The Scriptures indicate there will be a specific, historical, Church-wide dimension of the fulfillment of Tabernacles, just as the atonement made by Christ and the fulfillment of Pentecost were specific historical events. The historical fulfillment of Tabernacles will put the finishing touches on the work of redemption, preparing us for the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It may be noticed that we view the blowing of Trumpets and the solemn Day of Atonement as being integral parts of the feast of Tabernacles.

The Scriptures do not state these two prior feasts are part of Tabernacles, and other writers and scholars that we have studied do not group Trumpets and the Day of Atonement with Tabernacles.

Therefore, an explanation of our position may be in order.

First, Trumpets and the Day of Atonement are considered together, in modern usage, marking the beginning and ending of the "Ten Days of Penitence."

The first day of Tabernacles begins only five days after the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement sometimes is considered to be the most important of all the Jewish observances. Because the last three observances take place in the same month, the first, the tenth, and the fifteenth through the twenty-second (counting Simchat Torah, the eighth day), it seems probable that Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles should be considered as one convocation. We think the Lord intends for the concept to be held in this manner.

Also, the first annual convocation, that of Passover, includes the feasts of Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits. Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits are of the greatest symbolic importance, their spiritual fulfillment including the descent into the interior of the earth and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Christ rose from the dead on the day of the observance of the feast of Firstfruits.

In the inclusion of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits, the second and third of the seven feasts of the Lord, in Passover, the first of the three major annual convocations, we have a precedent for including Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, the fifth and sixth of the seven feasts of the Lord, in the third major annual convocation.

If Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits were included, but not mentioned, in the first annual gathering (as set forth in Deuteronomy 16:16), that of Passover week, it seems reasonable that Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, because of their calendar proximity to Tabernacles, could be considered as being anticipatory of Tabernacles and part of Tabernacles without violating sane and accepted principles of biblical interpretation.

It is not likely that the Lord would stipulate three major annual gatherings, and in the list omit one of the events of supreme importance—the Day of Atonement.

It is not these natural features alone that have caused us to include the blowing of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement as integral parts of the Feast of Tabernacles. Rather, it is the spiritual fulfillment of the three that, to our way of thinking, emphasizes their interrelatedness and unity.

To be continued.