THE FEAST OF INGATHERING


Just as we give thought to our physical preparations for the Feast of Tabernacles we also should give thought to our spiritual preparation for the feast as it draws near and reflect on the symbolism of the feast and what it means for us spiritually.

Now most of us can list off all the seven feasts of God off the top of our heads and briefly state what each of them symbolises. Without a second thought when we get to the Feast of Tabernacles we say the Feast of Tabernacles symbolises the millennium. Question: Is there anywhere in the Bible where Tabernacles is equated with the millennium or is this just a vague extrapolation?

I found myself challenged a second time on this point when I heard a well-known independent minister question this equation. In describing how he learned so many new things at a particular time of his life by questioning all his assumptions and relying solely on the Bible he said one time that he sat down and tried to demonstrate that the Feast of Tabernacles pictured the millennium strictly from the Bible and he said that he just could not do it. From there on he gave his view that the primary meaning of Tabernacles was more on the life of Christ when He tabernacled with humanity. While that may be another layer of meaning to the feast as Christ's various roles can be seen in the Holy Day plan is that its primary meaning?

I said that was the second time that I found myself challenged on this point. The other occasion was hearing a sermon by a minister from Atlanta who was one of the early ministers promoting the changes against the Sabbath and Holy Days. He said in his sermon: “Even as we go to the Feast of Tabernacles it wasn't about the World Tomorrow. You read Leviticus 23. It's not about the World Tomorrow. Now, you can extrapolate and make it that if you'd like, but they dwelt in booths. Why? So that you would remember the [Old Testament] story [of Israel coming out of Egypt]!”

In this article I'd like to answer the question: “Is there a genuine strong link between the Feast of Tabernacles and the millennium or is it just a very vague extrapolation?”

What we have taught in our booklets about the Holy Days is that God has used the harvest seasons of Israel to teach God's people the proper sequence of events and the key elements of His salvation plan—His "harvest" of human beings to bring them into His family and give them eternal life.

Now there were obvious physical meanings for the feast days as they applied to the history of Israel, their coming out of Egypt and showing gratitude to God each year for the two major harvests they had each year but as has been amply demonstrated in our literature the symbolism of the feasts is dual and each have a spiritual meaning showing step by step God's plan to redeem mankind.

There were two great harvest festivals. The first one was Pentecost and the New Testament refers to God's church, the first small harvest of souls, as His firstfruits in James 1:18. Does it not stand to reason that the latter harvest of souls in the millennium pictures the second and greater harvest of souls in the millennium? Can this link be demonstrated in the Bible itself?

Well, yes it can. Most of us have probably become so accustomed to calling the Feast the Feast of Tabernacles that most of us are probably unaware of the other name for the Feast and no, I'm not referring to the Feast of Booths which is just a synonym for tabernacles. There is another name for the Feast that gives us this strong link between the Feast and the millennium. I'll give you a couple of hints. It starts with the letter “I” and it has the same number of letters as Tabernacles.

It is mentioned twice in the Bible. The first is in Exodus 23:16 and the other is in Exodus 34:22 which we'll turn to. In Exodus 34:22 we read: “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.”

The Feast of Ingathering represented the great ingathering at the end of the agricultural year – the second and greater of the two harvests. The obvious spiritual meaning of the second harvest is the great harvest of souls that begins with the millennium.

The reason it is called the Feast of Ingathering is because the fruit at this time was gathered in. In the millennium God will first spiritually gather in Israel. He will extend the new covenant to the House of Judah and the House of Israel at Christ's return spoken of in Hebrews 8. Then He will set His hand to gather in all nations.

God's t gathering in all nations is expressed over in Isaiah 19:24-25 where we read: “In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria— a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” After the millennium, of course, is another extension of this great gathering which we celebrate on the Last Great Day.

There were two harvests in Israel. One was the grain harvest. The Feast of Ingathering celebrated the latter fruit harvest. In ancient Israel this feast is all about the fruit and being thankful for the fruit. From a christian point of view the term fruit has much symbolism. We talk about the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and Christ in John 15:2 and 5 asks us to bear more and much fruit.

This feast was also time that the fruit of the vine was harvested and wine was made. Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches and we must draw our spiritual sustenance from Him (John 15:5).

One thing that was vital to make this fruit harvest possible was the latter rain. James speaks of this over in James 5:7 where we read: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.”

