Revelation 7
Nehemiah 9:38-10:39
Psalm 102
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Thoughts and Commentary on Today's Reading
Today is the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Throughout this special period of time, I'd like to deviate from my normal commentary where I discuss a special part of the day's Bible reading. I'll continue to provide the correct Bible reading assignment of course, so that you will be able to read the whole Bible this year, as promised. But, I would like to reserve the commentary portion to the subject of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles), as that is most appropriate to this spiritual time. This means that, over the next seven days, each day's commentary will take you through the spiritual lessons and meanings of this holy appointed time. It is my prayer that, in these Tabernacles studies, you will find a true, spiritual Feast!In this way, we'll be able to keep the Feast of Tabernacles together, even though my husband and I are in Australia keeping the Feast with some dear believers Down Under and are not hosting a Fall Retreat this year.
Today
is the first of a short series of worships designed to help you understand and
better appreciate the spiritual meaning of Tabernacles. As we study the types
of the Feast of Tabernacles we will be learning what these prophetic shadow
pictures have to teach us about our own walk with Yahweh.
This morning, we will be looking at the
purpose of Sukkot, which is the Hebrew name for the Feast of Tabernacles.To look at the Feast of Tabernacles in the Torah, let's turn to Leviticus 23:34-44:
Leviticus 23:34-44 "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto Yahweh. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of Yahweh, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh...
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 Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a Feast unto Yahweh seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I Am Yahweh your God. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of Yahweh."
In Leviticus 23, we find that this feast
is called the Feast of Tabernacles. The word “Tabernacles” is translated from
the Hebrew word sûkkâh
(Strong’s number 5521). It means “a booth, cottage, pavilion, tabernacle and
tent.”
This
word is used 31 times in the Old Testament.
While this word is used at times to show a dwelling place both for man
and animals, it is most significantly referenced as being the dwelling place of
Yahweh. In
2 Samuel 22:7, we find the word sukkah
translated as the Pavilion (the Temple) of Yahweh,
from which He arises to deliver His people. It says:
Here the sukkot is the comforting place of Yahweh’s Presence. And it is from His sukkot that we find help and deliverance.Psalm 22:7 "In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and cried to my God: and He did hear my voice out of His Temple, and my cry did enter into His Ears."
The primary concept of Tabernacles is
about preparing a dwelling place for Yahweh… not for us. He desires to
Tabernacle (or dwell) with us. As it says in Revelation 21:3, “And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell
with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them,
and be their God.”
This is the great event which the Feast
of Tabernacles points to and prepares us for every year.
What do I mean when I say that keeping
the Feast of Tabernacles today helps us prepare and become fitted for the final
fulfillment of Tabernacles in the near future? Yahweh’s feasts, in Leviticus
23, are called “holy convocations.” The word “convocations” is translated from
the Hebrew word mikraw.
In the Strong’s Concordance, we find that mikraw not
only has to do with congregating for the worship of Yahweh on
these days, it also means “rehearsal.”
In school, when there is going to be a
coming program, the children practice in many rehearsals to hone their skills
and ensure that the performance will go off well and be a blessing. Similarly,
the feasts of Yahweh are practice sessions which help us
prepare for the final fulfillment.
So, how can we prepare to dwell with our
wonderful and holy God someday soon? We
need to first have prepared our hearts that WE become a fit dwelling place for
Him – a holy sanctuary – now! As the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20,
WE are Yahweh’s
Tabernacle – His sanctuary.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
To understand more fully what is involved
in becoming Yahweh’s holy sanctuary. Let us look at the
wilderness sanctuary from a more personal perspective. In Exodus 25:8 we read
that Yahweh wanted to dwell or tabernacle with His people. In order for Him to do this, the wilderness
tabernacle needed to be built.
Exodus 25:8 “And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”
Solomon also understood that the Feast of
Tabernacles is about dwelling with our Holy God.
This is why he chose the Feast of Tabernacles as the time to bring the Ark of
the Covenant and dedicate Yahweh’s new temple.
As it says in 1 Kings 7:51-8:3
“So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of Yahweh. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of Yahweh… And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the Feast... which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.”
At this point, we’re going to look at the
Wilderness Tabernacle carefully. As we do, the necessary ingredients for
becoming a fit Tabernacle for YAH’s Presence will
become plain.
The
sanctuary shows us the transformation that takes place as we are changed from a
self-centered, worldly being to a Christ-centered, beautiful new Creature.
First,
outside of the sanctuary courtyard we are like the worm. We are selfishly
motivated. We are not a creature of blessing and our characters are far from
lovely. In this analogy, victory over
sin is likened to flying. The worm certainly can’t fly. As the Psalmist wrote:
Psalm 22:6 “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.”
Paul
also described our unsaved state, in Romans 7:23-24:
“But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
So on
the line next to the worm, list these verses as a reminder that outside the
sanctuary experience we are unlovely, unchanged and unsaved.
The first part of the sanctuary that we
experience is the door. This door points to Yahshua, Who is our WAY of
Salvation. As it says in John
14:6:
“Yahshua saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”
Messiah has many roles in our lives. In His role as our Door to
Life, He points
sinners toward Him, saying, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28. He
says,
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” John 10:9.
In John 10:16 – Yahshua uses sheep to
represent people: “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them
also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and THERE SHALL BE ONE FOLD,
AND ONE SHEPHERD.”
