BEYOND PENTECOST

he Feast of Tabernacles exposed and explained! Why was this feast so important, and what does it mean to today's church?
Past being Born Again, beyond Pentecost is an amazing new adventure! This is the next move of God, as revealed in the Scriptures.

BEHOLD, I WILL DO SOMETHING NEW

INTRODUCTION

For some years now we have heard prophecies to the effect that God will do something new amongst us. So far we have not seen the fulfillment of these prophecies. I believe that the time has come for these prophecies to be realised, and that we need to look to Scripture in order to understand what God is doing amongst us so that we can become a part of what He is doing. If we look back to the two previous major moves of God in the Church, ie the Lutheran movement and Pentecost, we see that these were both foretold in the first two major feasts that the Lord commanded His people to keep for all time. Therefore I consider it reasonable, and in fact the Lord has led me, to look at the feasts in order to understand what lies ahead. The following is a very brief look at the feasts and how they fit into the Church today.

 THE FEASTS

There are three major feasts in which the Lord commanded all the males to appear before Him each year (Deut. 16:16 ). These are as follows:

Feast of Passover (Introduces Jesus)
(Feast of Unleavened Bread). This Feast was held on the 14th day of the 1st month to commemorate the deliverance from Egypt. This was prophetic of the coming of the Messiah and it was later realised that this was symbolic of our Salvation experience.

If you are born again and are actively following Jesus, then you are keeping this feast by your very life. What Israel had in part, in the way of a feast, we have in fulfillment in our day to day walk with our Lord.

Feast of Pentecost (Introduces the Holy Spirit)
(Feast of Weeks). This Feast was held on the 6th day of the 3rd month to commemorate the giving of the Law. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the Pentecostal experience of today and separates us from the need of the Law because the law is written on our hearts, thus fulfilling the Law.

If you have received the Holy Spirit and are being led by the Spirit, then you are keeping this feast in the same manner in which the Feast of Passover is being kept. You don't need to do the annual feast because it is fulfilled in your life.

Feast of Tabernacles (Introduces the Father)
(Ingathering, Booths). This Feast was held from the 15th to the 22nd day of the 7th month to commemorate life in the Wilderness. Crossing the Jordan, (entering the Promised Land) is the today’s version of this, however, there are two minor feasts, or occasions, that need to be taken into consideration preceding Tabernacles. I think it interesting to note at this stage that Succoth (translated booths) is located on the edge of the Jordan on the Wilderness side.

If you have died to self and live for God , then you are keeping this feast also.
(This link opens the PowerPoint presentation Beyond Pentecost. If you don't want to see the presentation, go to Tabernacles, the experience below)

Blowing of Trumpets. This was held on the 1st day of the 7th month. As is usual with blowing trumpets etc., this can be seen as an announcement of and preparation for a coming event, in this case the Feast of Tabernacles.

Day of Atonement. This was held on the 10th day of the 7th month and is a time of putting things right with the Lord in readiness for Tabernacles having been duly prepared during Trumpets. It should be noted that relationships with others should be intact before this.

The word 'Atonement' literally means 'a making at one' which points to repentance and cleansing through the blood of Jesus in preparation for meeting with the Lord 'face to face'.

JESUS IN THE FEASTS

 As we know, the life of Jesus was foretold in the Scriptures in many ways. In light of the Feasts we can see the life of Jesus as follows:

The Birth of Jesus. Our Saviour Jesus receives the Holy Spirit. Jesus warns His Disciples of His coming crucifixion. The Garden of Gethsemane. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine. The death and resurrection of Jesus and ongoing life in the Father's presence.

TABERNACLES, THE EXPERIENCE.

Life in the Promised Land is a whole new walk with God. The Land of Milk and Honey is abundant in good fruit and new understanding. In the same way as being Born Again and Baptised in the Holy Spirit are very real spiritual experiences, so too is Tabernacles! In the same way that there are different levels of commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ, so too are there different 'death' or 'dying to self' experiences.

The Tabernacle experience, which involves spiritually crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land is what God is calling the Church to now and we need to have an understanding of what He requires of us.

Being Born Again (Passover) is a result of having faith in Jesus and surrendering one's life to His will. In return for apologising to Him for our sin and being prepared to turn away from our sin in order to follow Him, God's free gift to us is a brand new life for as many as will receive it.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) is an infilling of the Holy Spirit, a free gift from God, available to those who ask. Usually imparted through the laying on of hands. The Holy Spirit was sent to us to comfort us and teach us of God, and to build us up together as one in Christ.

Crossing the Jordan (Tabernacles) is a result of first receiving understanding through teaching and understanding relevant Scripture. This is 'The Blowing of Trumpets' or the announcement. Having received understanding through the teaching of the Scriptures comes the preparation based on that teaching. This is the 'Atonement', making oneself 'right with God' through a further repentance and the laying down of ones life AS THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS, and then dying (crossing the Jordan). This death is not a physical death, but a death of the soul, which is a person’s very identity. To lay down one’s life in this manner is by far the deepest (and scariest) experience in God, but also the most rewarding.

This is followed by being raised from "the dead" by the Lord in newness of relationship with the Lord. This relationship is different from any prior relationship with God because when Jesus died on the cross, He did not raise Himself up, but rather He was raised by the Spirit. The Jordan is, according to the New Bible Dictionary, the lowest depression on Earth. I believe this typifies the depth of the experience one has at this point in their spiritual journey. The Jordan experience (death of self, ie. the soul) comes as a result of making an informed decision to follow our Lord into the Promised Land, and being prepared to pay the price as led by the Holy Spirit. I should emphasize that man cannot take you through the Jordan. This is a Spiritual experience