(tm) The Light of the World
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Light was an important feature of the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles. The new Jerusalem will be filled with the light of the Glory of God in Christ.
At the time of Jesus it was a custom during the feast of Tabernacles for the Jews to come to the Temple carrying torches. Lampstands were lighted in the Temple of Herod. The result of the combining of the torches of the worshipers with the lampstands of the Temple was a flood of light that lit the surrounding area, just as will be true when the light of the Glory of God, at the coming of our Lord, Christ, is combined with the inner light of each of the Christian believers.
It is the light of God in Christ in the saints, both on the earth and in Heaven, that will be as the lightning that "cometh out of the east, and shineth even to the west."
It was in the context of the torches and candlesticks [lampstands] of the celebration of Tabernacles that the Jews could understand the meaning of Jesus when He presented His Church as the light of the world.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. (Matthew 5:14)
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
When one studies the traditions that have accumulated around the Jewish celebrations, of which the lights of the feast of Tabernacles are an example, one can see the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit. The Jews are so close to the truth of Christ that when God opens their eyes they will move into the worship of God through Christ in such power and glory that Jerusalem truly will be the joy of the whole earth.
Let us never forget, however, that the inheritance of the saints is available today—now—to whoever will move forward in faith and grasp the fullness of God in Christ. The inheritance is open to all—Jew and Gentile, male and female, young and old.
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