The Seven Feasts of Israel (excerpt of The Feasts of the Lord)

THE SEVEN FEASTS OF ISRAEL (EXCERPT OF THE FEASTS OF THE LORD)

From: The Feasts of the Lord, by Robert B. Thompson

Under Moses the Jews were given seven holy convocations to observe annually. Pentecost was the fourth observance. There were three feasts after Pentecost, showing us that there will be a further work of redemption after the Pentecostal experience and before the Lord returns in the clouds of glory. Christ does not want us to stop at Pentecost. The Seven Feasts of Israel explains the plan of redemption so we can move forward with the Holy Spirit to the rest of God, to the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles, to the fullness of the salvation that is in Christ.

The marriage to Christ, the possession of God Himself, is the greatest attainment of the Christian discipleship. All the other aspects of salvation are means to this supreme end. He who is married to the Lord Jesus Christ has inherited all things. He who has rejected Christ has lost all things. The seven feasts of Israel symbolize the progress of the believer from chaos of personality all the way to the full possession of Christ.

Introductory Questions
Introduction
Passover
Unleavened Bread
Firstfruits
Pentecost
Trumpets
Day of Atonement
Tabernacles

THE SEVEN FEASTS OF ISRAEL

Introductory Questions

What can we expect after we have experienced Pentecost?

Toward what do we press after Pentecost, after we receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit?

Under Moses, the Jews were given seven holy convocations to observe annually. Do you know what they were? Do you know how they apply to our Christian walk?

Pentecost was the fourth observance. Have you been as far as Pentecost? There were three feasts after Pentecost showing us that there will be a further work of redemption before He returns in the clouds of glory. Christ does not want us to stop at Pentecost.

The Seven Feasts of Israel explains the plan of redemption so we can move forward with the Holy Spirit to the rest of God, to the feast of Tabernacles, to the fullness of the salvation that is in Christ.

And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.) (Deuteronomy 2:23)
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9)

Introduction

The seven feasts of Israel are listed in the twenty-third chapter of the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament. They were not all feasts, as we think of the word feast. However, they were all observances in which the people of Israel were called together by the Lord.

Here is the list of the seven feasts, as found in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 23:

Passover—In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s Passover (verse 5).
Unleavened Bread—And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord: seven days you must eat unleavened bread (verse 6).
Firstfruits—Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you be come into the land that I give to you, and will reap the harvest thereof, then you will bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest (verse 10).
Pentecost—And you will count to you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths will be complete: even to the morrow after the seventh sabbath will you number fifty days; and you will offer a new meat offering to the Lord (verses 15,16).
Trumpets—Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, will you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation (verse 24).
Day of Atonement—Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there will be a day of atonement: it will be a holy convocation to you; and you will afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord (verse 27).
Tabernacles—Speak to the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month will be the feast of tabernacles for seven days to the Lord (verse 34).

The seven feasts of Israel were grouped into three great annual convocations.

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. (Deuteronomy 16:16)

In terms of our present calendar, the three annual celebrations were as follows:

Feast of Unleavened Bread — April:
      1. Passover
      2. Unleavened Bread
      3. Firstfruits

Feast of Weeks — May:
      4. Pentecost

Feast of Tabernacles — September-October:
      5. Trumpets
      6. Day of Atonement
      7. Tabernacles

Do you see how the seven feasts were grouped into three major celebrations?

Now, let us show how our Christian experience is revealed in the three major celebrations of Israel. The spiritual applications are as follows:

FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD—initial salvation; becoming a Christian; the born-again experience.

FEAST OF PENTECOST—the baptism with the Holy Spirit; wisdom and power for bearing witness, for ministry, and for righteous, holy behavior.

FEAST OF TABERNACLES—the realm of victorious Christian living; being changed into the image of Christ; the fullness of fruitfulness; dominion over every enemy; complete union and rest in the Godhead.

Let us further break down the three annual celebrations into their seven parts, showing what they mean to Christians.

1. Passover—Christ on the cross; eating the Lord’s Supper; protection from judgment through the blood of Jesus, the slain Lamb of God.

2. Unleavened Bread—Christ in the heart of the earth; water baptism; death to the world; crucifixion with Christ; sincere repentance.

3. Firstfruits—Christ raised from the dead; our resurrection with Christ; the born-again experience.

4. Pentecost—Christ sends to us the Holy Spirit; the former and latter rain; the baptism with the Holy Spirit; the law of the Spirit of life; mighty signs and wonders accompanying the preaching of the Word of God; the gifts and fruit of the Spirit.

5. Trumpets—Christ, the King, returns; the Day of the Lord; rulership of Christ over the earth; the emerging spiritual life of the saint; Christ declares war on the wickedness in the saints; the New Year of the Kingdom of God; raising up the army of the Lord.

6. Day of Atonement—Christ forgives and cleanses all who come to Him; the Holy Spirit deals with sin in the disciple; the saints confess and forsake their sins under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; putting to death the deeds of the body; the eternal judgment of evil spirits; the saint is transformed into the image of Christ; Year of Jubilee; the cleansing of God’s Temple, the Body of Christ; the marriage of the Lamb.

7. Tabernacles—Christ and the Father dwell in the Christian; the “rest” of God; the redemption of the physical body; the completion of the work of redemption; Paul’s mark; the new Jerusalem; the fullness of the Presence and Glory of God; the revelation of the marriage of the Lamb.

