"FEAST OF TABERNACLES & CHRIST'S INGATHERING"
(Originally Published September 28, 1996)

[You should read the message dated Friday, September 17, 1999, before reading this message.  We are discussing the Hebrew (Old Testament) Feast of Tabernacles/Ingathering/Booths. What does this have to do with Christians?  Read this series of articles and find out.]

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As I sat writing one of His daily messages approximately six years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ instructed me to invite everyone I knew to our home, for praise and worship. He actually dictated the invitation to me.  For fear of embarrassing myself, I hesitated in sending the invitations; but, He assured me that people would come.

As I sent out the invitations, God told me to them to my Christian family, friends and acquaintances; but, over the next two weeks no one phoned to say they were coming.  Not even my family or closest friends.

The day arrived for the gathering, and I was disappointed and hurt. I had not held onto His Faith (in me).  I had given up Hope.  I felt that God had let me down.  I sat in my bedroom alone, feeling very sorry for myself.  Yet, there remained a little piece of me that prayed "please let them come".

Suddenly, Dick, my husband, called from the other room, 'Someone is here to see you."  I was so relieved, as I thought to myself, "ONE OF MY FRIENDS HAS SHOWN UP!  The Lord has sent someone."

I was surprised when I walked into the living room, and found four strangers sitting there. One of my invitations had been passed from a friend to a stranger; and the stranger had brought his wife and another couple. Then another three people I didn't know came.  Finally, an acquaintance I had invited arrived.

I sat in awe of the Lord the rest of the day. I am sincere in this comment.  I have been praising Jesus for this miracle ever since it happened.  I could hardly speak with those who had come. One of the young men in the group took over for me, and began to teach from the Bible. 

This incident reminds me of Jesus' parable in Matthew 22:2-10, "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'  But they paid no attention and went off-- one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.  The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.'  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. (NIV)"

WE ARE INVITED!
I have come to realize, that the hurt that I felt that day, when my friends didn't come, is what He feels every time we don't sit down and share time with Him. We are invited daily, and continually. The awesome Joy that I felt when I saw that someone had come to share His Love is what He feels every time we gather in His name, WITH HIM.

I continue to praise you Dear Jesus for the power in your Word; and your promises always kept.

I found out later, that the day He had chosen for the 'GATHERING' at our home, was a day during the 'Feast Of Tabernacles/Booths', also known as the 'INGATHERING'.  From the day the strangers appeared at my home, our Lord has been slowly teaching me about this feast and His future INGATHERING.

[In 1997, God placed in my hands a very good book.  It discusses the importance of God's Holy gatherings, and the receptiveness of their dates.  The name of the book is ARMAGEDDON - APPOINTMENT WITH DESTINY (by Grant R. Jeffrey).  I highly recommend it.]

Tabernacles/Booths/Ingathering...
The Law given to Moses, by God, required all Israelite males to attend three yearly Feasts at the temple in Jerusalem.  The Jewish faith still celebrates these feasts.   These feasts foreshadowed the coming Christian events.

Passover (The week of):
Israel: God delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt.
Christian:  Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead.

Pentecost:
Israel: ALL of Israel heard the voice of God as He spoke out loud to Moses, at Mt. Sinai; The Law was given.
Christian: ALL the congregation of waiting Christians received the filling of the Holy Spirit, and heard God speak through each of them in tongues (the language of men and angels).

Feast Of Tabernacles (Booths/Ingathering):
Israel: Discussed below.
Christian: Not yet prophetically fulfilled for New Testament Christians.   Discussed below.

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[All writing in "parentheses" (below), is taken from Unger's Bible Dictionary.]

"Tishri" is the Hebrew name of the seventh month on the Jewish calendar. This month corresponds to our months of September and October, and lasts 30 days. There are three connected events during this month. The first event is called "Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)", the second is called "Day of Atonement (Yom Kipper)", and the third event is "Tabernacles (Booths or INGATHERING)". 

The Lord has told me in various messages, throughout several years, that He will bring His Body into ONE ACCORD, IN ONE PLACE, AT ONE TIME. In my estimation, the Ingathering is the most likely time for this to occur. The Lord has caused me to study the temple in relationship to His Body; and even now continues to teach me about the INGATHERING. The Ingathering Feast is closely associated with the Wedding ceremony between the Groom (Jesus Christ) and His Bride, who is comprised of all believers, past , present and future. The Ingathering will be the REAPING of the firstfruits of our Lord, into the ONE PLACE, at ONE TIME; and WE WILL ALL BE IN ONE ACCORD, through the Holy Spirit. Some believe the church will be raptured, or taken up. It may be.  However, I'm not sure that these two events are one.

