God's Fall Feasts - A Hope for a New Beginning

We're all getting excited a little bit now as we plan for the fall feast. It's a very exciting time of the year coming up, not too far, just around the corner. Next month, in the first week of October, just a few weeks away. In fact, the Feast of Trumpets will be observed on Thursday, September 21st. And then 10 days later, that will be followed by the observance of the Day of Atonement on the fall's long weekly Sabbath this year. It will be on Saturday, September 30th.

The Day of Atonement, as we realize, being the only feast day that is also a day on which we will be fast. Then, the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles will be observed at various locations, of course, around the world, from Thursday, October 5th, through Wednesday, October 11th, which in turn will then be followed by the observance of the 8th day on Thursday, October 12th, immediately after the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles concludes.

I differentiate the Feast of Tabernacles from the 8th day because they are two separate feasts, and they have separate and distinct meanings as well. And that's why they're presented in Scripture. They are two separate feasts. One just falls right into the other, but they are separate and distinct feasts with separate and distinct meanings. To then, as we once again think about and prepare to observe God's fall feasts in holy days, I want to review what they will mean, not only for all of us, but for the entire world.

And I want to take a little bit of a broader and deeper meaning as well. The title of my sermon here this afternoon is God's Fall Feasts, Hope for a New Beginning. God's Fall Feasts, Hope for a New Beginning. I want to begin by looking at one of the kings of Judah.

Of course, after the king was split up after the death of Solomon, you had the northern ten tribes of Israel, and then you had the southern kingdom of Judah. All of Israel's kings are being presented as being taken into idolatry. I don't think there's a good king mentioned there. In the kings of Judah, they had mostly bad kings, but they had some good kings. One of their good kings was Hezekiah. He reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah for 29 years. It tells us that in 2 Kings 18, verse 2.

It's interesting to look at his reign and what he tried to do because he basically did everything he could to try to restore Judah to his former greatness. By the time he became king, Judah already declined quite a bit. He had several bad kings, and he decided he was going to try to restore it to its former greatness. We could say that he tried to make Judah great again, like President Trump was trying to make America great again. But his soul reign as the king of Judah was probably from around 716 to 687 B.C.

That's interesting because the northern ten tribes of Israel fell about 722 to 721 B.C. So Hezekiah began reigning in Judah about five or six years after the northern ten tribes of Israel fell to the Assyrians and then kept to Assyria. A interesting point that can be made about the some historians make that kind of ties into today. Hezekiah, he began a lot of building. He was trying to make Judah great again. He did that by trying to engage in some number of building projects and reconstruction projects. One of the things that happened, of course, was that the population of the southern kingdom of Judah started increasing quite a bit.

They prospered during this reconstruction project, creating jobs, etc. The other thing was they had a huge influx in population about this time. You can guess where that came from. Here you have the northern ten tribes of Israel being seized by the Assyrians and taken over by Assyria. A lot of those people were fleeing. Where did they flee to? They flew south to Judah because Judah was prosecuted as a cop. A lot of influx of population probably coming from the northern ten tribes of Israel after they were taken captive by Assyria. The people were fleeing out of that to head south to Judah.

As a result, Judah began a period of great prosperity just for a short time. One historian said, Judah became the strongest nation on the Assyrian-Egyptian frontier. But it wasn't prophesied to last. Let's begin here by going to Isaiah 39. This is here. It talks about Hezekiah and Judah.

Prophecy here about the northern kingdom of Judah when Hezekiah was about to reign. Of course, it was about 100 years before Judah fell as well, so I'll mention it in a minute. Isaiah 39 verse 5. Then God said to Hezekiah through Isaiah, Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the words of the Lord of hosts. Behold, the days are coming when all this prosperity, everything's in your house.

Whatever your fathers have accumulated to this day, it's going to be carried off to Babylon, and there's going to be nothing left. Verse 7, They shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Now, here's this response here. Look at this response in verse 8. See if you find anything strange about it. He just told them they're going to lose everything, take away his sons, etc. Here's Hezekiah's response. So, here's the guy said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good. Really? Doesn't sound too good to me. How could that be good? You know, what does Hezekiah mean by this? Well, the rest of the verse tells us.

So, Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good, for he said, Hezekiah said, At least there's going to be peace and truth in my days. At least it's not going to happen until after I'm gone. At least it won't happen until after my reign has ended. Now, that's not really a very positive way of looking at it, I don't think, but at least I thought, well, I'm not going to have to live through that.

