Leviticus 23:26-43
The next feast is the day of atonement. It is beautiful to see in all this the perfect order we spoke of at the beginning. As soon as the church is taken home to glory, God will then begin His dealings with Israel as a nation again. The coming of the Lord will first call us to heaven and then, as we mentioned earlier, Israel will be called together “with a great sound of a trumpet” (Matthew 24:31) from their place as scattered among the nations; there will be a time of great national mourning and confession. It will be through the awful judgments of the tribulation period that they will finally be brought to the point where they will “afflict their souls” and own their guilt in crucifying their Messiah. They will be brought into the blessings of Christ’s atoning work, the value of which they have not seen as yet. Although the true “day of atonement” was when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, it will not be for them until the judgments of the tribulation bring them to repentance. We notice in our chapter that those who did not “afflict [their] souls” on that day were to be cut off from among the people. This would show us that those of Israel who do not, in that coming day, take the place of repentance and confession of guilt when Christ appears for their national deliverance, will be judged and cut off — not allowed to enter the blessings of the millennium on earth.
The Feast of Tabernacles
We now come to the last feast — the feast of tabernacles — which typifies the coming reign of Christ for one thousand years upon the earth. This is what we call the millennium. During this feast of tabernacles the children of Israel were to dwell in booths for seven days, just as in the millennium every man will sit down peacefully under his own vine and fig tree (Micah 4:4). God will then cause them to rejoice under the blessings of His hand like the children of Israel were, in our chapter, to rejoice and praise God for all the blessings of the year that had just passed. In that wonderful time, which this feast typified, when the desert blossoms as the rose, and the earth yields her increase (Isaiah 35), when family life is happy and fruitful (Psalm 128), and when the people live in ease and abundance (Psalm 45:7-17) without any sickness (Isaiah 33:24; 65:17-25), then, as never before, Israel will praise the Lord out of a full heart.
This feast then had an eighth day — the great day of the feast — and this day looks on to new creation. The eighth day begins a new week, and it is figurative in Scripture of new creation. By the Spirit we now rejoice in this new creation, while faith looks on to “the day of God” when there will be a new heaven and a new earth where all will be suited to the mind and character of God forever — never to be ruined by sin again.
The Feast of the Jews
It is interesting to see the Lord Jesus at the Jews’ feast of tabernacles in John 7, standing up on that eighth day and calling, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” The Lord’s feast had become a feast of the Jews, but now Christ was there as the One who alone could satisfy the longings of the heart and bring the promised blessings. Perhaps there were some at the feast who were not satisfied with these feasts of the Jews who would turn to Him and find in Him the fulfillment of all that the feasts typified. He was, and is, the blessed Antitype of them all.
For Further Meditation
1. What future event does the Feast of Tabernacles represent?
2. The Scriptures have a lot to say about the millennium. It will be a wonderful time of righteousness and peace on the earth. Do you know where the term “millennium” comes from? How many different scriptures can you find that refer to this future time period?
3. If you’ve never read Outline of Prophetic Events by B. Anstey, you are in for a treat. It presents the millennium and the scriptures related to it along with many, many other aspects of prophecy. You’ll find it provides a clear, readable outline of prophetic events along with hundreds of supporting scriptural references.