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the Feast of Tabernacles - 2000
Welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles
Fred Coulter - October 14, 2000
Welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles, 2000. This is a tremendous
feast, brethren. And the Feast of Tabernacles is the highlight every year
and it’s the feast where we all get together, and we come together, and
especially those brethren who are scattered. Now you have a time to
fellowship. Now you have a time to meet brethren. Now you have a
time to spend time together and really have a wonderful time. And let
this feast be for you as a picture of what’s it’s going to be when it’s
fulfilled in the kingdom of God after Christ returns to the earth.
Now let’s go to Leviticus 23. And I think it’s very interesting, very
profound that all of God’s plan and purpose is tied up with the feast days
beginning with the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the key to start, and then
the Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and
now down to the Feast of Tabernacles, it gives us understanding as to what
God wants us to do, how we’re going to do it, what His purpose is. And
it gives us a general flow of time. And of course God doesn’t keep
time the way that we do, and we’re entering into a time that’s very
interesting because it says that they will say, “Where is the promise of His
coming?” And that’s what’s going to be jeered to all those who believe
in the second return of Jesus Christ. They’re going to say, “Where’s
the promise of his coming?” And when you look back in the history of
all the failed assumptions that have been by men, and even within the Church
of God, and when you go back and examine the scriptures, even the apostles
of the New Testament did not understand until they were very nearly finished
with their ministry, that it was going to be a l-o-n-g time until Christ
returned. But never the less, for each of us in our lifetime, in our
life span, when we come to the end of our lives and we die, the next moment
we’ll meet our Maker. And so we need to understand that. God has
His plan, God has His purpose.
Now let’s begin here in Leviticus 23 concerning the Feast of Tabernacles,
and let’s begin in verse 33. “And the LORD spake 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.” Now if you are watching this on the night, on Friday night,
and the moon is out, you go look at the moon. And you will see that it
is a full moon. Now if you don’t have all the calendar videos and if
you don’t have the booklet “The Feast of Trumpets - 2000 AD”, and if you’re
troubled by people trying to bring you some strange calendar instead of the
calculated Hebrew calendar, then you write in for it. We have videos,
we have audio’s, we have other material to show you.
But sufficient to say is this, the calendar calculations were given by God
to the Levites. And those have been calculated out, and you can
calculate forward and backward with it, which we have shown in the booklet
“The Feast of Trumpets - 2000 AD”, and it is always accurate, it is always
on time. Now then, since it was given by God to the Levites, and the
Levites were the ones who then released this knowledge and information
concerning the calendar, that we would know when to keep the Feast of
Tabernacles, that we would know when to keep the Passover and all the holy
days. Therefore we are following the instructions that God has given
where it says back here, Leviticus 23 and let’s read it here, verse 4.
“These are the feasts of the LORD, even
holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.” Now these
were directions to the Levites. So if the Levites and the successors
of the Levites after the destruction of Jerusalem were the ones to release
this information, so we have it on how to calculate it, then it’s precisely
as God has said. It is the Levites that have proclaimed it by
calculation from that time until this time. Now we need to understand
that, and we need to realize it. God did not give it to anyone to
determine how the calendar should be, except to the Levites. And
that’s why they released the information so that people would be able to
figure it properly and correctly down through time. And so that’s
something to really keep in mind.
So if you’re having a Friday night meeting with this instead of a Sabbath
morning meeting, you go on out after services and you look at the moon and
you will see that it’s a full moon. And I think you’re going to be
surprised how that that is the way that God instructed it. You read
the booklet “The Feast of Trumpets - 2000 AD” and you will see that’s how
God has given it back in the book of Psalms.
Ok, let’s continue here. “On the first day shall be an holy
convocation…” That is beginning tonight after sunset. “…Ye shall
do no servile work therein.” That means you’re not going to
work for hire. “Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire
unto the LORD…” Now we take up a holy day offering on the holy day,
the first day and the eighth day. And someone asked the question,
“Well why don’t we take it up all seven days?” Well, the reason is
we’re not offering offerings made by fire. We are to come before God
not empty and give according to our blessing which we will see tomorrow, or
in the afternoon if you’re playing this in the morning. “…On the
eighth day shall be an 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. These are the feasts of
the Lord…”, which then is a summary of everything that has been given,
“…which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an
offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a [meal] meat
offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day” (vs.
