Our text this morning will be
Leviticus chapter 23, verses 33 through 44. In the Old Testament, the Lord
ordained seven feasts by which he required the children of Israel
to worship him through the year. The Feast of Passover, the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, the Firstfruits Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets,
the Feast of Atonement, and then the Feast of Tabernacles. These
feasts, these holy convocations, were solemn assemblies for the
worship of our God. Each of the feasts showed some
aspect of redemption and grace accomplished by the Lord Jesus
Christ. But three of the feasts stand out in a signal way because
on three occasions the Lord required every man in the nation of Israel
to come to Jerusalem to keep the feast. These were the Feast
of Passover or the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The two were combined
as one feast and they were required to come up and keep the Feast
of Passover. The other was the Feast of Pentecost, and the other
was the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, the reason is this. These
three feasts distinctly represent three aspects of redemption and
salvation which can never be separated. The Feast of Passover,
of course, is a picture of our redemption by Christ, our Passover,
who was sacrificed for us, who made atonement for our sins and
put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. The Feast of Pentecost
represents the in-gathering of God's elect unto life and faith
in Jesus Christ the Lord by the irresistible power of God's grace. And all for whom Christ died
at Calvary shall be brought to life and faith in Christ by the
omnipotent mercy and irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit. And the Feast of Tabernacles
represents the ultimate consummation of redemption and resurrection
glory with Jesus Christ the Lord. Wherein every chosen redeemed
sinner called by the grace of God shall at last be brought
home to God and made completely like Jesus Christ the Lord. Now
let's look at this Feast of Tabernacles beginning in Leviticus 23 and
verse 33. The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
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. On the first day shall be an
holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord. on the eighth day shall
be in holy convocation unto you, and ye shall offer an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. It is a solemn assembly, and
ye shall do no servile work therein. Now these verses simply announce
the Feast of Tabernacles in its position with the other feasts.
The details of the feasts are not given here. You can find
those in other passages, Deuteronomy 16, Numbers 29, and so on. Moses simply shows us that at
the conclusion of the year, the children of Israel were to observe
this feast, this final feast of worship unto the Lord God,
which represented that same thing which John saw in Revelation
chapter 10, where he speaks of Christ as the great angel of
the covenant, holding the book of God in his hand, with one
foot on the sea and one foot on the earth. fulfilling the purpose of God.
And when at last He comes, He shall lift His hand to heaven
and say, It is done. Time shall be no more. The mystery
of God is finished. Now look at verse 37. These are
the feasts which the Lord shall proclaim to be holy convocations,
to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering,
and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything
upon his day, beside the Sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your
gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill
offerings which you give unto the Lord. Now again, these verses
announce the conclusion of the instructions that God gave to
Moses about the keeping of these feasts. But there seems to be
something amiss here. Moses here concludes instruction
about the feast, and then he goes on to give us more instruction
concerning the Feast of Tabernacles. I can't help asking myself, why? Why does he seem to interrupt
himself? Certainly it is not that Moses
was writing as he was moved by the Spirit of God, and like I
do often, suddenly thought, oops, I forgot, I meant to say this.
That's not the case at all. But rather the arrangement of
the passage is by divine purpose. By writing as he does, Moses,
here inspired by the Holy Spirit, calls special attention to the
Feast of Tabernacles because it represents the most joyful
prospect of heavenly everlasting bliss in that day called the
times of the restitution of all things. So look at verse 29. Also, Moses says, be sure of
this. Be sure of this. In the fifteenth
day of the seventh month, when you 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. Now make a note, the word also
is not really a conjunction at all. In fact, the word is very
poorly translated. It should be translated, surely.
It is the same word David uses in Psalm 73, where he says, truly,
God is good to Israel. It is a word that expresses strong
conviction, firm persuasion, absolute certainty. And this
is what Moses is saying. As surely as you have kept the
Feast of Passover, as surely as you have been redeemed by
Christ, as surely as you have kept the Feast of Pentecost,
as surely as you have been called by the Holy Spirit, you shall
also keep the Feast of Tabernacles. As surely as you have kept these
ordinances of divine worship, you shall at last be with God
in heavenly glory, rejoicing in that which is represented
here in this feast of tabernacles. Now, let's read the instructions.
