''The Feast of Tabernacles''
The Feast of Tabernacles
You can see how these final three observances are interrelated. In fact, they all were celebrated in the month that begins with the Blowing of Trumpet. Thus my title, "The Next Major Move of Redemption."
Can you see that the historical fulfillments of the first four celebrations ended with the outpouring of the Spirit of God on the original Day of Pentecost?
Now we are in the beginning of the historical fulfillments of the final three observances. To this point we have enjoyed the spiritual fulfillments of the first four festivals. Perhaps this is why we have come to envision the spirit Paradise as the goal of our redemption. We may have assumed that our redemption was fulfilled with our being forgiven, and the next stop is Heaven.
But once the Blowing of Trumpets begins, redemption comes to the earth. Now we see that we always will be on the earth with Jesus: at the present time; during the Millennium when Jesus rules from the earthly Jerusalem; and then when we are with Him on the new earth.
God's purposes are directed toward the earth, not Heaven.
Man was not created to live in the spirit Paradise, except when the spirit Paradise comes to the earth in the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus. We were created to be in the image of God, a place of rest for Him, not to live in Heaven with the angels.
Our redemption is not a change of residence, except temporarily while God is organizing the personnel of His Kingdom, but a change in us. Salvation is a change in us. If this were not the case, our prayer that God's Kingdom come, His will be done in the earth, could never come to pass.
The final feast of the Lord is that of Tabernacles. As its name suggests, it is the settling down to rest of God in Christ in us.
Another line of thought:
The fourteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation has something of interest for us, I believe.
Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder.
The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. (Revelation 14:1-5)
Just who are these people? Are they Christians? They really have attained to the rest of God, whoever they are!
I am coming to the conclusion that these are the people who will be ready for the Lord when He comes. They are the firstfruits!
In today's Christian preaching, much of which is unscriptural, the impression is given that everyone who "accepts Christ" will be "raptured" into Heaven when Jesus appears. But the Scripture says we will meet Christ in the air.
There is nothing in the Scriptures about our returning with the Lord Jesus to Heaven. Such a U-turn would be disappointing to the saints who will return with Him, many of whom will have been in Heaven for thousands of years!
I do not believe multitudes of those who have "accepted" Christ, who now are on the earth or in Heaven, are anywhere near qualified or competent to be caught up to Christ in the air, return with Him to the earth, and then confront the three great tasks that must be performed during the Millennium:
First, to conquer the army of Antichrist and the legions of demons and fallen angels that will be accompanying that army.
Second, to ride with Christ in the army described in the second chapter of the Book of Joel, and drive from the earth all vestiges of the reign of Antichrist.
Third, to rule with Christ over the surviving nations. To govern the nations with the iron scepter of righteousness requires that first of all, the iron scepter must be created in us by resisting sin. How many of today's "believers" in America have had the iron scepter of righteousness created in them by resisting sin?
Actually, what they have had created in them is the marshmallow scepter of grace. The surviving nations of people will be filled with self-will. A marshmallow scepter of grace is not going to guide them into the ways of righteousness. In fact, at the end of the thousand years, the nations who have been governed by the saints will join with Satan and attack their rulers.
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (Revelation 20:7-9)
So much for everybody going up to Heaven in an unscriptural "rapture," there to spend their days conversing pleasantly with their self-ruled friends.
Here is what the believers will be like who are qualified and competent to be resurrected when Jesus appears, and to be caught up to meet Him in the air:
They will be standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, the Church, because they live by His body and blood, and are ready to ascend to Him and then descend with Him and drive every trace of Antichrist from the earth.
Imagine our "grace-babies" confronting Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, the fallen angels, and armies of demons, when they were hoping to find themselves reclining comfortably on a sofa in their heavenly mansion!
It is those who live by the body and blood of the Lamb who will be caught up to meet Him when He comes. They will be drawn up to the slain Lamb when He appears in the sky.
God's "eagles" will be looking for the slain Lamb.
Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she. (Job 39:30)
Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. (Luke 17:37,37)
The Father's name is written on their foreheads, because they always, in every situation, do His perfect will. It is interesting to note that the followers of Antichrist also have a mark written in their forehead, revealing that they do the will of Antichrist.
The grace-babies have been taught that they do not have to do the Father's will because they have been saved by "grace." Imagine! They certainly are not competent to set up a Kingdom on the earth in which the will of God is performed at all times, in every circumstance!
The sound from Heaven is that of the seven thunders mentioned in the tenth chapter of the Book of Revelation. It is the fullness of Divine power that will be given to the witnesses of Chapter Eleven—the Lamb and His victorious saints.
