Dear Doves,
For those of us who look for the Rapture during
the Jewish feast days, I encourage you to stay on alert
through to the end of each festival cycle.
(The following is a repost, with some additions,
of a study I compiled on why I consider the Feast of
Tabernacles to be a candidate for the Rapture. My apologies:
the additions make this piece long and windy – or longer
and windier :)
The Feast of Tabernacles is a weeklong feast with an eighth day tacked onto
the end. It memorializes
the time that the Israelites lived in the wilderness
after they were brought out of Egypt. During the
first 7 days, the celebrants are to live in booths or
tabernacles. See
Leviticus 23:42. The first and eighth days are to be observed with
a sacred assembly.
Here are a few possible Rapture connections to
the Feast of Tabernacles:
The
Last Trump & Tabernacles
There is no scripture that expressly links the
Last Trump of 1 Corinthians 15:52 to the Feast of
Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah. That
position is based upon a rabbinical or traditional
convention. In
fact, trumpets are blown on other Biblical feasts and
festivals: “Also at your times
of rejoicing – your appointed feasts and New Moon
festivals – you are to sound the trumpets over your
burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they
will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord
your God.” Numbers
10:10.
So, if the Last Trump is not sounded on the Feast
of Trumpets, when else could it be sounded? The answer may
be simpler that you think. Since the cycle of the 7 Feasts of
the Lord (Leviticus 23) is observed during a course of 7
months, beginning with Passover and ending with
Tabernacles, why couldn’t the Last Trump be a trumpet
blown during the last feast in the cycle?
Scripture seems to back up this possibility. Check out Psalm
81:3-4: “Sound the ram’s horn
at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day
of our Feast; this is a decree for Israel, an
ordinance of the God of Jacob.” (NIV) This verse
refers to the Feast of Trumpets, which is a new moon
festival, and to the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a
full moon festival. Throughout
the Bible, the Feast of Tabernacles is referred to as
the feast or festival. (See
1 Kings 8:2, 65 and 12:32; 2 Chronicles 5:3 and 7:8;
Nehemiah 8:14, 18; and Ezekiel 45:25.) Furthermore,
blowing the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets and
the Feast of Tabernacles is not a suggestion, but a
decree from God. He
clearly wants a (first and last?) trumpet to be blown on
these two feasts.
(*Note: The KJV reads differently for Psalm 81:3.
“Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time
appointed, on our solemn feast day.” But if you look
at the Hebrew, which you can check for yourselves at http://www.blueletterbible.org/,
the word for “in the time appointed” (“kece”) means
“full moon.” And the Hebrew word for “on our solemn
feast” (“chag”) also refers to the Feast of Tabernacles
in the Talmud, 2 Chronicles 5:3 and 1 Kings 8:2.)
Sign
of Jonah
A fellow dove, Pastor Daniel Lizarraga, posted a
great study a few years ago about the sign of Jonah and
its relationship to the Church Age. You may
remember that the unbelieving Pharisees asked Jesus for
a miraculous sign and he replied: “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a
miraculous sign! But
none will be given it except the sign of the prophet
Jonah. For
as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly
of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of
Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this
generation and condemn it; for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is
here.” Matthew
12:30-41.
In a nutshell, Pastor Lizarraga noticed that the
sign of Jonah consisted of three feasts, not just one. He sees
Passover in the three days and three nights. (Note: Passover
tends to be a catchall for all 3 spring feasts. Technically,
however, Christ died on Passover, was buried for 3
days and nights during the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
and was resurrected on Firstfruits.) He sees
Pentecost in the 120,000 Ninevites who repented, because
the number is a multiple of the 120 Christian believers
who were in the upper room at Pentecost. (See Acts
1:15.) And
he sees Tabernacles in the fact that Jonah made a booth
to watch the outcome of the city. (See Jonah
4:5.) Finally,
he sees all of this as an illustration of the Church
Age.
