23. And unless some great idea pops into my skull about something we need to cover more deeply, we have already covered chapter number 24. in the series of Exodus, you'll notice there's a lot of restatements about both the building of the tabernacle and the Ten Commandments. And we covered chapter 24 then. Chapter 25 we covered Wednesday night in a breakout series on the Day of Atonement. So basically what I'm telling you is the next time, and then chapter 26, the first 27 verses we already covered, three and a half years ago on a Wednesday night in our series, the prayers of Solomon. So the next time we gather on a Lord's day morning, which God willing will be in a week, 167 hours from now, we will finish up chapter 26 of Leviticus. We are in chapter 23 this morning, and we are going to begin reading in verse number 33. Leviticus chapter 23, verse 33. Please put up that first slide. You're gonna notice that this morning provides some solutions. They are coming for your gas stove, friends. It turns out that not only do you need to be taxed per head of cattle because of the methane burden that it's putting in the world, Never mind the fact that a volcano probably puts a trillion times more gas into the atmosphere than any cow ever thought about doing. We're going to now say that your gas stove is a tax on creation. Wonderful to have so many problem solvers up in Washington. And we're going to add to it with mayors of major cities telling us that they're going to tax retailers of gas stoves. You've got to wonder when the madness is going to end. And I need to go to the next slide. As you pointed out, James, the clicker does not work. Then what we did do is we made ourselves technically subservient to all manner of strangenesses to where now you can't have school if the computers are not up because the teachers can't get to their grade books. I remember the old days. It seems like it was just 25 years ago when my teachers carried a grade book. So strange. Those were the days. It was like back in the day when people carried a Bible to church. It turns out now that if the technology doesn't work, your kids get a week off from school probably. And a long time has come since my dad had to walk seven miles to milk cows with no bucket and so forth. Uphill both ways and seven foot drifts of snow in Wisconsin. You remember those days, don't you? Now you cannot even exist as a school district if you don't have a computer. Let's go to the next slide, and then we'll talk about full civilizations. This is just in one week of the news cycle. Really, it's in one day of one week of the news cycle. What I'm trying to get you to see is that this world is never going to be heaven on earth until the Lord returns. I mean, here's an example. China, you would think, all they needed to do is leave one Bible alone and let the leader of the Communist Party read it once, and he would have realized that it is for human flourishing that you allow people to be born. Because after a while, those younger people work and provide income for those in the upper stratosphere of their age. And it turns out that you actually need young people in the workforce. Well, after about 30 years of telling people they can have one child, and so they hold out for that male and they're killing all the females, it turns out that there's 28 males for every female now of childbearing age. They don't know what to do about that. I recommend that they read the first chapter of the Bible and realize that fruitfulness is a gift from God. And some of you have that figured out. And we're thankful for you. But they're going to find out in Japan where, as we said about a year ago, they are selling more diapers to senior citizens than they are to babies, to parents with infants, that you actually cannot continue to exist when your people are not having people. And so the Chinese are really in a problem because their economy, though they have tons of opportunities for work, they do not have tons of workers. And if the United States doesn't figure out its godless ways, we will need illegals to work. in our workforce. So what I'm trying to say is, whether it's China or America, a big city or the country, it's better to do things God's way. You know, it's amazing, we're getting back to the fundamentals, but it turns out you should know how to shoot a free throw before you try to figure out how to dunk. Darren, isn't that true? Leviticus chapter number 23 and verse number 33. Here we go. Hear the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day, there'll be a holy convocation and you'll do no customary work on it. Let's pause there. So this is sometime between September and October, depending on how the moon works in conjunction with our solar calendar. This is sometime for the Hebrews between. September and October. 15th day of that first month, or forgive me, of the seventh month, you're supposed to have a seven-day feast. You'll get to it later in the passage. It's actually eight days. We'll see that in just a moment. But on that first day, there's no customary work. You're not supposed to do the kind of work you might have done the day before on a workday. Verse 36, for seven days, you'll offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. We're in verse 36. On the eighth day, you'll have a holy convocation. So one at the beginning, one at the end, first day and eighth day of the feast. And you'll offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It's a sacred assembly and you'll do no customary work on it. I was shocked when I showed up to Shannon Green's Sunday school class this morning and they were talking about this for one day, the Feast of Tabernacles. How many of you had that in your Sunday school class this morning? If you don't, so it's just one on that curriculum, okay. Two, okay. So friends, listen, if you don't have a Sunday school class, that's a good idea, 9-15. Raise your hand if you're a Sunday school teacher in the room this morning. Keep it up, keep