35-37). Now some of these things include all of the list
of the sacrifices that the Levites were to offer when the temple was
standing, which you find in Numbers 28 and 29. Then it goes on and
gives some more instructions concerning it.
But these days reveal the purpose of God. God has a purpose, and it
is being worked out. And let’s understand something very clearly:
prophecies don’t speed up and they don’t slow down. Now, in our
perception of them certain events, because we are looking at things, may
appear to us to be speeding up or may appear to us to be slowing down, but
they’re not. Everything with prophecy is right on time. It is
never late. It is never delayed. It’s never speeded up because
God is the one Who is in charge.
Now let’s show that back here, let’s go to Galatians 4 and let’s see this
for just a minute. Let’s see what it says concerning Christ and His
being born, when He came into the world, and of course that includes
everything. When He was born, when He began His ministry, when He was
crucified, when His ministry then began at the right hand of God in heaven
above. Here Galatians 4, now let’s read it here, verse 4. “But when
the fullness of time was come…” In other words when it came the time
to fulfill the sending of Christ, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under law subject to law. So everything is in the due time.
At the set time, just like it was here with the feast. Holy
convocation can mean “appointed time”. And God is the one Who sets the
time, and God is the one Who has appointed it, and the Levites through the
calculated Hebrew calendar are the ones who proclaim the days, and we are to
follow and obey and keep them, and as we do God reveals things to us.
So that’s how it is. And I think if you’ve been bothered by any of the
calendar things…now I know a lot of people have been bothered by the
calendar things. Don’t let it bother you. You’re just dealing
with carnal men who want to invent their own doctrine, who want to bring you
back to their way of doing things.
Now let’s come to Isaiah 14 and let’s understand something. That God
has said that He has His purpose, He has what He is going to do, and He is
going to fulfill it. Now let’s begin. Isaiah 14:24, “The LORD of
hosts hath sworn…” So when God swears, you know that’s double
affirmation that it’s going to happen because God only has to speak and it
is. See, God always tells the truth. The word of God is so
powerful that it creates. So when God swears you know that it’s going
to happen. “…Saying, Surely as I have thought…”, so this is in the
mind of God. And what is happening through the Holy Spirit that God
gives you, and as we’ll see a little later on, God is sharing His thoughts
with us. Now you think on that. If you kind of are having a hard
time…now I know some people are coming back and keeping the feast for the
first time in years because they have had so many different things happen in
their lives that maybe they’d given up on God for a while. But think
about this: the God Who is the Sovereign of the universe, with Jesus Christ
at His right hand, through the power of His Holy Spirit, as we will see, is
letting you in on His thoughts. Now that is marvelous indeed, and that
is humbling indeed, that God would call us, that God would make this
possible, that He would reveal it. Not because we’re anything, but
because brethren, God is God. And that’s wonderful to contemplate and
understand.
Now let’s go on. “…Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to
pass; and as I have purposed, so
shall it stand.” Now we can have absolute faith in that brethren.
Now continuing, verse 25, “That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and
upon My mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off
them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is
the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth…” Now we’re going to
see there is a typical fulfillment first, and there is the end-time
fulfillment with the beast who’s going to be raised up. “…And this
is the hand [that is God’s hand] that is stretched out upon all the
nations.” Now this is going to be a worldwide event. “For the
LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?” Nobody,
because God is God. “…And His hand is stretched out, and who
shall turn it back?” (vs. 24-27). No one, no one.