I believe that his insight is confirmed by
Scripture. The
3 feasts that make up the sign of Jonah are the same 3
feasts that make up the Pilgrimage Festivals. “Three times a year all your men
must appear before the Lord your God in the place he
will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the
Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.” Deuteronomy
16:16. (See
also Exodus 23:14-17.) This
is no coincidence. God
has highlighted three out of the seven Levitical feasts
for a reason. At
the time Jesus pointed the Jews to sign of Jonah, he was
making a specific point about Gentile believers coming
to the faith. In
addition to the Ninevites, he mentioned the Queen of
Sheba who came to the faith during the time of King
Solomon. (See
Matthew 12: 42.) Jesus
was showing the Jews that the conversion of Gentiles
would be a sign to them and that the 3 Pilgrimage
Festivals would be connected to this sign.
In book of Jonah, the Jewish prophet is sent to
Nineveh, a Gentile city, to warn the people of its
destruction after a period of 40 days. The Ninevites
believe his message and repent to the God of the
Israelites, who preserves them from judgment. We thus have an
illustration of Gentiles who come to a saving faith in
God within a framework of events that point to the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of
Tabernacles. This
is the sign of Jonah. And it is being fulfilled by the
Church, a predominantly Gentile body, who has accepted
the resurrected Christ (i.e. Unleavened Bread) as her
Savior.
The Apostle Paul observed that our current age
would be characterized by Israel’s unbelief, but that it
would not be lasting. “Again I ask: Did they stumble so
as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather,
because of their transgression, salvation has come to
the Gentiles to make Israel envious …. I do not want
you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that
you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a
hardening in part until the full number of the
Gentiles has come in. And
so all Israel will be saved ….” Romans 11:11,
25-26. It
is the role of the Church to make Israel envious. We are an
illustration – a sign of God's mercy to all of mankind. Like Jonah,
the Jews will watch God save a group of Gentiles from
destruction.
The Church, had its beginning on Pentecost, also
known as the Feast of Weeks. It was at that time that the Holy
Spirit began to indwell believers. In a spiritual
sense, Pentecost has never ended. Believers
continue to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In fact, Paul
referred to our present age as Today. “But encourage one another daily, as
long as it is called Today, so that none of you
may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come
to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the
confidence we had at first. As has just
been said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not
harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’” Hebrews
3:13-15. Someday,
however, “Today” will end.
If the Church Age is connected to the 3
Pilgrimage Festivals, then the next event on God’s
prophetic calendar is the Feast of Tabernacles. The Ninevites
were spared judgment as Jonah watched from a tabernacle.
Likewise,
the Church will be spared the judgment of the
Tribulation through the Rapture. Will Jews
also be sitting in tabernacles at the time?
It is interesting to note that the one of the
Haftarah synagogue readings on Yom Kippur, which is five
days before the Feast of Tabernacles, is the entire book
of Jonah. So,
Jonah will be fresh on the minds of the Jews. ("Haftara refers to the Book of
Prophets reading that follows the Torah reading on
Sabbaths and holidays ." Quote from
about.com.)
Lastly, the name “Jonah” literally means “dove.”
Isn’t it
interesting that there is a book of the Bible entitled
“Dove,” the sign of the Holy Spirit, which is about a
bunch of reprobate Gentiles who are spared from
judgment? Talk
about an illustration for the Church Age.
Harvest
Pattern
The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the 3
harvest festivals – which are Firstfruits, Pentecost,
and Tabernacles, respectively. Jesus may have
established a pattern by being resurrected on a harvest
festival – the Feast of Firstfruits. Future
resurrection events, therefore – including the Rapture –
could occur on one of these festivals. Since the
Church had its start at Pentecost, which celebrates the
firstfruits of the crops, it would be fitting for the Church to
be “harvested” at the end of the harvest season. See
Exodus 23:16-16 and Exodus 34:22-23.
Jesus also referred to the period of 4 months
between Pentecost and Tabernacles. “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and
then the harvest?’
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the
fields! They
are ripe for harvest.
Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now
he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the
sower and the reaper may be glad together.” John
4:35-36. Our
job has been to participate in this on-going harvest. Someday,
however, our work will end and there will be a final
harvest of the Church.
