God again speaks through His Feast Days—His appointed times and calls us to revisit the study we did on 10-3-23 on the Feast of Tabernacles which began at sunset on September 29 and ended at nightfall on October 6th. I believe God wants us to focus on the 8th Day Assembly which is the day following the Feast of Tabernacles which was October 7th, 2023 when Hamas (ancient Philistines) launched an attack on Israel. This was significant for several reasons. (1) It occurred on the Sabbath Holy Day for Jews (2) The 8th Day Assembly was a day of celebration and rejoicing with music and festivals (3) It is a time of renewal and new beginnings as reading from the Torah begins again in Genesis and continues through Deuturonomy during the year which foreshadows God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world.
Let’s consider the significance of the timing of this attack on God’s calendar. Every feast is a shadow of Messiah—what has been—what will be. Paul reveals in Colossians 2: 17 the importance of the feasts for Christians as well. “These (Feasts) are a foreshadowing of things to come, but the reality is Messiah.” The Day of Atonement was a time of repentance and cleansing as the priest presented a sacrifice for forgiveness of the people. The Feast of Tabernacles is a time of remembrance of God’s faithfulness and deliverance of His people. In scripture the 8th day is seen in circumcision; Jesus’ resurrection on the 8th day of Feast of Firstfruits; Pentecost was the beginning of the 8th week after the Feast of Weeks; the Jubilee is proclaimed after seven, seven-year cycles; and the 8th Day Solemn Assembly as our focus today. We can conclude that the 8th day is about new beginnings and we can deduce that the 8th day of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles is prophetic of a future new beginning. The Jews rehearse this principle “Sukkot-restoring the kingdom, one sukkah at a time.”
How does all of this relate to where we are today? Many feel that history as we know it is headed for a climax as the daily events unfold. The Bible says that perilous times will come, and those times are here. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says: “But understand this, that in the last days hard times will come—for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, hardhearted, unforgiving, backbiting, without self-control, brutal, hating what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lover of God, holding to an outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!” Does any of this sound familiar? 1 John 2:18 sounds an alarm: “Children, it is the last hour. Just as you heard that the anti-messiah is coming, even now many anti-messiahs have come—by this we know that it is the last hour.” Ever since Jesus Christ ascended into glory, it has been the last hour! The Old Testament (the former time) was preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ. After the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ we entered into a period of time called the “last hour.” From the time that Jesus ascended until the time that He comes back is known as “the last hour.” All Christians from that time are living with the expectancy that Jesus may come at any moment to Rapture His Bride. It has been 2000 years and again we are reminded of Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3: 8: “But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Hosea 6:2 has this to say about Israel: “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.” The third day looks forward to the promise of an earthly 1000 Kingdom when Christ reigns.
We are not moving toward the last days; we’re living on the edge of the last days but for a new beginning for Christians and also for Israel! The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be in two stages: (1) The Lord Jesus comes for His Church where we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This is imminent with no signs--suddenly, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. (I Cor. 15: 52). Then, there will be the Great Tribulation here on this earth that lasts for 7 years. (2) Then, Jesus Christ will come back with His saints to rule and to reign for 1,000 years in the Millennium Kingdom promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. There are signs of the times prior to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21—wars and chaos, terrorists, nation against nation, earthquakes, famines, epidemics, signs in the heaven, persecution. The intensity of these signs foreshadows the coming of Christ. Coming events cast their shadows ahead of time.
We see the events relating to the Church and Israel in tandem as God sets the stage for the fulfillment of prophecy. We are witnessing the birth pangs Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24: 8 as the earthly Kingdom promised by God to Israel is being birthed. The Jews refer to the attack on the 8th Day Assembly as the Simchat Torah War that is signaling another stage of the cycle leading to the restoration of His people to Himself and to the Promised Land. Zechariah 10: 8-9, 12 prophesied their return—“God will signal and gather them, redeem them, they will survive and return, He will strengthen them and they will walk in His Name.” All the prophecies concerning Israel will be fulfilled exactly as written in God’s Word on His timetable. God’s fig tree (Israel) has budded and will come into full fruitfulness when they recognize Him who they pierced: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zechariah 12:10) This prophecy, that Israel will see someone whom they “pierced,” is amazing because it is God Himself speaking—the Lord is the One who is “pierced.” Many times in Scripture, the Lord has spoken of His inheritance and His possession. The term Holy Land is often used when referring to Israel, but Israel has never been, and is not now, the Holy Land. This is a millennial term for Israel, used only after God will “remove the iniquity of that land in one day” (Zech. 3:9). Only then will it be holy.
God’s plan for the Church is coming into fruition as well. Again, we see that what has been will be as God works in cycles. The people that witnessed the resurrected Lord and saw His ascension into heaven received an outpouring of His Spirit on Pentecost that resulted in a harvest of souls saved in the Name of Jesus. Jesus went up and the Spirit came down. Peter in Acts 2: 17-18 said: “And it shall be in the last days, “says God, ‘that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on My slaves, male and female, I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy.” Peter was quoting the words of Joel 2: 23, 3: 1-2 regarding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit—the early and latter rain—a water breaking moment at the beginning of the Church and likewise at the end of the Church. Biblical writers used these terms to describe the visitation of the Holy Spirit upon the church in a dispensational sense. The early rain came at Pentecost to give power to the witness of the gospel for the “greater works” than those Jesus accomplished (Jn. 14: 12). It has been 2000 years since that first outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the latter rain or outpouring will be to qualify the saints for witnessing and the power to proclaim the truth and power to lead sinners to God. Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Mt. 24:14) The Holy Spirit is poured out and the Lord comes down to harvest the faithful of the world and to complete His Bride.
THE TRUIUMPH IS THAT JESUS IS COMING to Rapture His Church and to Redeem Israel and usher in the Millennium reign of Christ. The 8th day begins after the completion of the millennial Celebration; the Wedding Feast of the Lamb and the dwelling place God has prepared will be on the Renewed earth—a new heaven and a new earth—Behold the Dwelling place of God is with man, and He will Dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God! (Rev. 21: 1-3)