Sukkot, Harvest, Firstfruits, And Ingathering

Jesus said the harvest was PLENTIFUL meaning that MILLIONS, perhaps BILLIONS, were lost and without Christ. That is staggering to think about as it pertains to those who live here in America where everybody is "saved," and has faith in God. The truth is that many who profess salvation have their faith in a false god and not Jesus Christ! God has become a generic term in America as those who deny the validity of man's need to repent and come before the Cross of Christ in repentance still believe if they have "faith" in a "higher power," then somehow eternity is taken care of and all is alright. ALL is NOT all right! Man cannot come to God except through Christ and one cannot come to CHRIST unless they COME through the Cross! THE CALL OF THE CROSS IS THE CALL OF THE TRUE GOSPEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The message of harvest, the rapture, the outpoured rains of the Holy Spirit are all parts and components of the message of Sukkot; the Lord's hands are outstretched to all who will hear and heed the Sprit's call and warning that the time is short and the day of salvation is about to come to an end. Jeremiah by the unction of the Holy Ghost cried a prayer that sadly  prayer millions who reject Christ one day will ultimately pray, "the harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved."

 

By Chris McDonald

 

TEXT: Leviticus 23:34 - Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord

 

Matthew 9:37-38
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; [38] Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

 

When we see the prophetic implications of the Feast of Tabernacles, known as Sukkot, it becomes elementary for the reader to understand why the fall season in Israel is considered Israel’s most important season of worship and celebration. Known as "the high holy days," three of Israel's greatest feasts occur during the first 19 days of the biblical month of Tishri (September-October):

 

·         Rosh Hashanah

·         Yom Kippur

·         Eight Days of Sukkot, or Tabernacles

 

In both times of the past and current day national Israel there was and is no greater time of joyous occasion on her festival calendar than found in the Feast of Tabernacles, which celebrates the bringing in of the final harvest. It is, in other words, the Jewish “Thanksgiving,” which is even more interesting when realizing that there is great reason to believe when the Puritan colonists, who founded America and were great students of the Hebrew Scriptures, based the first American Thanksgiving on Sukkot.

 

Naturally because Sukkot took place at the end of the harvest, the hearts of the people were naturally gladdened and relieved the early rains were falling, the crops had been reaped and it was now time to rest from their labors. As they looked over the harvest, they remembered that six months before, at Passover time, they had dedicated the entire harvest to the Lord by offering the Firstfruits, and now not only were their barns full, their hearts were full as well. All of these elements - harvest, rest, the Firstfruits, joy, the outpouring of rain - speak in BEAUTIFUL type of both the past AND future redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ through His work on the Cross!  It also speaks as to what will take place at the rapture of the church which is part of the First Resurrection.

 

The Bible often speaks of the final judgment as a harvest of which Sukkot, known as the Feast of Ingathering, is also a type:

 

Hosea 6:11  - Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people. 

Joel 3:13  - Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. 

Matthew 13:39  - The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 

 Rev. 14:15  - And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 

 

When we speak of HARVEST we speak of several things that pertain to the believer. Jesus often spoke of the harvest in terms of the great work compared to the lack of workers willing and able to bring it in before the time would cease where the harvest could even be gotten.

 

Matthew 9:37-38
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; [38] Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

 

First, Jesus said the harvest was PLENTIFUL meaning that MILLIONS, perhaps BILLIONS, were lost and without Christ. That is staggering to think about as it pertains to those who live here in America where everybody is "saved," and has faith in God. The truth is that many who profess salvation have their faith in a false god and not Jesus Christ! God has become a generic term in America as those who deny the validity of man's need to repent and come before the Cross of Christ in repentance still believe if they have "faith" in a "higher power," then somehow eternity is taken care of and all is alright. ALL is NOT all right! Man cannot come to God except through Christ and one cannot come to CHRIST unless they COME through the Cross! THE CALL OF THE CROSS IS THE CALL OF THE TRUE GOSPEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Matthew 10:38 And he that takes not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Mark 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Philippians 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

I probably won't make many friends by saying this but I'm going to say it. I'm not worried about the drunkards, the prostitutes, the drug pushers, the homosexuals, satanic worshippers, and the like as much as I'm worried about the pious church member, Sunday school teacher, choir member, and even some pastors who attend church Sunday to Sunday and do not know CHRIST! The greatest evangelistic harvest field in the universe existing today is the modern day American church!

