The Feast of Tabernacles Part 2

[0:00] Right. You may remember that when I finished last time, which was not last week, the week before, we did the first half of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles divides quite nicely into two sections.

[0:15] And so we did the first section last time and we're going to do the second section today. And the first section was what people do in their own homes, what people do as individuals. It didn't really touch on what Israel did corporately.

[0:28] And so today we're going to look at what Israel did corporately. But just by way of reminder, if we could have first photo up, please. So young young priests would climb ladders, fill up these great vats of oil.

[0:44] And one of the things they would do in the temple was that they would burn these lights that were so bright that they would light up the whole of Jerusalem. And so it was said that wherever you were in the town, you didn't need any supplementary lighting.

[0:58] You could read a book by the light of these torches because they were huge. They were about 75 feet tall and they had these massive burning heads on them that burned so brightly that they lit up everywhere.

[1:11] Next photo. Now, what people did in their own homes was they moved into these tabernacles. Hence, it was called the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. And these could be all sorts of different shapes and sizes.

[1:26] But this is if we we think back to Leviticus 23. It was said that for this period of the feast, which was seven days, they had to live in booths.

[1:37] And so they would erect something like this in their garden. Could I have the next one, please? There's a slightly posher one on an inside view. And if you happen to live in a block of flats, could I have the next one?

[1:48] And they would. In fact, it's still a planning law in Israel that you have to build flats with a balcony that will take a tabernacle. So they still celebrate this feast to this day, the Orthodox Jews, although it has been through some change, as we'll see.

[2:08] And so what was the aim of all this? Well, it was it was it was God's way of expressing to the people that just like in the old days, as he was leading from leading them through the deserts when they were coming through the wilderness, he was with them night and day.

[2:28] He tabernacled with them. And if you remember, the word tabernacle can be either a verb or a noun. You can, you know, the feast of tabernacles is a noun, but the act of tabernacling with people is a verb.

[2:43] And God wanted to tabernacle with his people. And this was symbolic of that. And it was speaking of the time when Christ would return to spend time with his people.

[2:56] So we live under this promise that at some point in the future, Christ will return to tabernacle with his people. That is a particular promise that's addressed to the Jews.

[3:08] It is a promise that applies to all believers. It predominantly applies to the Jews. But in those last days when he does come back, there will be people on earth who get saved during that time and they will be included, not excluded from this.

[3:26] There are scriptures we'll talk about later that say that the whole world, including the Gentiles, will celebrate the feast of tabernacles, which hasn't yet happened. So this is a future prophecy.

[3:37] So let's move on to today. What we're looking at today is that's what people used to do in their homes. What did Israel do as a nation in Jerusalem during this feast?

[3:51] And I'll tell you in advance that it follows the same theme of demonstrating that God wanted to tabernacle with his people. But over years, what happened was this feast developed and was embellished.

[4:07] And I think we'll conclude at the end of this session that God had his hand on those embellishments as they embellished the feasts and did various things to enhance it.

[4:20] They actually revealed more of what the scripture was revealing to us anyway about the coming of Christ and certainly about what happened when Christ was on earth.

[4:31] So a reminder that the aim of the feast was twofold. It was a festival in remembrance, remembrance of those times when he led them through the wilderness.

[4:45] And it also, the feasts always speak of future events. And this is a yet future event when God comes and tabernacles with his people.

[4:57] So we've got this picture up here. This is called a lulav. And the lulav consisted, you remember we read about they had to take various branches from various beautiful trees.

[5:12] And it was a celebration of the fruit harvest in the autumn. And so there was always, I've forgotten what this is called, etrog. They called this the etrog. It looks like a lemon. That's because it's related to a lemon.

[5:24] And they would take this. And the nearest we have to this these days for a completely different reason is Palm Sunday, where people were supposed to wave palm.

[5:35] And they have these funny little palm crosses that pagan ritual, but still. But the people would take these when they went to the temple. And when they went through the celebration of this next seven days, they would take these and they would wave them whilst they celebrated this feast.

[5:54] Now, what then took place at the temple was a libation ritual. Libation simply means a drink.

[6:06] So it was it was a libation ritual, although it was a bit grander than that, you might think. And to get an idea of it. Now, what's interesting is the libation ritual itself is not written in Scripture.

[6:20] And that's the embellishment that has taken place since. So historically, if we turn to Numbers 29, beginning at verse 12.