The seven feasts of Israel are an Old Testament portrayal of God’s plan of redemption through Christ. God’s plan of redemption is based on and always works through Christ—the slain Lamb of God who was raised from the dead.

To redeem is to buy back or to seize by force some person or thing that has been brought into bondage and to restore that person or thing to his or its original inheritance or place.

Satan (always under God’s supervision) has brought every person, and the whole earth as well, into the bondage and darkness of sin and death. Christ leads out of bondage and darkness every person who comes to Him and guides the believer into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

As we outline the fulfillment in the individual Christian of the seven feasts of Israel, please keep in mind that God’s love has directed that we are to look steadfastly to Christ, walking before Him continually so the Holy Spirit may bring us to maturity in Christ.

The role of the Holy Spirit is similar to that of Eliezer of Damascus, who brought the fair Rebecca from her home and took her on a journey through territory unknown to her until finally she arrived in the presence of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Isaac is a figure of the Lord Jesus who Himself is the mark, the goal, the end of our quest.

The pattern of the seven feasts indicates that the Christian redemption is not a once-for-all happening. Although the beginning of salvation in a person’s life takes place in a moment, a decisive, clear-cut act, the work of redemption includes a continuing development, a growth to maturity.

The covering Passover blood is the initial gift of redemption, the acceptance of which is the first step of the person entering salvation. The feast of Tabernacles, the last of the celebrations, is the fullness, the dwelling in us of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit.

Salvation has a definite beginning and a definite ending, an alpha and an omega. Redemption has an ending in the sense of a coming of age, a maturing. Maturity in Christ is a goal worth pressing toward (Ephesians 4:13).

The Pentecostal, charismatic, speaking-in-tongues experience is at the halfway point, so to speak. Pentecost is number four of seven feasts. This fact may inspire those of us who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit to press toward the fullness of the inheritance.

Perhaps we have been camping at “tongues.” We need to get back up on our spiritual feet and fight onward toward the good things God has for us.

Passover

“This month [Abib] shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. (Exodus 12:2,3)
‘Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)
Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. (I Corinthians 5:7)

Passover symbolizes the protection from God’s judgment and wrath that is given us through the blood of Christ. Because the sentence of death overshadows the gods of the world, we apply by faith the blood of Jesus to ourselves and our household.

When the destroyer approaches us he sees the blood of the righteous Jesus which, in obedience to God, we have sprinkled by faith over our life. The Divine executioner, recognizing that we have appropriated the blood of Jesus, “passes over” us without harming us and continues on his way carrying out the judgments of God.

In the same spirit of obedience we eat of God’s Passover Lamb (I Corinthians 5:7).

The feast of Passover teaches us of the importance that God places on the blood of Christ as the covering for our sinful and rebellious personality. We can witness in our own day the judgments of God in the land—the turmoil, and the distress of nations. Our refuge from the destroying storm is the blood of Jesus applied to our household by faith, in obedience to the Word of God.

The Passover marks the “beginning of months” to the Christian. When an unsaved person approaches God he is confronted with Christ on the cross. God meets man only at the cross of Christ.

Just as the Hebrew approaching the Tabernacle of the Congregation encountered first the Altar of Burnt Offering, so the man or woman, boy or girl, who would enter the Christian salvation must first accept God’s offering—the Lord Jesus Christ.

The point in time at which we accept by faith the blood of Calvary’s cross becomes to us the start of a new life. Our existence before the cross is of little consequence. Our true life begins the moment the Lord Jesus Christ becomes our personal Passover.

The Passover blood was for protection during the judgment of “all the gods of Egypt.” So it is today. The Holy Spirit reproves (convicts) the world of judgment “because the prince of the world is judged.”

The Lord will not tolerate the worship of demons. In His own time and manner He will destroy the demons and those who worship them. The Passover blood is our protection during the period that God executes judgment on the works of Satan.

Unleavened Bread

‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. (Exodus 12:15)
Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (I Corinthians 5:6-8)

Paul anchors our interpretation of the feast of Unleavened Bread with his words in I Corinthians 5:6-8 (quoted above). Leaven is portrayed as “malice and wickedness,” and unleavened bread is shown as “sincerity and truth.”

Leaven, in the Scriptures, often symbolizes sin. Just as a little yeast affects a whole ball of dough, so a little sin affects a whole human life.

God issued a clear command concerning the use of leaven during Passover Week: “There shall no leavened bread be seen with you” (Exodus 13:7). This command is repeated in the Old Testament until the spiritual message comes through: “Purge from yourself the spirit and ways of the present evil age.”

Sincere repentance, which is a forsaking of the spirit of the world (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life), must accompany the acceptance of Christ, our Passover Lamb. If there is no sincere repentance on our part, no turning away from our former manner of living, we have not come to Jesus with the right attitude.

The act of being baptized in water represents the fact that the believer has turned his back on the present world, that he has died to the world and the lust thereof. A gospel that does not require the convert to turn from sin and lead a new life of righteousness is not the Christian Gospel.

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

The feast of Unleavened Bread means every trace of the old life, the old “leaven” of the world, is to be removed from us. Every “Egyptian,” to speak figuratively, is to be “left in the Red Sea.” To repent is to turn away from the old leaven of sin, of malice and wickedness, and to enter the Kingdom of God as a little child.

In water baptism we enter the death of the cross, and we enter also the resurrection Life of Christ. We enter the death of the cross so every trace of Satan’s authority over us may be terminated. From this point forward we are free to choose to serve God.