 

The drunks, the prostitutes, the druggies the homosexuals, and the like may be deep in sin and if they don't repent their end will be eternity without God yes; but for the most part when the Holy Spirit convicts those in this type condition MOST respond to God reaching out in faith and easily recognizing their condition without God as one without any hope. When the church member is confronted by the Holy Ghost with their condition, many feel their own goodness is "good enough" for God to accept them and receive their righteousness. This is where the Purpose Driven Life message dissects and contrasts the true gospel. It says that if we go out and do "good" deeds then God is willing to accept us and He is pleased with us. Friend, our "good works" and "good acts" will never be GOOD enough! True saving faith is found in man declaring himself a SINNER without hope, deserving HELL and coming to Christ in FAITH accepting HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS JUSTIFICATION, HIS COVERING for our sins and allowing the Holy Ghost to set us free from the powers of darkness within!

 

Millions sit in church today LOST because they have their faith in a SYSTEM of religion, or even a system of "theological beliefs," but they have never met Christ, the SON OF THE LIVING GOD! They have never met the First and the Last, the Rose of Sharon, the bright and the Morning Star! That is what will be important when it comes to harvest day! Their cry will be that of our text, the HARVEST has ended and we are not SAVED! How tragic a statement; how utterly sad and horrific will it be for millions; how will we as the American church stand accountable for this false gospel we promote today in light of the scores lost and without God when all we had to do was PREACH THE GOSPEL and tell those lost their only way to God was through CHRIST??????????

 

Secondly, Jesus said we were to "pray for more laborers"  This was the very first duty. There were not enough laborers, because the need was so overwhelming. (We must always be praying diligently for laborers.) Jesus gave four reasons.
 

1. There was a great harvest of precious souls to be reached with the gospel. The number was staggering, and the vast majority were without Jesus, reeling to and fro under the weight of the problems of a sinful and dying world.

John 4:35-36
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. [36] And he that reapeth receives wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

Galatians 6:9
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

2. The laborers were few, very few.


3. The need was urgent: the crop was ripe, ready for harvest. Some wanted the gospel, the answer to life. They were actually ready to be reaped, wanting purpose, meaning, and significance in their lives. They might not know what was causing the longing and aching within their hearts; they might not know how to identify it, but they were ready to listen and grab hold of the answer. And Jesus was the answer.


4. God was the One who had to send forth laborers. He was the Source of laborers, and prayer was the method He used to send them forth.

It is vitally important to recognize that in light of Sukkot 2006 that each generation has it's own call as it relates to the harvest! What do I mean by that?  One, it means that a generation’s concern determines how well that generation is viewed by God based upon what blessings that generation has received. To whom much is given, MUCH will be required!  A generation that longs for God—that seeks after God to send forth laborers—will have laborers and see a good deal of righteousness prevail during its life. However, a generation that ignores God finds immorality and ungodliness, injustice and evil getting worse and worse. The answer to a solid generation, to a moral and just generation is prayer—prayer for laborers to be sent forth to reap the precious harvest of souls. If voices are not proclaiming the Cross which upon rests a HIGHER level of love, morality and justice than what the humanistic laced gospel of today offers, then sin and death will reign.

