The Feast of Tabernacles and More -Part 1
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. (Leviticus 23:33-36)
WE'RE INTO THE HARVEST SEASON; time for autumn leaves, pumpkin pie and blue smoke curling up out of our chimneys. In America, autumn brings on three themes of celebration: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, in that order. Thanksgiving and Christmas are national holidays in America when people take off from work and schools take a break.
THE LAST TWO ARE POSITIVE CELEBRATIONS that have a well-established history, literature and a developed body of music; especially Christmas. These two holidays are times of thanksgiving and the rekindling of hope. In a nation with a scattered population, it’s a time for re-connecting and warming of relationships. The nation needs these holidays. For Christians, it’s a time for sharpening our focus on the Lord. Christians need these holidays.
HALLOWEEN IS "LIGHT-WEIGHT" and does not qualify as a national holiday. No one takes off from work or school. There’s no body of literature or music to aid its celebration. And yet, total spending in 2015 was about $6.9 billion, with the average American celebrating, spending $74 on decorations, candy, costumes and more. That’s a big chunk of money but when spread out over America: not big. During World War2 it was hindered because sugar was severely rationed.
SMITHSONIAN.COM HAD THIS TO SAY: “the practice began with the Celtic tradition of celebrating the end of the year by dressing up as evil spirits. The Celts believed that, as we moved from one year to the next, the dead and the living would overlap, and demons would roam the earth again. So, dressing up as demons was a defense mechanism. If you encountered a real demon roaming the Earth, they would think you were one of them.
“Fast forward to when the Catholic Church was stealing everybody’s holidays and trying to convert them. They turned the demon dress-up party into “All Hallows Eve,” “All Soul’s Day,” and “All Saints Day” and had people dress up as saints, angels and still a few demons. Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-history-of-trick-or-treating-is-weirder-than-you-thought-79408373/#DbcEA8CQeBMZFuqs.99
WHAT WAS THERE ABOUT THOSE PRACTICES THAT PROMPTED the Catholic church to try to “convert them?” The Catholic church tried to “convert” the practice because the practice was a “demon dress-up party.” How much of our current celebration remains a “demon dress-up party?”
HALLOWEEN IS THE CELEBRATION THAT NO ONE KNOWS WHY IT'S THERE OR EXACTLY WHAT TO DO WITH IT. Its history is vague, and puzzling and we don’t seem to know how it’s to be carried out if it should be carried out at all. If it has any redeeming value, it may be because the little ones get to dress up and pretend to be this or that and say ”Hi!” to a carefully chosen list of friendly neighbors. The sugar in the candy will wind up the children and they will have to be pulled off the ceiling before anyone can get to sleep.
BEYOND THIS, IS THE TROUBLING ELEMENT that permeates the celebration: its theme is the underworld of Satan and his celebration of death: skeletons, vampires, ghosts, etc. If you have had to deal with the real world of teenagers wrestling with real demons in their bodies (I have witnessed this) you get a different view.
I SAW THINGS IN JAMAICA THAT WERE DEEPER THAN HALLOWEEN. I saw things when I was principal of a Christian high school that were…much deeper than Halloween. I saw hard-core demon possession…a teenage girl growling and speaking deep like a man because demons were using her vocal chords. Five adults were present with the girl in the meeting. The demons finally left her after two hours of wrestling. Please cut me a little slack if you think I’m narrow-minded.
IN A COUNSELING CENTER IN INDIANAPOLIS, IND, I saw an office of a veteran counselor thoroughly disheveled from the wrath of a demon-possessed teenager. The counselor was a counselor with Teen Challenge for several years. He said their counseling centers in the inner cities had to constantly deal with demon-possessed teenagers in gangs. It may be that Chicago has more than a gun problem. Jesus said of Satan: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
THE CHURCHES OF SATAN IN THE U.S. are entitled to get a tax-exemption with the IRS, and the formal proclamation of the Satanic message in America is serious business. They are happy to use Halloween and the play time, fun time as a mind-conditioning for acceptance of their way of life. An advanced stage of this idea can include serious gatherings in cemeteries where animals are sacrificed to Satan. When I was in Matanzas, Cuba in the 50’s, children were being kidnaped off the streets to be sacrificed to Satan. A teacher at a Christian seminary in that town told us this.