[6:31] And we'll just read it down. And I'm not going to study every single verse of this. I just want us to get a feel for it and then get a feel for what happened when Jesus celebrated this feast. So Numbers 29, verse 12.

[6:44] Verse 12. Then on the 15th day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work and you shall observe a feast to the Lord for seven days.

[6:56] You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord. Thirteen bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, which are without defect.

[7:08] And their grain offering. Fine flour mixed with oil. Three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls. Two tenths for each of the two rams. And a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs.

[7:20] And one male goat for a sin offering. Besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. So you'll already be getting an impression that there's a huge number of animals in this sacrifice.

[7:33] Because this goes on for seven days. Let's read on. Then on the second day, twelve bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect. And their grain offering and their drink offering for the bulls, for the rams, for the lambs by their number, according to the ordinance.

[7:52] And one male goat for a sin offering. Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and their drink offering. Then on the third day, eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect.

[8:07] And their grain offering and their drink offering for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs. And by their number, according to the ordinance. And one male goat for a sin offering.

[8:17] Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. It's quite repetitive, this. But what we're getting the picture of is that every single day you have this vast amount of sacrifice.

[8:33] But also the grain offerings indicate vast amounts of thanksgiving. So you had offerings for sin and offerings of thanksgiving for forgiveness of sins.

[8:45] And for the plenty with which God had blessed them. So it's kind of like a double-edged sword, isn't it? Where on the one hand, there's this sort of incredible shedding of blood that goes on.

[8:58] And the Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. And it was the shedding of Jesus' blood that brought forgiveness to us. But it was allied with vast amounts of thanksgiving and rejoicing.

[9:12] Reading on. What verse did I get to? Verse 23. On the fourth day, ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect. Their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, for the lambs.

[9:27] By their number, according to the ordinance. And one male goat for a sin offering. Besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. And then on the fifth day.

[9:38] And by the way, I didn't count up the animals. Because there's a lot of them. Fifth day, nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect.

[9:50] And their grain offering and their drink offering. And one male goat for a sin offering. Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. And on the sixth day, eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect.

[10:06] And their grain offering and their drink offering. For the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs. By their number, according to the ordinance. And one male goat for a sin offering. Notice each time it's one male goat for a sin offering.

[10:19] The sin offering is made by... The sin offering is by a single goat. Or a single lamb in scripture. And there was only one that died for our sins.

[10:34] There were lots of offerings made by the priests for sins. But on the feast of atonement and on this feast, there was... The sin was paid for by a single animal.

[10:47] And these animals always represent Christ in some way as a prophetic thing. Because this started out kind of 1600 years before Christ. And predicted that the lamb of God would come and would be sacrificed for our sins.

[11:03] So, carrying on. Verse 32. Then on the seventh day, seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect. And their grain offering and their drink offering.

[11:15] For the bulls, for the rams, for the lambs. By their number, according to the ordinance. And one male goat for a sin offering. Beside the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

[11:27] And I'm going to stop there. Because the next verse says, on the eighth day. And we'll deal with the eighth day. In a moment. Because it's a seven day feast. So, why would there be an eighth day? And hopefully we'll answer that in a moment.

[11:40] Now, that was laid down in scripture as to how this feast should be celebrated. And clearly they're not doing this in homes. This is in the temple.

[11:50] Bull sacrificed on the altar. Lamb sacrificed on the altar. Grain offered up corporately by the Jews in the temple. So, you've got this separation that we spoke of.

[12:02] Completely united in purpose. All right. The people doing things in their own home were celebrating the same thing as what they were celebrating in the temple.

[12:12] But the temple was a corporate celebration as opposed to an individual or a family one. So, if we then turn to John chapter 7.

[12:24] Because I want to come forward to what they actually did. And even then, the libation offering isn't absolutely clear from what we're going to read.

[12:38] So, this is... The timing of this is just before Jesus was crucified. And so, we'll just start at the beginning of the chapter.

[12:49] After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee. For he was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now, the feast of the Jews, the feast of booths, which is the same as the feast of tabernacles, in case you're wondering.

[13:02] It would be known as Sukkot, was near. Therefore, his brothers said to him, Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples may see your works which you're doing.

[13:13] For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. For not even his brothers were believing in him.

[13:24] So, that comes across as a bit of a taunt, doesn't it? If you're so great, and if you're going to do all these things, then get out there and show it publicly. Now, Jesus, of course, has deeper wisdom than this.

[13:36] And he knows that they're out to kill him. So, he delays going to the feast. And Jesus said to them, My time is not yet, but your time is always opportune.

