The Three Feasts

12/28/2006

One of the characteristics of the third feast described in the Old Testament is repentance and the Day of Atonement and the New Year. One part of the feast is Sukkot, or tabernacles, and it was when all of the people, regardless of where they lived, came and lived in booths. They all lived in little closets for a while. No matter what their cultural positions in life were, whether they were a servant, or whether they were rich or poor. Whether it was a nice neighborhood or a bad neighborhood, they all came together and lived in booths as if they were all one man and there were no separations.

I believe that what we talk about today, “The Gospel of the Kingdom shall go into every nation,” is part of the last and the greatest of the Jewish feasts. People will come out of all those dividing barriers and all the things that separate them like their wealth and beliefs, their little cliques, their practices, and hobbies. They will come out of that. That’s part of the prophecy of the greatest of the Jewish feasts. The first feast, the Passover, had its fulfillment in Jesus. The second feast, the Pentecost, had its fulfillment in the Day of Pentecost, as we call it, where the Church was born. It only makes sense that the last feast is going to have a fulfillment also. God saw fit to demonstrate to us that everyone is going to come out of their barriers and their walls and limitations. If we’re alive long enough to see it happen, you’re going to see an answer to that prayer that you’ve had for so many years.

That sounds great.

God is good. He is going to get what He wants—One new Man.

It’s hard though, for us to transform from the church that we know to one that is…

What do you have to lose?

Nothing. (laughs)

Yeah, that’s what I thought. (laughs). But that’s true in every country. It’s hard because Jesus asked, “What do you do with the new wine?” Well, everyone says, “The old is better. The old is better.” Well, it’s not! New wine needs a new wineskin, so that it can expand and grow and fulfill its purpose.

But, it has to start somewhere.

It has to start somewhere, exactly.

It starts with me.

That’s very true. It’s funny, but it’s true. That’s always been the case. God has to find someone who has the courage to begin, against all odds. Have courage!

Start the snowball.

Yeah, although there’s no snow here. (laughs)

How do you deal with, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”? You have “snow” here. Wash the sins away.

White robes!

•  The Three Feasts