All The Festivals
"Besides the daily worship, the law prescribed special festivals to be observed from time to time by the congregation. One Heb. name for festival was hag (from the verb signifying to "dance"), which, when applied to religious services, indicated that they were occasions of joy and gladness".

One Time; One Place...
"The term most fitly designating, and which alone actually comprehended all the feasts, was mo`ed, a "set time" or "assembly, place of assembly". This name refers to the stated assemblies of the people-- the occasions fixed by divine appointment for meeting together in holy fellowship, i.e., for acts and purposes of worship... The date of every Mosaic festival without distinction, no matter what its special object may have been, gave evidence of being connected in some way or other with the number seven. So every seventh day, every seventh month, every seventh year, and last, the year that came after the lapse of seven times seven years, was marked by a festival. Again, the Passover and the feast of Booths (Tabernacles, KJV) extended over seven days; the number of special convocations during the year was seven-- two at the Passover, one at Pentecost, one at the feast of Trumpets (or New Moon), one on the Day of Atonement, and two at the feast of Booths".

The Feast Of The LORD (Ingathering)...
This Feast was called:

(1) "The festival of Tents (Feast of Booths,...)... because the Israelites were commanded to live in booths during its continuance ..."

(2) The feast of Ingathering (Feast of the Harvest), because it was held after the ingathering of the harvest and fruits.

(3) The festival of Jehovah (Feast of the LORD), or simply the festival, 'the feast', because it was the most important or well known of all the Feasts.

"The origin of this feast is connected by some with Succoth, the first halting place of the Israelites on their march out of Egypt, and the booths are taken to commemorate those in which they lodged for the last time before they entered the desert. It was ordered by Moses in the regulations he gave to the Israelites respecting their festivals, and it unites two elements: the ingathering of the labor of the field..., the fruit of the earth...-- or the ingathering of the threshing floor and the wine press... -- and the dwelling in booths, which were to be matters of joy to Israel .... The dwelling in booths was to be a reminder to them of the fatherly care and protection of Jehovah while Israel was journeying from Egypt to Canaan... 'In comparison with the 'house of bondage' the dwelling in booths on the march through the wilderness was in itself an image of freedom and happiness' (K. &D., Com., ad loc.)".

Time Of The Festival:
"It began on the 15th of Tishri (the seventh month), five days after the Day of Atonement, and although, strictly speaking, it lasted only seven days......, another day was added . This day was observed with a sabbatic rest".

"On the first day of the feast, booths were constructed of fresh branches of fruit and palm trees, "boughs of leafy trees and willows." These were located in courts, streets, public squares, and on house roofs. In these all home-born Israelites were to dwell during the festival, in memory of their fathers' dwelling in booths after their exodus from Egypt [Lev. 23:40; Neh. 8:15]. The day was also to be observed as a Sabbath and a holy convocation, in which no secular work was to be done, and All able-bodied male members of the congregation not legally precluded were to appear before the lord. THE BOOTH IN SCRIPTURE IS NOT AN IMAGE OF PRIVATION AND MISERY BUT OF PROTECTION, PRESERVATION, AND SHELTER FROM HEAT, STORM, AND TEMPEST [Ps. 27:5; 31:20; Isa. 4:6]....... The six following days were half festivals, probably devoted to social enjoyments and friendly gatherings, when every family head was to extend hospitality, especially to the poor and the stranger [16:14]. To these seven days there was added an eighth, the twenty-second of the month, as the close of the feast".

(1) "The day before the feast, 14th Tishri, was the Preparation Day. On this day the pilgrims came to Jerusalem and prepared all that was necessary for the solemn observance of the festival. When evening set in, the blasts of the priests' trumpets on the Temple mount announced the advent of the feast.

(2) On the first day of the feast, 15th Tishri, while the morning sacrifice was being prepared, a priest, accompanied by a joyous procession and with music, went down to the Pool of Siloam, where he drew water into a golden pitcher capable of holding three logs................."

"Each pilgrim went to his booth, there to enjoy his social repast with the Levite, the stranger, etc. On the first day of the festival every Israelite carried about his lulab, or palm, all day-- to the synagogue, on his visits to the sick and mourners."

