Eternal Service to God

The concept of eternal service to God as His royal priest is a fourth aspect of the Christian salvation common to the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles and the new heaven and earth reign of Christ. The entire nation of Israel was a "kingdom of priests" before God.

By commanding the Israelites to live outside in booths made with tree branches, God was guiding them to the reality that they were not like the other nations of the earth. The Jewish family indeed had some astonishing historical events to call to mind—events that to this day are deeply meaningful, not only to the person who is Jewish by birth but also to the Christian saints.

A man named Abraham, living in one of the large, advanced cities of his time, was chosen by the Lord and directed to leave his home and go forth into a strange country. God appeared to him on several occasions and required holy living of him—"holy" in the sense of personal devotion to God.

God blessed Abraham and his family, and after two generations his descendants went down to live in Egypt because of famine in the land to which Abraham had been called. Several hundred years later, when the descendants of Abraham were numbered in the hundreds of thousands, the same Lord revealed Himself to Moses and called Abraham's children to leave Egypt and go into a strange country just as He, the Lord, had required of Abraham hundreds of years previously.

Egypt, refusing to let God's servants go, was destroyed as a result.

Never before had God sacrificed one people in order that a second people might come to worship, serve, and know Him. Never before had God formed a highway in the midst of the sea, caused water to flow from a rock, fed a hungry multitude with bread from Heaven. Never before had God led one nation of people into the homeland of another nation, helping the invaders destroy the inhabitants who were defending their families, houses, and lands.

Never before nor since has God revealed Himself and blessed an entire nation of people after this fashion. No other country of people ever has received commandments and ordinances that regulated the conduct of daily living. Israel, and Israel alone, has a history that a person can meditate on for seven years, much less the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles, and never comprehend fully its significance.

Each of the seven feasts of the Lord is designed to illustrate the truth that Israel is a called-out people, a nation of priests. All the peoples of the earth belong to the Lord. But Israel belongs to God in a special way, and the Christian Church is part of the same Seed of Abraham.

The feast of Tabernacles, with its requirement for living in booths, portrays in a dramatic manner that the nation of Israel plays a unique role among the peoples of the earth. Israel is a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a "peculiar treasure" to God above all other nations.

To be continued.