Feast of Tabernacles 2017

Feast of Tabernacles 2017                          September 9, 2017 

Received a question, Why does God command all the nations to observed the Feast of Tabernacles before (that is today) and after Jesus Return to the earth to set up His Kingdom? 

I guess the first thing I would ask, have you proved that this Book, is the Word of God and is true.  This is the bottom line in believing this Book is God Inspired.   

We know that the one who was the Spokesman or Lord of the Old Testament was the one who we know as Jesus the Messiah in the New Testament. 

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2)  He was in the beginning with God.  (3)  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

We know Jesus does not change. 

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

Jesus gives the Scriptures to His created beings. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  (17)  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  (All Scriptures – not some of it) 

Leviticus 23:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.  (Who feasts - Jesus) 

Notice, Jesus here says, these are My feasts or appointed times/seasons or sacred assemblies.   Then Jesus mention His feasts, first the Sabbath, then the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, then Feast of Firstfruits (Pentecost), then Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.  Then in verse 33, the Feast of Tabernacles. 

Leviticus 23:33-36 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  (34)  "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.  (Notice, just 7 days) (35)  On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.  (36)  For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. (7+1=8 days; looked at as 1 feast) 

Then what does Jesus say “These are the LORD's appointed feasts.” 

Leviticus 23:37  "These are the LORD's appointed feasts that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. Bring offerings made by fire to the LORD—a whole burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings. Do this every day on its assigned date (at Temple) 

Leviticus 23:39 '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.  (Separate High Day) 

Leviticus 23:41 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.  (statute forever?) 

It states, forever, when does forever end, just a question.

15th of Tishri: 5 days (grace) after Atonement  

Deuteronomy 16:16 "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.       (3 seasons to attend services) 

The Scriptures says that when our Lord Jesus returns to the earth at the start of the Millennium, everyone will go up to Jerusalem year after year to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. What does that mean.  Jesus is going to keep His feast and require for everyone to keep or observed it. 

Zechariah 14:16-21 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. (Yes, everyone will, including us, now Spirit) 

Why are they going up, to worship Jesus and 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 (Punishment).  (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. (Strong hand, Isa 40:10) 

What is our understanding on one of the meanings of the Feast of Tabernacles, this Feast that looks forward to the Millennial Kingdom of the Messiah for the Israelites will be brought back to the land and will dwell "in booths" when they re-enter the land, just as Moses generation in the promised land had done. 

Therefore this feast is a memorial and a celebration of Jesus and will continue during the Millennium.

We celebrate all the feast days even though they all have not been fulfilled yet, and at the start of the Millennium, all the feast days are not fulfilled.  

The Last Great Day will not be fulfilled until the end of the Millennium, which is another reason why we will continue to observe the Feast of Tabernacles and the other Holy Days during the Millennium. 

Why Sacrifices:  memorial in the past and memorial in the future, none of the sacrifices paid for our sins, it was a memorial for future and past, what Jesus paid for our sins at the cross. 

As far as other nations are concerned, failure to come to this festival would naturally constitute a grave offense, for that would be saying, in effect, that they were not happy with us as Kings and Priests ruling under our Creator God, that is, Jesus, who is in complete control. 

And we know, of course, that in spite of Jesus perfect righteousness of His rule, His Kingdom and the glorious conditions of the Millennium, there will, nevertheless, be many who will become bitter and dissatisfied, even to the point of rebelling against Him in the end of the millennium when Satan is released.  

The nations of the earth will worship the Lord Jesus, coming up to Jerusalem yearly, God's earthly center of worship and government. 

Isaiah 60:3-5 Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn.  (4)  "Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip."   

(5)  Then you will look and be radiant; your heart will swell with joy, because the abundance of the seas will be diverted to you, and the riches of the nations will come to you. 

The Feast of Tabernacles is a foreshadow of Jesus Kingdom that represents the Millennium next to the final stage of His plan of salvation.

 

After the great war at the end times (Day of the Lord) and the second coming of Jesus our Lord, those who survive of all the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. 

Zechariah 14:1-15 "Look! A day is coming for the LORD, when your plunder will be divided among you.  (2)  I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city.  

(3)  "Then the LORD will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle.  

(4)  His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a very large valley, with half of the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south.   

(5)  "You will run away through my mountain valley, because the valley of the mountains will extend as far as Azal. You will flee, as you fled from the earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. And so the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones will be accompanying you."  (that is you and me) 

(9)  The LORD will be king over all the earth at that time. There will be one LORD, and his name the only one.  (over all earth) 

(11)  People will live there, there will be no more destruction, and Jerusalem will be safely inhabited."  (12)  "This will be the plague with which the LORD inflicts all of the people who have attacked Jerusalem: he will cause their flesh to rot away (nuclear weapons), even while they're standing on their feet. He will cause their eyes to rot away in their sockets, and their tongues to rot away in their mouths.  

