The Daily Word of Righteousness

Where Are We?, #2

Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed: (Deuteronomy 16:16—NIV)

The feast of Unleavened Bread represents the first aspect of our salvation. This includes faith in Christ, turning away from the world, being baptized in water, being born again of God, receiving eternal life.

We refer to the feast of Weeks as "Pentecost." The Jewish feast of Pentecost represents our being filled with the Holy Spirit so we may have the power to bear witness, and so we may be able to gain victory over sin.

The third feast, the feast of Tabernacles, or Booths as it is sometimes called, is not very well known to most Christians. Historically, we now are entering the feast of Tabernacles.

The restoration of the spiritual fulfillment of Unleavened Bread began with the Protestant Reformation.

The restoration of the feast of Weeks (Pentecost) commenced at the turn of the twentieth century and has continued to the present.

Now it is time for the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

The feast of Tabernacles is composed of three subfeasts:

The blowing of Trumpets

The Day of Atonement

The feast of Tabernacles proper.

The blowing of Trumpets portrays the coming of the King and the Kingdom of God to us; spiritual warfare; the organizing of the saints into an army; and the building up of the Body of Christ; and finally the descent from Heaven of Jesus Christ and His army of saints and holy angels to install the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The Day of Atonement portrays the period during which God deals with every aspect of sin in our personality until we are reconciled to God in actuality, not only in the legal reconciliation we have through the atoning blood of Jesus.

The feast of Tabernacles portrays the forming of Christ in us and then the coming of the Father and the Son to live forever in that which has been formed in us.

Let's think about the blowing of Trumpets for a moment.

The blowing of Trumpets is the celebration that follows Pentecost. Since it is time now to move past Pentecost, we can expect to be hearing about and experiencing the coming of the King and the Kingdom of God to us; spiritual warfare; the organizing of the saints into an army; and the building up of the Body of Christ. There shall be a renewed emphasis on the descent from Heaven of Jesus and His army of saints and holy angels to install the Kingdom of God on the earth.

We are going to hear a lot about war—war against the sin in our life.

Our own assembly has been somewhat forward looking, not only in doctrine but also in praise and worship.

Our assembly, along with numerous other churches, have moved from the hymnbook to the modern choruses. In addition we have left the formal choir and have added pageantry, especially the use of banners and flags by the young people of the assembly. Mime has been included, also dancing. Some of the young people portray with arm motions the words of the choruses being sung. Tambourines are prominent.

To be continued.