Before entering the death of Christ we were not free to choose to be servants of righteousness. We were bound in the kingdom of darkness and were compelled to obey the spirit of the world, of wickedness.

Now we are loosed legally from the power of darkness, through the authority of the blood of Christ. Now we are free to choose to obey the Spirit of God and to act, speak, and think in a righteous and holy manner. This is the meaning of the sixth chapter of Romans, and the fulfillment in the Christian of the feast of Unleavened Bread.

Firstfruits

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. (Leviticus 23:10)
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (I Corinthians 15:20)
Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. (James 1:18)

The feast of Firstfruits portrays the resurrection of Christ and our entrance into His resurrection life. We are “born again,” meaning that a new life—the Life of Christ—has been born in us.

This is the beginning of the harvesting of our personality. Our new spiritual nature is raised to sit with Christ in the heavenlies. Our new nature, Christ born in us, is the firstfruits to God of the new creation of our personality.

There is part of our personality that has not been harvested as yet, as we can tell by the way in which we act sometimes, the things we say and think, the battles we have.

The unharvested part of us, the part that still rebels again God, has been accepted of God even though it has not as yet been redeemed from the hand of the enemy. It has been accepted because another part of us has been presented before God (our reborn inner nature) as a firstfruits. We are without condemnation although we have not been perfected as yet.

Our spirit and soul must go through many experiences with God before they are cleansed, changed into the image of Christ, and reconciled to God. Last of all, our physical body will be harvested.

We rejoice in God because we know what He has begun in us He will finish. The Lord has accepted our new nature as a firstfruits of the finished work of redemption. As soon as God has created Christ in every area of our personality, the harvest of our life will have been completed.

Our life (the inner spiritual life) “is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). A firstfruits of our life already has been “waved” before the Lord (Leviticus 23:11). Our “members which are upon the earth” (Colossians 3:5) are sanctified by the fact that our inner spiritual life possesses the very righteousness of Christ.

For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Romans 11:16)

We see the principle of the firstfruits operating in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. “Now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who slept” (I Corinthians 15:20).

Because He (Jesus) was “waved” as a holy offering before God, we also—the harvest of the earth—are sanctified in the sight of God.

We too shall be raised from the dead. “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward those who are Christ’s at his coming” (I Corinthians 15:23).

The sin and rebellion of the old creation were illustrated by the inability of Adam and Eve to obey one simple restraint on their behavior. The old creation was judged and finished on Calvary. The new creation began with the resurrection of Christ. He is the Firstfruits of the new creation—an entirely new working of the Lord God of Heaven.

The saints of God, since they are one with Christ in His death and in His resurrection, also can be considered as a firstfruits of the new creation. The world of nature, including the nations of the earth, is waiting expectantly for the revealing of the sons of God who already possess in themselves the firstfruits of the Spirit of God—the substance of eternal life (Romans 8:19).

Notice how the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits portray the crucifixion, descent into Hell, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The seven feasts of Israel are symbolic of events in the Life of Christ, and therefore have direct application to our own spiritual experience because of our oneness with Him in His crucifixion and resurrection.

Our booklet to this point has been reviewing doctrine fairly well known to Christian people. The remainder of the text brings us into waters that may be unfamiliar to some of us; although the next feast, Pentecost, is becoming much more widely received through the current Charismatic movement.

With the enablement of the Holy Spirit we shall follow the Divine pattern of the feasts of the Lord through to the climax of the Christian salvation—the fullness of the redemption that is in Christ the Lord.

Pentecost

‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
‘Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:15,16)
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

The record of the Book of Acts speaks for itself concerning the meaning of the feast of Pentecost.

Jesus had said, “Wait for the promise of the Father”; and again, “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses to me.”

“You shall receive power.” The Book of Acts is a record of Divine power working in the lives of Christians. Speaking in tongues and the miraculous healing of the sick are two of the outstanding results of the outpouring on all flesh of the Holy Spirit of God.

Pentecost (feast of Weeks) is associated with the giving of the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai. It is believed that the Law was given on Sinai fifty days after Israel left Egypt (Pentecost means “fifty”).

It is true also under the new covenant that the law is given at

Pentecost, for the law of the Christian is the “law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2).

We Christians are not under the Law of Moses except during such times as we choose to live in the flesh. The Law of Moses governs us when we are living “in the flesh” (Romans 7:5). By “living in the flesh” we mean behaving in the understanding and appetites of the body, soul, and mind of the natural man rather than behaving under the guidance, discipline, power, and life of the Holy Spirit of God.

When we choose to “die” to the lusts of the flesh, and to live instead in the power and life of the Holy Spirit, we come under a law different from the Law of Moses. Our new law is the law of the Spirit of life. It is the law that rules Christians who are “not in the flesh, but in the Spirit” (Romans 8:9).

We are not “adulterers” although we have left the Law of Moses to be married to Christ because we have been released from the Law of Moses by our death with Christ on the cross (Romans 7:2-4). Death releases us from the Law of Moses. The moral laws of the Ten Commandments continue to govern the conduct of every person on earth until by faith he or she dies and is raised with the Lord Jesus.

We Christians are not without law. Rather, we are playing under the rules of a different game. We are governed by the Spirit of God whose voice we are to obey at all times.

Living in the flesh, obeying the lusts of the body and soul, brings some gaiety and satisfying of fleshly appetites accompanied by an enormous amount of mental and bodily grief, remorse, confusion, sickness, spiritual death, punishment, and eventually eternal separation from God.

