THE LAST DAY OF THE FEAST

THE-LAST-DAY-OF-THE-FEAST.pdf

"THE LAST DAY OF THE FEAST"

The Feast of Tabernacles is the climax of the Biblical year. It is a time of festivity and joy, celebrating God’s faithfulness to fulfil His promises and provide for His people (Jew and gentile) no matter what the circumstances. How beautiful that God gave Israel a special time when the whole nation devotes itself to rejoicing in God's goodness and celebrating His provision and faithfulness - even in difficult times.
The Water Pouring Ceremony
One of the most joyful and important ceremonies at The Feast of Tabernacles (in the days of Temple) was "The Water Pouring Ceremony." In this ceremony priests brought a Golden Flask of pure water from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple. There they poured the water out on the altar in the Temple courtyard (along with wine from another jug) while the priests and people sang with exuberant joy scriptures such as "Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12.2-3, Isaiah 55.1) (In Hebrew "wells of salvation" also means wells of Yeshua.)
The Water Pouring Ceremony took place on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is recorded in the rabbinical writings (Mishnah) which describe the rituals that were observed int the days of the Temple. It is also referred to in John's gospel, CHAPTER 7. As the ceremony was taking place, Jesus stood up and boldly proclaimed that He was the "well of salvation" that can satisfy the spiritual thirst of the world, and He invited everyone - Jew and gentile - to come to Him as the source of spiritual life.
"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7.37-39)

The Water Pouring Ceremony is a beautiful picture of Jesus' work for us. He came to pour out His life for the sin of the world so that He can fill the hearts of all who come to Him with God's Spirit and Life. He came not only to take away the sin of the world but to satisfy the spiritual thirst of all. When He stood up on that day He was summoning worshippers to go beyond the ritual and symbolism of the Temple ceremonies to the reality to which those rituals point. When we come to Him we can receive an endless flow of His Spirit to fill us and flow out of us.

For believers therefore Tabernacles is a time when we respond to Jesus' invitation to drink more deeply from the fountain of His life and dedicate ourselves to be not only receivers but also transmitters of His life. At Passover we read that the disciples of Jesus received the Holy Spirit for eternal life, at Pentecost they received the power of the Spirit for their ministry, but at Tabernacles we are to receive the fulness of God's Spirit. This Feast represents a time when God's work in us will reach full maturity. We who are "rooted and grounded in God's love" are being invited to live in the fulness of God's love - drinking it in and pouring it out towards other. This is our true destiny. It was during The Water Pouring Ceremony Jesus let it be known that He (not the Temple) is The Mediator who redeems us and fills us with the love and life of God, our loving Father - if we come to Him. (John 7.37-39)

At The Water Pouring celebration the priests and people sang with exuberant joy Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (Isa 42.3) Believers in Yeshua will learn to draw from Him with greater joy than ever. God’s life can never be experienced in the dismal dreariness of religiosity but can only be received in a spirit of faith, joy and thanksgiving. At the harvest time of history represented by The Feast Of Tabernacles believers will discover the Joy of Salvation more fully than ever before as we draw spiritual life from the wells of Yeshua. We will experience Him and as the great JOY GIVER and DISPELLER OF GLOOM.

From Shadow To Substance By standing up so boldly to call the Temple worshippers to come to Him, Jesus was indicating the Temple ceremonies were only shadows or prefigurings of greater reality - His complete and perfect sacrifice and His ability to fill all who come to Him with the life of God's Spirit.
We should not ignore the shadow because the shadow lets us know that there is something real behind it. Neither should we stop at the shadow, because it is only shadow and not the substance. It points to the reality but is not itself the reality. The substance is Messiah Jesus and in Him we have our Perfect Sacrifice and Giver of Spiritual life.
"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." (Colossians 2.16-17)
If you stay at the shadow we will miss the reality, but if we ignore the shadow we may fail to understand the fulness of the reality.
At this time, we pray for the Body of Christ to come into a greater fullness of the Holy Spirit ad come out of from the shadow of religion to the reality of Jesus. We pray also victory for Israel in all its battles and that they may finally receive the drink of the Spirit that Yeshua freely offers.
With great joy - knowing our sins are atoned for - we now have the privilege of receiving from the Lord a greater filling of His of Holy Spirit.