Rejoicing in the Feast of Tabernacles (3 of 3)

"That Day" is Now Upon Us

Hebrews 12:22-24 literally says,

But you have [now] come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have [now] come to thousands upon thousands of angels [or messengers] in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn-ones, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel

This is the holy city Jerusalem that the children of God have now come unto, not to a geographical location in the middle east. In this heavenly city we now “keep the feast” of Tabernacles, as observed by the law. We are tabernacling in Christ, the reality and fulfillment of this type and shadow. The people of God are now all the families of the earth in Christ whom Zechariah says worship Him, and who call Him the King of all the earth. Being that they are the true and spiritual Israel of God, they are those who have been delivered from bondage, and are keeping the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just as Christ has said in Lke. 13:28-29. The unbelievers (those not confirmed by the blood of the New Covenant with Israel) are the ones who do not come up to this holy city, and who do not keep the feast of Tabernacles. And the reason of course is that they are still, spiritually speaking, children of Egypt who were not brought out of the land of bondage; they are still there. And they have no desire to go up and worship with God’s saints. They don't serve this King of kings, they serve their own master (the devil) in his house of bondage; and their servitude to him is slavery to sin (Jhn. 8:33-34). And their judgment for sin is that they shall have “no rain,” no blessing from God.

As we saw in Zechariah, it is in Christ that we greatly rejoice in keeping the feast of Tabernacles on our way to our promised inheritance in heaven. This is why we greatly rejoice and go up into the holy city and keep the feast of Tabernacles. Tabernacles is the only feast that God gave specific instructions to His people to rejoice at. For we are as a city whose natural, carnal warfare is ended, and whose “swords have been beaten into plowshares,” and whose iniquity has been pardoned forever. But we are also at times told to take our“plowshares and beat them into swords” as those who will judge indirectly, with Christ, all those who deny Him (Joel 3:9-12; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21); and again, such judgment is not only in this life, but on that final day when we will with Christ judge the world (see 1Cor. 6:2). We are a city that is made holy by the descent of Christ, in order to sanctify it and make it His holy dwelling place. We are a city that dwells so safely and securely that even the gates of hell cannot ever prevail against it. For this is the only holy city in God’s scheme of things that shall "remain secure forever."

It is this deeper, fuller, spiritual significance of the feast of Tabernacles that so many theologians miss (although some of the older commentators have recognized it as such). It was never just designed to be a simple “memorial” celebration looking back, but a prophecy that holds a very spiritual meaning of harvest and ingathering, and of Christ tabernacling and making His abode with us. It “signified” something then, and it actually “does” something in us now. Israel avoided a “curse” for keeping those feasts, as long as their hearts were right. And we too avoid the “curse” that is upon the world by tabernacling with Christ. But we too can miss out on God’s blessing in this life if we choose to sin, yet we ourselves shall be saved, “yet so as by fire.”

When our Lord came from heaven with His living waters to be King, in order to reign on the throne of David according to Acts 2:30-36, He fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy. And just as John the Baptist was “Elijah who was to come” (Mat. 11:14), so Christ is the greater “David” who was to come to Rule and Shepherd His people, spiritual Israel, as foretold by the Prophets (Ezk. 34:23-34; 37:24-28; Jer. 30:9; Isa. 55:1-5, esp. v. 3 with Acts 13:34). And Christ says He reigns with David’s “keys” right now, not later (see Rev. 2:27; 3:7 and compare these verses with Isa. 22:22 and Mat. 16:19; also, read the footnote below as well). [7]

John 4:10, 14 says,

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water…but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Those were the days when living waters began to go forth from Jerusalem, as portrayed also in Ezekiel’s and John’s visions (Ezk. 47:1; Rev. 22:1-2, 17). Both, in type, and in reality, were these prophecies being wonderfully portrayed when Christ was literally standing in Jerusalem. This River of Christ actually began there, and went throughout all the regions of Judea, Samaria, and into the uttermost parts of the world (Acts 1:8; Ezk. 47:8-12; Rev. 22:2). By Christ's death and ascension to the throne, we are brought out of bondage with God now tabernacling with us while we sojourn in the wilderness of this world, until the time we reach our promised inheritance---our heavenly country.