Obedience to the law of the Spirit of life brings self-denial and delayed gratification, accompanied by peace, health, certainty, and eventually release and glory and the fullness of the Presence of God in Christ throughout eternity.

The history of the outpouring of Pentecostal “rain” on mankind is an inspiring story. The miraculous effects of the working of the Holy Spirit are described in the Book of Acts. Since that time there have been powerful manifestations of the Spirit of God whenever and wherever Christians have met the Divine requirements of faith, holiness, obedience, unity, and prayer, and also in times and places selected sovereignly by the Lord Jesus according to His own purposes.

Some of the outpourings of the Spirit are on record. There were many of which we are ignorant. The names of Wesley, Fox, Finney, Howells, for example, are associated with manifestations of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost.

A study of Christian revivals from the time of the Protestant Reformers to the present day points up some facts about the outpouring of the “harvest rain.” The promises of the Scriptures, plus the historical pattern of the giving of God’s Spirit, prompt us to believe there has been a gradual increase of the Spirit during the period of time from Protestant Reformers until now, and that the “latter rain” will increase in volume until there is a worldwide downpour of glory.

One of the features of the moving of the Spirit of God has been a restoration of understanding of the Scriptures.

Of the seven feasts of the Lord, Pentecost is number four. Since four is halfway between one and seven we may conclude that the person who has “arrived” at Pentecost is at a critical point in his or her spiritual journey. He is about to pass the “point of no return” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

The believer at Pentecost still feels the world attempting to pull him back. He always must keep his body under discipline and guard himself with vigilance against deception.

Now there is an ever-deepening yearning in his heart to pass on to the richer joys of the Spirit of God. God has spoken plainly concerning His will for us to press forward to the fullness of our inheritance: “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38).

Pentecost! The term draws our spirits to the Spirit of God. This word inspires to the core the true saint. On the Day of Pentecost the dynamite of the Spirit of God was given to the followers of Jesus so a witness may be borne to every nation of the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“You shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Here is the baptism with dynamite for service. The tongues of flame abiding on the waiting believers signified that the word of judgment had been put into the mouths of Christ’s heralds.

We see the effects of the word of judgment in the ministries of anointed saints whose words caused people to be gripped in an agony of conviction as the Holy Spirit spoke of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

Smith-Wigglesworth of England, Aimee Semple McPherson, Dr. Charles Price—these saints and others who have borne the harvest-rain anointing encourage us by their example to turn away from the useless strivings of the flesh and to wait on the Lord for the enduement of power from on high.

Pentecost! Pentecost! Pentecost! How desperate is the need for Pentecostal power in the world today. Sin-burdened, sick, frustrated people need the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ—the Gospel of power that brings miraculous healing and other supernatural works of the Spirit of Christ.

Let us cry unceasingly to the Lord for “bread” to feed the friends who have “come to us in their journey.” Harvest time is here now.

The person who has come to Pentecost is neither in Egypt nor in the land of promise. He ought not to look back toward Egypt (life in the spirit of the world). He must press toward maturity in Christ. The land of promise has been attained when our whole being is in accord with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus far in our study of the seven feasts of Israel we have discussed the protecting blood of Passover, the repentance of Unleavened Bread, the inner rebirth of Firstfruits, and the spiritual law and power of Pentecost.

Three more feasts are ahead of us, three observances that stand between us and the fullness of redemption. Most of us have not passed this way before. Christ surely has been in all that we have experienced to this point and Christ surely is in that which that lies ahead.

We never are to stop in our pilgrimage until maturity has been attained, until we come to the full stature of Christ. There remains much land to be possessed. There remains a spiritual rest for the people of God.

“You have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward”.

Trumpets

“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. (Leviticus 23:24)
Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand: (Joel 2:1)
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (I Thessalonians 4:16)

It is our understanding that Joel 2:1 (quoted above) describes the burden of the Lord in the heart of the Christian who has experienced Pentecost and who now is ready to move on with God. “Sound an alarm in my holy mountain”.

The blowing of the trumpet is associated with warfare. As we press forward with the Lord we enter an understanding of Him as the “Lord of Hosts” (Lord of Armies). The Old Testament in numerous passages speaks of God as the Lord of Armies. The Warrior is one of the most important roles of God, according to the Scriptures.

There is a fighting aspect of God’s nature. God is the Lord of Armies. The Day of the Lord will be a military engagement, a battle involving many personages. It will be fought with terrific fury until the Lord Jesus has destroyed His enemies totally.

At Passover we are spiritual babies, just having been born again. At Pentecost we may have gone a step further. When we come to the Blowing of Trumpets, God begins to share with us His concern for spiritual warfare and the destruction of His enemies. The Spirit of the Lord of Armies cries war! war! war! in our soul.

O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. (Jeremiah 4:19)

The Lord Jesus Christ always is a fighter against evil forces. One of the outstanding characteristics of His ministry is the casting out of devils. The unclean spirits, who were so upset by the Presence of the Lord Jesus as He ministered on the earth, are God’s enemies against whom God wages war.

There is a kingdom of wicked personalities. Paul teaches us that we “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high [heavenly] places” (Ephesians 6:12).

The wicked lords of darkness in heavenly places are God’s enemies. At the present time they are active among people on the earth, counseling them and urging them to defy God, to lust, to murder, to lie, to take part in occult practices, to idolize things and people, to steal.

The actions, words, and imaginations of the peoples of the world are one mammoth illustration of the nature of the evil lords of sin and rebellion against the most High. It is these same evil lords against whom the Church is to wrestle in the Spirit.