If the fruit of the millennium is the converted lives of people in the World Tomorrow what is the water or latter rain that helps produce this fruit? The prophet Joel answers this question over in Joel 2:28 where we read: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.” The water of the Holy Spirit will help produce this great spiritual harvest in the World Tomorrow.

The connection between the Feast of Tabernacles and the millennium was not lost on the early church. Jerome noted that the Jews celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles as a type of the Messiah's rule on earth. In a comment on Zechariah 14, he writes (Commentary in Zach. 625-31): "He says, all who are left of the nations who came against Jerusalem will come up once a year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. The Jews look forward to these things with a vain future hope in a reign of 1 000 years, of which the celebration is itself a beginning."

Methodius also wrote, "For I also, taking my journey and going forth from the Egypt of this life, came first to the resurrection which is the true Feast of Tabernacles, and there having set up my tabernacle, adorned with the fruits of virtue, on the first day of the resurrection, which is the day of judgment, celebrate the Millennium of rest, which is called the seventh day, even the true Sabbath" (253-4).

The name that we commonly use for the Feast is the Feast of Tabernacles. Why does the Bible use the term Tabernacles and is there any connection between that term and the future Kingdom of God?

The Israelites dwelt in tabernacles or temporary dwellings when they first came out of Egypt. In doing so they emulated their ancestor Abraham who also dwelt in tabernacles for the whole of His life in the land of Canaan.

Now Abraham was a very rich man. He had over 300 servants that were born in his household alone (Genesis 14:14) so imagine the wealth that he must have had. Why did he not built a castle for himself? The answer to this question is found over in Hebrews 11:9-10 which, in my opinion, is the same answer for why God wants us to dwell in tabernacles during the feast.

We read over in Hebrews 11:9-10: “By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Abraham's dwelling in tabernacles was ordained by God to remind him that he dwelt in a foreign country just as we are in this world but not to be of it and we are told our citizenship is in heaven. Just as Abraham looked to the New Jerusalem that God promised he would have a home in, dwelling in tabernacles reminds us that no matter how much we have in this life, this world is not where it's at – real life is ahead of us when God brings His kingdom to this earth. Paul spoke about the resurrection as shedding our earthy tent and being clothed uch better spiritual body in 2 Corinthians 5.

We are to look to the New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God when God will dwell with mankind. Tabernacles contrasts between the limited existence of this world with the greatness of the coming tabernacle – both the New Jerusalem and the new bodies that we will have. It's curious to note that God refers to the New Jerusalem as a tabernacle which means a temporary dwelling. What the significance of that is would be interesting to speculate.

One website that I visited had this to say about the meaning of the Feast:

“The literal meaning of the name 'Hag Sukkot' (Feast of Shelters) for the nation of Israel was that of a memorial to their being brought out of Egypt under the protective hand of God. The making of shelters and dwelling in them was symbolic of  the need for God's care and protection and the futility of human efforts to care for and protect themselves...

“Dwelling in shelters is prophetic of the future, after the return of Christ when Israel will again be established as a nation under the care and protection of God. Dwelling in shelters  points to the eternal reward, which will be given for righteous and diligent service to God: eternal life and a dwelling place within the Family and Kingdom of God under the care and protection of God the Father.”

It's interesting to note in Isaiah 4:4-5 it speaks of God sheltering Israel in the millennium with a covering that will be a cloud of smoke by day and a flaming fire by night.

There is an interesting parallel between the first 3 and the last 3 feasts. Passover and Atonement both focus on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and coming as close to God as possible. The two seven-day festivals of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles both picture our life of tabernacling in this world and focus our attention on the gap between us and God and what we have to do to bridge that gap with God's help – to put sin out of our lives and learn to fear God always. Finally Pentecost and the Last Great Day picture two of the great harvests of souls - the church now and then the rest of the world when God's spirit is poured out to all mankind.

In Isaiah 25:6-7 we read where God compares the millennium with a great fruit harvest which in Israel is known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Isaiah writes: “And in this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.”

In conclusion, there is a strong link between the Feast and the millennium and it is not some vague extrapolation. One of its names, the Feast of Ingathering, spiritually symbolises the latter great harvest of souls to occur in the millennium. Its other name, the Feast of Tabernacles reminds us to look past our temporary existence in this sad, sinful world to the time when God will bring real life and true peace to this world when He brings His kingdom to this earth.