[13:46] The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves. I do not go up to this feast because my time has not fully come.

[14:01] Or not yet fully come. Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. So, they've all gone off to the feast. Jesus has hung back. Now, you may recall, we've said before, there were three feasts that males in Israel were mandated to go to.

[14:18] They were mandated to go to the temple. One of those feasts was this feast. So, Jesus is holding back, but he has to still go to the feast because it's mandated, and he fulfills the whole of the law.

[14:31] So, verse 9, sorry, verse 10, But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he himself also went up, not publicly, but as if in secret.

[14:42] So, the Jews were seeking him at the feast and were saying, Where is he? He'd made a name for himself. And so, they were thinking, you know, this is going to be our opportunity to get him when he shows up at the feast because everybody has to come to the feast.

[14:54] So, he's bound to show up. There was much grumbling among the crowd concerning him. Some were saying he is a good man. Nothing changes, does it? You ask about Jesus these days, there are some who say, Well, I think he was a good man.

[15:08] Look, if he wasn't the son of God, he was a liar. God doesn't actually give us the rope to consider him as something other than what he claimed to be.

[15:19] He said he was God in human flesh. So, he either was God in human flesh or he was a liar and we've all been duped. Doesn't give us all these nuances that we'd like to entertain.

[15:32] Twelve, right. There was much grumbling. They were saying he's a good man. Others were saying, no, on the contrary, he leads people astray. Yet, no one was speaking openly of him for fear of the Jews.

[15:46] If you sided with Jesus in this day, you would be put out of the synagogue. And if you were put out of the synagogue, the chances are your income would dry up because nobody would employ you.

[15:59] As soon as you achieve that level of infamy and you were cast out of the synagogue, you were finished. You would have a life of penury from then onwards. Fourteen. But when it was now the midst of the feast, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach.

[16:15] The Jews were astonished, saying, how has this man become learned, having never been educated? Because he wrote it all. Anyway, that's beside the point. So, Jesus answered them and said, my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

[16:31] In other words, God's. If anyone is willing to do his will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory.

[16:43] But he who is seeking the glory of the one who sent him, he is true and there is no unrighteousness in him. Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you carries out the law.

[16:56] So why do you seek to kill me? The crowd answered, you have a demon who seeks to kill you. And Jesus answered them, I did one deed and you all marveled.

[17:07] For this reason, he's referring to a previous miracle. For this reason, Moses has given you circumcision, not because it's from Moses, but from the, not because it's from Moses, but from the fathers.

[17:21] And on the Sabbath, you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so the law of Moses will not be broken. Are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

[17:36] Do not judge according to appearances, but judge with righteous judgment. So they were having a go at him because he'd healed a man on the Sabbath, because this is work and you're not allowed to work on the Sabbath.

[17:48] And they had, and we're going to, the next feast we're going to study is the feast of the Sabbath. And on the Sabbath as a Jew, because of, mainly because of rules written in addition to the Bible by men, you were prevented from doing an awful lot of things that the Bible never intended you to be prevented from doing.

[18:09] So I just want to move on to verse 37, because they were having a go at Jesus and Jesus was defending his position.

[18:19] Now, I want you to understand what now happens and how we get to this thing that happened in verse 37. So the way the feast was conducted on every single day, and this is where it's an embellishment of the original.

[18:34] Every single day, the priest would go down to the pool of Siloam, which is about 700 feet, 700 meters down in terminable number of steps.

[18:45] They would fill a huge container with water. They would carry it back up to the altar. And as they did this, they would be singing, and they'd be singing the Psalms of Ascent.

[19:00] The Psalms of Ascent being Psalms 120 to 134. And these were all Psalms of rejoicing.

[19:11] If you look them up, they're all pretty short, apart from one. The rest are pretty short. And they would also sing the Hallel, which was Psalms 118 to 120, I think.

[19:23] I think. I might have got that wrong. It doesn't much matter. The problem, or not the problem, but the point is that these songs of praise, songs of excitement would be sung as they climb these steps up to the altar.

[19:37] And the priest would pour out the water at the same time as a vat of wine would also be poured out. So you'd have wine and water poured out at the culmination of every day.

[19:52] And when you get to day seven, they would do this seven times. So you can imagine how tiring that was. But the thing about this is it was all typology.

[20:04] So you can see how the feast became embellished. Because when they conquered Jericho, they marched around the city once every day.