But after Hezekiah died, Judah went downhill for the most part, even though Josiah came right towards the end of that. Josiah became the king and tried to restore it again for a while, and he did to a certain degree, but then it finally fell. It lasted another hundred years after Hezekiah, but it finally then fell to Babylon around 586 B.C. Now, the next few verses here in Isaiah 40, I find them very interesting and very encouraging. And even though they're not referring to the fall feasts here, nonetheless, they sum up the meaning of God's fall feasts and holidays when it comes to a hope for a new beginning.

Again, that's my title, God's fall feasts, a hope for a new beginning. And this sums them up, showing that hope is what it is. Chapter 40 of Isaiah, verse 1. Yes, comfort my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has pardoned. For she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins, and then verse 2 says, The voice of one cry in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Verse 3 here is quoted in Matthew 3.3 as being a prophecy of John the Baptist who prepared the way for Christ.

Again, verse 3. The voice of one cry in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. I want to look at verses 4 and 5 spiritually, as it might pertain to people and individuals. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill brought low. The mountains and hills can be symbolic of nations, and people and nations. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low.

The crooked places should be made straight, and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Now, as we know, God's fall feasts actually portray God's plan of salvation for the people of the world, primarily. They plantain to all of us, of course. As we've known for some time, there's these spring feasts in holy days, which tie directly to Pentecost by the countdown to Pentecost. And that's the first-fruits harvest, the predates to that particularly, to the first-fruits harvest, to God's spring spiritual harvest, where the fall holy days pertain more directly to God's fall spiritual harvest, when He's going to open up His way, His truth, and salvation to the entire world, portraying the great fall spiritual harvest that will take place in God's plan of salvation.

But it says here what's going to happen when Christ returns. And in these verses here, up in verse 2, it says, "...her warfare is ended." You know, that's great. Wouldn't that be something when there's no more warfare? It says, "...iniquity is pardoned." And basically it says, "...the humble will be exalted and the proud will be brought low." And people's twisted, confused, and crooked lies, if you look, pointing this to people, they're going to be straightened out. And all the rough places are going to be made smooth.

"...and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." So these scriptures could give a great deal of comfort and hope for a new beginning for all mankind, as portrayed by God's fall feasts and holy days.

So that's a brief look at King Hezekiah and his quest to make Judah great again, and how that greatness will eventually be restored by God. But now let's look a little bit more in a broader way, in a more deeper way, at God's forefall feasts, and at what they each portray, and how they can offer hope for a new beginning, from that perspective. And we'll go in order. Let's first look at the Feast of Trumpets. Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, as it's called in Hebrew, can be portrayed in at least two major ways, which in turn can offer hope for a new beginning for all mankind.

I'll look at those two things. A lot of things we could say, but I always focus on those two things, how they can be portrayed in a way that can offer hope for a new beginning. Number one overall way it can be portrayed, and how it is portrayed by many Orthodox Jews, is it can be portrayed as a birthday of the world, which is how it is portrayed by Orthodox Jews or Judaism.

They traditionally reckon it as being the day God created man in his image and likeness. Or they liken it to that beginning period they called the beginning of the world, the beginning of God working with the people of the world. They look at that as being the sixth day, originating on the sixth day of creation. Let's turn to Genesis 1, just look at that and read that. Genesis 1, verse 26 and 27. Then God said, this is what happened on the sixth day. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds and cattle and every creeping thing and so on.

Verse 27, so God created man in his own image, an image of God he created him. Male and female, he created them. Then verse 31, then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Now if that tradition has any merit, it would have been a hope for a new beginning.

It would have been the very beginning step in God's plan of salvation to give hope for a purpose for all of mankind. In the beginning step of God building his family, because that's what he was doing, creating man in his own image. He's going to build his own family. So what lessons or what hope can we derive them from the day of trumpets as being the birthday of the world, so to speak, or as being beginning on the sixth day of creation?

Well, there are several things that are interesting here, because what happened just prior to the sixth day of creation? What happened to the world? What kind of situation was the world into just prior to this? Well, and this is, I think of this because I'm going to relay it spiritually to what we see in the world today and what Christ is going to do when he returns, as pictured and portrayed by the day of trumpets.

Number one, we have the hope that God can create order out of chaos, as we've understood it, verses 1 and 2. Let's go back to Genesis 1, verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In verse 2, the earth was without form and void. In Hebrew, the word was tohu and bohu. Tohu meaning to lie waste, a desolation, a worthless thing, or without form. Bohu meaning to be empty, to be an undistinguishable ruin.

So then the question comes, if that's the case, if that's the way to understand those scriptures, then did God make it that way or did it become that way? Well, here's what Isaiah 45 verse 18 says. Thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, but who formed it to be inhabited. Again, Isaiah 45 verse 18. In Hebrew, we're translated vain there in that scripture.