Booths
& Heavenly Chambers
There is a lovely passage in Isaiah that talks
about the people of God entering chambers during a time
of judgment. It
is viewed as an Old Testament reference to the Rapture:
“But your dead will live; their
bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up
and shout for joy. Your
dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will
give birth to her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a
little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the Lord
is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of
the earth for their sins.” Isaiah 27:19-21. Note that the
people are told to hide themselves, but for a short
period of time. It
is interesting to note that the Feast of Tabernacles is
celebrated by the entering of temporary structures or
booths for a period of 7 days. Could this
point to the Church entering chambers in heaven ahead of
the 7 year Tribulation?
Jesus said, “In my
Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I
would have told you. I
am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take
you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3.
Pattern
from the Transfiguration
The Transfiguration is discussed in three out of
the four Gospels: Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-3; Luke
9:28-36. The
accounts are all similar: Jesus, Peter, James and John
go up a high mountain where Jesus is transfigured before
them. Suddenly,
Moses and Elijah appear in “glorious splendor.” (Luke
9:31.) A
cloud envelopes all of them and they hear the voice of
God.
Peter also says something that may connect the
Transfiguration to the Feast of Tabernacles; he asks if
they should build 3 shelters or booths. "Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is
good for us to be here.
If you wish, I will put up three shelters – one
for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Matthew
17:4. This
statement may also give us insight into the timing of
the Rapture, because there seems to be a parallel
between the Transfiguration and the Rapture passage in 1
Thessalonians 4:16-17:
“For the Lord
himself will come down from heaven with a loud command,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet
call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we
who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. And
so we will be with the Lord forever.”
Similarly, at the Transfiguration, Moses
represents the dead in Christ because he experienced
death. Elijah
represents those who are alive at the time of the
Rapture because he never experienced death. They, the dead
and the alive, join Jesus and are transformed. Also, Old
Testament saints and New Testament saints are together
during this event as represented by Moses, Elijah, and
the three disciples. Although
they are not in the air, they are on a “high mountain.”
(Matthew 17:1.) A
cloud envelopes them and they are with the Lord in the
clouds. Lastly,
the voice of God is heard, and we know from other
scripture that the voice of God is like the sound of a
trumpet. (See Revelation 1:10 and 4:1.)
The Transfiguration appears to be a rehearsal for
the Rapture. Perhaps
it is also an indicator for its timing.
In
Secret
There is a passage in the book of John that
expressly links Jesus Christ to the Feast of
Tabernacles. It
is during a time where the Lord’s brothers mock him for
not having a more public ministry.
“Therefore Jesus told them, ‘The right time for
me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world
cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that
what it does is evil. You
go to the Feast. I
am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the
right time has not yet come.’ Having said
this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers had left
for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in
secret. Now
at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking,
‘Where is that man?’ …. Not until halfway through the
Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to
teach.” John
7:6-14.
It is interesting that Jesus initially attends
the Feast of Tabernacles in secret. The people and
religious leaders are actually looking for Him, but He
came when they were not expecting Him.
People often criticize us for believing in a
“secret” Rapture. Wouldn’t
it be something if this passage is a hint for when and
how Christ will come for us? Since the Feast of Tabernacles is a
multi-day festival, no one would know the day or hour
that He would come.
Jesus also makes an intriguing statement during
the Feast. "Jesus said, 'I am with you for
only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent
me. You
will look for me, but you will not find me; and where
I am, you cannot come.'" John 7:33-34.
This is exactly what will happen after the
Rapture – people will look for us, but not find us.
A Bride Catching Festival
Judges 21:19-25 deals with the time that the
Tribe of the Benjamin was permitted to seize wives as
they are dancing at "the annual festival of the Lord in
Shiloh." (Shiloh
is the place where the Tabernacle of Moses was set up in
Joshua 18:1. It
was still there when the narrative in Judges takes
place.)
I cannot find a consensus as to the identity and
timing of this festival.
Some commentators say it was just a local
festival, others say that it celebrates the beginning of
the grape harvest which is traditionally celebrated on
the Fifteenth of Av, and others believe it is the Feast
of Tabernacles which celebrates the end of the grape
harvest. The
text tells us that the girls are dancing in a vineyard,
so the festival is likely to be connected to either the
beginning or end of the grape harvest.