[20:16] And then on the final day, they marched around seven times. So on this day, when they got to the altar, I mean, on every day, when they got to the altar, they would march around the altar. And they would do it celebrating in the most mad way.

[20:30] They would be shouting and they would be juggling. There's a piece of history that says that one of the sons of Gamaliel was known to have juggled 13 torches at the same time.

[20:44] Because these are lit torches, not ever-ready torches, without them actually clunking into each other. But this was the kind of mad celebration that went on.

[20:54] There was juggling. There was dancing. There was singing. There was shouting. There was waving of arms, waving of the lulav. It was a mad time. Apart from when they got to this last bit and they stood there ready to pour out the wine and the water together, this was a solemn moment and there would be silence.

[21:18] Which kind of answers the question because at the time, this feast, the whole of Israel was jammed to the rafters with people. Tens of thousands of people crammed into a city that wasn't designed.

[21:32] Some people say it went as high as a million or more in the city at this time. So it was complete cacophony. But there was this understanding that this moment of the pouring out of the water and the wine was a solemn moment.

[21:49] And there would suddenly be silence. Silence. So if you had thought, and you may well not have done, but if you had thought, when we get to verse 37, it says this.

[22:00] On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

[22:14] One man could not possibly make himself heard over that great cacophony of people if it wasn't for the fact that there was this solemn, silent moment.

[22:27] Now on the last day, and this is speaking of the last day, they'd gone round this altar seven times. They'd gone down, got water, gone up, gone round the altar, pulled it out, gone down, got more water, gone up.

[22:39] Seven times. And on the last occasion, Jesus was there and they're pouring out the water and the wine together. And there's silence.

[22:52] And this voice says, He who believes in me, as the scripture says, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Now, to add in another nuance of context to this, the pool of Siloam was known as living water, the Maim Chaim.

[23:14] So it was a spring. It was spring fed. It wasn't a cistern. It wasn't stored water. It was a flowing stream. Now, if you just quickly look with me to Isaiah and chapter 13.

[23:31] Sorry, chapter 12, not chapter 13. And we're just going to read verses 1 to 3. I'm not going to go any further with that, except to say this.

[24:05] Most of you in this room will know what the Greek name of Jesus was. Yesus. And in Hebrew, Yeshua. When you read this, verse 2, behold, it says, behold, God is my Yeshua.

[24:22] And you look up the words. And then in verse 3, oh, sorry, at the end of verse 2, and he has become my Yeshua. And then, and in that day, you will say, oh, no, I've gone beyond myself.

[24:36] At the end of verse 3, you will joyously draw water from the springs of Yeshua. So these Old Testament verses, the rabbis would deem, as well as we can infer, that they were talking of Yeshua to come, the Messiah to come.

[24:53] So taking water, living water from the springs of Siloam and carrying it up to the altar to pour out was seen as, it was seen as a metaphor or a symbolism for the pouring out of God's Holy Spirit on his people.

[25:14] Because they linked it with Isaiah 12 verses 1 to 3. So let's think about this. In their minds, what they're doing is they are acting out the pouring out of God's Holy Spirit by carrying this water up the hill and pouring it out.

[25:30] But there's also the wine. Just turn with me briefly to John chapter 19. Now, remember, this water and wine was poured out at the same time, not intermingled separately, but at the same time.

[25:47] And the wine was always symbolic of two things. On the one hand, from, I can't remember which psalm, I'll look it up in a moment. Yeah, I didn't write it in.

[26:01] Oh, Psalm 104 verse 14. Wine is symbolic of joy. But wine is also symbolic of the outpouring of Jesus' blood. And to this day, we celebrate the breaking of bread with red wine or grape juice or whatever.

[26:16] But it's symbolic of the outpouring of sacrificial blood. So, John 19 verses 34 and 35. Jesus is at this point hanging on the cross.

[26:27] He has died. And they wanted to make sure he was dead. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. And immediately blood and water came out.

[26:38] So, in their embellishment of this feast, they had created this situation where a feast that was intended to speak of Jesus desiring to tabernacle with his people, the blood and the water were poured out together but separately.

[26:53] Which is one of those things that convinces us when we read the account of the crucifixion that Jesus was actually dead. It's a condition that can only happen if somebody has actually died. The blood and the water were poured out together.

[27:05] And they had emblematically acted this out in their feast of tabernacles. And so, you've got this astonishing environment.

[27:17] I almost wish we could act it out. Except I'm not that good an actor. When on the very last time at the culmination of the feast, where it's madder than ever, where there's so much noise, then there's silence.