Verse 39. Surely in the fifteenth day of
the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the
land, you 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 you shall take you on the
first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees,
and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook. And you
shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. And you
shall keep it as a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever
in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the
seventh month. You shall dwell in booths seven
days. All that are Israelites born
shall dwell in booths, and 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. And Moses
declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord. Now let me show you seven things.
First, the time of this feast. It's described in verse 39 as
being in the fifteenth day of the seventh month. That is, it
was at the time of full harvest, when all the harvest was finished,
when the people had gathered in all the crops from the field,
all the corn was gathered into the barn, and all the grapes
were in the winepress. It was a time of harvest in Israel. And so it speaks of the time
when the Lord Jesus Christ shall have gathered the full harvest
of the earth. when he shall have gathered in
all things unto his glory and made this restitution of all
things unto God. It was also for the Jews a rainy
season. In Palestine, the seventh month
was the time when they had their greatest rains. And it is given
at this time probably for many reasons, but certainly for this.
It would be most unlikely for folks to go camping during the
rainy season. If they were to be seen camping
out with bulls on the housetops or bulls in the streets or bulls
in the field, bulls down by the house of God in the springtime,
that wouldn't be any great surprise. No great surprise at all there.
It's kind of ordinary. When I go out to Rescue California
in the summer conference, a lot of folks come and camp all around
the church building during the summertime. We just got back
from the winter conference and nobody does. Well, a few people
do, but nobody is expected to because it gets cold and it's
rainy. Things are damp and it's not
comfortable. So this feast of tabernacles
was kept at a time. These people were required to
dwell in booths at a time that was least expected. And when
Christ comes again, and when the Lord God Almighty comes here
to make all things new, He shall appear at a time when no one
expects Him to come except those who live in anticipation of His
coming. In other words, of the times
and seasons, we have absolutely no knowledge. Now I stress this
particularly in this generation. We need to learn it and learn
it well. No one knows when the Lord Jesus is coming again, or
even the approximate time. No one. There are no signs of
Christ's second coming. There were many signs of his
first coming. There are no signs of his second
coming. We have, since the day that our
Lord Jesus came into this world, been living in what John calls
the last time, the last tick of the clock. And the Lord Jesus
himself says, of the day and hour when the Son of Man comes,
no man knows, not even the Son. But these things are known only
to the Father. Now if the Lord Jesus Christ,
as a man, The perfect man, the man who knew scripture better
than any man knows scripture, did not find some secret code
in the Bible, some secret mysterious thing in the Bible by which men
could figure out exactly the time of his coming, then you're
not about to, and nobody else is about to. There's a reason
for this. The Lord God would not have us
to live looking for signs, but rather to live in the constant
anticipation of Christ's glorious appearing. No one knows or even
has a hint of the time of our Lord's coming. Alright, enough
of that. The second thing is this. I want you to see the purpose
of this feast. It's revealed in verses 42 and
43. As is set forth here in the Law of Moses, God's purpose in
establishing the Feast of Tabernacles was to remind Israel of their
time in the wilderness, when the Lord God, having brought
them out of Egyptian bondage, caused them, while they lived
in the wilderness, to live as pilgrims dwelling in booths Temporary
shelters. Sometimes these are called tents,
but they're not tents at all like we would imagine them being.
Rather, they were structures that were made substantially,
but structures that were made only to be temporary structures.
And the Lord would have them to understand, while you lived
here in the wilderness, moving from Egypt into the land of promise. You dwelled as pilgrims in booze,
and I dwelt with you in the cloudy pillar. And I was with you all
the way, guiding you, protecting you, and overshadowing you. In
the keeping of the feast, the Lord would have his people to
remember that all the while they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan.