The alarm is sounding. Violent trumpet blasts reverberate throughout the spirit realm as the Lord of Armies prepares His saints for the fierce conflict of Armageddon, for the Day of the Lord.

The Christian churches of the wealthy nations slumber on. A little slumber. A little folding of the hands. Be sure and maintain our customary way of living. Don’t rock the boat or the membership will fall out. Will the membership fall out of the boat when the Day of the Lord dawns in fire? If so, the sleepers should fall out now in preparation for the Day of spiritual battle that even now is coming upon us.

The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies. (Isaiah 42:13)

The Holy Spirit of God is sounding the alarm of judgment to come: judgment against the world, against the sins and rebellions hatched from the spirit of the present wicked age. Also—and primarily—against the wickedness that can be found in the churches.

Where lust, the love of money, murder and violence, sorcery, and riotous living are practiced in the churches they will be judged as sin by the Lord of Armies. Any disciple who is practicing murderous rage, hate, backbiting, jealousy, adultery, fornication, or other wickedness in his deeds, words, motives, or imaginations can expect to be hearing soon from the Holy Spirit.

Today, judgment is being exercised in the house of God. All the actions of the saints are being screened carefully one at a time. The Bride of the Lamb must put away every action and motive that comes from or is in any way associated with Satan.

Every manifestation of the spirits of lust, of the love of money, of hatred, for example, must be driven from the saint, from the Kingdom of God, from the Temple of God.

When the Spirit of God blows the trumpet it is time for us to follow Him into battle. He is ready to wage war against the sins that dwell in us. He is prepared to enable the church to invade “the land of promise.” The promised land of the Christian is whatever God has given him to possess, particularly his own personality (I Thessalonians 5:23).

If we are unwilling to respond to the trumpet of the Lord with a readiness to fight, we will come under the curse of Meroz:

‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the LORD, ‘Curse its inhabitants bitterly, because they did not come to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.’ (Judges 5:23)

The attitude of God is revealed in Deuteronomy:

“Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you. (Deuteronomy 9:3)

The Lord does all the fighting when we come from “Egypt,” although we by faith must sprinkle the Passover blood on the “doorway of our house” and then get up on our feet and move out of the world spirit as the Lord leads us.

However, when it comes to entering our land of promise, we must fight. The Lord guides and helps us but we have to do the fighting.

God is a commander of armies and a God of judgment. We must adopt the attitude of war and of judgment against sin if we hope to press with God past the Pentecostal experience of speaking in tongues and prophesying. If we are to possess the riches of God we must be willing to be judged by the Lord and to fight against the spiritual enemies that dwell in our inheritance.

We may be comfortable and at ease in Zion (in our church routines) and would rather flee to Egypt (back into the world) than to hear the sound of the trumpet, the sound of alarm (Jeremiah 42:14).

If we are to go on from Pentecost we must arm ourselves for spiritual war (Ephesians 6:12-18). We must be ready to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ, not entangling ourselves with the “civilian” pursuits of the world. Woe to us if we “hold back our sword from blood” in the day of the Lord’s battle (Deuteronomy 7:2; I Kings 20:42; I Samuel 15:8-23)!

The Day of the Lord rises in the heart of the conquering Christian. It is here that the trumpet of God is blown first:

And so we have the prophetic word [the Scriptures] confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star [Christ] rises in your hearts; (II Peter 1:19)

“The morning star rises in your hearts.”

The Morning Star, which is the creation of Christ in us, announces a personal Day of Christ in our hearts, which is the absolute dominion of Christ over our thought, motives, imagination, deeds, and words. Also, there will be a worldwide blowing of the trumpet of God throughout the creation—the sounding of the seventh angel. At that time Christ will return to the earth, glorify His Body, His saints, and extend His rule from the hearts of the saints until His will and glory cover the creation.

The trumpet of the Lord will proclaim the coming of the King, and the resurrection of the saints and their appearing with Him. The saints are the “Zion” from which the rule of God will come. The rule of the saints will bring justice and the Presence of God to the creation. The sons of God will remove the curse from the earth.

There is a personal day of the Lord, a personal Presence of Christ, which comes to the believer who is keeping Christ’s Word (John 14:23). The personal manifestation, or coming, of Christ, is announced by the trumpet of the Lord “blowing” in our heart. The King comes, we pass through the cleansing of the spiritual fulfillments of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, and then the Father and the Son settle down to rest in us in fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

There will take place also the worldwide appearing of Christ, as described in Matthew, Chapter 24. The worldwide appearing of Christ will occur at the sounding of the last trumpet (Revelation 11:15). The coming (parousia) of the Lord will include the first resurrection of which Paul speaks in Philippians 3:11 and I Corinthians 15:52. It is the Day of the Lord: the return of Christ to the earth and the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8:28-30; Colossians 3:4).

There is a personal kingdom age in the individual believer, and then there will be a worldwide Kingdom Age. The only individuals who will rule with Christ during the worldwide Kingdom Age are those who establish a personal kingdom age, a rulership of Christ over their own personalities, in advance of His worldwide appearing (I John 3:2,3).

The section we have just completed is the fulfillment in the Christian of the Levitical Blowing of Trumpets, as we understand it. Trumpets is number five in the series of seven feasts.

Now we have come in our study to the sixth feast of Israel, the most sacred day of the religious year, the Day of Atonement.