Mark 4:29
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

Psalm 126:5-6
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. [6] He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Hosea 10:12
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

 

We have come to the time of history of one of the greatest conflicts between light and darkness that the earth has ever witnessed!!! THIS generation is beholding the beginnings of the final conflict between the powers of darkness and light as we near the end of the Church Age when God will then turn His FULL attention once more to Israel and her ultimate salvation. This is not a time of fear for we stand under the banner of the Cross which declares this battle between the powers of darkness and light has already been won!!! The CROSS is the power of God and His power is about to be revealed as never before on this earth. It is the time for the church to take our stand with absolute commitment to never retreat before the enemies of the cross. The cross of Christ has always prevailed against ALL of its enemies and THIS generation will be the one which sees this made fully manifest!!!!!!!!! That is why the Feast of Tabernacles looms so large prophetically as we honor it with our Jewish friends in Jesus in 2006!

 

Sukkot is a type of a future Day of Ingathering when God gathers His people unto Himself and burns the wicked like the chaff and stubble.

 

Malachi 4:1-2  - For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.  [2] But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 

 

Israel's Future Is Foreshadowed In The Feast Of Tabernacles

 

Isaiah 27:12-13  - And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

 

The Feast of Tabernacles is tied to Israel's FUTURE as well as her past. When the Messiah sets up His millennial Kingdom, He will gather the remnant of Israel back to her land and as Isaiah declares "shall assemble the outcasts and gather the dispersed," of Judah from the four corners of the earth. That sounds like national revival to me! Praise God, praise God. Israel may be backslidden as can be right now, but one day, the outcasts, the lost, the dispersed are coming home to God through the revelation of her Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Isaiah 11:11-12  - And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. [12] And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 
 

Isaiah also described this prophetic event as the harvesting of olives. Tree branches are beaten with rods and the olive berries gathered once they fall to the ground:

Isaiah 17: 5-8 - :And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. 8And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

Isaiah 24:12 - 15 - In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. 13When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. 14They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 15Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
 

Isaiah gives two different descriptions of Jerusalem: in verse 15 he says Jerusalem is a "city left with desolation," speaking of what will take place during the Great Tribulation period; at that time Israel will be shaken as an olive tree and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done at which point Israel will "lift up their voice," and "sing for the MAJESTY of the Lord!" That is what this writer believes will be the response of Israel when Her Messiah is revealed to Her at the end of the Great Tribulation period! They will truly CRY aloud from the sea and she will GLORY the Lord in the FIRES, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the Isles of the sea!

 

The celebration of the feast of Sukkot ties these ingathering prophecies together. Other prophets such as Jeremiah and Zechariah confirm the words of Isaiah:

Jeremiah 23:7-8  - Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; [8] But, The Lord lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. 
   

According to Zechariah, the righteous among the Gentiles too, will be gathered to the Lord. In that day, Gentiles who have survived the Tribulation and have accepted Christ will pray along side the Jews in Jerusalem:

 

Zech. 14:16-17 - And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. [17] And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 

 

Gentile nations that refuse to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in the millennial Kingdom will receive no rain upon their lands which in many ways provides a biblical basis for the tradition of praying for rain during the Feast of Tabernacles. The Lord will not only gather His people, but He will TABERNACLE in their midst during the coming Messianic Kingdom

 

Ezekiel 37:27-28  - My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [28] And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. 

Rev. 21:3  - And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

 

The sign of God's presence, the Shekinah glory, will be seen in Zion again. It will appear as a shining fire over the whole of Mount Zion and will be like a tabernacle, providing protection and refuge for the Jewish nation after centuries of persecution and the time of Jacob's sore trouble. That is not far off in the distant future- ISRAEL'S MESSIAH IS COMING!

 

Isaiah 60:1,19  - Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.  19 - The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 

Zech. 2:5  - For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. 

Isaiah 4:5-6  - And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defense. [6] And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. 
  

