Also, I do usually like to use the name Yeshua, rather than Jesus, but my school uses the name Jesus, and so I have to comply. Otherwise, my use would be Yeshua, which means salvation in Hebrew.
The last thing is that as I copied and pasted from the word document to this note here, the footnote numbering did not copy, but all the sources are at the end. I actually only used two sources, besides the KJV Bible. It's all pretty in the document, with quotes in italics, but that didn't copy either.
And it hasn't been looked over for mistakes yet, so if you find any, please just overlook them.
That's it, and I hope it edifies some!
Kimberly
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In what ways does Jesus fulfill the symbolism underlying the Feast of Tabernacles? Consult resources and discuss this.
Leviticus 23:39-43 -- Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath. 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. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
God tells us, through the prophet Moses, that the purpose, which the Feast of Sukkoth or Tabernacles was celebrated was for the future generations to know that the Israelites were caused to dwell in booths or tents, as He took them out of Egypt and into the wilderness.
But aside from the visible purpose, there lies a symbolism or significance behind the Feasts. All of God’s Moeds or Feasts represent something in His divine plan.
According to Meredith, the Feast stands for the temporary situations of our life here on planet Earth. In fulfillment of this symbolism, Jesus taught that we are not to keep our minds focused on the situation at hand, but rather on the things of Heaven, when He taught, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” – Matthew 6:19-20. Also, He said that anyone who put up valuables here in the temporary world was a fool in Luke 12:20, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided.” Through accepting Jesus, His death and resurrection, however, one is provided a way for God’s love to emanate into the world in abundant grace. And by this kindness, the Spirit of God has been sent out among mankind, and now man is blessed with the habitation of God. Revelation 21:3 says, “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.” This dwelling with man, through their hearts, can only mean eternally, and so Christ has fulfilled the temporal spatial of time and the things, which were important to men, with His eternal life. That is where man should not have their hearts and lay up treasures.
The Feast of Tabernacles represent Jesus, who tabernacles with mankind upon Earth, and this was fulfilled in John 1:14, wherein it reads, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Meredith says that in Jewish tradition, the Jewish people would recite a prayer on the first day of the Feast, which says, “Glory to God in the Heavens and on Earth peace and good will towards the earths.” He then says that when Jesus was born, in Luke 2:14 it is recorded an angel cried, “Glory to God in the highest, and in earth peace, good will toward men,” and he states that the similarity proves that Jesus is a fulfillment of the Feast because of this. Ridout seems to think this peace and good will toward men is acquired through these truths:
· A people sheltered by the blood of the Lamb.
· A people purchased by the same precious blood.
· A people delivered from the power of sin though the death and resurrection of Christ.
· A people nourished and sustained through their entire wilderness journey. (I believe he means, since he is talking post resurrection, that he is referring to our trip through the wilderness to the promised land of eternal life. – KP)
· A people sanctified unto obedience though the blood of Christ.
· A people restored from the sin and folly departure from God.
· A people who have entered into the thoughts of God’s rest.
Ridout says that, “If our souls have in some measure been laid hold of by these truths, we shall be in a moral condition to enjoy what God has revealed in connection with His dwelling-place among His people, and be more fully established in His grace.
The Feast of Tabernacles represents the birth of Jesus, according to Meredith, as he says we know according to historical, scriptural and astronomical documentation that He was born on Succoth or the Feast of Tabernacles. He claims that there are three principle testimonies, which confirm this, and they are:
· The timing of duties of the duties of the priest Zacharia, the father of John the Baptist confirms that Jesus was conceived shortly after the term he served as priest in the Temple, the date of his duties is known to Bible scholars.
· The Scripture confirms that there was no room anywhere in Israel for Mary and Joseph to stay because of this feast, as it is said in Luke 2:7, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for then in the inn.”
· The Scripture confirms that a great star was seen in the heavens in Matthew 2:1-2, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.’” Astronomers have determined that a conjunction of three stars occurred during this period in the years 5 B.C. to 7 B.C. at the time of this Feast.
