Grace
to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave
Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:3-5 NKJV
I’m sure it’s become obvious by now that my thoughts for
quite some time have been focused on Jesus’ use of the example of a woman
giving birth to explain what the end of this age would look like. Also, as you would expect, my contemplations
of this have gone much deeper than just the obvious labor pains. What prompted my train of thought this past
week was this passage from Galatians where Paul uses the word “deliver”
to reference the rapture of the Church.
As a result, the thought occurred to me that if this year proves to be
the one which culminates in the birth, could there be any clue as to when the “delivery”
would take place?
Professing my ignorance about all things relating to
childbirth, I then availed myself of “Google” to see exactly how long a typical
pregnancy is. The result I found was a
length of 40 weeks, according to whatever authority Google chose to use. Obviously, as we all know, that can vary
according to different circumstances but I was rather surprised to find this
number given, especially as most of you know by now how I feel about “coincidences”.
Imagine then what I thought when I considered
this to be the year of “labor” and counted forty weeks from the beginning of
the year only to find that the “due date” is right in the middle of the last
feast of Israel, the Feast of Tabernacles.
“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles
seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your
winepress. “And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter,
your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the
fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. “Seven days you shall keep
a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses,
because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the
work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice. “Three times a year all your
males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of
Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD
empty-handed." Deuteronomy 16:13-16 NKJV
The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the seven feasts appointed by the Lord for the nation of Israel. It occurs in the fall between the 15th and the 21st of the month of Tishri, which usually occurs in late September or early October. It is also known by other names as well, some of these being Sukkot, The Season of Our Joy, and possibly most important to our discussion, The Feast of Ingathering. It is the last of the three holidays in which all Jewish males were required to make the pilgrimage to the temple, yet as opposed to the others, the word joy (simchah) is used several times to describe it. I want to look at just a few reasons why this holiday is known as the “Season of Our Joy”, and consider the possibility it might prove to be a time we as believers need to “watch” with special anticipation.
The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the seven feasts appointed by the Lord for the nation of Israel. It occurs in the fall between the 15th and the 21st of the month of Tishri, which usually occurs in late September or early October. It is also known by other names as well, some of these being Sukkot, The Season of Our Joy, and possibly most important to our discussion, The Feast of Ingathering. It is the last of the three holidays in which all Jewish males were required to make the pilgrimage to the temple, yet as opposed to the others, the word joy (simchah) is used several times to describe it. I want to look at just a few reasons why this holiday is known as the “Season of Our Joy”, and consider the possibility it might prove to be a time we as believers need to “watch” with special anticipation.
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" John 4:35 NKJV
Known as the Feast of Ingathering, Tabernacles celebrates the last harvest in Israel for the year. Traditionally
there are three harvests, these being the barley harvest, wheat harvest, and
fruit harvest. In the fall, after these three were completed, you would
celebrate the finish of your labors for the year. Obviously it was a time of
celebration for your work was done, and you could look at the results sitting
in your storehouse. Consider this, though; how often did Jesus use the illustration
of planting and harvesting in His teaching while on this earth? Could the Feast
of Ingathering give us a clue as to when Jesus might return for His Church?
“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:2-3 NKJV
Known traditionally as the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, this feast also serves as a reminder of the time the children of Israel dwelt in the wilderness in “temporary” dwellings before they were delivered to the Promised Land. During this feast Jews will construct “Sukkahs” or temporary shelters and will stay in them to remind them of what the children of Israel went through during their wilderness wanderings. As believers, we know that our time on this earth and in these bodies is but temporary as well. Not only do we have the promise from Jesus that He is building us a new and eternally permanent home, but will at the rapture present us with new and eternal bodies as well. Could this feast again be a foreshadowing of that coming time when our hope in Christ will be rewarded?
"Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand." John 7:2 NKJV
"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37, 38 NKJV
One of the more interesting traditions associated with this feast was the drawing of water from the pool of Siloam. Every day a priest would fill a golden vase with water, known as the living water, (mayim hayim) and take it to the temple where it would be poured out on a corner of the altar. In these verses from John we see that Jesus used this time of celebration to announce to the world that He was, in fact, offering mankind the water of eternal life. John also makes it clear that this occurred on the “last great day” of the feast.
This is a reference to the eighth day which is known as Shmini Atzeret. It is not part of the Feast of Tabernacles, but is celebrated the day after and it is then that the people would begin to pray for rain for the coming year. Water has always been at a premium in Israel, because without it the land would become desert. Yet Jesus took this day as an opportunity to announce that He had come to save the world. Is it no wonder this celebration is also referred to as the "Season of Our Joy"?
This year the eighth day begins on Saturday night, the tenth day of October, at sunset in Israel. This last feast seems to be both an end, and a beginning. It is a celebration of harvest and the end of the year's work, and the beginning of a time of rest to enjoy the fruits of labor. Jesus came to earth to do the "work" it required for us to obtain eternal life. How appropriate would it be for us as believers to experience the rest we so anxiously look forward to at this time of the year? I have no idea if that will prove to be the case or not. There are, after all, two deliveries we are told of in the scriptures. One is the delivery of Christ’s Church, the Body of Christ, into His presence by way of the rapture and the other is the delivery of the nation of Israel into the seventieth week of Daniel, otherwise known as the tribulation.
Either way, the important question for all of us is are we members of the body of Christ or not? Have you made the choice to accept the gift of salvation made possible by the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ? If not, if you are reading this you still have time to do so before the harvest of believers occurs. Becoming a believer is simply accomplished by asking Christ to come into your life and help you live life as He directs. If you want to do that today, just pray a prayer like this to Him;
"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life to you. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen."
If you have done this today, or have done it in the past, you have God’s promise that you will be spared from the judgment He has promised is going to occur to those who choose not to believe, and you can join me and all the others in God's family who are praying for the coming of our Lord and Savior to “deliver” us to our "permanent" home.
Keep watching.