Now let’s come to Isaiah 36 and let’s see what happened. Let’s see
how this occurred. Let’s realize what God did. Let’s begin right
here in verse 1. “Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king
Hezekiah, that
Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah,
and took them.” And then the representative of the king of Assyria
said…and I’ll just kind of paraphrase it. You can read it all here in
chapter 36. He says, “Now look. All you Jews, and king Hezekiah,
and all you leaders who are there, don’t you understand that the king of
Assyria has conquered all the gods of the nations that he has overcome, that
he has put them down, and if you think that you’re going to trust in the
LORD of hosts, that He’s going to deliver you, you got another thought
coming.” Well you know they didn’t realize that they were taking on
God. They didn’t realize what was happening.
So when this message came to Hezekiah, Isaiah 37:1, when Hezekiah heard it
“…he rent his clothes [just tore them like that], and covered himself with
sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.” This is a good thing
to understand and a principle to always follow. When there is trouble
or a severe trial, go to God. Now here he humbled himself, covered
himself with sackcloth. Now you don’t have to do that, cause it has to
be of the heart. But you go to God and humble yourself in fasting and
repentance, and God will hear you. God will intervene. God will
solve the problem just like He did here for Hezekiah.
So he sent certain ones to Isaiah, and here’s what they told Isaiah.
They said to him, “Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble,
and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and
there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the LORD thy God
will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath
sent to reproach the living God...” Now you see, you need to
understand something. When you have a trial, it’s a trial for you but
it’s God who’s going to fight for you. Always remember that.
“…And will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore
lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. So the
servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah” (vs. 3-5).
“And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith
the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the
servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold I will send
a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land;
and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land” (vs. 6-7).
So God said what He was going to do, and this was the purpose He said He was
He was going to destroy all the armies of the king of Assyria on the
mountains of Israel. Correct. In this case this being the type,
he was not destroyed on the mountains of Israel, his army was, he went back
home and he was killed. But as we saw on the Feast of Trumpets, God is
going to take the beast and the false prophet and cast them into the lake of
fire, and that will be upon the mountains of Israel. So that’s
something for us to know and really realize and grasp.
Let’s go on here. Then the servant of {the king of}Assyria came back
and he said, verse 10, “Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah,
saying, Let not thy God, in Whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying,
Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” So
God had other thoughts.
And then he went on, Hezekiah, verse 14, “…received the letter from the
hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of
the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed unto the
LORD, saying, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between
the cherubims, Thou art the God, even
Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou hast made heaven and earth.
Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open Thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and
hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living
God.” Then he said, “Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid
waste all the nations, and their countries…cast their gods into the fire…”
“Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms
of the earth may know that Thou art the LORD, even
Thou only” (vs. 14-20). And so we’ll see what happened here.
Now let’s pick it up in verse 32. “For out of Jerusalem shall go
forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the
LORD of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning
the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow
there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By
the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into
this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for
Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake” (vs. 32-35). Now
there’s another thing that we need to understand. When we come before
God and we pray to God and we ask Him to help us, we ask Him to do it for
His name’s sake, for the sake of Jesus Christ, for the goodness that He has,
for the power that He has.
Now let’s continue on. Here’s what He did. “Then the angel of
the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and
fourscore and five thousand…” His entire army wiped out.
So the king of Assyria woke up in the morning [chuckle] and there was no
army. They were all dead. Now you talk about fighting a battle
for you. Did not God waste the enemy totally? No doubt about it.
“…When they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead
corpses” (vs. 36). You know you get up in the morning ready to blow
the taps, the trumpet, get ready for battle, get your shields, your spears,
your swords, and put on your helmet and get all ready, and you know it’s
time to blow the taps and no one blows the taps. So the king of
Assyria gets up there, and he looks around - they’re all dead. Now you
talk about an ultimate defeat.
Now let’s read on. “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went
and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was
worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Shalrezer
his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of
Armenia…” (vs. 37-38). See, God is able to work things out.
Now let’s apply this to what God is going to do, not only with us, but what
God is going to do when Christ returns. Let’s go to the book of
Jeremiah. Jeremiah 51, that’s next to the last chapter in the whole
book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 51:29, “And the land shall tremble and
sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon…”
Now that was also done right after the prophecy that Jeremiah gave, but it
is going to be done against Babylon the Great, because there is a first
fulfillment and there is the second fulfillment. There’s a fulfillment
in the time that it was then, or to be shortly after that, and there is the
fulfillment which will be when Christ returns. All of it together and
He’s going to perform every purpose of the LORD, “… to make the land of
Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.”
