Shalom Brethren,
Another year has passed and soon God’s people will be packing clothes, loading cars and boarding planes, buses or boats to travel to the Feast of Tabernacles—the most joyous time of the year. Brethren will travel from the four corners of the world to gather at the places God has put His name for the Feast of 2010.
We are all looking forward to the Feast with much anticipation, to meeting new people and welcoming them into the begotten family of God. To become reacquainted with old friends whom we have not seen for a year or more. To learn from the messages that will be given, preparing us for another year and directing our focus on our ultimate goal: being born into the Family of God and rule with Christ when He returns.
Imagine if that spiritual “family reunion” could be at one festival site instead of many. In the beginning of the first-century Church this was often the case, as most brethren lived in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. If this were possible today, what would the Feast be like? You could have breakfast with a family from the Philippines. Talk with a New Zealander before services, trying not to confuse his accent with the Australian couple you met on opening night. After services, you could enjoy a light lunch with a Belgian before going on a hike with a group of teens from Benin . In the evening, have a wonderful conversation with a couple from England discussing the sermon of the day. Then, before going to bed that night, enjoy a long walk with a family from Jamaica, looking at the stars and talking about God’s awe-inspiring Plan for all of us.
At such a Feast we would learn to appreciate our heavenly Father’s love for the human race, and we would better understand why He created us with a wide variety of personalities, talents, cultures and potential. We would more fully understand that God is not a respecter of persons, “but in every nation he that fears Him, and works righteousness is accepted with Him” (Acts 10:35). Such a Feast would help us to develop more of the mind of Christ, who gave His life so that all would have an opportunity for eternal life (Rev. 5:9).
Though a Feast like this is not yet possible, it will be in the near future. However, being in the Body of Christ—God’s one true Church—enables us to experience the Feast of Tabernacles in unity, harmony and joy as if we were all at one site.
Pilgrims in Temporary Dwellings
As we gather at different sites, we are reminded that as Christians we must live as “strangers and sojourners” in this world. We must have our eyes and minds firmly set on the world to come, when the Millennium—which the Feast of Tabernacles pictures—will occur.
The word tabernacle means “temporary dwellings or abodes”; the Feast could be called “The Feast of Temporary Dwellings.” In Leviticus 23:40-43, God commanded that ancient Israel dwell in booths during God’s festival. Today’s equivalent is to stay in motels, hotels, civic halls,and other places of temporary residence.
But why temporary dwellings? God intends for us to separate and free ourselves from the world for an entire week and enjoy a foretaste of the soon-coming Millennium. God wants us entirely focused on the meaning and purpose of His Feast, our minds removed as far as possible from Satan’s world.
This mindset should also be true for the rest of the year. We must maintain the constant realization that we are sojourners and pilgrims. We realize this world is only temporary and that we are on a journey, growing in God’s character so we will inherit the kingdom of God. Abraham focused on “a city…whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10), “not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off” (vs. 13). This should be true of us as well!
Gathering together in temporary dwellings helps us to bond and unify—to understand that we are all on the same journey with the same goal—helping, supporting and encouraging each other on the path to God’s kingdom.
God’s Work—Done in Unity
Examples of the past should inspire and motivate us. The first century Church’s striking unity, sense of purpose and drive, seen in Acts 4:32, sets the example. So do memories of decades ago when tens of thousands gathered in peace and unity to keep the Feast. Both examples were made possible because the true government of God was present and functioning.
Today, we have the same government—God’s. The same message—the true gospel, which is desperately needed by this ever-sickening world. And the same Leader—Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:8).Consider what a blessing it is to keep the Feast. The Feast of Tabernacles depicts tomorrow’s wonderful world ruled by the kingdom of God. The Church is God’s “teachers college”—training and preparing us to rule in that kingdom. Led by Christ and the saints, and functioning in unity, the government of God will bring peace and prosperity to the world! Would God have many different “colleges” training His government, each using a different curriculum to teach them how to rule in His kingdom? Christ wants everyone who will rule with Him to be “on the same page,” and the only way to do this is to keep His Feasts.
In the early Church, when all lived much closer together, in the same city, everyone deeply prized the Holy Days and festivals of God (Acts 2:1; 12:3). The Holy Days gather God’s people and weld them in deeper unity (18:21).
Purpose of the Feast
The Feast depicts an incredible phase in the Plan of God—ultimately, a pivotal period in man’s history. After 6,000 years of doing things his own way, man will finally choose to be taught how to live God’s way of life. Notice: “And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:3).
In a sense, the Feast is a worldwide family reunion: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16).
Make It a Joy—and Rejoice!
You have been called to a new life in Christ; you are to leave behind all the sins and mistakes of your former life—truly a cause for rejoicing: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psa. 32:1) and “My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto You; and my soul, which You have redeemed” (71:23).
Rejoicing at God’s Feast can help you change your short-sightedness in regard to your personal problems and lead you to dwell on the truly exuberant, matchless opportunity set before us (1 John 3:1).
An effective way to help you be full of joy during the Feast of Tabernacles is to take a moment to reflect upon the past year and make an inventory of all your blessings!
Make It God’s Feast
While God commands us to rejoice at His Feasts, all things should be one in moderation and balance. We should not overdo it (Isa. 5:11-12) by having a great time physically, but spiritually wasting the Feast. Making time for God should be a priority. Resolve to keep God in your plans—He has included you in His! Help those who cannot afford to make it to the Feast by sponsoring one.
Remember the Big Picture!
Envision what lies before us. Someday we will all be changed, stepping out of our physical “tents”—our temporary bodies that now confine us—and into spirit bodies. We will “inhabit eternity” with God (Isa. 57:15). What an incredible calling!
Knowing that our ultimate purpose is to be a part of God’s government under Christ’s leadership, re-educating mankind, we can come together to make God’s Feast of Tabernacles a festival of joy! “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name shall they rejoice all the day: and in Your righteousness shall they be exalted” (Psa. 89:15-16).
Shalom
Michael Porter