Meredith also claims that the Feast of Tabernacles is alternately called the Feast of Lights, and represents Jesus as the Light of the World, because Jesus did say in John 9:5, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” And it is threw Him that we are able to be also called lights of the world, as Matthew 5:14 claims, “You are the light of the world,” as well as does Philippians 2:15, in that it says, “That you may become blameless and harmless, children of the God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
We can then see Mr. Ridout’s comparison of Jesus and the menorah or candlestick in the tabernacle. The menorah was beaten out of pure gold, and Ridout claims that gold stands for divine glory. It is also noted that it contained no acacia wood, which is known to symbolize human corruption. These two particulars seem to be a symbol of his deity. The almond buds, flower and fruit hint at His resurrection. The oil seems to indicate His anointing, or rather that He is the anointed One. Also, Psalms 132:17 reads, “There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed,” and so this seems to be an indication of both the almond buds and the oil/lamp combination. We can also see that the oil was a symbol for the Holy Spirit, in by the verse 1 Kings 11:36, “…David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem…” and so the light is a symbol of the Holy Spirit guiding the servant David. Regarding the almond buds, we must remember that in Numbers 17:8, wherein it says, “And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacles of witness; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.” We also know that Jesus was the branch, which indicates He is the rod, because Isaiah 11:1-2 tells us, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out His roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” This also agrees with Revelation 4:5, where it says, “And out of the throne proceeded lightenings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” This also shows Jesus to be the menorah of the Temple, thus fulfilling the title as Light of the World. The last thing of the lamp, which he compares to Jesus was the trimming. He says that the job of trimming the wick in the lamp was only to be done by the priest, enabling it to burn brighter, and at the same time, Jesus is the only one that can cause the light of His people to burn clearly and brightly.
Returning to Meredith, he speaks about the priestly custom of collecting water to dispense over the altar at this Feast, and how it is a representative of Christ. He reminds us that “In the last day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,’” as recorded in John 7:37-38. This indicates that Jesus is that water, which was poured out on the altar. It is also a tradition among the Jewish people that on the seventh day of the Feast that Psalm 118:25 be read, which states, “Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.” This is read as a cry for mercy, and is called “Hoshannah Rabbah” or “The Great Hosanna” which is why Jesus revealed Himself at this time as the water of life.
Mr. Ridout has some things to add to this. He begins with the significance of water, in that John 3:5 says, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,” and so he goes on to explain that being born of water indicates a water baptism, and such indicates regeneration through Christ, thus being made a member of Christ and an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven. He also adds that Titus 3:4-5 says, “But after that the kindness and love of God our savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Water then is a medium of fresh birth. Ridout also reminds us of 1 Corinthians 6:11, wherein it reminds us that water cleanses us, “…But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” The water also testifies to the laver in the Tabernacle, as the Lord Jesus Christ is the purifier of His community through His Word, employed by His Spirit.
Finally, Mr. Meredith testifies that the Feast of Tabernacles, all together, about the final harvest and Millennium reign of Jesus, because the Feast occurred at the very last and largest reaping of the year. He says this foretells the great garnering of souls that will occur preceding and throughout the tribulation. This, he says, is pictured in Revelation 7:9-10, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Also, he inserts that the prophet of Joel saw a multitude of people, which were to be harvested at this time, as Joel 3:14 reads, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” And Meredith concludes with Matthew 24:31, which states, “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” This is the millennial reign of Christ, which begins with the tribulation harvest, as foreseen in the Feast of Tabernacles.
And with this, Mr. Ridout concludes that we may enter into God’s rest, and at that time we may remember Isaiah 4:5-6, which testifies, “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 defence. 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.”
And so, with all that being said, I submit to you that Jesus did fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles in every way, and that the Tabernacle, which was in the wilderness with the Israelites, which housed the glory of God, by means of a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, was the prototype of the Tabernacle, which will be in Mount Zion in the time of the Millennial reign, wherein Jesus will be tabernacling with us once again, only not in the heart at that time, but face to face, because Isaiah 2:3 instructs us, “And many people shall go and say, ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach is of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.’”
Leviticus 23:39-43 KJV.
Meredith, Theodore R. “The Moedim of Yahweh.” (Aukland: No Mans Zone, 2009), 51.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ridout, S. “Lectures on the Tabernacle.” (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1973), 33.
Ibid 34.
Ibid 21.
Ibid.
Meredith, Theodore R. “The Moedim of Yahweh.” (Aukland: No Mans Zone, 2009), 51.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ridout, S. “Lectures on the Tabernacle.” (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1973), 21.
Ibid 22.
Meredith, Theodore R. “The Moedim of Yahweh.” (Aukland: No Mans Zone, 2009), 52.
Meredith, Theodore R. “The Moedim of Yahweh.” (Aukland: No Mans Zone, 2009), 51.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ridout, S. “Lectures on the Tabernacle.” (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1973), 322.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid 323.
Ibid 325.
Ibid.
Ibid 327.
Ibid 335-336.
Ibid 326.
Ibid 348.
Meredith, Theodore R. “The Moedim of Yahweh.” (Aukland: No Mans Zone, 2009), 52.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ridout, S. “Lectures on the Tabernacle.” (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1973), 458.
Ibid 459.
Ibid.
Ibid 460.
Ibid 461.
Meredith, Theodore R. “The Moedim of Yahweh.” (Aukland: No Mans Zone, 2009), 52.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ridout, S. “Lectures on the Tabernacle.” (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1973), 21.
Isaiah 2:3 KJV.
©2010 Kimberly Padilla, A.A Religion
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