For Zechariah had said:

ON THAT DAY living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name (14:8-9).

This prophecy of one Lord and one King over all throughout the earth is being fulfilled right before our very own eyes, and all the nations are flocking to the banner of Christ that is waving high out there to the world. The day that living waters went out from Jerusalem was established in Christ. It's not a future prophecy to be realized in keeping a literal feast of Tabernacles that would, by observing it as such, deny that Christ has already come, but it's a fulfilled (or completed) prophecy. Christ is the living water that went out from Jerusalem, both literally and spiritually; half toward the former sea, and half toward the hinder sea, in summer and in winter (all year round). Even that is a supernatural feat in and of itself of water running all year round from atop a mountain. And we are not talking about “literal” water here as well. As said earlier, seas, oceans, and rivers in Scripture are also used to depict a multitude of people. God’s pure River (His Holy Spirit) will flow into these oceans, streams and rivers and purify them. His clean, pure waters will cleanse these murky, muddied and salted waters so that people can begin to live. And Ezekiel says they will be fished out of the waters, i.e., out of the great sea of humanity that is touched by these living waters, but the stagnant and filthy “swamps and marshes will not become fresh, they will be left for salt,” figuratively speaking, to be left for judgment like Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezk. 47:9-11). This was the beginning of the Messianic age because salvation goes forth from Christ to both Jews and Gentiles, in all seasons, to all nations. Christ is the water whereby, if any man shall drink, He shall have eternal life and never die. Nor shall such a one ever thirst again. Truly, He is “the Savior of the world” (Jhn. 4:42).

This feast of Tabernacles is spoken about in John chapter seven. The week of this feast is a time of rejoicing because of God's deliverance; and it ends on an eighth day, which is considered the greatest day of the feast. And this holy convocation (Leviticus 23:36) on the eighth day "signified" a new day, a new Sabbath day in which all work here on earth, as I see it, will come to an end.

John records for us in 7:37-42:

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By 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. On hearing His words, some of the people said, Surely this man is the Prophet. Others said, He is the Christ. Still others asked, How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?

The people there in Jerusalem said, "of a truth this is the Prophet." i.e., they thought that this must be the Messiah and the fulfillment of the prophecy of the beginning of the Messianic age. And they were right. When Christ stood in Jerusalem on this last day of the feast and offered the living water to anyone who would believe on Him, He was declaring on "the last day," the 8th day of the feast of Tabernacles, that he was the fulfillment of this prophecy. What prophecy? Ezekiel, Zechariah, and all the prophets. In Num. 19:17, even “running water,” such as that used for the waters of purification, are in the literal Hebrew called “living waters” (KJV, margin; see also Lev. 14:5), prefiguring the idea of Christ as the actual “Living Waters.” that purifies us. All the Scriptures speak of Christ: “in them they testify of Me” (Lke. 24:27, 44-47; Jhn. 5:39).

Note the correlation of the feast of Tabernacles to Christ “coming to Jerusalem” and declaring that He is the living water. Clearly, in His tabernacle (in His own person) is where those living waters from Jerusalem would be found, and it's no coincidence that God says these things exactly on the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Christ is hereby illustrating that He is the fulfillment of that prophesy of living waters as spoken by Zechariah and Ezekiel, and He was the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles that He had spoken earlier to His brothers about when at that time He had said that His time “had not fully come” (Jhn. 7:8), it was now "fully" coming upon them; and He is truly our 8th day of future and eternal rest.