He was their protector, and he was their keeper. But there's
more than that here. The Feast of Tabernacles typically
spoke of another, better, more glorious day for the Israel of
God. It typified that blessed, endless
day of eternal glory, when our God has made all things new and
tabernacles forever with men, that day when the Lamb shall
lead us to fountains of living water and cause us to drink freely. The beginning, of course, was
with the incarnation of Christ. Let me show you this. Turn over
to Hebrews 9. It is a mistake, whenever we
read about the new creation, it is a mistake to think of the
new creation as only referring to the recreation of the heavens
and the earth physically. This new creation involves the
new creation of grace, which began with the incarnation of
Christ, and he is represented in the Feast of Tabernacles.
We're told in John 1 verse 14, the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. The word is, the word was made
flesh and tabernacled among us. He dwelt here in a booth. And the tabernacle in the wilderness
represented him as well. Look in Hebrews 9 and verse 6. Speaking of the tabernacle and
the holy things of the tabernacle, now when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God. But into the second went the
high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which
he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. The
Holy Ghost thus signified, that is, by these things the Holy
Spirit testified that the way into the holiest, the way of
access for sinners to God was not yet made manifest. While
as the first tabernacle was yet standing, verse 9, which was
a figure. Its only purpose was as a figure. Its only reason for existence
was as a figure, a type, a picture, which was a figure for the time
then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that
could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to conscience. which stood only in meats and
drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances, that is ordinances
that were physical, imposed upon them until the time of reformation,
until God makes things new. Now watch this. But Christ being
come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood, in and in what's into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. Still, the full accomplishment
of the type will not take place until Christ comes again and
creates a new heavens and a new earth. Look in Revelation 21.
The Feast of Tabernacles portrays these things that John here describes. John says, I saw a new heaven
and a new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband." The other night,
late, I was moving some books and ran across one of those dispensational
comic books of heresy that I hadn't looked at in years. And they
have a picture. Some fellow drew a picture. I
remember it so distinctly. It was set in our classroom in
theology when I was in school. Set on the board in front of
the class all the time. Picture of New Jerusalem, a city sort
of coming down out of heaven and hovering over the earth. And folks would kind of float
up to it and float back down from it. No. What John's talking
about is a city that's prepared as a bride for her husband. It's
not a carnal city, he's talking about the city of God. He's talking
about the church of the living God coming down to dwell upon
the earth in perfect righteousness. Read on, verse 3. And I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. Oh, thank God. And he that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he
said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I'll give to him that is a thirst
of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh
shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall
be my son. Look at chapter 22, Revelation
22. He showed me a pure river of
the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of it, and on either
side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month,
and leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And
there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it. And His servants shall serve
Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their
foreheads. And there shall be no more night,
no night there. And they need no candle, neither
light of the sun, for the Lord giveth them light. And they shall
reign forever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings
are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy
prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things
which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book. This is the same thing
described in Revelation 7. They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them nor any
heat. For the lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into
living fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. The Feast of Tabernacles was
a time when the Lord said, you shall rejoice. you shall rejoice. No indication
in this feast of any mourning. No indication in this feast of
any sadness. No indication in the keeping
of this feast of any sorrow. No indication of any lamentation,
but rather joy, rejoicing, and gladness. That's the celebration
of this feast. And so it shall be when at last
we sit around the throne of our God and serve Him day and night,
and the former things are passed away, and God wipes all tears
from our eyes, there will be no more sorrow for anything. For anything. For the former
things, all of them, are passed away. But more than that, more
than that, we will have in that day such an apprehension of God's
goodness. that we will gather in our minds
all things lofty, and all things low, and all things dark, and
all things light. All things heavy and all things
bitter, as well as all things delightful and all things good.
