Tabernacles
How Jesus fulfils the Feast of Tabernacles.
Jesus came to fulfil the Law which includes the Jewish Feasts:
*The Spring Feasts: Passover and Firstfruits (on the 14th and 16th of Nisan, their first month) - were fulfilled in His Death and Resurrection (on April 1st and 3rd 33AD).
*The Autumn Feasts: Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles (1st, 10th and 15th Tishri, their 7th month).
The 2 Hebrew words for the Feasts:
(1) Moedim and (2) Miqra (Holy Convocations) mean
(1) Appointed Times, (2) Holy Gatherings or Rehearsals.
Thus the Feasts are gatherings of Israel at appointed times to prophetically rehearse events to be fulfilled by Christ at God’s
Appointed Time. This shows God is working exactly according to His
Calendar which He has revealed to Israel through the Feasts. We should
therefore expect the fulfilments in Christ to take place on their
relevant Feast Days (as with Christ’s Death at Passover and His
Resurrection). God’s Feast-Fulfilments in Christ demonstrate His
Sovereign Power in accomplishing our salvation in His perfect timing,
proving clearly that Jesus is our true Saviour.
Everything Jesus did was in fulfilment of the
prophecies and the Feasts. Jesus fulfilled the first Feast (in the
Spring, the first month): Passover, the Feast of Redemption through
blood, so that when the Passover Lambs were being slain the true Lamb
of God was being sacrifced for us.
Another Feast that must be fulfilled is
Tabernacles (in the Autumn, the 7th month) and the way Jesus fulfils
the Feast of Tabernacles is just as glorious as His fulfilment of
Passover.
Tabernacles was a time of great rejoicing at the
end of the harvest season. It remembered the time after the Exodus when
Israel dwelt in tents and when God dwelt among them (in their midst) in
His Tent (the Tabernacle).
*The central theme of Tabernacles is God’s ultimate purpose - God dwelling with and in man.
*Tabernacles looked forward to when God would dwell with man as Immanuel: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel (God with us)” (Isaiah 7:14). Thus just as Christ fulfilled Passover in His death, he fulfilled Tabernacles in His birth.
*Jesus’ Birth was a fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles:
“The Word (Jesus) became flesh (His conception) and dwelt (literally: TABERNACLED, pitched His tent) among us (His Birth) and we beheld His glory” (John 1:14).
Matthew 1:18: “Now the birth of Jesus
Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. v20 But
while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Spirit. v21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
v22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: v23 “Behold,
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His
name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” v24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, v25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.”
*When was Jesus really born?
1. We know He was about 30 when He was baptised.
2. We know from John’s Gospel His ministry lasted 3.5 years 3. We know
He died at Passover AD 33 (it had to be a year when Passover was on a
Friday, with the moon turning to blood (a lunar eclipse), and the sun supernaturally turning to
darkness (according to the secular Roman records this happened in AD
33).
Therefore He was born 33.5 Jewish (luni-solar)
years before AD33. Going back exactly 33.5 years from Passover AD 33
takes us to the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles in 2BC! The year
of 2BC agrees well with the early church historians.
This confirms that Jesus was born at the Feast of
Tabernacles for God becoming a man and living among us is a wonderful
fulfilment of Tabernacles. Thus Tabernacles is also the Birthday of the Son of God, King Jesus.
*Based on Israel’s luni-solar calendar this day would have been October 12th 2BC.
*Therefore October 11/12th is the birthday of Christ according to a true solar calendar. (Since
our Gregorian Calendar is just an approximation to a true solar
calendar, which is based on the spring equinox, the true solar
anniversary on our calendar is October 11th for most years).
*We would expect a Divine announcement of His impending birth at Trumpets that year (The
Feast of Trumpets on the 1st Tishri was a day of announcements and
warnings so people would prepare for the coming Feasts).
Indeed at the opening of Trumpets, at sunset 6pm,
on the 27th September 2BC (Gregorian), there was a sign in the heavens,
a rare astronomical alignment described in Revelation 12 in connection
with the birth of Christ:
“Now a great SIGN appeared in heaven (the stars): a woman (VIRGO) clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars. v2 Then being with child, she cried out in labour and in pain about to give birth...v5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron (the Messiah).”
See www.stellarium.org to confirm that at sunset,
at the opening of Trumpets 2BC, Virgo (the only woman SIGN in the
Zodiac) appeared clothed with the setting sun (the sun was in Virgo,
the Virgin) and the moon was under her feet! This is a very rare alignment of the heavenly bodies.
*Jesus was baptised on His 30th Birthday in October AD 29.
“It came to pass that Jesus also was baptized;
and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit
descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from
heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.