So what manner of man will be sitting and waiting for that which has already come? What man will be waiting for the fulfillment of that which has already been fulfilled? The Kingdom of God has come (as Jesus told the Priests and Pharisees), and thus Satan has been cast out by the power of God. He has been “bound” with the mighty chain of God. The Millennial reign of Christ's kingdom has begun, and He is already setting the captives free. Satan has been bound, so that Christ’s people may be loosed. The strong man’s house is being spoiled. And the “spoils” of this war (or “the wealth of the nations”) are a redeemed people, the remnant, the firstfruits, the firstborn-ones and a tenth that belongs unto God. All these people are the Lord’s portion and inheritance (Psm. 28:9; 33:12; 78:62, 71; 94:5, 14; 106:5, 40). All those who are His, who pass under His shepherd’s staff, will be spared any judgment and brought into the bond of the covenant, but those that do not belong to Him He shall take note of and leave to themselves (cp. Ezk. 20:36-38). Those who have been called and chosen of God have been translated from the power of darkness under Satan's domain, into the kingdom of His dear Son.

Colossians 1:13 says,

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (KJV).

Who then is looking for a coming reign of Christ and a righteous kingdom that has already come? Who is looking for a future King that we'll serve in this future kingdom, when Christ has already established His kingdom and the elect are already serving in it? Who is looking for a binding of Satan which "had" to be at the cross, or else none of us could have been set free from Satan’s domain (cf. Mat. 12:28-29). The fact is, the captivity of Christ’s people, Israel according to the Spirit, has been taken captive by Christ. They are all His spoils of war. Peace has come. The lion, the lamb, the wolf, the leopards, the goats and the calves are all lying down together in our Great Shepherd’s pasture. And only those who become as a little child in spirit are able to lead them; and who with childlike faith are also able to play near the lair of the serpent; even placing their hands over the hole of the viper’s nest and never be harmed. For the “gates of hell” shall not prevail over any such children of God who are in this kingdom.

Isaiah 35 speaks of the bliss of Christ’s current kingdom, rule and reign with the same figurative language that is used in chapter 11 and elsewhere. Here again the Lord says:

A highway that will be there, it will be called a Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there (vv. 8-9).

The only reason why “lions” and “ferocious beasts” are mentioned in Isaiah 11, is due to the fact that they are now no longer of such a nature with such animosity and hostility towards one another (one need think no further than Saul who persecuted the Church, and who later became Paul). Christ has removed the hostility and animosity that was once in all of us, and has made us all lie down together as one, feeding on the same fodder. Verse 9 in chapter 11 is an “interpretive key” to all of this, which says, “they will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain” [8]. And in that day Christ's rest (seated at the right hand of God) will be glorious (11:10). He will gather His remnant a second time, beginning with the Jews at Pentecost and from out of all the other nations from the four corners of the globe. In Christ, jealousy and hostility between those from the northern and southern tribes will be a thing of the past for them (11:13). And God’s people (think of His Jewish apostles) will swoop to the east and the west and “plunder the people, laying hands on the people of Edom and Moab; and [even] the Ammonites will become subject" in Christ’s kingdom (11:14). The Lord through Joel had said it this way with regards to these Gentile unbelievers: “I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah…” (3:8). They were going to be bought, but without money, and be brought into the confines of the Israel of God not according to the flesh. They, in turn, would “sell them,” or send them forth into the nations (ibid). The sickle would be swung for the harvest (see Joel 3:13), while the grapes of God’s wrath (the ungodly) would be trampled under feet (this very same concept or idea is also depicted for us in Rev. 14:15-19 by two differing angels; as well as in Rev. 19:15. And this rule of Christ in gathering His harvest and trampling the grapes of His wrath is an ongoing reality right now, for it is said in Psm. 2:9 that “He will rule them with an iron scepter,” the very thing He says He is now doing and that we will also do with Him when we go home to be with Him in Rev. 2:27; cp. also w/Isaiah 30:31-32; additionally, in Rev. 12:5 it talks about the Man-Child, Christ, who was caught-up to heaven to His throne, and who is said in the Greek, using the present active indicative verb "mello," translated "will" in most translations, to be presently ruling all the nations with a rod of iron, not just in the future. The Berean Literal Bible comes pretty close to translating this correctly as: "Who is about to Shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron." And clearly, Isaiah 30:31-32 mentioned above shows the Lord even doing this in the past). So, make no joke about it, Christ is now ruling and reigning with a rod of iron. His judgment upon Israel in 70 AD, and the freedom for the gospel to go out into all the world is a testament to this fact. The great Dragon who deceived the nations was bound with a great chain at the cross of Christ, and Christ is now “dividing up the spoils” (Lke. 10:18-20; 11:21-22; Jhn. 12:31; Rev. 20:1-3). Some go to Christ, our Melchizedek, while the rest are left to others and to the king of Sodom and the Sodomites. They are the same ones described in Ezekiel 47:11 who are left as a "swampland" and for "salt" (said also of Babylon in Isa. 14:23; of Israel in Deut. 29:20-25, esp. v. 23; of Judah in Jer. 17:6; and of Moab in Jer. 48:9; said also in Psm. 107:33-34 of anyone who is wicked before the Lord).