Day of Atonement

“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
“And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. (Leviticus 23:27,28)
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (Romans 5:11)
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another [with God], and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:7-9)

The feast of Israel are seven in number. The Day of Atonement, the observance having to do with the purging of sin and self-will from God’s people, was placed sixth in order.

If we are following a logical pattern, why wasn’t the Day of Atonement placed first or second in the order of the feasts? It seems reasonable that the first thing to take place in the plan of redemption should be that our sins are taken care of completely.

Isn’t this order of placement of the Day of Atonement somewhat out of line with our traditional concept of the relationship between the Christian and sin? Wouldn’t we expect the feast that represents cleansing from sin to come at the beginning of the seven feasts?

Perhaps it is the reader’s understanding that sin is purged from our personality at the time of our initial experience in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that belief actually borne out in our own experience and in the lives of the Christian people whom we know?

We may have started out on our Christian pilgrimage many years ago. Is it true that we now are free from the bondages of lust, of the love of money, of murderous hatred, of deceit, of occult practices, of the love of pleasure more than the love of God, of backbiting and gossiping, of pride, of haughtiness, of jealousy, of foolishness, of lying, of boasting, of stealing, of divisiveness, of fear, of self-pity, of complacency?

Christian people love the world and the things of the world, engage in sinful practices, and are self-centered and self-seeking.

If we still are behaving in these ways, the redeeming authority and power contained in the atoning blood of Christ have not as yet accomplished their work of cleansing and reconciliation in us. But there is no doubt about the fact that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have been baptized in His name.

There is a reason why the Holy Spirit placed the Day of Atonement, the observance having to do with the committing of sins by the Lord’s people, as number six in the series of seven feasts. A person must receive Christ, and then walk with Christ for a season before God is able to release the many bondages of sin and rebellion—to root out the tares from among the wheat, so to speak.

In any case, two facts seem evident:

The cleansing of the Tabernacle and of the priests and people occurred toward the end of the series of seven feasts, coming just before the observance of the feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus, Chapter 16).
The longer the fervent disciple walks with Christ the more conscious he becomes of the problem of sin in his own life, showing that righteousness, holiness, and obedience of behavior are not achieved at the time of our first acceptance of Christ. Increasing consciousness of sin, and increasing ability to overcome sin, have been the testimony of the sincere disciples of Christ throughout church history.

Perhaps one of the roots of our misconception concerning the relationship of the Christian believer to sin is that we have assumed that the greater part of the scriptural admonitions regarding sin is addressed to people outside the churches. By so misdirecting the intent of Paul and the other writers we have made the apostolic instructions ineffectual as to their purpose of promoting spiritual growth in the believers, of developing godly behavior and change into the image of Christ. The Apostles of the Lamb wrote to the saints.

During Israel’s observance of the Day of Atonement the reconciliation was accomplished by the sprinkling of animal blood and by the public confession of the sins of God’s people by the High Priest. In the case of the Christians, the atonement was accomplished by the once-for-all-time offering of Christ on the cross and by the daily application of His blood to our lives.

Also involved in the Christian practice of the new covenant counterpart of the Day of Atonement, and essential to it, is the confessing of their sins by Christ’s disciples; sometimes confessed to God in private, and sometimes to another Christian for counsel or prayer or because the other person is implicated.

Sins—every one of them—must be confessed as soon as they are pointed out to us by the Holy Spirit. A believer must tell the Lord, and sometimes other people, exactly what it is he or she has done, said, or thought.

We may be in too much of a hurry to start naming our sinful deeds, words, motives, and imaginations one at a time to the Lord. However, God is not in that much of a hurry. He will take the time to listen now or He will take the time to listen during the Day of Judgment. As it is written: “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).

Only a Christian living in victory, and one with experience, can engage in this kind of judging of his actions and motives without falling into introspection and condemnation. Confessing one’s sins with authority and power is the action of a conqueror, not of a halfhearted Christian who continually is falling away from his state of obedience to the Master.

Perhaps this is why the judgment on sin in the life of the believer is delayed symbolically (as in the type of the feasts of the Lord) and actually until the Christian has experienced both initial salvation, and Pentecost (baptism with the Holy Spirit).

Anyone who studies the revivals of the past can notice that the outpourings of God’s Holy Spirit have been accompanied by the confession of their sins on the part of God’s people. The Presence of the Spirit of God produces the confessing of sins because the confessing of our sins is a necessary part of Christian discipleship.

The Scripture teaches us (Romans 8:1) that we must walk each day in Christ by faith, being without condemnation in the sight of God. The joy of the Lord is our strength and we are to think about the things that are pure and lovely. Our conscience has been made clear by the blood of the Lamb.

We also must always be ready to hear the rebuke of the Holy Spirit and to bring the offending act, word, or thought immediately to the Lord for forgiveness. If we are walking in the Spirit of God the act of confessing our sins will not depress us but rather will enable us to live the life of victory in Christ.

The distinction must be maintained between accusations of Satan, and the pinpointing of sin by the Holy Spirit. Satan constantly is planting guilt and suspicion in our mind and accusing us of things Christ already has forgiven, or sins we have not actually committed and have no intention of committing.

The disciple through experience learns to recognize Satan and to resist his accusations. Such accusations are not sin and do not need to be confessed. Sometimes we must pray for faith and strength in order to overcome the depression and fear that such accusations produce.

The sins of imagination, motive, word, and deed that are pointed out to us by the Holy Spirit, and that therefore must be confessed and forsaken, are the behaviors that we accept and practice and that we dwell on, that we do not firmly disown and thrust aside. These actions and imaginations are sins and must be named as such before the Lord.