(13)  At that time, they will be stricken with a terrible panic from the LORD. Everyone will attack each other (examples in Scriptures). 

(14)  Judah, too, will fight at Jerusalem. Then the wealth of the surrounding nations will be gathered up: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.   

The Feast of Tabernacles is the restoration process that Peter said 

Acts 3:19-21 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,  (20)  and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,  (21)  whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 

God’s plan for mankind involves restoration. The Feast of Tabernacles is  the restoration process, which will start with the return of Jesus Christ, pictured by the Feast of Trumpets, and the banishment of Satan, depicted by the Day of Atonement. Once these events have taken place, as represented by the previous Holy Days, the foundation is in place for the restoration of the creation to peace and harmony with God.  (Important) 

Jesus will return in power and glory with anger 

Isaiah 66:15-16 "Take notice! The LORD will come with fire, and his chariot will be like a whirlwind, to pay back his anger—yes, his anger!—in fury, and his menacing rebukes in flames of fire.  (16)  For with fire and with his sword the LORD will proceed to judgment on all humanity, and those slain by the LORD will be many."  (have you heard this about Jesus, anger from many people) 

Luke wrote in the summer of 52 A.D. about Paul planning to keep the feast at Jerusalem.  

Acts 18:21 but took leave of them, saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus. 

Hosea 5:15 I will return again to My place (Heaven) Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." 

Hosea 6:1-3 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.  (2)  After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.  (3)  Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. 

Ezekiel is covering the various Feast Days during the Millennium

The Feast of Tabernacles will celebrate Israel’s new position in God’s Millennial Kingdom 

Isaiah 66:23  And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD. 

Ezekiel 44:24 In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings (feast days), and they shall hallow My Sabbaths (Holy Days).  (Notice, My) 

The Millennial Temple: Ezekiel 40 - 48 

Ezekiel’s description of the Millennium Temple is highly detailed (not simply symbolic) and the land around the Temple and the sacrifices that are required to be done.  (very deep detail information about the Temple) 

All nations to worship there; offerings and sacrifices resumed; open only on the Sabbath day and new moons. 

Ezekiel 45:17 Then it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons of the house of Israel.

 

He shall prepare the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel." 

Ezekiel 45:20-21 And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who has sinned unintentionally or in ignorance. Thus you shall make atonement for the temple. (21) "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 

Ezekiel 45:23 On the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, daily for seven days, and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. 

Ezekiel 45:25 "In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day (FOT) 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." 

Ezekiel 46:1-2 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened.   

(2)  The prince shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway from the outside, and stand by the gatepost. The priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings. He shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. 

Ezekiel 46:3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before the LORD on the Sabbaths and the New Moons. 

Ezekiel 46:8-9 When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way. (9) "But when the people of the land come before the LORD on the appointed feast days, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate; and whoever enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate. 

Ezekiel 46:11 At the festivals and the appointed feast days the grain offering shall be an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram, as much as he wants to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil with every ephah. 

Ezekiel 46:18 Moreover the prince shall not take any of the people's inheritance by evicting them from their property; he shall provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people may be scattered from his property. 

As we prepare to go to the Feast of Tabernacles, remember, we will be celebrating this Feast and all the others Feast during the Millennium. 

Remember, there will be physical individuals, Israelites and Gentiles that comes out of the Day of the Lord, the great battle to live during the Millennium. 

We should remember the method of salvation is the same for all individuals from the fall of Adam even through the Millennium.  Salvation is by faith, obedience follows faith. The sacrifices helped restore a believer’s fellowship with God. (if we remember, our bodies are living sacrifice – Rom 12:1) 

Remember, Jesus is training His saints to be kings and priests during our physical life (yes, that is you and me). Now think for a moment. All of John 7 describes Christ’s observance of the Feast of Tabernacles. 

John 7:10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 

Christians who are called are those who “follow His steps” 

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: 

We should stop and think about this, follow His steps, does that not mean to do what Jesus did while on the earth.  How can we qualify to teach (that is what we are going to do) others to observe the Feast of Tabernacles while we are not observing the Feast of Tabernacles or the other feast days, while ignoring God’s plain commands to observe it now in our lives. 

Our Loving God gave these days for us to enjoy the rich, inspiring meaning as a family and as His children.  We need to consider these Scriptures as we prepare for the feast.