Remember now, Christ’s spoils of war are the people that Satan has held sway. And as you also recall from before, “the Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea [not literally]; and with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates River,” breaking it up (all figuratively speaking) “into seven streams, so that men can cross over…There will be a highway [or, the highway of holiness] for the remnant of His people [Israel according the Spirit] that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt” (vv. 15-16). Note: Some more verses on all this are in, Amos 9:3b; Jer. 8:17; Psm. 35:16-17; 58:3-6 (cp. w/57:4); Zeph. 3:3; Isa. 43:18-21; 65:25; Ezk. 34:25, 28 (in the context of Ezekiel here, Christ is pictured as a Shepherd over his flock and protecting them from “wild beasts,” which is also not to be taken “literally”); Dan. 7:5-6; II Pet. 2:12; Jude 10; Tit. 1:12; Lke. 10:19; Mat. 18:3-4.

Christ as the One Shepherd and Ruler over one people does indeed have a kingdom right now as we speak, and spiritual Israel is safe from her enemies, and God has come down to dwell with her; and we do now reign with Christ as kings and priests unto our God in His holy City and upon His holy mount called Zion, the assembly of His righteous ones. And it is truly a kingdom that is “not of this world,” but “from another place” (Jhn. 18:36). And it is only given unto His people to hear with their ears and see with their spiritual eyes, the mysteries and wonders of this kingdom. To all others it is nothing more than vague parables and dark sayings. The natural thinking man and Christian will never, ever begin to comprehend such mysteries and heavenly language until they let go and let God be “the interpreter of dreams” and of the language in which He uses to describe and explain such ethereal things. And if all this is true, which it is, then the true “Israel of God” born of the Spirit is indeed keeping the Feast of Tabernacles; not later, but now in a kingdom which cannot be shaken, seen, moved or touched by human hands; nor understood by human reasoning and wisdom. Do you want to understand all this literally as do the Jews and all those bible college students that come out of Calvary Chapel bible colleges, Dallas Theological Seminary, and The Master’s College overseen by John MacArthur? Then, if that be the case, anybody can understand these things! There is no mystery here. Even the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons can conjure up such notions and ideas...and do! But if what I, and I believe Christ and His apostles are saying is true, then it is only an understanding that can come from “another place,” just as Jesus understood it all (Jhn. 18:36). As such, it can only come “from above.” For no natural carnal thinking Christian or man can make up such things as described above. I, for one, have nothing to gain by stating such things, but only the favor of God. The praise of man means nothing to me. My hearts desire for anyone reading these things is that they might come into a closer and deeper realization of what Christ really is to all of us, and what importance you are to Christ. Such an understanding, I hope, will elevate you both mentally and spiritually into contemplations about Him that maybe you have never had before, and unto a greater appreciation of what His has really done for all of us who are called by His name—Israel. Truly, in Christ, we are all a “prince with God.”