Furthermore, since the men of Israel were
required to go to Shiloh to observe the Pilgrimage
Festivals while the Tabernacle was there, it is quite
possible that festival was the Feast of Tabernacles. (Later, when
the Temple was built in Jerusalem, Jewish males were
required to go to Jerusalem.)
There may also be a hidden pattern in the
narrative. According
to the Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin had offended the
Israelites by their unwillingness to surrender fellow
Benjamites who had committed a heinous crime. A conflict
ensued between the two sides resulting in the deaths of
the entire Tribe of Benjamin, with the exception of 600
fighting men. According
to Judges 20:47: "But six
hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the
rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months." Now, the
Israelites had made an oath not to give their daughters
in marriage to any Benjamite. Consequently, they realized that
the tribe of all men was bound to die out. Regretting
their vow, but unable to break it, they devised a plan
to get wives for the remaining 600 Benjamites. First, they
determined that no one from the camp of Jabesh Gilead
had assisted them in the war. So they put that entire camp to
death, except for 400 virgin girls. Then they
took the girls to Shiloh and sent an offer of peace to
the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon, who accepted the
women as wives. Then
they told the remaining 200 men to go to an annual
festival of the Lord at Shiloh. "So they instructed the Benjamites,
saying, 'Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the
girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then
rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife
from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of
Benjamin. When
their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say
to them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we
did not get wives for them during the war, and you are
innocent, since you did not give your daughters to
them.' So
that is what the Benjamites did. While the
girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried
her off to be his wife." Judges 21:20-23.
Please notice that the 600 Benjamites obtained
wives in increments of 400 and 200. First through
killing, and second through a bride snatch. If you add an
extra zero to 600, 400, and 200, you can see the
timeline of 6000 years of human history. During the
initial 4000 years, God obtained a wife through killing
or the sacrificial system. After the final 2000 years, Christ
will obtain His wife through a bride snatch – the
Rapture. The
name Benjamin translates to "son of the right hand." Jesus Christ
is the ultimate Son of God's right hand. "Jesus replied, 'But I say to all
of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming
on the clouds of heaven.'" Matthew 26:64. The 600
Benjamites initially fled to the "rock of Rimmon." Rimmon is
Hebrew for "pomegranates." The fruit is connected to only the
High Priest. Jesus
is not only our High Priest, but He is also our Rock. The
Benjamites stay at Rimmon for four months before they
seize their wives at Shiloh where the Tabernacle is
located. (Shiloh
is also a name used for the Messiah in Genesis 49:10.) Finally,
there are four months between the Feast of Pentecost and
the Feast of Tabernacles.
Perhaps this strange story about the snatching of
brides is prophetic.
Perhaps its timing, during the grape harvest,
gives us a clue to the timing of the Rapture. Judges 21:23
uses an interesting Hebrew word for "took" – it is
"nasa." It
means "to lift up."
It is the same word used in Genesis 7:17 to
describe the lifting of Noah's Ark during the Flood.
"And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them
wives, according to their number, of them that
danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned
unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and
dwelt in them." Judges
21:23.
"For forty days the flood kept coming on the
earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark
high above the earth." Genesis 7:17.
The
Great Multitude and Tabernacles
We know that in eternity, God will tabernacle
with men – which will be the ultimate fulfillment of the
Feast of Tabernacles.
"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." Revelation 21:3. But there may
be another observance of the feast earlier in the book
of Revelation.
In Revelation 7:9-10, we see a Great Multitude in
heaven right after the global earthquake of the Sixth
Seal in Revelation 6:12-17:
“After this I looked
and there before me was a great multitude that no one
could count, from every nation, tribe, people and
language, standing before the throne and in front of
the Lamb. They
were wearing white robes and were holding palm
branches in their hands. And they
cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our
God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”
Now, take a look at the passage in Leviticus that
concerns the Feast of Tabernacles:
“‘So beginning with
the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have
gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival
to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of
rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest. On the first
day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and
palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and
rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.” Leviticus
23:39-40.
