusalem and we will rule under Jesus and we will be Spirit born saints. 

Daniel 7:14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. 

Daniel 7:27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'

Do we know who will be in the Kingdom of God 

Luke 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 

Ezekiel 37:24 "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 

Here, Jesus is talking to His disciples 

Luke 22:29-30  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me,  (30)  that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

Matthew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

Revelation 5:10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." 

1 Corinthians 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 

Revelation 2:26-27 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—  (27)  'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels— as I also have received from My Father; 

The government of God will last forever. 

Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.' 

We will be serving the people by teaching the Law of God and directing them to take the right action.  We will also be teachers. 

Isaiah 30:20-21 And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.  (21)  Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. 

Will we be successful in teaching the people during the Millennium. 

Jeremiah 31:34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." 

We will not have to worry about wild animals 

Isaiah 11:6-9 NKJV  "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.  (7)  The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  (8)  The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.  (9)  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.  (Change of nature for the animals) 

Ezekiel 34:25 "I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 

What about sickness and disease, will the people be healed. 

Isaiah 35:3-7 Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees.  (4)  Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you."  (5)  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.  (6)  Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.  (7)  The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 

Will there be fear and worry in the cities during the Millennium. 

Zechariah 8:4-5 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Old men and old women shall again sit In the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand Because of great age.  (5) The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls Playing in its streets.' 

Food will be plentiful in the lands 

Isaiah 30:23 Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures. 

The wasteland will become fertile. 

Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; 

Will there be a new language? 

Zephaniah 3:9 "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him with one accord. 

One world language, like before tower of Babylon.

We just covered why the Feast of Tabernacles was given to us by our Lord Jesus.  Jesus gives us a glimpse to us what life would be like during the Millennium (1000 years) as the Spirit of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. 

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. 

What happens at the end of the 1,000-year period or Millennium 

Revelation 20:3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him (Satan) up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. 

Revelation 20:7-9 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison  (8)  and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.  (9)  They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 

What happens next, that is what the Last Great Day covers.  To be continue.