The seven-day Feast of Tabernacles begins with an annual Holy Day (Leviticus 23:35), and pictures the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ after His second coming (Revelation 20:4). This period is often called the Millennium, which simply means “1,000 years.” It looks forward to the time when humanity will be restored to a right relationship with God (Isaiah 11:9-10).
Observing the Feast of Tabernacles is not just an Old Testament commandment, it also applies to Christians today. Jesus Christ set the example by observing this feast, and the early Church followed His example. It was Jesus Christ’s lifelong practice to keep God’s festivals, even when His life was threatened: “But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, ‘Where is He?’” (John 7:10-11).
In order to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, God told the Israelites to observe the Feast in “tabernacles” or “booths,” which is a temporary shelter or similar dwelling (Leviticus 23:41-43). Christians today observe the Feast by leaving home and temporarily living in other accommodation, reminding us we are strangers and pilgrims on earth, and that this life is temporary. There are church services each morning with relevant messages followed by afternoons and evenings to spend with friends who have come together for the festival.
The basis for the messianic rule of Jesus Christ, which the Feast of Tabernacles pictures, will be the restoration of God’s law, as Isaiah foretold, “…in the latter days…the Lord’s house shall be established… and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2-3). Notice also the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).
During this 1,000-year period, the effects of sin will be reversed and God will heal people: “… the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy….” (Isaiah 35:5-6 ). Even the nature of wild animals will be changed, reflecting the peace that will descend upon society: “The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain….” (Isaiah 11:7-9).
Of even greater importance will be the spiritual healing that will take place: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
The fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles offers a marvelous opportunity to those left alive at Christ’s return and the resurrected saints who will rise to meet Christ in the air at His second coming (I Thes 4:16,17). But what about the thousands of millions of people of past generations who have lived and died without ever understanding—or even hearing—God’s truth? The next issue of Bible Insights Weekly, published next week, provides the answer with an article explaining the symbolism of the Last Great Day, the final Holy Day of the year.