The timing of the Great
Multitude may be connected to an observance of the Feast
of Tabernacles because of the reference to holding palm
branches, and to the fact that the group will reside in
the tent or tabernacle of God:
“And he said, ‘These are they who have
come out of the great tribulation; they have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Therefore,
they are before the throne of God and serve him day and
night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread
his tent over them.” Revelation
7:14-15.
(The King James Version uses the phrase "he that
sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them" in
Revelation 7:15. The
Greek word for "dwell" can be translated "to fix one's
tabernacle" or "to live in a tabernacle or tent.")
We also see the Great Multitude standing before
the Lamb. Apparently,
they have been accounted worthy to escape the time of
distress that is to come upon the world. "Be always on the watch, and pray
that you may be able to escape all that is about to
happen, and that you may be able to stand before the
Son of Man." Luke
21:36.
There may be another connection between something
that Jesus said at a celebration of the Feast of
Tabernacles and something that is said about the Great
Multitude. John
7:37-39 states:
“On the last and greatest day of the
Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone
is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever
believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him.’ By this he
meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were
later to receive.
Up to that time the Spirit had not been given,
since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
And Revelation 7:17 states:
“For the Lamb at the center of the
throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them
to springs of living water. And God will
wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Finally, the description of the Great Multitude
resembles the make-up of the Church – "from every nation, tribe, people and
language." Since
we see them after the global earthquake of the Sixth
Seal, there could be a connection between that
earthquake and the Rapture. (Earthquakes are connected to the
resurrection events of Jesus Christ and some Old
Testament saints in Matthew 27:51-53 and Matthew 28:2-7,
and the Two Witness in Revelation 11:11-13.)
Blood Red Moon & the Church Age
On the day of Pentecost, Jews from every nation
heard Spirit-filled believers speaking in languages that
they understood. Peter
addressed the crowd, specifically applying this event to
a prophecy from Joel 2:28-32:
"Fellow Jews and all of
you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you;
listen carefully to what I say. These men
are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only
nine in the morning!
No,
this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the
last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all
people. Your
sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will
see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my
servants, both men and women, I will pour out my
Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show
wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will
be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before
the coming of the great and glorious day of the
Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.'"
Acts 2:14-21.
It is significant that Peter applied this
specific prophecy to the Church, because it shows us
that the Blood Red Moon is a sign that is connected to
the Church Age. The
Apostle Paul also quotes from the same passage in
connection with his description of the Church Age – a
time where both Jews and Gentiles will come to Christ. “For there is no difference between
Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and
richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Romans
10:12-13.
To this day, people continue to be filled with
the Holy Spirit when they become believers in Jesus
Christ. They
prophesy, see visions, and dream dreams. But there are
certain parts of Joel's prophecy – signs in the heavens
and on earth – that have yet to occur. It is
possible that when these signs do occur, they will mark
the end of the Church Age.
The Blood Red Moon is only referenced in Joel
2:31, Acts 2:20, and Revelation 6:12.
"I watched as he opened
the sixth seal.
There was a great earthquake. The sun
turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole
moon turned blood red, and the stars in
the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig
tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky
receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain
and island was removed from its place." Revelation
6:12-14.
So, a great earthquake is also connected to the
Blood Red Moon.
Perhaps not coincidentally, during the Feast of
Tabernacles (on Tishri 21), the prophet Haggai gave the
following prophecy about the rebuilt temple in
Jerusalem:
“This is what the Lord Almighty says:
‘In a little while I will once more shake the
heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I
will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations
will come, and I will fill this house with the
glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:6-7.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from this passage in
Haggai in connection with the sound of a trumpet blast
and the voice of God at Mount Sinai:
"At that time his voice shook
the earth, but now he has promised, 'Once more I
will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.'" Hebrews
12:26.
Author David Lowe, in his book Then His Voice
Shook the Earth, believes that this shaking will
occur at the sounding of the Last Trump (see 1
Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16), which is
the actual voice of God.
"When the people saw the thunder and lightning
and heard
the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke,
they trembled with fear.
They stayed at a distance and said to Moses,
'Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have
God speak to us or we will die." Exodus
20:18-19.
"On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I
heard behind me a
loud voice like a trumpet …." Revelation
1:10.