We must all humble ourselves and become as little children in order to be accepting of any of this. For where is the wisdom of the wise? It is all foolishness! It can never understand or begin to know the mind of Christ! For such things as I have laid out are all foolishness to such people, even calling it in our day “replacement theology.” But it is their theology that is replacing the true for that which is false, with even the doctrines of demons. Theirs is the doctrine that comes not from above. The true children of God have always been His elect children who are chosen by His grace according "to promise," just like Isaac: “And you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise” (Gal. 4:28). Let no one belittle you by saying otherwise. You, my brothers, are in fact, the Israel of God not according to the flesh!

Some Concluding Thoughts

Now the unavoidable fact is this: Christ has no more feasts left to fulfill. He has fulfilled them all by the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Himself on the cross. He's not coming back to go to the cross a second time to make a sacrifice for Tabernacles, or any other Feast for that matter; therefore all the feasts were fulfilled in His broken body for us. The historical ceremonies were to be "everlasting," and looked forward to their true "everlasting" spiritual realities now realized in Christ. So when He came as the Antitype, the "types" and "shadows" inevitably were to passed away. Christ is the true tabernacle of God that the olive branch tabernacles that sheltered the children of Israel prefigured. So how is it that some can still say today that this feast is still yet to be fulfilled by Christ in the future? And even in a literal manner again, at that? He made complete, the deliverance of Israel born after the Spirit, and “took captivity captive” from the strongman’s house and kingdom. And we can now REJOICE that by Christ's work on the cross, we are now keeping those ceremonial laws faithfully, in the Spirit, in the true tabernacle made without men's hands, which is Christ in us and us in Christ. And this period of this realization is the New Covenant period between our deliverance and our inheritance.

Knowing many of these things gives us a better insight into why God uses the phrase "The last day" in Scripture only in connection with either the end of the World, or with the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:18; John 6:39, 6:40, 6:44, 6:54, 7:37, 11:24; 12:48). Nowhere else in Scripture is that phrase ever used. With each spiritual piece of the puzzle we get a little better understanding of why God uses the Feast of Tabernacles as the “end of year” harvest, gathering our labors "out of" the field, and why Christ said in parables, the harvest “is” the end of the world. Now we can better understand why the resurrection is said to be “the last day" (Jhn. 6:39-40; 11:24), and why the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles it is called “the last day, the great day of the feast.” We can also better understand why when Israel was freed from bondage, they had to spend time in the wilderness as strangers in tabernacles, which were their temporary dwellings before they could enter into their inheritance. It was a “type” of our walk in the wilderness in these tabernacles of ours, in our own “temporal” and "temporary" dwellings, before coming into our inheritance. The Word of God is like a gigantic picturesque, spiritual jig-saw puzzle. And once you get all the pieces right and begin to put them all into place (as I have somewhat attempted to do), then every piece is seen to fit perfectly to reveal a wonderful mosaic. And this picture throughout Scripture portrays Christ. As such, there are no more pieces left over for us to really put together, nor are there any missing pieces to this puzzle, and neither are there any pieces that don't seem to fit or conform to this picture anymore. We are no longer to be left “puzzled” and confused. That's how we know that we have come to know truth. You are no longer left confused, but amused and bewildered by the glorious wonder of it all that you now see and realize. As such, one begins to truly see a harmony, an agreement and a consistency throughout Scriptures. On the other hand, inconsistency and confusion is the hallmark and mother of all error, as seen with dispensationalism. The Bible is truly it's own interpreter, not the next new headline in the newspaper or just understanding things in an overly-literal manner. Truly, Scripture does interpret Scripture. God is His own interpreter. As our brother Joseph once said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Indeed they do. Through faith in God's word, and by comparing Scripture with Scripture, we can come to receive what God has written and wants us to know. No wrestling or twisting of the Scriptures is necessary; for the truth in the Bible is in harmony with itself. There are no “private interpretations” here! The New Covenant period is our walk in tabernacles secured by the sacrifice of Christ as our burnt offering that was prefigured in Israel's ceremonial law. And it is only by a careful study of comparing Scripture with Scripture, that we will come to a proper biblical perspective of these truths.