it up, look around. If you don't know anyone and you're one of those people that's gonna leave in a year because nobody knows me, just walk to the mirror after church and thank yourself. You have small group leaders around the church that can help you with relationships and Bible study. Find one at 915 next week. You're welcome. So here we are now in verse number 37. These are the feasts of the Lord, which you'll proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering and sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day besides the Sabbaths of the Lord. If you want to know, well, where are those offerings that are found in verse 27? They are found in Numbers chapter 29, verses 12 through 40. Verse 38, besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord, those are found in Numbers chapter 28, verses one through 12. Verse 39, also on the 15th day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, So this feast begins with a Sabbath on day one and ends with a Sabbath on day eight. It is to celebrate the end of the gathering of several harvests, the wheat harvest, olives, and some other things, fruit, as you can see. And basically there are some things that are harvested in this time. It anticipates the winter rains in that part of the world, R-A-I-N-S. and you'll keep the feast of the Lord for seven days. On the first day, there'll be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day, a Sabbath rest. Maybe you're wondering, why are they repeating themselves? Why is Moses starting up again with this instruction on this feast? He just said it, and then we had a summary in verse 38, and now he's starting off again, telling you how to keep the feast. We just did this, what are we doing? He's about to add an additional detail to how to celebrate the feast. Here we go. Verse 40, you'll take for yourselves on the first day of the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and the willows of the brook, and you'll rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You'll keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It'll be a statute forever in your generations. You'll celebrate it in the seventh month, and you will dwell in booths So there is a town that keeps showing up in the Old Testament in about two or three locations. English people like you and I, many of us will read it like a English person, sucketh. Every time we do, people that know better like Andy and Sarah Hubert just groan. Sukkot is probably a better way to say it. And even now I feel like I'm being judged for the way I'm saying it. You'll dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths. That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths. Now you should not think of these as like phone booths, like Doctor Who or Superman. These are booths that from what I can tell in tradition, they're around eight feet by 11 feet. Maybe it's different depending on the source, depending if you're watching Fiddler on the Roof or reading a rabbi, it depends. You'll dwell in these booths seven days. Let me pause there. I just want you to consider what it would look like if the entire population of Hickory takes the day of the 14th of the month and walks with their favorite camping tent uptown. And then every street in uptown Hickory has tents in it. And every 12 or 15 feet is a different family. And it just stays like that for seven days. Everyone builds a fire in the street, we have one excited person. Everyone builds a fire in the street, so at night there's no traffic lights, only the lights outside your tents. Lots of festivities, you're enjoying the fact that God has been good and allowed your garden to grow all summer and into the fall. You're enjoying the feasting for seven days. Verse 42, you live there seven days. All who are native Israelites will dwell in booths that your generations may know. Here's the whole point of it. Here's why the feast. That you may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I'm the Lord your God. So Moses declared to children of Israel the moed. Remember that from a couple of weeks ago, the feasts of the Lord. That is the infallible Word of God. Would you pray for me? Heavenly Father, hear the prayers of your saints for this under-shepherd. Amen. This is one of the three feasts required of all Jewish males. They must return to Jerusalem. According to Deuteronomy chapter 16 and chapter 31, you gentlemen, if you were Hebrews, you must travel back to Jerusalem three times a year for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven weeks later for the Feast of Weeks that we now call Pentecost. And this, nearly five months later, the Feast of Booths, also called the Feast of Engathering, also called the Feast of Tabernacles, also called the Great Feast in the Bible. You would be required to come back to this. It just so happens this happens a lot in the Bible, I mean a lot in the Bible, to the point where we can't but just look at a few of these things and then give you some application and then be done for the morning. If you're intending on taking part in the lunch with us for the spiritual gifts, those of you who have signed up for it, you will go immediately to the fellowship hall and we'll begin eating around noon. Pete and April will be there to greet you. And then we'll be back again for the evening worship, 4.45, choir practice, right? Okay. So you're gonna notice here that in this passage, it looks so like a calendar thing. It just so happens, in case you wanted to know, 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 7, it just so happens that Solomon dedicated his temple on this very holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles. A lot was done all throughout Scripture. Key prophecies happened, the book of Haggai. Things were stipulated, like in the book of Deuteronomy, it says that every seventh year, the entire law of Moses is read. We're going to look at that Wednesday night out of the book of Nehemiah, not the whole law of Moses, but