DR.BOB JONES, SR., WHO ESTABLISHED BOB JONES UNIVERSITY, attended a séance that was so convincing of demonic presence that he never went back again. A friend in my high school told me, after Christmas, that he had been given a Ouija board. The Ouija board told him things about himself that nobody knew. Clearly, a demon was working the board. The Ouija boards and Tarot cards and other devices in this realm, are demonic tools. They are sometimes used by demons to further ensnare young people into the dark world. Beware parents! There IS a kingdom of Satan. Jesus cast out real demons. They didn’t go away when He arose from the dead.
I VIEW HALLOWEEN AS ONE OF THE MANY INTRODUCTORY ROADS to the dark world. Fun! Like the TV productions: “Bewitched” and “Dark Shadows.” Beware. Play with your children. Make sure they have some play time with parents involved in the play time. Be very careful what you endorse as playtime.
MOST CHRISTIAN PARENTS HAVE NEVER READ THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT, even one time. They carry it to church with them every Sunday, but they haven’t read it. They know nothing about the Covenant Chapter: Deuteronomy 28.
THEY HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS that describe God’s disturbance over the breaking of that Covenant and the embracing of satanic, idol worship. They do not know Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, etc. and the struggle God had with His own people who went after the satanic idols of their neighboring nations. We are not under that Covenant, but we are under the God who wrote the Covenant. We are under the New Testament (New Covenant). The New Testament is not any friendlier toward demons than the Old Testament. The question has always been: “Who is on the Lord’s side?” God has not changed His mind about the kingdom of Satan and His people cozying up to Satan’s demons.
EVENTUALLY, THE TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL WERE CARTED OFF by the Assyrians to be scattered among them to destroy their identity. Then, 150 years later, the two tribes in the south were taken by the Babylonians in three deportations until their city and their Temple were destroyed and they spent 70 years in Babylon to think it over, since they wouldn’t listen to the Word of God and wouldn’t listen to the prophets who came to warn them.
WHEN YOU READ AND STUDY WHAT HAPPENED THERE, then you can understand why some of us are sensitive to the possibilities of being sucked into the dark world of Satan, even by something as simple as Halloween celebration. Have fun! But, let’s not play with the tools of Satan. If you give him an inch, he will take a mile. And, he will take your children if he can.
HOW ABOUT A HARVEST FESTIVAL WITH GAMES AND PRIZES, mixed in with some songs of praise to the God of our harvest Who made it all possible? Is that too “way out?” Well, hundreds of churches are now doing this, at this time of year. That’s why I am visiting the Feast of Tabernacles to show what pleases the Lord in our celebration of Harvest Time. Children can be taught to celebrate a harvest festival as easily as they can be scared out of their wits to the amusement of their parents.
BEYONG OUR AMERICAN AUTUMN CELEBRATIONS, we have some solid roots we need to be fully acquainted with. In The Feast of Tabernacles. Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal write:
“WORLDWIDE, THOUSANDS OF HOLIDAYS ARE OBSERVED ANNUALLY. In marked contrast, the eternal God instituted only seven holidays. These holidays are discussed throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. However, only in one place, the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus, are all seven holidays listed in chronological sequence.” “These seven feasts of the Lord were given to the Hebrew nation. The Jewish people are God’s covenant people.”
“THESE SEVEN FEASTS RELATE TO ISRAEL'S spring and fall agricultural seasons. When the feasts were instituted, Israel was largely an agricultural nation. That agricultural characteristic of the feasts remains to this day.” “The timing of these seven feasts is based on the Jewish lunar (moon) calendar of approximately 354-day years. Periodically (seven times over nineteen years), the modern Jewish calendar literally has a thirteenth month to make up for its shorter years.” (The two quotes, here and immediately above, are from The Feasts of the Lord by Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal, p. 13) We’ll continue here tomorrow.
Read Through the Bible in a Year
OCTOBER 23, 2018 – TUESDAY
A.M. Jeremiah 9:10 P.M. 1 Timothy 3
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Verse to Memorize:
He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. (John 8:47)
Song for Today:
Just Give Me Jesus (2:59) (Calv. Mem.Church Choir)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHpv4jsIlcM
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