All the signs are in place for the soon coming of the Lord. We must begin to strengthen "the things that remain." Let us keep the Feast of Tabernacles by remaining in Him, and the knowledge that this world is not our home. In reality, we are a strangers and pilgrims in this world who are just passing through, even as our father Abraham “sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob” (Heb. 11:9 KJV); and even as our Lord and Savior who “had no place to lay His head.” But God has given us a job to do while here on earth. So let us Shepherd the flock of God, teaching and preaching and doing the work of an evangelist with all longsuffering; without indolence and diligently in all service to our King. Israel living and eating in the (sook-kaw), or the booth or tabernacle, was a reminder to them, and to us, that though Christ be with us, our olive branch house on this earth is only a temporary habitation. The true tabernacle will be opened for us in heaven. As Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness and had to rely completely on the Lord, so also in their ceremonies are we reminded of our temporary habitation and how we too must completely trust in God and look forward to our permanent dwelling with Him.

The biblical feasts were instituted in order to teach the Church, in a practical way, how God would fulfill His prophesies in the broken body of Christ. The three annual feasts help us to understand this,  because by the death of Christ we are without sin and without judgment before God. When God sees us, He sees His Son. His blood covers the doorposts and lentils of our earthly tabernacles as signified in the Feast of Passover or of Unleavened Bread. And because of the death of Christ as our firstfruits from the dead in Passover, He has guaranteed to us to have the firstfruits of the Spirit by making us also a “kind of firstfruits” of all of His creation as signified in the Feast of Firstfruits or of Pentecost. And because of the death and resurrection of Christ, we now dwell in tabernacles made not by human hands in our journey to the promised land as signified in the Feast of Tabernacles. In these three primary feasts, we understand more clearly of the nature and plan of God and what His "everlasting" plan is for His people.

Hebrews 8:2 says that Christ is:

A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man (KJV).

The Feast of Tabernacles was a ceremony to teach all the nations the biblical history of redemption and protection found in Christ, and remains a perpetual feast (spiritually speaking) for all of God's elect today. In the Old Testament, the people pitched tabernacles in the wilderness, but the true tabernacle that they pointed to, was that pitched by Christ. Zechariah chapter 14 is (as is with all the prophets), an introduction to the strong meat that is centered around the elementary teachings about Christ for which they who are "unlearned" and "ignorant" only wrestle to their own destruction. Christ’s literal, spiritual millennial reign is occurring right now as we speak when Christ established His kingdom in the liberation of His people called “Israel,” and has become King over all the earth in all of His spiritual people in all the world who now keep His laws. Again, the Antitype that the Feast of Booths typified is now fulfilled in Christ. The Lord has done all that is necessary to bring His covenant people into a full and complete relationship with Him. The only thing that remains for completion is the end of the world, in the opening of the tabernacle in heaven, and when the blinding light of His presence is revealed in which everyone outside the city, “will rot while they are standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths” (Zech. 14:12). And they will ask for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them, and even desire to flee for the caves. But for now we will dwell in His divine presence here on earth, and hold in remembrance our deliverance from bondage in these temporary tabernacles of our flesh.

As Albert Barnes concludes in his commentary concerning all of this,

“David said, ‘I am a stranger with Thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were’”
(Psalms 39:12) 

And, “I will pass through to the place of the tabernacle of the Wonderful unto the house of God”
(Psalms 41:5, Vulgate)

And again, “Blessed are they who dwell in thy house, they shall be always praising Thee”
(Psalms 84:4)

And finally, “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous”
(Psalms 118:15)

“Whoso dwelleth in such tabernacles, and hastes to go from the tabernacles to the court, and from the court to the house, and from the house to the temple of the Lord, ought to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles…in the New Testament, Christians, being delivered through Christ from the slavery to sin and Satan, and sojourning in this vale of misery, by making progress in virtues go up to the home of the heavenly paradise, the door of glory being open by the merit of the Lord’s Passion, and so the faithful of Christ celebrate the feast of tabernacles” [9]

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Footnotes:

[7] If such an idea of Eliakim as having the governing arm and shoulder of David’s rule can be true (Isa. 22:20-24), how much more so when said of Christ who rules not only over the earth, but over the heavens and earth? Compare with Isa. 9:6-7 and Rev. 3:7. The government of David is on Christ’s shoulders now, and the keys of the kingdom are in His possession now, not some time later.