Now let’s come to Romans 9, and let’s see that God is just going to raise
up the beast, and He’s going to raise up those, and yes God is going to
allow them to get strong. God is going to allow them to do just like
Pharaoh - be raised up and really think that they are something, and get
carried away in their vanity and get all lifted up with Satan the devil
possessing them and inspiring them.
Now here, Romans 9:11, “(For the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil [that is concerning Isaac and Esau],
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works…”
That means not of our works, which we have done. So it’s not going to
be because we do something that God is going to fulfill His purpose.
He is going to fulfill our purpose and we need to realize that we are going
to be included with it, and in it.
Now let’s come to Ephesians 1 and let’s see how it is that God is making
known this secret. Now the world won’t know, and the world won’t
understand cause the whole world lies in wickedness, and the whole world
does not keep any of the feast days of God so they don’t know. And God
has to reveal it through Jesus Christ, which means that, even though there
may be some Jews who are not Messianic Jews… Now some Messianic Jews
may have an understanding of some of these things. But the Jews, even
if they keep the Feast of Tabernacles right there in Jerusalem, will not
understand because they have rejected Christ. But you see, God is
making it for us that we understand.
Now let’s pick it up here in Ephesians 1:5. “Having predestinated us
unto the [sonship] adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself…”,
because He’s our Father. We will be His sons and daughters, so it is
sonship. “…according to the good pleasure of His will.” Now this
kind of ties in with what I covered on the Day of Atonement. So this
is an extension and an addition to it. “To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.” And for
Christ’s sake and for the calling of God. “In Whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His
grace; wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having
made known unto us the mystery of His [own] will, according to His good
pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself.” And God said everything
that He has thought and proposed is going to happen. “That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even
in Him: in Whom also we have obtained an inheritance…”(Eph. 1:5-11).
And the Feast of Tabernacles pictures when we receive the full inheritance.
When we’re resurrected on Pentecost and meet Christ on the sea of glass we
have the inheritance of an eternal life, an eternal glorious body.
Then we have the inheritance of the share of the whole kingdom of God, which
He’s going to give us, and which we will have when we are ruling as kings
and priests. Now we need to understand that.
“…Being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all
things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of
His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In Whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the
purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory” (vs. 11-14). So we
are going to be raised in that, brethren. And isn’t that something?
God has made it known.
Now come over here to Ephesians 3:11. It says, “According to
the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And
so His eternal purpose, we’re going to see as we go through the Feast of
Tabernacles, come to the Last Great Day, we will see the fulfilling of
the things on the Last Great Day, which then will be a new beginning for us
for all eternity according to the plan of God.
So brethren, we have great things to look forward to. We have
marvelous things that God has given. It’s says that the eye has not
seen and the ear has not heard the things that God has prepared for those
that love Him. And so everything has to hinge on the love of God.
And we’re going to see that’s one of the things, the major thing that we’re
going to be teaching during the millennium. Oh, we have a lot to do.
You know, lot’s of times you sit there and you watch the news at night or
you listen to the non-news, and you think, “Boy, if I could just do
something about it.” Well, you’re going to. Christ is going to.
And you’re going to have a hand in it in
God’s time, in His way, according to His plan. And the Feast of
Tabernacles pictures all of that.
Now let’s come back to Isaiah 9 and you’re going to see as we go through
the Feast of Tabernacles, we’ll refer to some of these things again,
we’ll come back and look at it from a little different perspective.
But here in Isaiah 9, here’s the very prophecy of what Christ is going to do
when He returns, and the very reason why He was born. Remember when He
was being questioned by Pilate, and Pilate said, “Are you then a king?”
He said, “To this end I was born, and for this reason I came into the
world.” And here’s the prophecy that it is all about.
Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon His shoulder…” Now that is true for the
Church today because He is the Head, so therefore whatever we do in the
Church in whatever organization and things that we need in order to serve
the brethren, in order to have everything run decently and properly, it has
to be done according to the way that Christ has said. And it has to be
run and governed according to the word of God because Christ is the Head of
the Church.
“…And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller [these are the very
names of God], The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His
government and peace there shall be no end…” So when the
fulfilling of the Feast of Tabernacles begins there is going to be no end of
the increase of His government beginning at that time. Now that’s
something to really be thankful for brethren, that Christ is going to do it.
Now notice, “…upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it,
and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for
ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this [according to
the purpose of God]” (vs. 6-7).
Now let’s come to the book of Revelation. Revelation 20, and let’s
see that He is going to give us the responsibilities. We are going to
be kings and priests. We are going to reign on the earth. And
we’re going to begin reigning on the earth at the beginning of the
fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Now let’s read it here. Revelation 20:4, “And I saw thrones, and they
sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them…” Now we know the
apostles are going to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
We don’t know what the position and reward of Abraham or Isaac and Jacob
will be but Christ said they will be in the kingdom. Now all of these
things will be worked out according to what God has planned and purposed, so
therefore in faith we can trust God and believe God and rely upon God and
ask God to help us to grow and overcome so that we can be in the position
that God wants us to be. Now we’re going to see a little later some
are going to rule over cities, some are going to be part of the bride of
Christ, some are going to be teachers, some are going to be kings, some are
going to be priests. Let’s read it here, continuing on. “…And
I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of
Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast,
neither his image, neither and received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years.”
And you know the Seventh Day Adventists have it wrong. Now they think
that we will be up in heaven for 1000 years examining the judgment books
while the earth is desolate down here and nothing is going on, then we come
back to the earth. Well that’s not what the Bible teaches. But I
just will mention it here since some Seventh Day Adventists have been
getting in touch with us and they need to get things straightened out
according to the scriptures.
Now let’s continue on here. “But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished.” And we’ll cover that at the
appropriate time. “This is the first resurrection [for those
who have been resurrected]. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection [you are blessed, you are holy, you are in
the first resurrection]: on such the second death hath no power, but they
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand
years” (vs. 5-6). So there it says it twice. And so that’s
what’s going to be happening.
Now, let’s go ahead and finish here by going to Revelation 2, and let’s see
the responsibility that God is going to give to us. Now let’s begin in
Revelation 2:26 and we’ll finish here. “And he that overcometh, and
keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give [authority] power over the
nations.” Now that’s something to contemplate. We are going to
rule the world. Now you think on that. And just compare this:
there are men and women in this world today at the headquarters of the
anti-christ, right there at the United Nations, and out of that is going to
come the anti-christ. They are dedicated they are zealous, they are
working hard to fulfill their
will to bring a one world government and to rule the government of this world
with a tyrannical hand to keep everyone in subjection under them, and all
the evil that’s going to come from it. So can we not have zeal, can we
not have drive, can we not be anxious and looking forward to God’s way and
be doing here and overcoming, as it says in keeping His works until the
end?
“…To him will I give [authority] power over the nations: and he shall rule
them with a rod of iron…” Yes we will. Now I know the word
“rule” means also “shepherd” but you’re still going to have a lot of iron
indicating the type of authority that God is going to give you. God is
going to give every one of us. It isn’t going to be something that is
just going to be willy-nilly, namby-pamby and just left to chance. No,
when God sets His hand to save the world, and save Israel, and put down all
evil, He’s going to do it with full power, and He is going to grant us
that full power. We need to understand that so we can look forward to
it and really be inspired by it.
Now notice, “…as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers…”,
and we’ll see that tomorrow. How is the millennium going to begin?
I think you’re going to be a little surprised. It may not be exactly
as you have thought. It’s going to be a little bit different.
We’ll see that. “…Even as I received of My Father. And I will
give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches” (vs. 27-29).
So brethren, thank you for being here for the Feast of Tabernacles.
You all have a good night tonight, if you’re watching this on Friday night.
Or, if you’re going to stop, having this in the morning, have a nice break
and come back for the services after this.
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