S U M M A T IO N
The Feast of TA B E R M A C LE 9
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vest day will have arrived. When our Lord was upon the earth He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a com of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). He was that com (or grain) of wheat. He did die and arise from death and the grave, and in the end o f God’s deal ings with man, Christ will have gathered His own unto Himself. The harvest will be completed, even to the gathering of His enemies for judgment. Both the “ com” and “wine” are to be brought before Him. The vintage o f the earth, the treading of the winepress o f divine wrath, refers to the gathering o f the enemies of God for judgment (Rev. 14:18, 19; 19:15). The Feast o f Tabernacles is the Feast of booths, or huts, or tents. It had a clear commemorative sig nificance, reverting to the time when the Israelites were strangers and pilgrims in the wilderness, hav ing no home, and God graciously and miraculously provided for them through Moses, Aaron, and Joshua. Concerning celebrating the Feast, God had said, “ Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites bom shall dwell in booths” (Leviti cus 23:42). The tents or booths spoke o f the tem porariness and temporalness o f that earthly so journ. It was this fact, that God had abundantly pro vided for their needs in the land while they were strangers and sojourners, that they had forgotten. From the days of Joshua to the time of Nehemiah, the Feast of Tabernacles had not once been cele brated. Not until the remnant returned from cap tivity in Babylon had the Jews kept this holy con vocation. “ And all the congregation o f them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children o f Israel done so. And there was very great gladness” (Neh. 8:17). We all forget God’s faithfulness too quickly. We need frequent remind ers. It took the Babylonian captivity to bring to
C h a p t e r S e v e n “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall he 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. These are the feasts of the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gath ered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. 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 willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites bom 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. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD” ( L e v itic u s 23:33-44). T h i s s e v e n t h a n d f i n a l F e a s t , completing the sacred cycle, forms an appropriate conclusion to the entire series o f seven. The phrase “ a solemn assembly” (vs. 36) has been translated to read, “a closing festival.” In its prophetic foreview, it brought to a complete and final close God’s clear purposes and plans in redemption for both the Church and Israel. Man’s day will have run its course and God’s redeemed ones will have been gathered in. This Feast was to be kept after all of the harvest had been reaped. God had said, “ Thou shalt observe the feast o f tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy com and thy wine” (Deut. 16:13). This is the Feast o f Ingath ering. When all the saved, whether o f the Church or Israel, are gathered unto the Lord, the final har
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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