The Christian counterpart of the Day of Atonement works each day in our life as we confess our sins. It is not a case of examining our motives until we turn ourselves into despairing souls. The devout saints of history have discovered that a vain wrestling against sin does not bring relief but more condemnation.

Rather, it is a matter of living joyously in the knowledge that Christ has forgiven our sins, and that we are without condemnation while the process of deliverance is continuing (Romans 8:1).

We are not to refer back to sins we committed before we received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. All of that guilt has been cast behind God’s back and we have been washed as white as snow in the blood of the Lamb.

It is the sins we are practicing now, as Christians, that we must confess. If we will bring our bondages to our Lord He will break them by the authority and power of the Word of God, by the virtue of His own body and blood, and by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit of God. The Lord Jesus always is ready to deliver us from bondage so we may be free to worship God in spirit and in truth.

The Christian experience is one of power, of love, and of a sound mind. We are not to remain in guilt and defeat. Spiritual strength and courage are founded on the sure knowledge that in Christ we are without condemnation before the Throne of God. Such assurance is necessary if we are to stand up successfully under the searching and cleansing of the Spirit of God, and under the stress of the warfare against Satan.

The Christian who has accepted Jesus as his Lord, has been born again, and has been baptized with the Holy Spirit, but who has not had the opportunity to confess his sins under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may be compared to Lazarus, the friend of Jesus.

The raising of Lazarus on the fifth day is a picture of the personal “Trumpets” experience, of spiritual resurrection from the dead. Lazarus was raised from the dead by the Spirit of the Lord but he came forth bound hand, foot, and face with graveclothes.

We too have been raised from the dead by the Spirit of Christ. But the graveclothes of the sins of the flesh are hindering us from acting as we would. Now Christ commands: “Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44).

John the Baptist said concerning Jesus: “He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly clean out his threshing floor, and gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11,12).

We are to be baptized not only with the Holy Spirit but also with the fire of God’s judgment on the sins that we are practicing. The baptism with fire is the coming of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit upon the sin and rebellion that motivate the saint.

We can stand in the Day of Judgment if we will anchor our hope inside the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 6:19). If we choose to do so we can avail ourselves of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, in this manner cleansing ourselves from our iniquities. We can wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The following passage describes the Christian Day of Atonement:

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another [with God], and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:7-9)

We are of the opinion that the above-mentioned confession, forgiveness, and cleansing is the Christian fulfillment of Israel’s Day of Atonement.

John the Baptist commanded the people of Israel to repent, to confess their sins, and to be baptized in water. The Holy Spirit brought forth the ministry of John just before it was time for the Lord Jesus to be revealed.

In the same manner the Day of Atonement comes just before the feast of Tabernacles. The feast of Tabernacles typifies, we believe, the coming of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit to dwell forever in the believer (John 14:23).

Tabernacles

“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. (Leviticus 23:34)
‘You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths,
‘that your generations 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.’” (Leviticus 23:42,43)
On the last day, that great day of the feast [Tabernacles], 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.”
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)

The celebration of the feast of Tabernacles was the most joyous occasion of the year. For seven days the Israelites were to sleep out under the stars in booths made of branches. Tabernacles marked the end of the harvesting and processing of all the grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts farmed by the Jews. The Law was read. Water from the Pool of Siloam was poured on the Altar of Burnt Offering. It was a time of the most extreme rejoicing and hilarity.

One can imagine an Israelite coming from his house each year and living for a week in a booth made from the branches of trees. This was the Lord’s way of repeatedly bringing to the attention of the Jews that their most important contribution among the nations of the earth is not to be in the area of government, or economics, or in the arts and sciences, as significant as their contributions in these realms may be.

The most important gift that Israel brings to the family of mankind is the Presence and Law of the only true God.

Also, living in the booths points to the day when God dwells in Israel and Israel dwells in God; God finds rest in Israel and Israel finds rest in God. The Prophets testified of that Day to come, and Jesus and the Apostles taught us how God is bringing His plan to pass in human beings. God’s plan is Christ in us, the hope of glory.

The Blowing of Trumpets was celebrated on the first day of the seventh month (Tishri) of the religious year. The Day of Atonement was conducted on the tenth day of Tishri. The feast of Tabernacles was observed from the fifteenth through the twenty-first day of the same month.

Notice the expression, “the eighth day (twenty-second of Tishri) will be a holy convocation for you” (Leviticus 23:36). The eighth day is a high Sabbath celebrated with extraordinary rejoicing. The eighth day of the observance of Tabernacles typifies the first day of the new week of eternity—the week that has no end. The eighth day will find its most complete fulfillment during the new heaven and earth reign of Christ (Revelation 21:3).

The seventh month (Tishri) of the religious year is the first month of the agricultural year, agriculture being a chief occupation of the people of Israel.

The last three feasts, beginning with Trumpets, typify the beginning of doing business in the Kingdom of God.

The observances of the seven feasts were taught to the Israelites and enjoined on them while they were wandering in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. The Jews could not celebrate Firstfruits or Pentecost or Tabernacles while they were in the wilderness because these feasts have to do with the harvesting of crops. They could not gather in “the fruit of the land” until they were in Canaan. The feasts were given to them in preparation for the time when they were in possession of the land of promise.

