A Shadow of Things to Come
The Feast of Tabernacle
Amos: 9:13-15:
“‘Behold, the days are coming,' Says the Lord.’When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them.' Says the Lord your God."
This article will be on the last feast mentioned in Leviticus 23; the
Feast of Tabernacles.
Leviticus 23:34-36:
"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. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 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.' "
This is the last of the Creator's annual Feast's. It is to last seven days. On the eighth day there is to be a Sabbath. The Bible refers to this as the Last Great Day. {John 7:36} Although not an official part of the first seven days it is a very important part of the feast.
So what does this last feast point to? So far in God's plan we are to have an eternal rest; the weekly Sabbath points to this. There was to be a spotless sacrifice for our sins; the death of the Messiah on the Passover. We are then to cleanse our selves of sin, which is represented by the days of unleavened bread. The Savior then rises on the third day to defeat death. This is shown to us by the Feast of First Fruits. At the proper counting of days the Holy Spirit came down upon the Earth and started the Spiritual Body of Christ. This happened during the Feast of Weeks, or as some call it the Pentecost. This began the New Testament church. It is made up of those men and women who have accepted Jehoshua as their savior and received the Holy Spirit.
Next we are to await the return of Jehoshua as pointed to by the Feast of Trumpets. He will be accompanied by those who meet Him in the air and His angels. This is the first resurrection. It is the time when He and His servants will reign for a thousand years on earth.
{Revelations chpt.:19 and 20 .We will go more into this at a later date}
During this time mankind will learn to, and worship, the Creator. They will become one with Him. This is pointed to by the Day of Atonement. This leads us to the last Feast ending on the Last Great Day.
To understand this Feast we must first know; what is a Tabernacle? Strong's Concordance of the Bible defines Tabernacle as a residence, a temple, a dwelling place. A tent or a place to reside or permanently stay. The Tabernacle, for our purposes, is the dwelling place of the Creator.
Psalm 132:7-8:
"Let us go into His Tabernacle; let us worship at His footstool. Arise, O lord, to Your resting place, You and the ark of your strength."
Psalm 61:3-4:
abide in Your Tabernacle “For you have been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will cle forever. I will trust in the shelter of your wings."
In the days of the ancient Israelites, during this Feast, they were commanded to not only do the rituals and animal sacrifices, but they were also told to dwell in booths. This is defined as a hut or a lair by Strong's.
Leviticus 23:42:
"You shall dwell in booths for seven days."
Why were they to do this?
Leviticus 23:43:
"That your generation 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."
During the years of wandering by the Israelites the Lord had them dwell in booths or huts. These were temporary housing units that could be taken down, moved, and built back up, quickly and easily. When they were to enter the Promised Land they would build permanent structures, even the Creator "lived in temporary" structure. This meaning that a permanent structure had not been built, for even this "permanent structure" was only a temporary residence.
To truly understand let us go to Hebrews. Here Paul explains how these things were only temporary, or a copy, of things to be.
Hebrews 8:1-2:
"......We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man."
The tabernacles which were first built by Moses, then by Solomon, were only temporary because they were built by man.
Hebrews 8:4-5:
"For if He{Jehoshua} were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
If Jehoshua was here today He would not be a priest, Paul explains because He does not represent the physical. He is our Spiritual High Priest. He concerns Himself with the true Tabernacle. The tabernacle built by Moses was copied from the pattern of which came from heaven.
Hebrews 8:6-7:
"But now He {Jehoshua} has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if the first covenant has been faultless, and then no place would have been for the second."
Here Paul is comparing the tabernacle to the covenant. As there is a need for another tabernacle so is there a need for a new covenant. For the firsts are flawed. The tabernacle is flawed because it was built by the hands of man, and the covenant was flawed because it was instituted by the blood of animals.
Hebrews 9:11-12:
"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."
So we see that the first tabernacle as with the first covenant were temporary. They were to be replaced. The First covenant has been replaced by a new Covenant, one that came from Heaven and was instituted by Him. We have not yet received a new Tabernacle. When shall this be?
Revelations 21:1-3:
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their
God.' "
During the days of the exodus the Israelites were to live in temporary housing, the booths. They gained permanent homes once they entered the Promised Land. The Feast of Tabernacles for the ancient Israelites was a remembrance of those days, the days of wandering. We, the Spiritual Israelites, live in this temporary home, this modern world, waiting for the true Tabernacle to come. As we, spiritual Israelites, have been placed under a new covenant, we shall also receive a new Tabernacle. It will be in the new city of Zion the New Jerusalem. This is the hope the Messiah came to give. As the dessert was not the home for those he brought out of Egypt, which represents physical slavery, this world is not our home, and for those who have not the spirit of the Messiah, they are in Spiritual slavery, as we once were.
This is the Good News, the coming Kingdom of God. This will be the time when all men will have a chance to accept the truth. This is not His world, and if at this time you are His, this is not your world. "Come out of her my people," is His cry. The Feast days show the way mankind will be delivered out of Satan's hands. They, the feast days, are the path to understanding what is in store for all Mankind, and the role His people will play in helping to bring this about.
Oh yes, what about that Last Great Day, the eighth day of the Feast, what could that be? Well it seems to me that it must come during the same time and it must be really great.
Revelation 20:11-12:
"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."
This is the final and great judgment of mankind. The time the books are to be open. Understand there are two books being spoken of here. The second is the Book of Life, but the first are the books by which man will be judged. We are judged according to His law and the books which have His law are in the Bible. Remember the people will be judged according to the things written in the books, the books of the Bible. This will be the time, when those who never had a chance to know God, or read the Bible are given the opportunity. Why should they have a chance to repent, or reconsider their ideas, because the whole world has been deceived.
Revelations 12:9:
"So the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world."
This is their redemption. This is the time when they will learn the truth and have a chance to accept. This is actually the vast majority of people who have ever lived. They will be given a choice without the lies, and deceit's, of Satan. For the first time they will be given a chance to understand and know the truth. This is the destiny of Man. This is the Good News I announce in the Name of Him who shall return. Jehoshua, the son of the living Creator.
I pray, as always, this series on the Feast days Of God have in some way helped you with a better understanding of scripture and perhaps has in some way led you to a better relationship with Him. Until next time my friends please take care, and remember in the end:
"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." {Revelation 21:4}
Sounds like good news to me.