 

The GLORY of the Lord shall be defense and a tabernacle for Israel during the Kingdom Age!!! In many ways He is already that NOW but more so as a sovereign act of

 

The Water and the Light - A Type of Christ

 

When the Messiah spoke of Himself as the light of the world, He referred to salvation and forgiveness of sin He offered to all those who put their trust in Him. As it was spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, "I will give YOU as a light to the Gentiles, That YOU should be My salvation unto the ends of the earth'" (Isa. 49:6). He offers that light to men today: "He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12). Have you experienced the life-changing light of the Messiah, or are you still walking in darkness? The water is also a type of the Holy Spirit. There are three types of water sources in the land of Israel. Huge, rock-hewn collection tanks, known as cisterns, are used to collect rainwater during the rainy months. Massive cisterns, capable or holding millions of gallons of water, still exist today at the Masada stronghold. However, cisterns are the least desirable and valuable water source in Israel - they can easily become contaminated or stagnant and are not replenish able until the next rainy season. 

 

Wells are a more valuable water source. They provide fresh, replenished water, but even they can dry up during a drought. They most valued water source in Israel is the brooks and rivers that are fed by springs (such as those at Ein Gedi). These were known in the Bible as "living waters" or, in other words, waters with movement. The Lord used this truth to illustrate Israel's rebellion and idolatry:

 

Jeremiah 2:13  - For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 

 

When Jesus addressed the people in the Temple on the last day of the feast, He alluded to the same fact. He said, "He who believes on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). This was the purest water, the most valued water, and water that would never dry up. Ancient Jewish theology connected the water-drawing ceremony with the Holy Spirit. "Why do they call it, 'the house of drawing'? Because they draw the Holy Spirit" (Gen. Rab. 70:1) And again, "Why is the name of it called, the drawing out of water" Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit according to what is said: 'With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation'" (Ruth Rab. 4:7). They believed the Holy Spirit came upon them and manifested Himself through great JOY!

 

Jesus' reference to water was used with the exact same connotation and connection. "But this spoke concerning the SPIRIT, whom those believing in Him would receive." (John 7:39)

 

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in relation to salvation was a much-repeated theme of the Old Testament prophets:

 

The Lord said through Isaiah: 

 

Isaiah 44:3  - For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: 

 

The Hebrew prophet Zechariah prophesied of a future, glorious day when Israel as a nation will look upon the pierced Messiah and repent of her rejection of Him. God's Spirit will be poured out upon them and they will enter into the New Covenant as a nation:

 

Zech. 12:10  - And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 

 

This is the Feast of Tabernacles. It speaks of light, water, and praise, which are three elements that point to Messiah’s return AND restoration of Israel as a nation. It speaks of rest. Jesus said come unto me ALL of you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you REST. Isaiah said the Spirit of God was a REST and a REFRESHING. When Jesus tabernacles with you, you will be at REST and you will be REFRESHED!

 

Prophetically, the Feast of Tabernacles is right around the corner. The pattern is clear – first the rapture, then tribulation, and then the REST of the Millennium Kingdom. First there was Trumpets, then Atonement, then and TABERNACLES. The three fall feasts of Israel are God's prophetic time clock that is ticking as we write this. Violence is erupting weekly if not daily at times in the Middle East. The rumblings of thunder are being heard. A distant cry is being heard that is telling the church to get herself ready for the rapture and be prepared to meet the bridegroom for He is coming very SOON. Another cry is being sent to a dying world that time is short and her destruction is sure. Great days of tribulation are ahead not only for Israel but the entire planet of Earth. It's getting late neighbor. It's getting late. Do you know that you know that you know that you know that Jesus lives within you today? Does He tabernacle with you at this moment? Are you washed in the precious blood of the Lamb??

 

At the Cross Christ because of His Death and subsequent Resurrection became the fulfillment of the “first” harvest or “Firstfruits,” of God upon the Earth based upon our Lord’s Finished Work. Christ’s work on the Cross and the Resurrection without question assures all those who believe in Him life and guarantees the fact that those same one’s who believe will partake in a similar resurrection known as the Rapture of the Church. This is what John referred to as “the first resurrection,” a fact Jesus alluded to in John 5 when He stated some would come forth to either the resurrection of life or the resurrection of damnation.