[8] Another “interpretive key” to all of this is found in Jer. 5:6. It reads:

Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many.

God is not talking about literal “lions,” “wolves,” or “leopards.” How do we know this? Well, first of all, the text says that the leopards will watch over all their cities and tear any (or all) who would venture out. That is the first “red flag” here that lets us know that God is not talking about literal leopards. There would have to be one in and around every city in Israel, and every one that would attempt to leave one of these cities would be ravaged by them. This did not literally happen! There would have to be millions of leopards devouring millions of people—and everyone of the people at that.

Secondly, God is saying He is going to punish Israel for their sins by these “wild beasts.” Now notice verses 9-10. God says,

Should I not punish them for this? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the LORD.

At first glance it seems that God is still talking about sending these wild, untamed animals throughout Israel, but pay close attention to God’s words in verse 10, “but do not destroy them completely.” Hold that thought there and now continue reading the rest of the chapter. Especially pertinent to a proper understanding of all of this is verses 15 thru 18. In verse 15 God says, “I am bringing a distant nation against you.” Verses 16-17 also say, “all of them are mighty warriors. They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and your daughters; they will devour your vines [vineyards of v. 10] and your fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.” Now having kept your eye on verse 10, begin to read verse 18. Notice what it says, “Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not destroy you completely.” Do you see that? God is talking about the Babylonians not destroying Israel completely. And He is using them to "devour" Israel as a ravaging beast of prey.

Now the point being in all of this discussion is to point out is that God is not talking about literal animals here, but He is using these animals to figuratively portray what these people are like (Yes, I said "figuratively," just what the dispensationalists hate to hear, but here it is in plain sight before us in God's word). Figuratively, using the terminology of wild animals, this nation that would attack Israel are like the brute “beasts” that Paul fought at Ephesus (I Cor. 15:32). They are the Cretans that Paul had said that one of their own prophets had said were “evil beasts” (Tit. 2:12). And they are the same kind of unbridled, natural and carnal “brute beasts” that both Peter and Jude talked about (2Pet. 2:12 and Jude 10).

In Hos. 13:7-8, God again says to us, “So I will come upon them like a lion, like a leopard I will lurk by the path. Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open. Like a lion I will devour them; a wild animal will tear them apart.” What “wild animal” will do this? Now God seems to be saying that like these wild animals He is going to do these things to Israel, but then He qualifies His statement with the words, “a wild animal will tear them apart.” How so? It is by the same “wild animals” God mentions in Jer. 5:6 with verse 9-10 and 15-18 with regards to the distant Gentile nations that He uses to mete out His wrath and judgments upon Israel with. And it would all come from the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and eventually, someday, via the Syrian Antiochus Epiphanes, and then finally via the Roman armies in 70 AD (for a clearer realization of all of this, please see also Isa. 10:5-7, 12; 48:14-15; Hab. 1:5-6; 3:16; Mat. 21:40-41; 22:7).

Now it is some of these same “brute beasts” that God takes and removes all of the animosity and hostility that they had towards one another, and causes them to all lie down together in Isaiah 11 in one fold, one pasture, and with one Shepherd over them to lead them. In fact, even the "children" of the kingdom God raises up in order to lead them all as His undershepherds.

So where is the problem of understanding these animals as being figurative expressions for people whom God apprehends, and even giving them a new nature? There isn't any. As I have said all along, if we would all just let Scripture interpret Scripture and let God say what He means when He means what He says, then there is no problem here. Then there are no “private interpretations.” God Himself has just explained to us what He means by all of these things.

[9] Barnes Notes, Minor Prophets, p. 456.