This may support the contention that an
earthquake will occur at the time of the Rapture. Perhaps as a
result of the voice of God.
Finally, the Blood Red Moon
may also be a full moon. Since the Feast
of Tabernacles is a full moon festival, it could confirm
the timing of the Blood Red Moon. (Note: there
is a disagreement as to whether the word "moon" should
be translated full or whole moon. According to
a note in the New King James version for Revelation
6:12, only
the " NU-Text and
M-Text read the whole moon.")
The Birthday of Jesus Christ
Many scholars believe that Jesus was born in the
fall. It
is possible, then, that His birth is prophetically
connected to one of the three fall feasts. I am a fan of
the Feast of Tabernacles as being best choice. If Jesus was
born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, His
birth and circumcision would coincide with the exact
days that people were required to assemble for that
Feast. See
Leviticus 23:35-36.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph literally lived outside in
a temporary structure, a place for animals, during the
time of His birth.
"She wrapped him in
cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was
no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7. We find out in
Genesis 33:17 that Jacob made booths or shelters for his
cattle; the Hebrew word used for those booths is the
same word used for the Feast of Tabernacles – "succoth."
Think
about that! Jesus
actually complied with the mandate to live in a
tabernacle at His birth.
So, whenever you see a nativity scene in
someone's yard at Christmastime, remember that you are
seeing a Jewish family living outside in a temporary
structure. Which
is exactly what happens every fall during the Feast of
Tabernacles.
Jesus also took on a mortal body – a temporary
structure – when He dwelt with us. "The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the One
and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth." John
1:14. Please
note that the Greek word used for "dwelling" literally
means to abide in a tabernacle or tent. So, in a
larger sense, Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles
by His very presence here on earth.
Is it possible that we will receive immortal
bodies during the same feast that Jesus was born in a
mortal body?
“Now we know that if the
earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a
building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not
built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to
be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we
are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while
we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened,
because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be
clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is
mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is
God who has made us for this very purpose and has
given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is
to come.” 2
Corinthians 5:1-5.
Philadelphia
Two significant things happened to Jesus Christ
on His eighth day:
“On the eighth day, when it was time to
circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel
had given him before he had been conceived.” Luke 2:21.
He received His name Jesus and He was
circumcised.
Circumcision is the sign of the Abrahamic
Covenant that God made with the Jews:
“Every male among you shall be
circumcised. You
are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of
the covenant between me and you …. My covenant in
your flesh is to be an everlasting
covenant.” Genesis
17:10-13.
There may be a connection between this and the
Church of Philadelphia of Revelation 3:7-13.
Philadelphia is the church that God promises to
keep “from the hour of trial that is going to come upon
the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” Revelation
3:10. Its
members are associated with those who will participate
in the Rapture. Philadelphia
is told the following:
“Him who overcomes I will make a pillar
in the temple of my God. Never again
will he leave it.
I will write on him the name of my God and the
name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is
coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will
also write on him my new name.” Revelation
3:12.
Every overcomer will have the name of God, the
New Jerusalem, and the new name of Jesus Christ written
on them. Will
the new name of Jesus, written on our flesh, be a sign
of the New Covenant?
And will we receive this name and sign on the
eighth day of Tabernacles?
Finally, we are told that Philadelphia will be
made a pillar in the temple of God. At the time
of the Rapture, the members of the Church, each living
stones, will be assembled together as the Temple of God:
“As you come to him, the living Stone –
rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him –
you also, like living stones, are being built into a
spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.” 1
Peter 2:4-5.
"Consequently, you are no longer
foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's
people and members of God's household, built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ
Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the
whole building is joined together and rises to become
a holy temple in the Lord." Ephesians
2:19-22.
It should be noted that the dedication of Solomon's Temple
occurred on the Feast of Tabernacles. See 1 Kings
8:65 and 2 Chronicles 7:8. Perhaps the Church, the Living
Temple, will be assembled and dedicated on some future
Feast of Tabernacles.
Conclusion
Please do not get discouraged as we wait for the
Lord's return. Whether
He comes this year or not, we can know for a fact that
He will come at the right time.
Maranatha!
– Lisa Taylor