 

John 5:28-29 - Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, [29] and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

 

Rev 20:4-5 - And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

 

The terms “first resurrection,” “Firstfruits,” “rapture,” and “resurrection of life,” all mean the same thing. Paul called it a “gathering” unto the Lord in 1 Thessalonians while giving greater detail of this blessed event in 1 Corinthians 15.

 

First of all, the Holy Spirit tells us through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians that “Christ has risen from the dead and has become the “first fruit” of them that slept. The term “firstfruits” refers to the harvest of a farmer’s first crop. The Jewish farmer was to take part of his very first fruit and give it as an offering to God. Note two points: The word “first” means the first in order of time: the first fruit is to be reaped. Secondly, the offering of the first fruit to God assures God’s blessing upon the rest of the harvest: the dedication of the first fruit guaranteed and assured the blessing of God upon all the fruit that followed.

 

1 Cor. 15:20-25 - But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. [21] For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But every man in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. [24] Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. [25] For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

 

The point is this: the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the first fruit of the harvest, the first resurrection of a Man who would never die again. Jesus Himself had raised others from the dead, but they were all to die again; but not Christ. Christ was raised from the dead to live forever, and His resurrection was and is the guarantee that we, too, shall be raised from the dead! Even those “alive,” and who are “remaining,” will be raised in a sense just like those in the graves for we will put off this body of death and take on a GLORIFIED body which will be like Christ! When the rapture occurs it will truly be a resurrection of LIFE and not a resurrection of damnation!

 

Romans 8:11 - But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

 

Note the words, “but now.” The words connect this passage to the former verses where some in Paul’s day argued and surmised that Christ did not arise from the dead. To be frank with you the modern church world, at least the professing part of the modern church world, still carries on that argument today. When men say that things such as “miracles,” and the working and moving of the Holy Ghost “went away with the age of the apostles,” or that God does not do the things today that He did so long ago we are in essence saying “we don’t believe in the resurrection power of Jesus!”

 

Neighbor, Christianity is not a collection of historical facts about Christ; TRUE Christianity is a life-giving UNION WITH CHRIST! Millions know “about” Christ, but precious few, sadly, KNOW Him in the fellowship of his sufferings AND the power of HIS resurrection, which is in essence the ministry of the HOLY GHOST to the believing sinner through making the work of Christ on the Cross REAL and effectual in the hearts and lives of those who are truly saved. We DIE so we can LIVE! Let me change that, we DIE so that HE can live! But as the Holy Spirit warns through Paul, “If Christ did not arise from the dead,” then we must realize that the consequences are eternally terrible, for it means that:

 

·         Our preaching is meaningless

·         Our faith is futile

·         We are liars and false witnesses

·         We are still in our sins

·         Our loved ones who have already died have perished

·         We are, of all men, most miserable.

 

The Holy Spirit openly declares: “But NOW is Christ risen!” He is not dead; He is not lying as a decayed corpse in the grave. We are not living in hopeless misery. In fact, the very opposite is true. We have the greatest hope in the world, the hope of being resurrected from the dead. And the great guarantee of our resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself. He has risen; therefore, we shall arise. He is the first fruit—the guarantee, the seal, the assurance of our resurrection and the resurrection of untold MILLIONS who will come to Him in Faith prior to the first resurrection of life! That is why many commentators call this age the “harvest” generation for the Holy Spirit it at work in these last days bringing men to Christ and to “dwell” and work in the hearts of those who believe!

 

 

He was the FIRST of all that God will do at the Rapture of the Church and during the Millennium Age when Death shall be conquered once and for all!