The power of the seven thunders will be withheld from the saints until they have learned to die to their own will and do the will of the Father. No person can govern the nations until Christ, the Day Star, is living in him or her. The Father will have no one but Christ, and those who are living by the Life of Christ, governing His creatures.
The roar of rushing waters and the loud peal of thunder will be like the sound of harps. It is difficult for me to imagine how the roar of rushing water and the loud peal of thunder could sound like a harp. But it is in the Bible, so I know it is true. There must be a relationship between music and power. Perhaps the power of God is assembled by music and somehow is harmonious.
These perfected believers are given a new song to sing in the Holy of Holies. It is the song of those who are married to the Lamb and live on His body and blood. His Life and their life have become totally one. Believers of whom such union is not true cannot learn the song.
They have been redeemed from the earth. I think this means they are saints who have endured many years of tribulation. No doubt there are people in Heaven who have been saved a very short time. Perhaps it is true that those whom God has foreordained to be among the firstfruits of the governing priesthood have had the character formed in them that results from the battering that occurs during the course of a lifetime on the earth.
I believe that the virginity mentioned here is not referring to a physical state. Marriage is honorable, the Bible proclaims.
Rather I think the reference is to an unclean addiction to some aspect of our life, an affection that is greater than our love for the Lord. An idol, in other words. It can be a person, or thing, or circumstance. We can tell if we have an idol by asking ourselves if we could cheerfully give up the person, or thing, or circumstance if Christ asked for it.
If not, our possession is unclean. It is an idol.
Our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ must be one-on-one. We cannot permit any person, thing, or circumstance to be placed before the Lord Jesus. He will have all that we are!
Even today the true candidates for the "catching up" follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They do not expect Him to follow them wherever they go. Much of Christian work is performed by people who are not hearing from the Lord. They expect the Lamb to follow them wherever they go. They pray that Christ will bless their work. Such are not qualified to be resurrected and caught up to the Lord when He appears.
The truth is, those who will govern with Christ are with Christ in God now, prepared to govern the nations. This is revealed in the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation.
The Church is in travail in the present hour, as the rulers are being formed in the victorious saints. As soon as a new ruler is formed in us he is caught up spiritually, not bodily, to sit on the Throne, in preparation for his or her descent to the earth with the Lord Jesus Christ.
But she gave birth to a Son—a male who is going to shepherd all nations with an iron scepter—and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. (Revelation 12:5—Holman)
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. (Galatians 4:19—NIV)
They were purchased from among the ranks of mankind. Now they are a firstfruits to God and the Lamb. The observance of Firstfruits is the third of the seven feasts of the Lord. A sheaf of barley is waved before the priest, which sanctifies the entire harvest.
The firstfruits of any harvest is the best of the produce, as anyone knows who has eaten the first reaping of string beans.
There is no lie in them. To have no lie in us is to be blameless and in the image of God. There is no spiritual darkness in them. They have been weighed on the balance and found to be priceless in the sight of God. They along with the Lord Jesus are forever on the Bosom of God—as close to the Father as it is possible to get.
Such is the firstfruits of the Royal Priesthood, the Christians who will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air when He appears.
The remainder of the Church, of the Royal Priesthood, will be sanctified in God's sight by the firstfruits. The remainder of the Church must wait and be perfected in Heaven before they can return to the new earth as the dwelling place of God and the Lamb, which will take place after the final resurrection and judgment.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)
So the Year of Jubilee has begun. It had to begin sometime, didn't it? It is a season for dancing and singing as David's Tabernacle is being restored.
The Ark will be placed in the tent in Jerusalem, to speak in a figure. Therefore the Day of Atonement can be celebrated in our time. In fact, the trumpet of the Jubilee is sounded on the Day of Atonement.
Every member of the Church is to return to his or her original inheritance, which is to be in the image of God and to have fellowship with God.
We are created in the image of God as, in line with the working of the Day of Atonement, our sins are forgiven and then completely removed from us. This, in turn, will prepare the way for the spiritual fulfillment of the seventh celebration, the feast of Tabernacles.
In the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles, Christ will be formed in us. Then the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will dwell in Their Fullness in that which has been formed in us.
Having had sin and self-will removed from us, and the Fullness of God dwelling in us, we now will be in the image of God, and God can find rest in us.
Come, celebrate the Jubilee with us. The entire plan of redemption will have been completed when we press forward to the full apprehension of the next major move of redemption.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:13)
What the Lord Jesus has begun in you He shall finish in glory. But you must turn away from your trust in the world and seek to be obedient to the Lord at all times; in every circumstance!