Now Jesus Himself began His ministry (the words in italics were added by translators) at about 30 years of age (the age when a priest could start ministering was 30). Now literally this says: “Now Jesus began to be about 30 years old” (Luke 3:21-23). In other words He was turning 30 when He was baptised and started His ministry. He was baptised on His 30th Birthday! This is confirmed in Luke 3 which then immediately goes on to give the origins of His BIRTH (His birthline or genealogy)
*Therefore on the Jewish luni-solar calendar He was baptised on the 15th Tishri - the start of the Feast of Tabernacles. Therefore
His Baptism, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him so that He could
start His ministry, was yet another fulfilment of the Feast of
Tabernacles.
This was on October 11th AD 29.
*Amazingly October 11th AD 29 was also His 30th Birthday on a true solar calendar
(which God uses to measure Messiah’s Time), for the start of the true
solar year, the vernal equinox, had slipped back by one day since 2BC as measured on our Gregorian Calendar).
*So at His 30th Birthday when Jesus had come of
age and was fully prepared, God the Father acknowledged Jesus as His
Son who perfectly represented Him and commissioned Him for His ministry: “You are my beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased.” And for His birthday present, the Father gave His Son the full anointing of the Spirit for ministry!
*The Dedication of Solomon’s Temple as the dwelling place of God, when it was filled with His Shekinah Glory also took place on the Feast of Tabernacles
(1Kings 8, 2Chronicles 5), because it prophetically represented the
indwelling of God in His true Temple - Man. This was therefore
prophetic of the Birth and Baptism of Jesus (the true Temple of God)
when the Spirit (glory) of God came upon Him, as well as being
prophetic of the fulfilment of God’s ultimate purpose of indwelling man
by His Spirit.
*The 4 years of special grace to Israel described by Jesus in Luke 13:6-9 start with His Baptism on October 11th AD 29 and so end on October 10th AD 33 - when Israel was cut off (see Acts 7). They are 4 Messianic (true solar years).
*Putting it all together: Jesus was born
at 15th Tishri (15/7) at Tabernacles (our October 12th) 2BC, and He was
baptised on His 30th birthday (15/7) at Tabernacles (our October 11th)
29AD when His Ministry started. Thus on the Jewish Calendar His earthly
ministry was from 15/7/29 to 14/1/33 (the day of His death at Passover
on Nisan 14th = April 1st).
This means the time from Christ’s Birth up to the day of His Baptism (the start of His Ministry) was exactly 30 years to the day, and the time of His Ministry (from His Baptism to His Death) was exactly 3.5 (luni-solar) years, to the day! Thus His total earthly life-time was exactly 33.5 years!
So we see His perfection, even in the timing of
His Birth, Baptism, Ministry, Death and Resurrection, for He came in
the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4) to fulfil all the prophecies and
Feasts exactly on time (according to God’s preordained perfect timing)!
God is always on time!
The Water Festival is central to the Feast of Tabernacles. Each
day water from the Pool of Siloam (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) was
poured out at the altar with prayers and rejoicing. This was an act of
thanksgiving for that year’s rain and a prayer for rain for the next
year. Ultimately it was prophetic of the Coming of the Messiah who
would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. It looked forward to the time
of the indwelling and infilling of the Holy-Spirit, when man would be a
Temple of the Living God with the Spirit of God living in him. They
were praying for the outpouring of the Holy-Spirit as an important
fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Therefore Jesus chose the Feast of Tabernacles
(in AD 32) to proclaim that He was the Messiah and would fulfil the
Feast after His death and resurrection by pouring out the Holy-Spirit
upon mankind, so they could receive the Spirit within:
John 7:37-39: "In the last day, the Great Day of the Feast (at the climax of the Feast of Tabernacles - see John 7:2), Jesus
stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and
drink. He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this He spoke of the
Spirit, which they who believe on Him should receive: for the Holy
Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified).”
*As far as the nation of Israel is concerned the Feast will be fulfilled in this way at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, for Jesus will return at the Feast of Tabernacles and pour out His Spirit upon Israel and all flesh that remain upon the earth to enter the Messianic Kingdom (Joel 2).
(Because Israel rejected Christ, God delayed the Messianic Kingdom and
introduced the Church-Age which is the fulfillment of the Feast of
Pentecost, so the Church entered into the fulfilment of this prophecy
at Pentecost AD 33. Although God hid the Church Age, He put it in the
Types and Shadows, including the Feast of Pentecost).
Therefore Jesus will fulfil Tabernacles at His 2nd Coming.
In fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus will establish His
Kingdom on earth at His Second Coming and personally dwell with man and
reign over all. He will pour out the Holy-Spirit upon Israel and the
nations. He will fill the whole earth with His glory. Every year at Tabernacles
(on His Birthday and the Anniversary of the Second Coming and the start
of the Messianic Kingdom Age) the kings of the earth will bring the
King of kings their homage and gifts:
Psalm 72:8-11: “He shall have dominion
also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, and His enemies
will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring
presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.” Zechariah 14:16 makes it clear that this will be fulfilled every year at Tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:3-9 describes Christ’s 2nd Coming in power and glory to establish His Kingdom over all the earth: “Then
the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in
the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of
Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives
shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley;
half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward
the south. Thus the LORD my God will come and all the saints with You.
It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no (natural) light. The lights will diminish. It shall be one (a unique) day
which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night. But at evening time
it shall happen that it will be light. And in that day it shall be that
living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the
eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and
winter it shall occur. And the LORD shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be—“The LORD is one,”and His name one.”
Then Zechariah 14:16 describes life in this Messianic Kingdom:
“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.”
Just as Passover,
First-Fruits and Pentecost are the main Feasts for the Church-Age now
because we celebrate and abide in their fulfilment, so in the Messianic
Age Tabernacles will be the main Feast celebrated world-wide, because
the earth will be manifestly living in its fulfilment: “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14).
In keeping Tabernacles every year:
(1) they
honour the King on His Birthday, demonstrating their loyal obedience to
Him.
(2) They commemorate and celebrate the establishment of His
earthly Kingdom on the Anniversary of its inauguration.
(3) They celebrate the fulfilment of Tabernacles: God living with and
in man - for the Son of God will be now personally and manifestly
living and reigning on the earth among men, and all believers (now the
majority of the earth’s population) will be indwelt by and filled with
the Holy-Spirit of God.
(4) They look forward to the ultimate fulfilment of Tabernacles in the
Eternal State - for the ushering in of Eternity will also take place at
Tabernacles exactly 1000 years from the 2nd Coming of Christ (see
Revelation 20)!
The ultimate fulfilment of Tabernacles is the Eternal State.
Tabernacles was celebrated at the end of the harvest season when all
the harvests were gathered in - a time of rest and rejoicing. This is
symbolic and prophetic of the fulfilment of God’s ultimate purpose in
eternity, when all things are accomplished and we all enter into
eternal joy, rest and peace. The end of the Messianic Age is exactly
1000 years after the Tabernacles of the 2nd Coming (Revelation 20:1-6),
and so it will also be at the Feast of Tabernacles! At this time all the harvests of the saved from all the dispensations
will be gathered in and glorified, and we will enter the eternal state
of eternal joy and rest in the Presence of God, with God living with
man and in man forever:
Revelation 21:3-4: “I
heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the TABERNACLE of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.
God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow,
nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have
passed away.”
*The 2nd Coming is a major fulfilment of Tabernacles and therefore will happen at the Feast of Tabernacles.
In His First Coming He fulfilled the Spring
Feasts exactly on time. It is only consistent to expect that the Second
Coming of Christ will be on a Feast Day, in order to fulfil that Feast.
Therefore it is commonly believed that the 2nd Coming has to fulfil one
of the Autumn Feasts (Trumpets, Atonement or Tabernacles) and so must
fall on the 1st, 10th or 15th Tishri.
Based on Typology I have affirmed that it must
actually be at Tabernacles and there is an interesting confirmation
that it is. There are 2 signs given in Joel 2:31 and Acts 2:20 - that: “the moon shall be turned to blood” and “the sun will be turned to darkness” just before the great and terrible (manifest) Day of the Lord (the 2nd Coming of Christ). This future double astronomical sign in the sun and moon (that also happened on the day of His death) is confirmed by Matthew 24:29,30, Luke 21:25 and Revelation 6:12:
“I looked when He opened the 6th seal, and behold, there was a great
earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the whole moon became like blood.”
The moon turning to blood is the classic way of
describing a lunar eclipse when the earth’s shadow causes the moon to
turn blood-red. At about 5.30pm on April 1st AD 33 (the day of the Cross) there was such an eclipse, and these prophecies
confirm that we should expect another lunar eclipse, just before the
Second Coming. Also Revelation 6:12 tells us it must be a total eclipse
(unlike the one in AD 33). Now a lunar eclipse can only happen at a full moon
at the middle of a luni-solar month, and since scripture clearly tells
us there will be a lunar eclipse just before His Return, then it
follows that He must return at Tabernacles on Tishri 15th (rather than at Trumpets or Atonement) if (as He surely will) He fulfils a Fall Feast at His Second Coming.