that passage in Nehemiah. And then on the eighth day, there would be special things that took place, but finally a celebration. It looks back like all the feasts do at something in history. This is the last message you're going to get on a feast. So let's rehearse one more time. In the spring, the Feast of Firstfruits was the celebration of the first stalk of barley harvest that ended seven weeks later at the Feast of Weeks. The firstfruits look forward to the first time that they would gather a harvest in the promised land, and it prophesied of the day that Jesus would rise from the dead. In fact, he rose from the dead on that very day. But before the feast of the first fruits was Passover, about three or four days before. Passover looks back to the time when they were pulled out of Egypt, when the death of a lamb would bring the blood on the doorpost and the death angel would pass over that home and the Israelites were allowed to leave Egypt basically scot-free. and look forward to the day when the Lamb of God would die and his blood would allow for the wrath of God to pass over us. Praise be to God. The third feast of the spring is the Feast of Weeks. It looks forward to the barley harvest, the first barley harvest of entering Canaan land, but it also looks forward to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And in fact, the Holy Spirit did come on that self same day on Pentecost. In the fall, feast number four, fall feast number one, we have the Feast of the Trumpets. It happens on the first day of the seventh month and marks the return of the Lord for his people. We're just using the patterns and it seems fitting because of what happened in the spring feast that this feast not only celebrates the creation of the dry land, as we talked about, it also celebrates the trumpeting of the people out of Egypt to gather around Moses in the wilderness and it looks forward to the Lord returning. The day of atonement happens 10 days later and it celebrates the day when Israel will repent and return to God and looks forward to the day when God will return to Israel. This is the sixth and final feast stipulated in the law of Moses. There are others that the Jewish people celebrate today, but they're not stipulated in scripture. One of them does show up in the book of Esther. And one of them does show up in the book of John, but they are not stipulated for God's people in the law of Moses. This is the last one. And it celebrates God living amongst his people. Here's the bottom line. It looks back, as you read in verse 43, to the time when the Israelites are living in basically temporary shelters in the wilderness with God's temporary shelter called the tabernacle in their midst. In other words, the Feast of Tabernacles was to celebrate God living in their midst. Now, if you think through this, If you think about the last verses of what we just read, you are familiar with the fact that part of the celebration was palm branches. And now you're thinking about a week before Jesus rose from the dead. Palm Sunday, when they were waving palm branches, they were celebrating, whether they knew it or not, God in their midst. That's gonna matter in just a moment. How important is this Feast of Tabernacles? It's so important that the children are supposed to know how to celebrate it, but it's more important even than that. Please look at the book of Zechariah, chapter number 14. I've just got to tell you, you're getting the space shuttle view of this feast. Zechariah chapter number, we're gonna start in chapter 12. A page number for the my brothers or sisters in the room or my unsaved friends who might be visiting us or if you're not sure where you fit into there, whatever you are, page 1,170 if you need it in the Pew Bible. The book of Zechariah, and you're gonna notice when we get there, there's some really strange stuff you might not expect to happen in scripture, especially as it pertains to that which is yet to come. Zechariah chapter number 12. I want you to notice a theme here. There are some Sundays when I am not even sure how I'm gonna fit everything in. This is one of those where I know I won't, so I'm not even bothered. Chapter 12, verse number two, I want you to notice something that's kind of happening in the context here. You're gonna notice, Zechariah chapter 12, verse two, I'll make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. Now please look at verse nine. It'll be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. So there's going to be a battle. For those of you who've never read the book of Revelation, this will be news to you, unless you are a sci-fi person, because this stuff shows up in a lot of movies too. But this is true. They're stealing material in Hollywood. This is the real deal. There is going to be a final battle, and it will be on the footsteps of Jerusalem. I'm talking right on the front porch. You're gonna notice in verse number 10, there's a day coming described last week as the day of atonement. Notice what happens in verse 10. I'll pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look on me whom they have pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for his firstborn. Okay, so here's the day coming when the people that nailed Jesus to a cross, they're called Jews. Ethnically speaking, they're called Jews. It's okay to say that. Paul does in 1 Thessalonians 2. Peter does at his Pentecostal sermon. The Jews do in Matthew 26. They killed Jesus. This verse is talking about them. They will look on him whom they pierced. and they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son. That is the coming of the Lord and the day of atonement in one verse. Verse 11. In that day, there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem. For those of you who are maybe not as familiar with the English language, that is not mourning like after night. That is weeping, M-O-U-R-N. That means that there will be sobbing in Jerusalem. Notice in verse one of chapter 13, in that