 

 

There will actually be two great harvests at the end of this age – the rapture of the church when He gathers all those who know Him into the realm of heaven to escape the Great Tribulation period AND the great harvest of souls that will come to Him in faith the day He redeems National Israel at the end of the Great Tribulation period immediately preceding the Millennium Reign or Rest of Christ, which is the antitype or prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. The message of the Feast of Tabernacles really points back the message of Firstfruits in that during the FIRST harvest there was tremendous suffering on the part of Christ that had to take place for men to be able to live eternally WITH God through His Son Jesus Christ. During the natural celebration Israel was BEGINNING its harvest season at Firstfruits but completing it at the Feast of Tabernacles!

 

At the Cross, Christ counteracted and reversed the sin and death brought on by the disobedience of Adam through His own resurrection and life. Adam and Christ are pictured as the two pivotal points of human history. Adam stands as the head of the human race, the first to bring death to man. Christ stands as the head of the human race, the first to intervene into the process of death and to arise from the dead.

Very simply stated, the sin of Adam brought death into the world, but the Man Jesus Christ brought the resurrection of life to the world. As the scripture says, “in Adam all die,” meaning every person born into the world inherits the nature of his father and mother, which is a corruptible and dying nature. Adam was the first to have a corruptible and dying nature; therefore everyone born into the race of Adam inherits the very same corruptible and dying nature.

 

The nature of Christ is a resurrected nature and all who are “in Christ shall be made alive.” All persons are not “in Christ”; that is, all do not believe and entrust their lives “in Christ” (John 3:16; Romans 10:9).

As a result of the work on the Cross, Christ went to glory and sent back the Holy Ghost to fulfill and complete HIS purpose upon the Earth after the resurrection. One may ask then “Why was it necessary for Him to be the first to arise?” Simply, because He had to complete the work of salvation and redemption for man before man could be saved and raised up from the dead. He had to arise first; then man could arise.

 

No man can save himself and no man can arise from the dead. If a man is ever to arise, there must be some ONE with the power to conquer death who must first of all arise and then by His resurrection, that Someone must promise and guarantee that He will use the same power to raise man. That Someone is Jesus Christ, who is the First Fruit, the first Man to arise, and He assures and guarantees all who place their faith and trust in HIM that He will raise us up from the dead. Jesus Christ has completed and fulfilled His purpose upon earth in the sense He has been the first to arise, and sometime out in the future, He will also resurrect us. His work on the Earth is NOT over in the sense that the Holy Spirit is busy convicting hearts and souls of men to get their lives right with God before the final harvest takes place.

 

Israel’s celebration at Tabernacles was a celebration of COMPLETION and SUMMATION as compared to the Feast of Firstfruits which included TOIL and LABOR. Israel planted in the Spring, reaped in the Fall. Christ PLANTED at the Cross through the shedding of His Blood but one day and one day gloriously soon, He will REAP the rewards of His travail, tears and blood on the Cross of Calvary with the resurrection of those “who are His at His coming!” Praise the Lord!

 

 

After Christ has resurrected believers, He will then move to deliver the kingdom to God. This clearly points to the end of time, the climax and consummation of human history but also the end of the church age which will take place during the Millennium Rest and Reign.

 

The Greek word ‘telos,’ means the purposed end, the determined goal, the destined climax, and the sought after consummation. Note three important things:

 

·         The length of time between the resurrection of Christ and believers (1 Cor. 15:23) has already been over 1900 years.

·         The length of time between the resurrection of believers and Christ’s delivering the kingdom to God is not given.

·         The words “then” (eita) and “when” (hotan) both indicate indefinite periods of time, long intervals of time.

 

These facts clearly indicate that great events and generations of time can occur between the resurrection of believers and the end of the world, for example, the one thousand year millennial reign of Christ. When will Christ deliver up the kingdom to God? After four things have happened:

 

1.      Christ must first subject all evil power and enemies under His rule of righteousness and love (1 Cor. 15:24-25). This refers to both human and spiritual enemies, to the evil of both men and Satan.

