The Feast of Tabernacles

The Old Testament serves as a symbol of the New Testament. The Hebrew Law handed down from God through Moses was designed to remind the Israelites of what God had done for them. We also should take the time to reflect on what God has done for us. Three of the feasts celebrated in the Jewish Calender, known as the Pilgrimage Feasts (Pilgrimage in that they take place in Jerusalem) are mirrors of the new covenant and have a New Testament application. 1. The Feast of Passover The Jews celebrated this as the day on which they were released from captivity in Egypt. They celebrate the lambs blood that was painted over their doorways, thus saving them from the destruction that overcame the Egyptians. Christians celebrate that Christ's blood saves us from slavery to sin, and keeps us from eternal destruction. 2. PentecostThe feast of Pentecost was a celebration of the harvest and first fruits. The Jews celebrate God's goodness in giving them provision over the harvest. For us, Pentecost marks the sending of the Holy Spirit to guide and assist believers in their walk with Christ. It marks power being giving to Christians in a never before seen way. It also symbolises that we are the 'First Fruits' of God's kingdom, and the first harvest of new believers (Acts 2) 3. The Feast of Tabernacles The feast of Tabernacles celebrates God living with the people of Israel in the Ark of the Covenent. The Jews celebrate by building their own Tabernacles to live in for the length of the feast. under the New Covenent, God no longer dwells inside a box, but in the hearts of his people. There is no longer one Tabernacle, but instead, we are 'tabernacles' in which God dwells. And in the same way that the Tabernacles the Jews built were temporary, we remember that our bodies are also temporary, and that when they fail our spirits will live with God forever. While the first two of these have personal meaning to Christians, the final has a greater corporate meaning. God wants to dwell with us, his people.ALL of his people.