day, a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. So can you see it? The Lord's beef in this prophecy is with the people of Jerusalem. I shouldn't use figures of speech when I'm explaining the Bible. The Lord's problem in this passage is with people who are known as Jerusalem's people, Jews, who love the homeland, the promised land, capital city, Jerusalem. And he is referring to the biggest deal on their map, which is Jerusalem. And he says, Some of you will survive this. You'll notice there in verse number nine, I'll bring one third through the fire, chapter 13, verse nine, and refine them as silver is refined. We talked about this last Sunday night in the 10 days between trumpets and the day of atonement. The Lord is going to come against those who are coming against Jerusalem. And he's going to spare some of the Jews living there. And they will be saved, as we learned last week, in one day. Yes? All right. The seven of you who are here, thank you for responding. Notice chapter 14, verse 2. I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished, half of the city will go into captivity, but the remnant of the people will not be cut off from the city. That's interesting. Verse three, then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle and in the day that his feet stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem. Are you seeing a theme here? I hope so. I hope you're seeing the people of God, Jerusalem, the Lord's return to his people, which involves their rescue from those who are coming against them in battle. When does this happen? Chapter 14, verse one, the day of the Lord. Does everyone see that? Okay. Thank you, Denny. Verse 12. This shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet. Their eyes will dissolve in their sockets and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. Well, I'd like to be on the other side of that. Verse 14, Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. All right, so this comes to an end. What does it look like after this battle? Look at verse 16. It'll come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem. So some people are going to survive that battle. All who are left of that battle, all who are left of the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Well, this is clearly after the 400s BC, because that's when this was written. And we found out from verse number one, it is at the day of the Lord. And we found out from verse number four, it is after he returns to the Mount of Olives and puts his feet on the Mount of Olives. Remember Acts 1, where those two in shining raiment told those 11 disciples, why are you looking up into heaven? This same Jesus who went from you shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go. and they were standing on the Mount of Olives. Disciples of Jesus Christ are expecting him to come as he went. That's not that hard, is it? All right, so. The aftermath, verse 16, is that there are people that are left, in chapter 14, verse 16, and in verse 17, it should be that, whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter, they will have no rain. They will receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacle. It seems like quite the threat. That even after the day of the Lord, there are penalties for somehow rebellious people that will make it through that battle. There will still be some rebels. that have to be punished for not coming to see the King of glory in person. He'll be on the earth and they'll be told, you need to come to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast. And they're going to thumb their nose at him. I would not have written this this way. You're welcome. But it must mean that it was rightly written. Verse 20, in that day, holiness to the Lord shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bulls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Wow. So this feast is going to be celebrated for some time and it will be fulfilled when the king comes to live amongst his people again. Only this time, he will not be living in a temporary shelter, a sukkot, he will be here himself. Look please at the book of Revelation, chapter number seven. No, we don't have time for that, go to chapter 21. Revelation chapter number 21. Revelation chapter 21, and friends who need the Pew Bible, it's the last book. If you're at the maps or the concordance, you went too far. Page back. Revelation chapter number 21. Then some closing thoughts. I'm pretty certain that there is a lot more I could have said, and some of you are aching to fill in the blanks for me. Thank you. We can talk this afternoon or this evening. Revelation chapter number 21. I'm so thankful there are so many good Bible students and teachers in this room. But I'm also thankful that you have an expectation that I be done by a certain time. Chapter 21, verse 1. I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there is no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice, look at this, from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. Here we go. And he will dwell with them. And they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. and be their God. Do you see what God has done here with this big book of His? He has built for you, deep in your soul, an expectation that you can live real close to Him in the coming age. I haven't filled in a lot of blanks. Some of you are like saying, please say the words pre-millennium. No. Some of you are saying, how do you explain this in light of, nope. I want you to have a 35,000 foot level view of this. This is a feast that will be celebrated just after the day of the Lord again for a long time. How long? So long that in Zachariah it says year after year, those who do not come and partake of this will be punished with drought. How long will it be kept? So long that at some point, I don't know when, the feast itself will be replaced with a holy city where we will live with the lamb and God himself in our midst. No temporary