Feast of Tabernacles – Summary
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive:(in 50 days on Pentecost) for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39)
JESUS CRIED OUT ON THE LAST DAY OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, projecting Himself to be the water poured out during this Feast. The Old Testament is full of types and shadows that portray future events and that give meaning to words and phrases in the Biblical texts. Readers who don’t know this feature of the Bible, miss out on a gold mine of meaning. Warren Wiersbe, author of The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (Old Testament), gives us some good facts and commentary on Leviticus 23 and a few other related Old Testament references.
“THE JEWS WORKED FROM SUNRISE TO SUNSET, counted the months by the phases of the moon, and watched the seasons come and go. God had promised them “seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat and summer and winter, and day and night” (Genesis 8:22), and they were content. Each day was a sacred gift from God.
“THE JEWISH CALENDAR “…was tied to the rhythm of the seasons and the history of the nation. It not only summarized what God had done for them in the past, but it also anticipated what God would do for them in the future. The salvation work of Jesus Christ, the founding of the church, and the future of the people of Israel are all illustrated in these seven feasts. (The church is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but it is included in the types and shadows.dc)
“THE WEEKLY SABBATH WASN'T ONE OF THE ANNUAL FEASTS (Exodus 20:8-11), but it was an important day for the Jewish people, and they were expected to honor it. To dishonor it meant death (Numbers 15:32-36).
“GOD GAVE THE SABBATH TO ISRAEL FOR SEVERAL REASONS. For one thing, it provided needed rest and refreshment for the people, the farm animals, and the land. (“Sabbath” comes from a Hebrew word that means “to rest, to cease from labor.”) Based on Genesis 2:1-3, the weekly Sabbath reminded the Jews that Jehovah God was the Creator and they were but stewards of His generous gifts The Lord also ordained Sabbath years and the Year of Jubilee to keep the Jews from exploiting the land and impoverishing it (Leviticus 25). God’s tender concern for His creation is seen in the Sabbath laws.
“THE SABBATH WAS ALSO A SPECIAL SIGN BETWEEN GOD AND HIS COVENANT PEOPLE (Exodus 31:12-17). Other peoples might work on the seventh day and treat it like any other day, but the Israelites rested on the seventh day and thereby gave witness that they belonged to the Lord (Nehemiah 13:15-22; Isaiah 58:13-14). Nehemiah made it clear that the Sabbath law wasn’t given to Israel until they arrived at Sinai (Nehemiah 9:13-14), while Psalm 147:19-20 indicates that the law was never given to the Gentile nations.
ALTHOUGH BELIEVERS TODAY AREN'T COMMANDED “remember the Sabbath Day” (Romans 14:1ff; Colossians 2:16-17), the principle of resting one day in seven is a good one. “…the New Testament offered no support for transferring Sabbath practices or regulations to Sunday. It simply declared Sunday as the day the followers of Christ meet in honor of His resurrection.” https://questions.org/attq/do-the-sabbath-requirements-of-old-testament-law-carry-over-to-sunday-2/
“THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES is the last feast of the annual seven Feasts of the Lord. It was a seven-day feast that usually occurred in October. The Jews who observed this celebration, erected little “huts” or “booths” from bulrushes as a reminder of the temporary housing the traveling Jews erected after they came out of Egypt.” (A feast in this setting is not eating. It is a meeting. dc)
A BULRUSH WAS A TALL AQUATIC (IN WATER) PLANT in the Nile valley. Papyrus. The Egyptians cut it into strips to write on it. The traveling Jews used it to make little shelters for themselves as they traveled through that region.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE Feast of Tabernacles included hanging samples of the fall crop in their little booth to depict what they had to eat and to show that God faithfully provided food for them during their journey. Each day of the Feast was filled with important festivity.
(Following quotes are from “The Feasts of the Lord,” p.30-31, by Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal.)
“EACH DAY, THE HIGH PRIEST OF ISRAEL, in a great processional made up of priests and tens of thousands of worshipers, descended from the Temple Mount to pause briefly at he Pool of Siloam. A pitcher was filed with water, and the procession continued via a different route back to the Temple Mount. Here, in the midst of great ceremony, the High Priest poured the water out of the pitcher onto the altar.
“IN ISRAEL, THE RAINS NORMALLY STOP IN MARCH, and there is no rain for almost seven months. If God does not provide the “early” rains in October and November, there will be no spring crop, and famine is at the doorstep. This ceremony, then, was intended to invoke God’s blessing on the nation so that He might provide life-giving water.
“IT IS IN CONNECTION WITH THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES that the Gospel of John records a fascinating event. John wrote: “on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38). The Son of God was saying in the clearest possible way that He alone was the source of life and blessing – that He could meet every need of the human heart.
“THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES SPEAKS ELOQUENTLY of the messianic Kingdom—of a new beginning without the ravages of the curse of sin. In that day, the earth will give her full bounty, all animals will be docile, armies will no longer march, every man will sit under his own fig tree, and righteousness will become a reality in the earth.
“FIFTEEN HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH, the seven feasts foretold, in type, the major redemptive works of His life. The four spring feasts related to His first coming: His death was depicted in Passover; that His body would not decay in the grave is seen in Unleavened Bread; His resurrection is illustrated in Firstfruits; and the commencement of the Church and the New Covenant is typified in the Feast of Weeks.
“THE THREE FALL FEASTS PORTRAY EVENTS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH his second coming. The Feast of Trumpets depicts the Rapture of the Church. The Day of Atonement points to a great host of people, Jews and Gentiles, who will be saved when they see Him coming and appropriate the benefits of His death. The Feast of Tabernacles speaks of the day when the Messiah Himself will tabernacle among men, wipe away every tear, and bring in the utopian age or golden age” of which men have dreamed since time immemorial.
“ONLY A GOD WHO IS OMNISCIENT COULD HAVE FORETOLD these astounding events. The fool denies His existence; the man of pride effuses to accept His gracious provision of life. Time is running out --- the trumpet blast will soon be heard around the world announcing His coming.”
I HOPE YOU WILL STUDY “The Feasts of the Lord” in more detail. We only have room here to introduce the subject and point to a much richer study. I never tire of studying the way the Old Testament is laid out in such simple but subtle ways, only to find it resurfacing in the New Testament in the writings of the gospel writers, the epistles and the Book of Revelation. “The New is in the Old contained; The Old is in the New explained.”
THE BIBLE, OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, was written by Jews and they were the caretakers of these writings. God put the Jew first in giving the Word of God to the world. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: (Romans 2:10)
Read Through the Bible in a Year
OCTOBER 29, 2018 – MONDAY
A.M. Jeremiah 25-26 P.M. 2 Timothy 3
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Verse to Memorize:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)
Song for Today:
When We All Get to Heaven (2:38) (Mennonite Acapello Choir )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qf1JSCiml0
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