And Isaiah 45, 18 is tohu, the same word used in Genesis 1, 2. So since the earth was not created without form and void, it must have become that way. That would be the assumption. Probably as a result of Satan's rebellion. That's what we always thought. Some interpret it all that differently, but that has been the long-time understanding of the churches of God. But the point I want to make is this, regardless of all that, the point is God can and God will create order out of chaos. And you look around the world to Diph 3.

We just get a glimpse. And we get a glimpse of lives in the United States, and we all know maybe some of our lives or our families' lives. Many lives are now in chaos, which will give all those individuals hope for a new beginning when God restores order out of their lives, as He is going to do.

B, a second thing this verse can tell us, Genesis 1-2, it goes on to say this. God said, verse 2, I should say, The earth was without form and void, and then it says it adds, And darkness was on the face of the deep, indicating the world therefore period was in darkness, and the world today, how do you think of that? Spiritually, what's the world today? It's in spiritual darkness. The world is filled with spiritual darkness today. People just don't understand. They don't know God. They don't know God's truth. It's a spiritual darkness. But there is hope for a new beginning. Also, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, but there was the Spirit of God there as well.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, and waters can be symbolic of people. You can say, all these people on the earth whose lives are in chaos are in spiritual darkness, God's Spirit is hovering over there. And God said, and this is what God is going to say on the day of Trumpets. It's going to begin then, when he returns. God says, let there be light, and there was light.

So, as portraying the birthday of the world, the Feast of Trumpets, I should say, is also portrayed as being how God will create order out of chaos, and how God is also going to begin when Christ returns, portrayed by Trumpets, how He is going to restore light from darkness, the light of God's truth from the spiritual darkness the world is now in. In fact, if you think about it, that lesson there can even be learned from the day on which Trumpets occurs. It's the only feast day that occurs on a new moon, on a day when the moon begins to emerge from its period of darkness to a period of increasing light.

So, that spirit ties into what's going to happen when Christ returns. He's going to bring knowledge and truth and spiritual light to the world that's in darkness. In a third way, it's portrayed as being portrayed as the birthday of the world. It gives us hope for something else, which we just read in verse 31. Thank God for everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.

So, God could take something, and just making a spiritual analogy here to look at some things. We don't see a lot of good in the world today. We see a lot of bad. But God can take what is very bad, and He can make it into something that is very good, and God will do that. Now, in addition to being portrayed as the birthday of the world, in the second major way, Trumpets can be portrayed, and that is as a day of judgment.

When Christ returns, as portrayed by the Feast of Trumpets, He's going to bring judgment. Now, when we think of judgment, we normally think of the negative side of judgment. When we think of condemnation, that's usually what first thought comes to our mind. But there's a positive side that offers hope for a new beginning. When Christ returns, His throne will be prepared, so it can reign on the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Revelation 19. And His throne is going to be prepared for judgment.

When He comes, He's going to judge the world. But how is He going to judge the world when He returns? That's the question. Is He just going to condemn the world? Or will He judge the world the way that will offer hope for a new beginning? Let's go to the book of Psalms. Let's go over to Psalms chapter 9. Psalm chapter 9, and begin in verse 6. Psalm 9 verse 6.

O enemy, destructions are finished forever. And you have destroyed cities. Even their memory has perished. That will happen to some degree before Christ returns. Verse 7, But the Lord shall endure forever. And this is He has prepared His throne for judgment. So when Christ returns and sits on His throne ruling over all the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords, He's going to sit on the throne that's been prepared for judgment.

But the question is, how will Christ judge the world at that time when He returns? Verse 8, He shall judge the world in righteousness. He's going to offer righteous judgment. And He shall administer judgment for the people's uprightness. So He's going to judge according to God's laws, but He will also judge using justice, mercy, and faith, as we read in Matthew 23. And He will administer judgment for the people's in righteousness. Now, you have to ask, I'm just going to speculate now, but I'm moving with Scripture as well, but how is He going to do that?

I believe He's going to do that by looking for what is good and by looking for what is redeemable in people. Because most people, there's something there that's redeemable, that there's some good there, and He's going to find it. That's what He's going to work with. He's going to look for what He can find in people that can help them become what they ought to be, because it's there.

Potential is there, especially with Satan put away. With Satan put away for a thousand years, Revelation 20, verses 1-3, Christ can now look for the good in everyone so He can judge the world in righteousness, and so He can bring them to righteousness and offer them hope for a new beginning. Let's look now at the Day of Atonement, going on to the next feast day in God's plan here at the Fall Feast, Day of Atonement.

David told them, of course, we know it's a spiritual feast day, because it's the one day each year that we are commanded by God to afflict our souls by refraining from eating any food or drinking any water. God, through the prophet Isaiah, gives lessons we should learn through fasting that offer hope for a new beginning. Isaiah, chapter 58, concentrates a lot on fasting. Let's go to Isaiah, chapter 58.