tent, simply God. The tabernacle itself, according to these verses, is the holy city. We go from living around his tabernacle to living in his tabernacle. Do you see that? Verse number three, the day is quickly coming. And by the way, isn't this just rich? You see how the Bible is about one thing. It wasn't ever, let's see how Moses can do. And then if he fails, we got, I can send my son, I guess. This has always been about Jesus Christ and him closing with the people that God has chosen from before the foundation of the world. So what are some closing thoughts? You're gonna have to get me to that slide and let's just go ahead and populate all of it. Here we go. Number one, let's talk about something God loves, some things God loves. He loves order. This is why he prescribed certain things so that you would know he plans well. Number two, someone set an alarm for me, thank you. Number two, God loves rest. How much does he love rest? So much that he did it at the beginning of the book. It actually says in Exodus 31, he was refreshed on the seventh day. I don't know what that means in its deepness, but I'm glad it's there. And he required these people to rest on the first and eighth day of yet another feast. You are not second rate if you need to take a break from some things that God doesn't command. Three, God loves to be amongst his people. Hey friends, our God is not like some of us. I think about me as a parent, me as a husband, me as a pastor, me as an army officer. It terrifies me to even think for even a microsecond that God could be anything like me. Sometimes I tolerate people. God is not tolerating his elect. He is thrilled at the prospect of having us forever. Saved to sin no more. Won't even want to sin, brother. What will that be like? I won't even want to salute anyone while I'm driving. I won't even want to break a speed limit. I won't... Number four, God loves deliberate remembrance. We're supposed to... Nikki, I didn't mean that. I mean... I see that look on your face. God loves deliberate remembrance, deliberate stuff. When you plan a holiday to celebrate something. Number five, God loves celebration. God loves celebration. He thinks it's great when his people are happy about the right stuff. There's nothing God glorifying about looking like you've been pruned on dill pickles, nothing. You're not more spiritual because you never crack a smile. You're never more spiritual because you can't sing with joy in your heart to the Lord. He's not up there saying, I'm so glad that there's such a always and always and down in the dumps. That just brings me such glory. Number six, God loves his son. The reason you and I get to spend an eternity with God in the New Jerusalem is because God loves his son and wants him to have a bride. Number seven, God loves finality. He loves to see the end of something so much that he planned it. Now, our problem is that we don't have a pure appreciation for everything that God loves. So usually we do not like order. We have incessant workaholism from time to time because we can't deal with the sense of temporariness that we have and our human limitations. And we're in a cursed world that already limits our efficiency. So that brings anxiety and hurriedness. And we regret the past and obsess about the future. We do not have a pure appreciation for the things God loves. Here's some signs that maybe that needs some attention in your world today. Here we go. Just some signs. One every 15 seconds. Here we go. You feel endlessly hurried. Two. You are in a job where you're not getting anything accomplished and there are no clear objectives. Three. You feel alone in the middle of a crowd. Four. You feel hopeless. Five, you are irritated by what God expects from you even though he has designed it for your flourishing. That means that somewhere in our lives when we feel those things, our affections are not aligning with his. But Jesus has the cure. Because of his death on the cross, he has provided for us some resources this morning. One every 15 seconds, here we go. His blood to cleanse our consciences from filthiness. Two, his spirit to fill our hearts and arrest our wayward affections. Three, his word to fill our minds. If any of the symptoms that I have described describe you as they do me often, then we need some of those ingredients in our life. We need his blood to cleanse our conscience. We need his spirit to arrest our heart. We need his word to fill our minds. So listen, unsaved friend, here we go. Big closing, here we go. None of these are yours if you're not saved. I cannot promise you that anything in your life is worth anything and will turn out at all at the end of this life if you are not one of God's children. And all this talk about elect and foreknowledge, you settle it once you trust Christ. Not one believer in Jesus Christ will go to hell. Maybe you're bewildered by human enemies. trolls, watchers, persecutors, waiting for you to fail. Maybe you've built your tabernacle of assurances in something besides his blood, his spirit, his word. And maybe you've seen the limited effects that being a big time social media influencer has. Your thousand likes will not take the place of a clean conscience. Your 10,000 followers will not take the place of a misguided affection. And to you who are always somber, stoic, hard faced, I hope that you've seen how close to the heart of God the discipline of celebration is. Taking joy in the gifts of life as meaningful as producing, it's as meaningful as producing goods and services for a world. It's as gracious of God to give you happy things in life, things to enjoy, as it is for him to give you a way to provide for your family. Both of those are his good graces. And for that, I'm thankful. So if you're unsaved, come talk to me. If you haven't believed or haven't heard or haven't understood what it means to trust Jesus Christ, come right away as we stand. If you're a Christian that needs to pray, do so wherever you want to. Let's stand together.