Sukkot:Tabernacles*

We are currently in the Feast of Tabernacles, which lasts seven days. The eighth day which follows the feast is Simchat Torah, which means "Rejoice in the Torah". During the Feast of Tabernacles, God's people dwell in booths made out of four kinds of tree branches of palm (spine/backbone of a man), myrtle (eyes of a man), and willow (lips of a man). They also include a fruit called a citron (the heart of a man). These things are also gathered into a bunch called the Lulav, and waved before the Lord, some say in four directions, and some say in six directions towards the north, south, east and west, and towards heaven above, and earth beneath. Some say that the four elements represent the four-lettered name of "LORD", or as represented in Hebrew: Y-H-W-H (yod, heh, vaw, heh). One should consider that the pictographic meaning of these four Hebrew letters is "Behold the hand, Behold the nail", which points us to Jesus. The LORD commanded His people to observe the Feast of Tabernacles 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 a 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 a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering...it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of the LORD...And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and the willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days...all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths. That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God..." (Lev. 23:33-44, excerpt). As He brought them out of Egypt, God was with them, and God was in everything that He gave them in the wilderness: their water from the Rock, their bread from heaven that came with the dew, and their meat that was carried in on the wind. The LORD promised to sanctify the tabernacle with His glory, where He would meet with the children of Israel, as well as sanctifying the priests, Aaron and his sons, who would minister before the LORD. The LORD also said: "And I will dwell amongst the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell amongst them: I am the LORD their God." (Ex. 29:43-46). God wants to dwell with His people, and have fellowship with them, as He did in the Garden of Eden. The LORD promised through His prophet that all of the families of Israel "shall be my people". They found grace and rest with the LORD in the wilderness, and the LORD declared His everlasting love and loving kindness for His people. He also promised to rebuild Israel and give them joy. (Jer. 31:1-3). God is a personal God - not attained through an artificial relationship of religion, which is man's unfruitful attempt by his own means to reach God. However, the restoration did not end there. The LORD gave this promise of a new kind of covenant with His people: "But this shall be the covenant that I shall make with the house of Israel; After those days, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people...for they shall all know me...for I will forgive their iniquity, nd I will remember their sin no more...If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." (v. 33-36). The LORD chose the nation of Israel. We are grafted into Israel when we receive Jesus, the Savior and Messiah. For a Jew is not one outwardly, but one of a circumcised heart. The pattern established in God's Word, which is unlike any other Book that exists, led Jesus to reveal that the scriptures ("Old Testament") testified of Him. The prophet Ezekiel also received the Word of the LORD as God again promised to dwell with His people. The LORD also promised to make Israel one nation, under one king, no longer divided. (Ezek. 37:22). His people would no longer defile themselves with idols, and the LORD would cleanse them of their sins: "so shall they be my people, and I will be their God." (v. 23). Their one prince, one king, one shepherd will be David forever. (referring to the descendant of David, the Messiah, Jesus) and they shall dwell in the land which had been given to them. The LORD again mentions His covenant which He will make with His people: an everlasting covenant, a covenant of peace, with His sanctuary set in the midst of them for evermore (v. 24-26). "My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God and they shall be my people." (v. 27). All the heathen will know that the LORD has sanctified Israel when He makes His sanctuary in the midst of them (v. 28). Since the heathens are present, this is prophesying of the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth. The prophet Zechariah wrote of the LORD's jealousy over Zion and Jerusalem. He promised to return to her. The LORD will save His people out of other nations: "And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness." (Zech. 8:1-8). The foundation of God's temple is laid by the words of the prophets! (v. 9). The LORD restored the nation of Israel in a day after 2,000 years. He restored the Hebrew language, and He restored Jerusalem to Israel as it was re-captured during the 1967 war. This has never been seen before in history, but the LORD keeps His Word and His promises. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, begins by telling us the power of the Word of God. It is the Word that created all things from the beginning (B'reshiet - "The Son of God crushed, His hand on the Cross" in pictographic Hebrew letters), and all things exist by the Word. The Word was with God (Elohim aleph-tav) and WAS God. (Jn. 1:1-5). And then: "...the Word was made flesh, and dwelt (skenoo - tabernacle) among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (v. 14). Jesus IS our tabernacle! He is our tabernacle from the beginning of creation, and He is our tabernacle when He makes all things new in the end of days: "And I heard a great voice out of 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 shall be with them, and be their God.". (Rev. 21:3). Death, sorrow and pain will pass away as the former things, and all things will be made new by the One who sits on the throne: the Alpha and Omega (Aleph-Tav), the Beginning and the End. (v. 4-6). No sin will be able to enter this Kingdom of new creation, however, God assured us in His Word that if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful to forgive us of those sins. This was purchased for us by the Atonement blood of Christ, the Feast we just observed. Considering God's desire to dwell with us and in us, Paul wrote that we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). We are not to have communion or fellowship with ungodliness: unbelief, unrighteousness and darkness, nor Ba'als, idols nor infidels: "...for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people...be ye separate...and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Cor. 6:14-18). Tabernacles falls on the final harvest of the year. This has even more significance in these last days. Though scoffers may mock the return of the Lord, and His judgment, as Peter wrote, God's people are to be dwelling in His tabernacle with Him. *Based upon the 10/1/23 message of Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. to the Church. To hear the full message, look for Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. You can contact this ministry at PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who is the Suffering Servant?*

Image
            Around 325 A.D., the known Church at that time officially removed the treasured Jewish roots from the Christian faith, creating a divide that still exists today. This division has sometimes taken the form of antisemitism, such as we see in the Christian Nationalism movement, as well as the falsehood of Replacement Theology that states that the Church has replaced Israel. In His Word, the LORD made a covenant with Israel specifically and intends to keep that covenant. We, as Christians, have been grafted into the natural olives tree of the Jewish faith. (Rom. 11:16-18). The early church was made up of Jews first and shortly thereafter Gentiles, with thousands of Jews converting to belief in Jesus as Messiah/Christ, including Jewish priests, after the resurrection of Christ according to the Book of Acts.       The divide between the two faiths of the same olive tree is also reflected in portions of scripture, such as Isaia...
Read more

As It Was In The Days*

      We are in the days of the fall Feasts of the LORD. Most of the Church is never taught about the feasts, even though the first coming of Christ and His sacrifice as the Lamb of God and the Firstfruits of the resurrection fulfills the spring feasts, and the second coming of Christ, the rapture of the Church and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb are reflected prophetically in the fall feasts. The Church continues on being what we are rather than what we are supposed to be.      In Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, Solomon wrote of how the past things are tied to the future things: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun..." The things shown in the past in scripture are also prophecies of the things to come, but are we heeding them? Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the people of Judah, saying, "And the LORD has sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early ...
Read more

Coming Deception*

      In discussing the dangers and tribulation connected to the end of the age and His return, Jesus also warned His disciples not to be deceived: "Take heed that no (man) deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Mt. 24:3-5, see also Mk. 13:5 ). Jesus then described the events that would come upon the earth and added: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (v. 21-22). Then He spoke again regarding deception: "Then if any (man) shall say unto you, Lo, here (is) the Christ, or there; believe (it) not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if (it were) possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you bef...
Read more