And understand that these things are by the hand of our God, and
they have brought us here at His feet to worship Him forever. Look at these booze, and let
me show you the picture. The significance of the booze
must not be passed over. Or they were made to display
a picture of the new creation. When the earth shall be covered
with rich, luxurious vegetation. When men and women shall forever
live in righteousness and peace. Constantly sending up songs of
praise to God as they serve Him day and night. Hold your hands
here in Leviticus 23 and look at Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter
8. It had been a long, long time
since the people of Israel had observed the feast. They had
not observed this feast since the days of Joshua. And now the
worship of God is being reestablished in Israel. Nehemiah 8. Excuse me. It's verse 14. And they found written in the
law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of
Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month,
verse 15. And that they should publish
and proclaim in all their cities. And in Jerusalem saying, go forth
unto the mount. and fetch olive branches and
pine branches and myrtle branches and palm branches and branches
of thick trees to make booze as it is written. So the people
went forth and brought them and made themselves booze, every
one upon the roof of his house. and in their courts, and in the
courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate,
and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation
of them that were come again out of the captivity made booze,
and sat under the booze. For since the days of Joshua
the son of Nun until that day had not the children of Israel
done so." Now watch this. And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first
day into the last day, he read in the book of the law of God.
And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was
a solemn assembly according to the manner." Now try to get the
picture. The Feast of Tabernacles has
come, and the people go out and gather up branches. branches
from all these trees. Not just to gather the branches
and hold them in their hands or to weigh, but they gathered
up the branches and used them to make booze. In Leviticus 23
verse 40 and in Nehemiah chapter 8, we're told exactly which branches
they gathered. First, they gathered trees or
boughs from every good tree. Every good tree providing fruit
for the occasion. And then they gathered branches
of palm trees, symbols of victory, joy. They were used for the booze. And then the boughs of thick
trees. I had to look at that a little bit because I thought,
That must be talking about these huge redwood trees or sequoia
trees, something like that. Not at all. The word thick ought
to be bushy. It's talking about something
like myrtle tree, a thick, bushy tree, limbs growing low. The palm trees, lofty and high. The thick trees, limbs growing
low. They were used as well. And then
the willows of the brook. Those willows that grow by the
streams with their thick hangings under which men find refuge in
the heat of the day and sit down by the cool waters. And then
Nehemiah tells us they use the olive in the pine. The olive
tree provided them both with the olive berries and with the
oil, symbolizing the fruit and work of God the Holy Spirit.
The pine tree formed the huge beam on which the whole structure
of the house or the booth would stand and provided rich fragrance,
picturing the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the very fabric of all
things and who is the fragrance giving us acceptance with God.
They dwelt in these booths for seven days, rejoicing before
the Lord. And so shall we dwell with our
God forever in resurrection glory, possessing all things. Not just having them run, but
apprehending that all things that have been are ours and for
us. But there's still more. These
booms being made of these trees portray the matchless love of
the God of Jeshurun, in which we have dwelt from eternity,
in which we shall dwell forever, and in which we dwell now. The
love of God, like the bough of every good tree, feeds us continually. The love of God, like the palm
tree, is lofty and triumphs over every obstacle. The love of God,
like the pine tree, is strong and fragrant. The love of God,
like the myrtle tree, reaches down to the lowest. It is thick. It is immense. It is indescribably
full. The love of God, like the olive
tree, is rich and full. And the love of God, like the
willow by the brook, bends over and shelters the poor and lowly,
reaching to the lowest of the earth. Turn to Deuteronomy, chapter
33. See how it's described. Deuteronomy 33, verse 26. There is none like unto the God
of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in
his excellency on the sky. Verse 27. The eternal God is
thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He shall
thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy
them. Israel shall then then shall
dwell in safety alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be
upon a land of corn and wine, also his heaven shall drop down
due. Happy art thou, O Israel, who
is likened to thee, O people, saved by the Lord. The shield
of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellence said. Thine
enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread
upon their high places. Now I can't ignore this. Did
you notice in reading our text in verse 39, that in the keeping
of the Feast of Tabernacles, there were two Sabbath days.
The feast was to be kept, not just for seven days, but kept
for seven days, and then an eighth day. The feast began with a Sabbath
observance, and the feast ended on the eighth day with a Sabbath
observance. And so it is with the blessed
experience of grace. It begins here in our experience
in the rest of faith, the keeping of Sabbath on the first day.