2.      Christ must subject the great enemy of man: death. Note that death is the last enemy that will be destroyed

3.      Christ must subject all things under Him and His rule, all things except God the Father

4.      Christ must subject Himself to God. This refers to the saving ministry and function of Christ, not to His eternal person and being. It does not mean that Christ is to become inferior to God and less than God. Such inferiority is impossible, for both the Son and the Father have the nature of God. They are One in their Godly nature, person, and being. It simply means that God sent Christ on the great mission to conquer all the enemies of God. Therefore, when Christ has completed His mission, He will return to God the Father and present all to God. When Christ presents all, He will also present Himself to His Father as the great and glorious conqueror.

 

Barclay says it well: “It is not a case of the Son being subject to the Father as a slave or even a servant is to a master. It is a case of one who has accomplished the work that was given him to do, and who returns with the glory of complete obedience as his crown. As God sent forth His Son to redeem the world so in the end God will receive back a world redeemed, and then there will be nothing in heaven or in earth outside the love and the power of God” (The Letters to the Corinthians, p.169).

This is the message of the Feast of Tabernacles – the time of bringing in the latter harvest; it is, in other words, the Jewish “Thanksgiving.” It is a widely held belief that the Puritan colonists, who were great students of the Hebrew Scriptures, based the first American Thanksgiving on Sukkot, a title given to this holiday because of the primary symbol of celebration, the “Sukkah,” or tabernacle.

 

The Sukkah recalls Israel's temporal housing arrangements during her wilderness wanderings as she was led by the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day and commanded by God to only move when the cloud moved and STAY when the cloud stayed! Sometimes our greatest battles of the Christian faith come in WAITING and STAYING instead of when to MOVE and MARCH! (If no one else just said a hearty “amen” that last statement I did about 999 times as I wrote itJ)

 

The command to “dwell” in these booths was a memorial of one of Israel’s greatest hours of failure in the wilderness wanderings after her exodus from Egypt en route to the Promised Land. The word “Sukkah,” can better be translated “habitation,” in relation to this feast for we know from the Torah, or first five books of the Old Covenant, that God dwelt with his people in their 40-year wilderness camping trip that came as a result of rebellious unbelief, murmuring and complaining. Though the wilderness was punishment for the faithlessness of the nation, God was faithful to watch over those who still believed Him – Moses, Caleb and Joshua.

 

As we celebrate the modern feast today, let us always be reminded that the same God of Israel’s wilderness wanderings is the same God who watches over our lives today and is STILL just a faithful in times of our failure as He is during our times of victory!

 

As soon as Yom Kippur is past, booths are constructed in Jewish homes all over the world on their patios and yards. The booths are made with no fewer than three walls covered with intertwined branches while the roofs are thatched so that there is more shade than sunlight during the day, but sparsely enough to allow the stars to be seen at night. Inside they are decorated with colorful harvest fruits and vegetables. During the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, Jewish families eat their meals in the booths, and the very observant even sleep in them.

 

As already stated, the feasts and festivals of the Jewish nation were scheduled at specific times in the annual calendar and they were both civil and religious in nature. Some marked the beginning or the end of the agricultural year, while others commemorated historic events in the life of the nation. All of the feasts were marked by thanksgiving and joyous feasting but none more so than the Feast of Tabernacles.

The feasts and festivals of the Lord were also community observances. The poor, the widow, the orphan, the Levite, and the sojourner or foreigner were invited to most of the feasts. The accounts of these feasts suggest a potluck type of meal, with some parts of the meal reserved for the priests and the rest given to those who gathered at the Temple or the altar for worship. One of the feasts, Passover, originated in the home and later was transferred to the Temple. The rest were apparently observed at specific times during the year and in designated places.