“Verily, Verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by THE DOOR INTO THE SHEEPFOLD, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber” John 10:1.
When we find the TRUE DOOR THAT LEADS
INTO THE SANCTUARY, where we find THE ONE FOLD, AND ONE SHEPHERD, things
CHANGE! We read about it in Zechariah 3:4;
“And he (God) answered and spake unto those that stood before him (ministering angels – Hebrews 1:13, 14), saying, Take away the filthy garment from him (the sinner). And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity (sins) to pass from thee, AND I WILL CLOTHE THEE WITH A CHANGE OF RAIMENT.”
This is the beautiful promise to all who
will enter Life through the Door of Christ’s provision for us.
Now let’s look at the courtyard wall.
Around
the courtyard of the sanctuary, there was a white, linen wall. This wall was a
reminder that the sanctuary of God is to be separated and set apart from the
world.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith Yahweh, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith Yahweh Almighty.”
We
can’t come to Yahweh and still keep part of our hearts in the world. Whatever
is of the realm of sin must be left behind in order to enter into a deep
relationship with God. This process of
separating from the sins of the world is not one to be taken lightly. Yahweh
will not dwell in an unfit temple. And
while He does the work in us to make us fit temples, He only does this full
work in us if we choose Him with our whole hearts.
Thus
we see that becoming a sanctuary or a tabernacle for Yahweh to dwell requires
total surrender on our parts. As it says
in James 4:8
“Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Now
let’s look at the first piece of furniture in the courtyard: the alter of burnt
offering.
The
brazen altar of burnt offering was where the animals were sacrificed in the
sanctuary service. This pointed to Yahshua’s death on the Cross.
The
significance of this altar being the first thing you encounter shows us that
personally encountering the Cross is pivotal in converting our hearts. In addition, as we grow to love the Saviour,
and view sin in light of what it did to Him on the Cross, our favorite sins
begin to look unattractive, even grotesque in our eyes.
Finally,
the cross is not just where Yahshua died for me. It is also an experience I must have. As it explains in Romans 6:6-13:
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin… Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Yahshua Christ our Sovereign. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Alright,
now let’s continue to the spiritual significance of the laver.
The
laver was a bronze basin where the priests washed. It is a symbol of baptism
and spiritual rebirth. As the Bible
tells us in Romans 6:3-4,
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Yahshua Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
This
point is further explained in 2
Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
In
nature, before a caterpillar can become a butterfly, it must actually change on
a molecular level into that lovely new creature. To do this, it first has to
die to being a caterpillar and submit to the transformation. We must do the same. The experiences we go
through in the Sanctuary Courtyard are our spiritual chrysalis phase. We
undergo a change. We are not to go back to being the selfishly motivated
creatures we were before.
While
the courtyard shows us the steps of Justification, the Holy Place of the
Tabernacle, shows us the process of Sanctification. Sanctification is being set apart for holy
use. In the Holy Place, we experience
new life as a new Creature, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
This new life is
compared in our analogy to becoming a butterfly.
The
butterfly can fly. In our analogy, the butterfly’s ability to fly is likened to
the ability to gain victory over temptation and sin. Many Christians say that we cannot get the
victory over sin, but the Bible tells us in Jude 1:24, that Yahshua is able to
keep us from falling. Worms cannot
fly. But, a butterfly can. The transformation in us is the indwelling
power and Presence of Yahweh. And HE CAN
fly (or overcome sin). Our victorious-through-Christ-flight is a demonstration
of faith and works.
The
items of furniture in this room of the Sanctuary help us continue as spiritual
butterflies. The Table of Shewbread
represents the spiritual nourishJohn
13:15ment we gain from eating the Bread of the Word
each day. (Read Lamentations 3:22-24, and 2Timothy 2:15).
Next we come to the Menorah. This
seven-branched
candlestick was the source of Light in the Sanctuary. When the abiding Presence of YAH fills us, we
become lights shining forth His Truth. In this way we are witnesses to Yahweh’s
glory. (Read Matthew 5:16 and John 13:15).
It
is also interesting to note that there are three elements need for any organism
to have physical life: it must breathe, it must be nourished, and it must
reproduce. Spiritually, we must do the
same to be alive in the Messiah. We take
in nourishment, through the Word of YAH. We reproduce, spiritually, by being
His lights set on a hill, and we breathe, the most fundamental life-element of
all, by praying, which brings us to our next article of furniture.
The
Altar of Incense represents our prayers.
We are to be always in a state of prayer. For just as we cannot go more than a few
minutes without breathing, so we cannot spiritually thrive without prayer.
(Read Ephesians 6:18 and James 5:16).
The last item of furniture is the Ark of the Covenant – in
the Most Holy Place. This room
represents the spiritual experience of Glorification. And the Ark is a symbol of the Throne of
Yahweh. By being partakers of Yahweh’s
Divine Covenant, we will be partakers of His Divine Nature having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.
(Read Genesis 17:7 and 2 Thessalonians 1:12).
Thus,
in a very real way, the purpose of Sukkot is prepare each of us to become the
living Sanctuary of the Most High God.
Instead of the old wormish ways, we are changed into His loveliness. And instead of being dead in
victory-less hypocrisy, we take wing as changed Creatures by His power. This new life is changed by continually
breathing – praying, taking in His nourishing Word, and sharing His lovely
light with all around us. This is how we
are to prepare to meet our God.