We come to Christ believing on him and cease from our own works. And then on the eighth day. Throughout the scriptures, the
eighth day just constantly symbolizes, I won't say always, but constantly
symbolizes resurrection, a new beginning. And soon, Bobby Estes,
we're going to rest. We're going to keep Sabbath forever. And there's something else. Turn
to John chapter 7. Fourth thing I want you to see
is the addition of men. Somewhere along the way, After
the days of Nehemiah, the Jews picked up something. They decided
that God's revelation was not sufficient. They decided that
the way God ordained the keeping of this feast needed a little
help. They decided that that the keeping
of the Feast of Tabernacles, inasmuch as it speaks of a day
of great refreshing, a time of great reviving, a time of great
satisfaction, needed some water involved in it. And the Jews
invented it. They just came up with it, kind
of like religious folks do today. We need something else. I got
a call from a friend of mine down in North Wilkes-Barre. I've
been pastoring for years, folks. Starting to rave saying we need
something else. We need to do something else.
If you can't do it, we'll get somebody who can. We need something
else. We need something else. We need something else. Yeah. Need a new heart for what you
need. We need something else. We gotta do something. Things
aren't working the way God's ordained it. They're just not
working. These Jews, they decided that what they would do is in
keeping this solemn feast in anticipation of the coming of
Christ and the establishment of the new heavens and the new
earth and resurrection glory. We will go every year at the
keeping of the feast and take a picture. And take that picture
and draw water out of the pool of Siloam. And we'll bring it
into the house on the great day of the feast. That's what it's
called. What God ordains is sort of insignificant. What we do,
it's great. The great day of the feast, on that eighth day,
we'll come in and pour out water from the pool of Siloam in the
temple. And this is written about throughout Jewish chronicles.
You've never seen water until you've seen water poured out
in the temple. Oh, really? Of course, they claimed that
what this water represented was the water flowing from the smitten
rock in the wilderness. They'd draw up their magic water
that they somehow, according to what we read in John chapter
9, connected with healing. They thought somehow there's
divine magic in these waters. These are folks now who've got
God's word and decided it needs some help. So to go down to a
pond and want to find healing. Look at verse 44. I want you
to see something. Hold your hands here, John 7.
Just listen. In verse 44 of Leviticus 23,
these feasts are called the Feast of the Lord. Look what happens
when you add what you want to it. John chapter 7. Look what
happens when man puts his two cents worth in. Look what happens
when man decides he's going to add to God's revelation. When
man decides he's going to add to God's worship. When man decides
he's going to add to God's way. John 7, verse 2. Now the Jews'
feast of tabernacles was at hand. Ooh, Lindsay, that's a big difference. It's no longer the feast of the
Lord, it's their feast. It's no longer God's church,
it's your church. It's no longer God's way, it's
your way. It's no longer God's thoughts, it's your thoughts.
The feast of the Lord was by their idolatrous invention turned
into the Jews' feast of tabernacles. What a commentary that is. Now
listen to me. Listen to me, my brethren. Listen
to me. That is a commentary of condemnation
on every invention of men added to the worship of God. It doesn't
matter whether it's sprinkling a little water on a baby's face
and calling it baptism, or whether it's any other addition to the
worship of God, that which is added makes the worship of God
not the worship of God, but what Paul calls idolatrous will-worship
and superstition. Instead of worshiping God, they
worship themselves. Instead of looking to Christ
and trusting Him of whom the feast spoke, they worshiped water
drawn out of a dirty pond. Instead of finding satisfaction
for their souls in keeping the feast, they went away dry and
thirsty, just as empty as they had come. Now look at John 7
again. The Lord Jesus, we're told in
verse 37, in the last day, the great day of the feast. Here
they are. Every man born in Israel. has come up to Jerusalem, and
they've made them some booze on their housetops, in the streets,
around the temple. There's just booze everywhere.
For seven days they've been worshipping. For seven days they've been going
through the form of worship. For seven days they have been
exercising a form of godliness. Bodily exercise, that's all.
