Tabernacles: The Party Begins When God Is With Us
(Leviticus 23:33-43)
Intro
1. We had a great time at the Ladies’ Banquet last Wednesday.
2. As a church, we have gotten better at having a good time.
3. Celebrating and having fun is an important part of life: don’t believe the killjoys out there who say otherwise.
4. Today we will look at the Feast that was meant to be a big party: the Feast of Tabernacles.
5. Three sets of feasts: Passover/Unleavened/Firstfrutis
Pentecost
Trumpets/Atonement/Tabernacles
Tabernacles was the final feast of the original seven. Let’s read about it in Lev. 23:33-43
Main Idea: When God lives among us, life is one eternal party. Tabernacles brings joy.
I. Tabernacles Over the Centuries
A. In OLD Testament Days
1. Names include BOOTHS or the Hebrew Sukkot
• the feast of ingathering, like our Thanksgiving
• 7 day feast in Sept/Oct
• 8th day a solemn assembly
2. The JOY and FREEDOM when the Jews left Egypt
3. Solomon’s TEMPLE dedicated on Tabernacles
4. People commanded to REJOICE (Deut. 16:13-17)
Requirements:
(1) no work 1st and 8th day
(2) making booths and live in them (eat)
• the predecessor to the camper
(3) collecting 4 species of foliage
(4) rejoicing 7 days
B. As Developed BETWEEN the Testaments
1. Pouring out of WATER
2. The 4 Menorah lamp stands: A Great LIGHT
• 150 feet high in the air….lit the entire city of Jerusalem; wicks made from worn-out priests garments
• There was a ladder for each and young priest climbed up to fill four great bowls that held over 20 gallons of oil in each one.
• the predecessor to night baseball games…
3. The Torah DANCE
• “He who has not witnessed it [the Torah dance] has not seen what real festivity is”
• Men would juggle torches as they danced…
“The celebration of the Water-drawing was a highlight of the Feast. It was a happy, even ecstatic occasion, with a torchlight parade, including musicians, jugglers, and dancers, marching to the Temple, at night, as the whole city of Jerusalem was lit up by giant torches and the light of giant menorahs. As the lyres, drums, cymbals, trumpets, drums and horns played, the Rabbis entertained and clowned, adding to the joy. Not one day of Sukkot passed without joyous festivities that celebrated the happiness of the harvest, and the joy of community.”
• Lots of clowning and humor: Judaism is the ultimate source of comedy, and some of that reverence for comedy may originate in this feast which elevated fun to a religious level…
C. AFTER the time of Christ
1. Building of a “Sukkah” next to the Synagogue
2. A 9th Day Added: “Simchat TORAH”
(Simchat means “joy”)
Application: Do you give others around you the impression that living the Christian life is a joyful experience? Are you free to have good clean fun, or do you think God is more concerned about production than He is enjoying your life with you?
When God lives among us, life is one eternal party. Tabernacles brings joy.
II. Christ, God “Tabernacling” With Us
A. John 1:12, “dwelt” literally means “TABERNACLED”
• skanoo = to live in a tent, “to take up ones temporary dwelling place”
• God’s glory/shekinah “tabernacled” in Christ…
• During the Transfiguration it displayed itself a bit
B. God “set up His TENT” with man (Isaiah 7:14)
Matthew quotes and interprets Isaiah 7:14:
Matthew 1:23?" BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, " GOD WITH US."
C. How Jesus used the CUSTOMS to describe Himself
1. John 7:2, 10-11, 37-41 (IF TIME, TURN THERE) refers to the pouring of WATER
2But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near… 10However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him… 37On the last and greatest day of the Feast [Hoshana Raba], Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet."
41Others said, "He is the Christ."
Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee?
2. John 8:12 refers to the great Menorah LIGHT
12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
• The Menorah light was a great light, not just some candle;
• Christ wants to influence your life in a great big way with lots of light
Application: According to Eph. 3:17, God desires ”that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Is your heart His tabernacle? Have you surrendered your life to Him?
Sometimes we get a glimpse of tabernacles: Bible study, prayer, communion, or in the presence of God’s people because where 2 or 3 are gathered….but it’s only a taste…a momentary preview of what is to come…
When God lives among us, life is one eternal party. Tabernacles brings joy.
III. Tabernacles END TIME Meaning
A. It is the FEAST of the Millennium (Kingdom)
• Unfamiliar with the Millennium? We’ll soon be doing a brief series on the Millernnium, AKA as God’s Kingdom Come on Earth, When His Will is done on earth as it is in heaven…
Zechariah 14:9, 16-17
“The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name…
“Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain.”
B. During the Kingdom, It Will Be COZY (Micah 4:1-4)
“1 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will come and say, ?"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, ? to the house of the God of Jacob. ?He will teach us his ways, ?so that we may walk in his paths." ? The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples ?and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. ?Nation will not take up sword against nation, ?nor will they train for war anymore.
4 Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, ?and no one will make them afraid, ?for the LORD Almighty has spoken.”
C. God’s presence, for the believer, results in joy:
“You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Ps. 16:11)
• God has a great future planned for believers. But for the unbeliever, we read the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:30, “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Which will it be for you?
One morning at breakfast, Doug Vogue decided to teach his 4 year old Caleb his first Bible verse, John 3:16. He slowly enunciated the words: "For God so loved…"
The second time he said the verse even slower, encouraging Caleb to fill in certain words. When he got to "…shall not perish but have
everlasting ___"
Caleb proudly answered, "Fun." No one could have said it better.
(Doug Vogue, Sermoncental)
When God lives among us, life is one eternal party. Tabernacles brings joy.
CONCLUSION
1. Passover=Christ died for our sins
2. Unleavened Bread=the holy Messiah died to make us holy
3. Firstfruits=Christ rose from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep
4. Pentecost=God has sent His Spirit who joins believing Jews and Gentiles so that together they may enter the harvest fields
5. Trumpets=Jesus will return and we shall meet Him in the air when the trumpet sounds
6. Atonement=the end time nation of Israel will turn from their rejection of the Messiah and look upon Him whom they have pierced
7. God the Son will tabernacle on the earth and establish His kingdom
8. God’s plan is intricate and ingenious; let us participate in spreading His glory.