The Tribulation is a rerun of Daniel’s 70th Week
(AD 26-33). This means it is the same length and has corresponding
pattern and features. Interestingly this includes the very same 2
astronomical signs: the moon turning to blood and the sun to darkness
just before the final climactic day of the Lord’s Manifestation. In the
First Coming there were these 2 signs on Friday April 1st 33, 2 days
before the final day (the resurrection day of the Lord on Sunday April 3rd). This pattern will be repeated on the corresponding days at the end of
the rerun of Daniel’s 70th Week. So two days before the final day, the
Day of the Lord’s Manifestation in the 2nd Coming the moon will turn to
blood (total lunar eclipse) and the sun will supernaturally be turned to darkness.
These signs will initiate the words of Israel in Hosea 6:1-3:
“Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will
heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He
will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth (from Heaven in the 2nd Coming) is established (fixed in time) as the morning (sunrise); He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”
These words have a 3-fold application: (1) The resurrection of
Christ (and us in Him) on the 3rd Day after His death at morning
sunrise (in the initial run of Daniel’s 70th Week). (2) The 2nd Coming
of Christ again at sunrise on the 3rd Day after the signs in the sun
and moon (in the rerun of Daniel’s 70th Week). The supernatural
darkness during these 2 days corresponds to the time Christ was in
death in AD 33. (3) They apply to the raising up of Israel again at the Second Coming after being cut off for 2 DAYS = 2000 years,
using the key that a DAY with the Lord is as 1000 years.
Hosea 5:15-6:3 predicts that Christ will return
in glory to raise up Israel again 2000 years after the events of His
First Coming in AD 33 when He ascended to heaven and cut Israel off in
judgement. Therefore this judgment will be lifted after 2000 years
when He personally returns to save Israel.
It speaks of Israel being judged (cut off), but after (or at the close of) 2 DAYS (2000 years) being revived, so that on the 3rd DAY she will live in His sight. There is a ‘kairos’ (the 2nd Coming) at the end of 2 DAYS followed by a ‘chronos’ (a new era, the 3rd DAY or Millennium) brought in as a result of the ‘kairos.’ The key event (turning-point) is at the close of the 2nd
DAY (2000 years) and is Messiah’s Second Coming in glory, described in
Hosea 6:3 as His going forth (from Heaven) as the morning sun (the Sun
of righteousness rising with healing in His wings). His rising
(appearing) is as sure (certain) as the dawn and just as the sunrise
happens at an established time, so the Son will surely return in glory
at a time fixed by God as the Sun of Righteousness, ending the time of
darkness and bringing healing and salvation to Israel. This fixed time is after 2 DAYS! On the basis of this event (the glorious appearing of the Messiah) at the end of 2 DAYS Israel will live in blessing on the 3rd DAY (the Millennium).
Now we have seen that Israel was cut off at 6pm October 10th AD 33 at the end of 34 years from Christ’s Birth (Luke 13:6-9, Hosea 6:1).
Therefore the “2 DAYS” (2000 years) from Israel being cut off ends on October 10th 2033
(Tabernacles), and this must be the very day of Christ’s Return to save
and revive His people, Israel. He will come as prophesied at the end of
the 2 DAYS, so that Israel may live in His sight (abide in His personal
presence) throughout the 3rd DAY. Having revived them (from being on the point of death) at His Return on October 10th (the end of the 2 DAYS), on October 11th (the start of the 3rd
DAY) He will start to raise Israel up spiritually and nationally, so
that she will live in His sight and take her place as the chief nation
at the heart of His world-government throughout the 3rd DAY
(the Millennium). The first day of the new era (the Millennium) is
October 11th, and it is also His Birthday (Tabernacles) on the solar
Calendar.
*Now the amazing confirmation of these dates is that October 10th 2033 is the first day of Tabernacles!
Also two days before on October 8th 2033, there will be a total lunar eclipse at 12.30-1.50pm Jerusalem time!
Thus if the Second Coming is on October 10th 2033, it will be at
Tabernacles, soon after the moon is turned to blood, exactly 2000 years
to the day after Israel was cut off, giving an exact fulfilment to the
day of Hosea’s prophecy and the Feasts of the Lord!
*Moreover in God’s Redemption Chronology 4000
years were completed in AD 33, and so 2033 also marks the end of the
6000 years. Then the Millennium (the DAY of the Lord) will run for 1000 years, completing the 7000 years (7 DAYS) of time,
patterned after the Creation Week, with the 6 DAYS of man followed by
the 7th DAY of rest (the Sabbath). Thus the 2nd Coming in 2033 also
agrees with the fundamental blueprint of the Bible’s Chronology (the
Creation Week with each DAY representing 1000 years of man’s history).
Thus the patterns of Scripture point to Tabernacles 2033 (October 10th) as the day of the 2nd Coming of Christ, with the Millennium starting on the next day. We shall see!