[27:31] And then blood and water are poured out together symbolically. And then Jesus says, going back to John 7 verse 37. John 8 comes next, doesn't it?

[27:48] In this moment of poignant silence, when the blood and the water is being poured out together, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

[27:58] He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke of the spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.

[28:11] For the spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So Jesus was speaking of an unfinished work that would be finished within a day or two.

[28:23] I can't remember the exact time frame. But he's speaking of his own pouring out of blood and water together and his own glorification. So why the celebration if this is such a...

[28:34] I mean, it's quite a macabre thing to picture, isn't it? And I just draw attention to one other thing before I move on. Deuteronomy 16, if you flip back there, I've got you running about all over the place this morning.

[28:48] At this rate, you'll know your way around your Bibles, if you don't already. Deuteronomy 16, verses 14 and 15. I'll start with verse 13.

[28:59] You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat. And you shall rejoice in your feasts, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who were in your towns.

[29:19] Seven days you'll celebrate the Feast of the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in the work of your hands so that you will be altogether joyful.

[29:31] The joy that was found at this feast wasn't limited to the Jews. But you were supposed to bring the strangers with you, the orphans, the servants who may or may not have been Jewish.

[29:43] But it was, we've dealt with so many things that are Jews only. But this was to be spread wider than just the Jews. And there's a further scripture about this later on which I'll come to.

[29:57] So, now, we were talking about the singing of the Psalms, 120 to 134. And then the Hallel, Psalm 113 to 118.

[30:09] Now, just turn to Psalm 118. I feel like I should be running out of time. Are we? Oh, loads of time. Psalm 118.

[30:21] Now, this is a Thanksgiving Psalm. It's wonderful, you know. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. Oh, let Israel say his loving kindness is everlasting.

[30:32] And they're all dancing and juggling torches and doing all sorts of things like that. But just look at verses 14, 15 and 21. Verse 14.

[30:43] The Lord is my strength and song and he has become my Yeshua. And then verse 15. The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.

[30:54] The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. So, the sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. The sound of joyful shouting and Yeshua is in the tents of the righteous.

[31:08] And then verse 21. I shall give thanks to you for you have answered me and you have become my Yeshua. Jesus' name is written through all of these things millennia before he was born.

[31:23] And if you ever have doubt that this is a miraculous book, these things should tell you it's a miraculous book. So, we've arrived at this place where he cries out and says, if you're thirsty, come to me and drink.

[31:40] Now, because of the moment in which he said it, this was, people say, oh, well, Jesus never actually claimed to be God. He is claiming to be God right here.

[31:52] They are doing something that is emblematic of God pouring out his spirit on the people. And he says, if you're thirsty, come to me and drink. He is saying, I am that living water.

[32:03] It's not the only place he said it. He said something similar to the woman at the well in John 4, verses 10 to 14. And he also said something similar in Revelation 21, verse 6, and chapter 22, verse 7.

[32:17] And Isaiah 55, verse 1, carries the same message and so does John 6, 35. He claims to be the living water. And in their eyes, he's claiming to be God, which means he was either blaspheming in the extreme or he really was God.

[32:35] There is no middle ground here. And they all decided he was blaspheming because that's what he was crucified for. They accused him of blasphemy. So it's worth mentioning in passing, he claimed to be the living water, the Messiah.

[32:51] He claimed to be God in human flesh, based on the fact that he'd spent the previous three years proving it because he had done all the miracles of scripture that the Jews were told to expect when he came.

[33:06] The healing of the blind, the healing of the leper, and so on. There were many, many things causing the cripple to walk. So he had nailed down his credentials and said, I'm the living water.

[33:19] Now, I'm going to spend about five minutes dealing with the eighth day. And if we need to come back to it, we can. So we'll go back to, it was Numbers 29.

[33:32] And there's very little said about it. Verse 35. On the eighth day, you will have a solemn assembly. You shall do no laborious work, but you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, one bull, one ram, seven male lambs, one year old without defect, their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs by their number, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

[34:04] You shall present these to the Lord at your appointed times, beside your votive offerings and your freewill offering, for your burnt offerings and for your grain offerings and for your drink offerings and for your peace offerings.

[34:18] Moses spoke to the sons of Israel in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses. So the eighth day is called Shemini Atzaret, and it simply means the eighth stop or the eighth day.

