(tm) Tabernacles, and the Water of Life
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We have seen that the feast of Tabernacles parallels the new heaven and earth rule of Christ in that both are associated with the maturing of what has been planted in the land of promise, to speak in a figure. Also, Tabernacles and the new heaven and earth rule bring to our mind the thought of God "tabernacling" in and with us.
A third area of salvation common to the feast of Tabernacles and the new heaven and earth rule of Christ is that of the water of life (Revelation 22:1). The concept of the water of life is important in the feast of Tabernacles, and also in the new earth.
The feast of Tabernacles is closely associated with water. The feast was celebrated on the fifteenth through the twenty-second day of the seventh month, which occurred approximately during the last part of the month of September and the first part of October of our present calendar.
In terms of the climate of the Holy Land, the long dry season from May through August, relieved only by heavy summer dew, comes to an end by the time of the feast of Tabernacles. The early (former) rains are now at hand. The coming of rain brings the replenishing of rivers, and portrays the refreshing of the Holy Spirit as He comes to us and creates in us "rivers of living water."
Because the land of Israel is located in an area of the world where the availability of water often is a major concern, many of the passages of the Scriptures associate the blessing of God with an abundance of water.
And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (Isaiah 58:11)
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. (Joel 3:18)
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:13,14)
The following words of Jesus have a direct bearing on the feast of Tabernacles:
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39)
The "last day, that great day of the feast," was the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles (see note on John 7:37 by Reverend David Brown, A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1945, Volume V, pp. 396,397).
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. (Leviticus 23:39)
The eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles is symbolic of the "first day" of eternity. After we have arrived at the perfect rest of God, as portrayed by the first seven days of Tabernacles, we have fulfilled a complete cycle, a "week" in which the total work of redemption has been accomplished in us.
On the "sixth day," so to speak, the Day of Atonement, we have been reconciled to God and created in the image of God. On the "seventh day" we have found rest in God and God has found rest in us—the result of our reconciliation to God and our being created in His image. The sin which causes unrest has been rendered powerless and removed from our personality by the Holy Spirit.
But now we have come to the eighth day, the first day of the week that has no end. The new week is eternity, and the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles signifies the beginning of our eternal priestly service to God Almighty, our eternal reign as kings and priests over the nations of the earth.
One of the high points of the eight-day celebration of Tabernacles occurred as a priest brought water in golden vessels from the Pool of Siloam and the water was poured into a basin on the Altar of Burnt Offering. On the eighth day trumpets were blown during the ceremony and Isaiah 12:3 was sung: "with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."
The Israelites were beside themselves with jubilation on this occasion. During the celebration, Jesus stood in the midst and cried: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
The Jews were taken up with their joy and thankfulness over the abundance of the harvest, were praying for and expecting the soon coming of the fall rains that would soften the sun-baked clods so seed could be sown, and were ecstatic over the idea of the Glory of God and their special relationship to Him.
Jesus of Nazareth was exulting because of a circumstance unrealized as yet. In prophetic vision He saw the throne of the Almighty eternally established in Himself and His Wife, and the Holy Spirit of God issuing as a fathomless, uncrossable river, bringing life and healing to all who would drink.
Coming out from the Throne of God and of the Lamb, which is to say out from the hearts of the saints, will be the River of Life that nourishes the peoples of the earth.
And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. (Ezekiel 47:9)
The "fish" are the multitudes of people converted by the Glory of God that will come upon the Church (John 17:21).
The spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles is portrayed in the twelfth chapter of Isaiah. The Lord Himself becomes our strength, our song, and our salvation. It no longer is true that we are striving to gain these blessings from Him. As Tabernacles is fulfilled in us, the Lord Jesus Christ enters us and becomes these virtues.
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