This kind of teaching-in-advance takes place also with us Christians. God is teaching us many lessons in the present hour. We are to learn our lessons carefully now, for they will be necessary for us in the ages to come. Much of what God is enjoining on us today will have increasing significance throughout our lifetime on the earth, and even more in the future beyond that.

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. (I Timothy 4:8)

We must, as the Holy Spirit directs us, apply the lessons we are learning each day. Yet, our instruction and preparation are for the Kingdom Age and the new heaven and earth reign of Christ. We shall bear much responsibility throughout eternity as God’s kings and priests. Is it any surprise that we must be trained so very carefully in the present life of our wilderness sojourn?

The feast of Tabernacles is associated with the reading of the Law of Moses to the congregation of Israel in solemn assembly:

And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles,
“when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
“Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, (Deuteronomy 31:10-12)

The feast of Tabernacles is associated also with water. By the latter part of our month of September and the beginning of October (the time of the feast of Tabernacles) the dry season (May through August) has about ended. The early (former) rains soon are to fall. The rivers will flow.

The hard clods of earth, baked by the summer sun, will be moistened so they can be plowed in preparation for the sowing of the seed of the upcoming farming year. During the celebration of Tabernacles the Jews were rejoicing not only because of the abundance of the preceding year but also in expectation of the coming of refreshing rains and the hope of the satisfying blessings that the new year might bring to them.

Tabernacles is celebrated for seven days. Then comes the eighth day, a high Sabbath, the “great day of the feast” (Simchat Torah). It was the practice at the time Jesus was on earth for water to be brought in golden vessels from the Pool of Siloam. Then the high priest poured the water into a basin on the Altar of Burnt Offering.

On the eighth day trumpets were blown and Isaiah 12:3 was sung: “Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. “ It was on this occasion of fervent thanksgiving and jubilation that Jesus stood in the midst and cried: “If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37,38).

It is our understanding that the greatest fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles will occur at the descending of the perfected holy city, the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb, on the great, high mountain of the new earth. At that time there will be the fullest expression of the Law of God (the beauty of holiness); eternal water in abundance (the River of Life); and the fullness of light (the Glory of God shining from the Throne of God and of the Lamb).

This will be the coming of the tabernacle of God among the nations of saved people so He may dwell among them and wipe away all tears from their eyes.

During the time of Jesus on earth it was a custom for the Jews to come in procession to the Temple carrying torches. The combined light from the processional torches and the lampstands of the Temple lit the area in and around the Temple.

To the Israelites, who were familiar with this custom, Jesus taught:

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14)

The feast of Tabernacles portrays the resting of God in us and our resting in Him. Tabernacles is the seventh feast, the last feast, and—as we might expect—points toward the fullness of redemption.

If one believes in the symbolism of numbers in the Scriptures it is interesting to note that Tabernacles, a festivity lasting seven days, is the seventh feast and was observed in the seventh month. Seven is the number of perfect redemption. There seems to be no doubt God intends for the feast of Tabernacles to be associated in our minds with perfect, completed redemption.

God has called us to a glorious resurrection rest in Him, both in our inner man and in our body as well—the two eventually must and shall go together. We must fight our way by faith into our possessions, under the leadership of the Spirit of God. The fullness of the “Tabernacles experience” is the perfecting of the resting of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit in a transformed Christian personality.

Perhaps the most important idea contained in the thoughts we have presented on the last few pages is that there is a definite, attainable goal that the Christian is to be pressing toward. We are to be awaiting with joyful expectancy the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven. But at the same time we must be pressing toward that goal, as Paul teaches. The goal is the fullness of the indwelling of Christ in us. He Himself Is the Resurrection and the Life.

The fullness of the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles is the setting up of the Throne of God in the heart of the Christian. The Holy Spirit flows as a river from the Throne of God, from nowhere else (Ezekiel 47:1; Revelation 22:1). When God is enthroned in the heart of the saint the River of Life will flow forth for the healing of the nations.

The experience of Tabernacles is characterized by a restful trust in the Lord, an abiding in Christ, a fearless, secure repose on the Rock of Ages. This kind of calm resting in the strength of Christ is an important part of the daily life of victory in Jesus.

“For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song.” It is not that the Lord merely gives us strength or gives us a song. He Himself is the strength. He Himself is the song.

The marriage to Christ, the possession of God Himself, is the greatest attainment of the Christian discipleship. All the other aspects of salvation are means toward this supreme end. He who is married to the Lord Jesus Christ has inherited all things. He who has rejected Christ has lost all things.

The feast of Tabernacles is associated with obedience to the written Word, the Law, of God. Notice that John 14:23, a statement referring to the Christian fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles, shows that there is a relationship between our obeying the Word of Christ and the dwelling of the Godhead in us: “If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.”

The feast of Tabernacles, marking the completion of the harvesting of all the fruits of the earth, was celebrated by the Hebrews with the greatest joy and rejoicing. When God and Christ through the Holy Spirit come to us in Their fullness in the Day of the Lord we shall experience such joy, peace, and rest—the fullness of the Divine Glory—that it will require a redeemed body to contain it all.

Our many possessions and activities shrink in value in our eyes when compared with His Presence. Our idols are placed in perspective and we can see them for what they truly are. He is God and must be the focus of our attention at all times. He will be the focus at all times if we love and serve Him as He deserves to be loved and served.

“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that you sent Me.
“And the glory which you gave Me I have given them [His body], that they may be one just as we are one:
“I in them, and you in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent Me, and have loved them as you have loved Me. (John 17:21-23)

(“The Seven Feasts of Israel”, 3185-1)