[34:32] So you've got a seven-day feast that then seems to include this eighth day, and yet they are kept separate. They're separate holy days. They're identified separately.

[34:44] So you think, well, what comes next? If Tabernacles takes us up to the second coming of Jesus, what would the eighth day be all about? Because at the end of Tabernacles, he's returned for his people.

[34:55] So what's this eighth day all about? Most Bible scholars agree that the Feast of Tabernacles predicts the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. So once he's come back and he's restored the Jews to himself, the remnant, and all Israel is saved, he then sets up the millennial kingdom for a 1,000-year reign on the earth.

[35:14] So their logical conclusion, and I believe I agree with this, is that the eighth day refers to whatever is beyond the millennium, whatever is beyond the eternal state.

[35:26] Now, of course, there are different people argue over this, but it makes sense to me. Because in Revelation, we realize that in chapters 20 and 21, there is forecast a new heaven and a new earth that will come from heaven at the end of the millennium and there will be this eternal state.

[35:48] And we only need one day to celebrate that because there is no night there. So we have a state of being created where we're not going day and night, day and night, day and night.

[36:04] We're in an eternal day which is lit by the Lord himself. Phenomenal, isn't it? Now, there are lots and lots of... The number eight is linked to new beginnings.

[36:16] It's the number of resurrection in Scripture. For those of you who are into Bible numbers, circumcision had to be performed on the eighth day. In Leviticus 9, verse 1, it was after seven days of consecration that Aaron and his sons began their ministry on the eighth day.

[36:34] The church started to meet instead of on the seventh day as had been the case for centuries, the Jews had met on the Sabbath, which was a Saturday, they moved to the first day or the eighth day, which is why churches these days tend to meet on the Sunday.

[36:51] So the eighth day becomes this symbol of new creation and carries with it the hope of resurrection life. And resurrection life is eternal.

[37:01] So that's what the Shemini Atzaret is all about. Now, I think I'm due to finish, so I'll finish with this. Immediately after the eighth day, and some Bible teachers will tell you it was on the same day.

[37:16] I believe it was on the next day. To be honest, it doesn't matter. The message is the same. They have this time that they call Simcha Torah, which basically means love the Torah or love the law.

[37:32] And the law wasn't just the rules and regs. The law was the teaching, love the teaching of the Torah. And what they would do, they had an annual journey through the Torah, which would finish on the eighth day and would start again also on the eighth day.

[37:50] They would read the last verses of the previous year and the first verses of the coming year on that same day. So this is a very, it's a very poignant time for Jews.

[38:03] And what are we supposed to take from it? I'm going to jump forward on my own notes here. From all the feasts, I've got eight very, very quick bullet points, and I'm not going to explain any of them.

[38:16] But if you want to know them, go back through the tapes, the tapes, that shows my age, doesn't it? The recordings thus far. Feast number one shows how he would deal with satisfying justice by paying for sin himself.

[38:30] That was the Feast of Passover. Number two shows how he would provide for men to live free from the power of sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread. Feast number three, he would grant to all people the potential for eternal resurrection life.

[38:46] The Feast of Firstfruits. Number four, he would, how he would indwell his people through the outpouring of his Holy Spirit on his people.

[38:57] The Feast of Pentecost. He would, how he would personally return to earth to call Israel to repentance. And I haven't written the feast in, but it's, yes, but what's that in English?

[39:13] Day of Atonement. That's right. My brain wouldn't work. So that was, that was number five. Number six, how he would save Israel and all Israel shall be saved, which was trumpets, trumpeting that all Israel should be saved.

[39:31] And then the seventh one, how he will tabernacle with them during the millennium. And then the eighth one, how he will finally take believers forward into the new heaven and the new earth where there will only be righteousness and where he will have close fellowship with us all.

[39:48] And I'm sorry for my stumbling at the end there. Praise God, eh? We've got the Feast of the Sabbath to do, which is fascinating. Father, I just thank you that you established these feasts so that we could all be in no doubt that historically you had your hand on your people and still do.

[40:08] Lord, we see what's going on in Israel today and it fills us with horror. And yet you have not finished with your people. You are coming back for them. Thank you, Lord, that we were able to be grafted into the same olive tree as them, that we can depend upon your salvation.

[40:22] Thank you, Lord, that through your scriptures, you left us in a situation where we need not ever be in doubt because you wrote hundreds and thousands of years before you set things in place so that we need never doubt that you had your hand on your people.

[40:40] Father, thank you in Jesus' name for all that we've studied. Amen.