 

The Hebrew word for "pilgrimage" seems to be reserved mostly for the three great annual feasts of the Hebrew people: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. These feasts are discussed in <Leviticus 23>. They were very important in the Jewish faith, and every male was expected to observe them. The religious pilgrimage from the various towns and cities to the Temple or to the LEVITICAL CITIES scattered throughout the land became annual events.

 

Because Tabernacles commemorated the wandering of Israel in the wilderness, the Lord commanded Israel to live in booths made of palm and willow trees during the festival to commemorate their period of wilderness wandering ten they lived in of the barley sheaf at the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Features of the celebration included a holy convocation on the first and eighth days, and the offering of many animal sacrifices. The Israelites were also commanded to live in booths made of palm and willow trees during the festival to commemorate their period of wilderness wandering when they lived in of the barley sheaf at the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It included a holy convocation with the usual restriction on manual labor.

 

The Branches 

 

Leviticus 23:40  - And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.

 

Because of a conflict in interpretation branches were used in both the building of the booths and carried in the hands of joyful worshippers. Scripture mentions four types of trees used to fulfill this command:

 

·         Boughs of goodly trees

·         Branches of palm trees

·         Boughs of thick trees

·         Willows of the brook.

 

They are referred to as the "four species." The etog, a tree that produces small lemon-like fruit, is interpreted by the Jewish authorities to be the "beautiful trees." The lulav, or long branch of a date palm, is held to be the "palm trees."  The hadas, or myrtle tree, with its tiny leaves, is believed to be the "leafy" trees. Usually three myrtle branches are held in the hand, a type of the believer being held in the hand of God and ALL things working together for the believers' GOOD and not for bad!. The arava, or willow tree, is used in fulfillment of the "willows of the brook." Usually two willow branches are held since the scripture mentions them in the plural. The etog or citrus branch is held in the left hand, and other three types of branches are bound together and held in the right hand.

 

 As in the Ancient Temple services, the branches are held while the Hosanna verse is chanted. (Psalms 118:25)

 

Psalm 118:25
Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

 

That will one day be the cry of National Israel - "SAVE NOW O Lord," and "SEND 'prosperity.' The term 'prosperity' does not mean what we in modern church circles tend to promote as it relates to money. Prosperity speaks of wholeness of soul and salvation from the powers of darkness. Israel will be at the brink of extinction when the Lord returns to Earth at the hands of the Antichrist and his armies. But she will cry out to Her Creator unlike any time she has ever cried, declaring that she now recognizes the ONE whom died outside the gates of Jerusalem WAS God and the ONE the Lord sent to her 2,000 year ago. When the Lord hears this cry - HE WILL ANSWER with the splitting open of the Eastern Sky and 10,000 upon 10,000 of the armies of heaven led by the Lord Jesus himself who will destroy the Antichrist with the BRIGHTNESS of His coming - another portrait of the GLORY of the Lord of heaven.

 

Neighbor, we're living in such a time that we may very well witness all these things this writer speaks of. It cannot be much longer before the rapture of the church which will herald the beginning of Jacob's trouble which will last for seven years. This is the message of the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, known as the Feast of Ingathering. The Lord is about to gather His outcasts and the dispersed very very soon.

 

As I write the end to this journal, word has just emerged that North Korea has tested its first ever nuclear weapon, yet another rumbling of thunder of a distant shaking coming to the Earth. It's getting late friend, it's getting late. As the Lord regathers the outcasts and dispersed from Israel, He can regather YOU who are an outcast and dispersed from your families, home and lives because of sin. Everything promised to Israel is but a spiritual foreshadow of what Christ has done for ALL mankind at the Cross! If you're away from Him today, allow Him to bring you back through the wooing and love of His Holy Spirit. For God so LOVED the World that He GAVE His only begotten Son; For God did not send His Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through HIM might be saved. That is the gospel. That is the message of the feasts of the Lord, the feasts of prophecy. He loves you today and so do we; SAVE NOW, and SEND Lord to all those reading these words we pray in Jesus name, Amen.

 

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