Just an empty form. And they go up here and they
saw the water poured out on this last great day of the feast. And they come away as empty and
dry and barren and dead as when they went up. And the Lord Jesus,
in the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, saying, Are you thirsty? If any man thirst, Is your soul
still empty? Are you still dry and barren
and dead? Is there nothing inside? If any
man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. Drink the water that I give,
and you'll never thirst again. If you look at Numbers 29, and
we won't read the passage because it's very lengthy, but I would
encourage you to read Numbers 29 real soon, maybe this afternoon
when you get home. We see the sacrifices of the
feast. They were just numerous sacrifices offered every day.
But every day, every day, the sacrifices diminished a little.
A little less today, a little less tomorrow, a little less
tomorrow, a little less tomorrow. Every day they kept. They start
out like this. And they get down here. Because
like the whole of Scripture, this feast was intended to focus
our eyes and our minds not on the many things that were types
of Him, but on the one great sacrifice by which sin is put
away and God and man are brought together in perfection. Jesus
Christ the Lord. Now, look at verse 36. Seven days shall you offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord. On the eighth day shall
be in holy convocation unto you. And ye shall offer an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. It is a solemn assembly. The word solemn assembly, like
the word also in verse 39, very poorly translated. The word would be better translated,
as it is in our marginal reference, if you have a marginal translation
in your Bible, a solemn restraint. But that comes close, but that
still misses it. The translation ought to be a
solemn shutting up, a solemn conclusion, a solemn closure. The Feast of Tabernacles, you
see, portrayed God's solemn closure. The time is coming when the heavens
shall be dissolved. When God's going to just fold
them up. He's going to close the book,
Bob. He's going to close the book.
When the lamb, the angel, has got the little book of God's
purpose in his hands and has turned the last page, he closes
the book and it's finished. You see, when Christ comes again,
when he raises the dead, when he makes all things new, when
at last he brings us into that state of glory wherein the tabernacle
of God is forever with men, when we shall dwell with him forever,
beholding his face in the new heavens and the new earth, that
will be God's solemn closure. That's going to be the finishing
of God's creation. Turn to Psalm 96. Let me read
a few passages that describe it to you. Psalm 96, verse 9. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Fear before him all the earth.
Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth. The world also,
now watch it, not is, not is, shall be established. This world
not established now, it's teetering all the time. God set it on foundations
sure to crumble. He's gonna burn it up, but it
shall be established that it shall not be moved. He shall
judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, let
the earth be glad, let the sea roar in the fullness thereof.
Let the field be joyful in all that is therein. Then shall all
the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord, for he cometh
to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with
righteousness and the people with his truth. In Isaiah 25.
Isaiah 25. In this mountain, verse 6, in
this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people
a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat
things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. What a feast of tabernacles this
shall be. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of
the covering cast over all the people, and the veil that is
spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory,
and the Lord God will wipe away all tears from off all faces,
and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all
the earth. For the Lord has spoken it, and
it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God. We waited for Him, and He will
save us. This is the Lord. We waited for
Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. Chapter 35. The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice
and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and
rejoice even with joy in singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be
given to it, and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, and they
shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God." Andrew Bonar, in his commentary
on Leviticus, suggested that perhaps when Peter was on the
Mount of Transfiguration, knowing something at least of what this
Feast of Tabernacles symbolized, coming glory on the earth, he
looked up and suddenly he saw Christ transfigured and Moses
and Elijah standing with him in glory. And he spoke ignorantly, but
he spoke pretty good. He said, Lord, it's good for
us to be here. It's good for us to be here. Oh, blessed be
His name. When our Lord comes in His glory
and makes all things new, and takes away all sorrow and all
sighing, all sickness and all death, takes away the rebuke
of His people from off the face of the earth, when He makes all
things new and sets us before His throne. and leads us by the
rivers of living water, and makes us to drink and be refreshed
forever, and feeds our souls with the leaves of the tree of
life forever. We'll be like Peter. Lord, oh Lord, it's good to be
here. It's good. It's good to be here. Amen.