(3) "The second through sixth days of the feast, 16th-20th Tishri, were called also the middle days of the feast [John 7:14], or the lesser festival. These days were half holy days, on which necessary food or raiment might be privately purchased, and work required for the observance of the festival might be performed........"

(4) "The seventh or the last day of the feast, fell on the 21st Tishri (but according to some authorities this title was given to the 22nd Tishri). This seventh day of the festival was distinguished from the other days as follows: after the Musaph, or special festival sacrifices of the day, the priests marched (*)seven times around the altar instead of once, as on other days; the willows that surrounded the altar were then so thoroughly shaken by the people that the leaves lay thickly on the ground; the people also brought palm branches and beat them to pieces at the side of the altar, from which the day was called the day of willows and the branch-threshing day. This over, the children who were present threw away their palms and ate their aethrogs, or citrons; on the afternoon of this day the pilgrims began to move the furniture from the booths, the obligation to dwell in them ceasing at that time.

[(*) SEVEN:  "a primitive cardinal number; seven (as the sacred full one)..."  (Strong's Concordance Of The Bible)]

"This, the great Hosanna day, was regarded as one of the four days whereon God judges the world. It seems altogether probable that it was on this day that Jesus uttered those memorable words, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink" ."

(5) "The eighth day of the feast, 22nd Tishri, was added as the close of the festival and was observed with sabbatic rest and holy convocation. It had only a simple sacrifice........." "The people no longer dwelt in booths, the joyful procession for the drawing of water was discontinued, the illumination of the court of the women ceased, and the palms and willows were not used. The ceremony of drawing the water was repeated every morning during the seven days of the festival but was discontinued on the eighth.

When the feast of Booths fell on a sabbatic year, the reading of portions of the law [Deut. 31:10-13] was afterward confined to one book of the Pentateuch [first five books of the Old Testament], the number of synagogues in which the law was read every week rendering it less needful to read extensive portions in the Temple.

A peculiarity of this festival was that on the first seven days all twenty-four divisions of the priests officiated, whereas at all the other festivals only those upon whom the lot fell served (cf. [1 Chr. 24:7-19]). On the eighth day the twenty-four divisions were not all present; only those upon whom the lot fell.

As the close of the first day of the feast was celebrated, the 'joy of the pouring out of the water,' the worshipers descended to the court of the women, where great preparations had been made. Four golden candelabra were there, each with four golden bowls, a ladder resting against each candelabra and upon them standing four sons of the priests holding pitchers of oil with which they fed the lamps, while the cast-off breeches and girdles of the priests served for wicks. The light from these lamps illuminated the whole city, and around them danced men with lighted torches in their hands, singing hymns and songs of praise. The Levites, stationed on the fifteen steps that led into the court, corresponding to the fifteen psalms of degrees, i.e., steps (Ps. 120-134, "ascents"), accompanied the songs with harps, lyres, cymbals, and other musical instruments. The dancing, as well as the music, continued until daybreak. It is probable that Jesus referred to this custom when He spoke those well-known words "I am the light of the world" [John 8:12]."

[I suggest that everyone read the referenced scriptures above.]

"... The seventh day, i.e., the Great Hosanna, is celebrated with peculiar solemnity, inasmuch as it is believed that on this day God decrees the rain for the future harvest..........."

"On the following morning the Jews resort again to the synagogue, recite the Hallel after the eighteen benedictions, empty the ark of all its scrolls, put a lighted candle into it, and with the scrolls go around the reading desk amid jubilant songs. The scrolls are returned to the ark, with the exception of two, from one of which is read [Deut. 33]. Four persons are at first called, then all the little children, and then again several adults. The first of these is known as the Bridegroom of the Law, and after the cantor has addressed him in a lengthy Heb. formula the last verses of the Pentateuch are read. Following the reading, all the people exclaim, "Be strong!" [Genesis 1:1-2:3] is read, to which another is called who is known as the Bridegroom of Genesis, to whom is delivered a Heb. formula; the Maphtir (i.e., Num. 29:35-30:1) is read from another scroll; the Mustaph, or additional special prayer for the festival, is said; and the service is concluded. The rest of the day is spent in rejoicing and feasting."  [from New Unger's Bible Dictionary) (originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (C) 1988.]

[I suggest that everyone read the referenced scriptures above.]

If you would like to print this and share it with your brothers and sisters in Christ, or the world, please feel free to do so. However, I ask that you always leave my name on the messages God writes through me; and never sell them. Thank you so much for your love.

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