I'll begin in verse 6.

It shows the purpose for fasting, what we should learn when we fast.

Isaiah 58, 6 says, this is not the fast I have chosen. Then it gives some of the things the fasting should accomplish. First of all, it says to lose the bonds of wickedness.

How is that going to be accomplished when Christ returns? How is He going to lose the bonds of wickedness as portrayed by the Day of Atonement? It's going to be accomplished by removing Satan, which in turn will give all mankind hope for a new beginning. That's how you do it. You remove Satan, and you will lose the bonds. Satan is the one that's bringing wickedness. You get rid of Satan, and you lose those bonds. The people are kind of enslaved to right now in many cases, in many situations. Then it goes on and says to undo heavy burdens. I think of that. I look at people in the world, and even look at my own lives sometimes, and we look at our own lives. All of us sometimes have to bear heavy burdens. We're burdened down. A lot of people are burdened down today. They carry a lot of burdens every week. That's why we all look forward to the Sabbath, because sometimes a week can be a burdensome. Do any of us have to bear any heavy burdens on the job, at home, or just trying to deal with life?

If we were released from all those burdens, would they give hope for a new beginning? Would they help our lives? Yes, they would. And with Satan removed, many of those heavy burdens will be undone and loosened. Then it goes on and says to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke. What does a yoke do? A yoke binds an animal to a cart so they can't break free. They can then be oppressed by the wrong kind of a taskmaster. They have a good taskmaster who can lead them and, well, you can have a bad one, who whips him and tries to, you know, whatever, and suppress it. And so it is with mankind. But the removal of Satan and the reign of Christ will offer mankind hope for a new beginning once those burdens are removed and once mankind can no longer be oppressed by the wrong kind of taskmasters. Going on to verse 7, is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out, when you see the naked that you cover him? In other words, to bring hope for a new beginning, fasting should not only involve a relationship to God, it should also involve a relationship to our fellow man, wanting to help our fellow man in any way we can, looking at their situations. See, one word that can sum up Satan's world and Satan's way of life is get. They get mentality and want to do what's best for ourselves, and where God's way is a way of give, wanting to help and serve others when the opportunity presents itself, if we can. If everyone practices the way of give, just think of that. Everyone in the world practices the way of give, trying to do what's best for somebody else. What a different world it would be. That's going to come after Satan's removed, because he's the one that propagates get. Notice the latter part of verse 7. It says, Then hide not yourself from your own flesh. What does that mean? What does it have to do with the Day of Atonement and fasting? Basically, what it can be saying is, don't give to others in a way that will take away providing for yourself and for your own family and your own loved ones. It kind of ties into 1 Timothy 5.8, where Paul wrote to Timothy, saying, If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worth an unbeliever. So by fasting and doing without ourselves, it can help us understand what our own family members might experience if we're not providing for them, if we're causing them to do without in any way, or have to make sacrifices. And to make us realize, well, I don't want to do that. I want to provide something good for my family. I don't want them to do without. Again, that can offer hope for a new beginning for ourselves and our relationship with our own family members as well. Going on to verse 8, Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry, and he will say to you, Here I am, if you take away the yoke from your midst, and the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness. So fasting should humble us to take a deeper look at ourselves. It should teach us to take personal responsibility rather than pointing the finger at others and making accusations against others.

And it should help us not to accuse others by speaking wickedness. Verse 10, If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as noon day. You're going to be a real light to the world, an example for others to see and follow. And they're going to see how God is going to bless you for being that way as well for doing that. Because, it says, verse 11, The Lord will guide you then continually, and satisfy your soul and drought, and strengthen your bones. And you should be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. So we fasten on the Day of Atonement. We are humbling ourselves before God to show Him how much we need His continual guidance. And if then, the Lord will guide us continually, we will be satisfied and strengthened spiritually, and be like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Which will then, of course, give us hope for a new beginning. In Hebrew, the word for Atonement is yom kippur, yom being word for day.

Kippur being Atonement. Yom kippur is the Hebrew expression of Day of Atonement, which really means day of covering or day of annulment. Kippur or kippar means to cover, to disannul, to forgive, to pardon, to pass over, and completely remove. Now, that meaning is summed up by three verses at the very end of Micah.

In the 12 minor prophets, go to the Book of Micah.

The last three verses of Micah. Micah 7, verses 18 and 20. Now, let's not talk about the Day of Atonement, but what it says here kind of sums up the meaning of the Day of Atonement.

Micah 7, verse 18. Who is a God like you? Pardoning and iniquity. Of course, that applies to Passover as well, but it also applies to Day of Atonement. God is going to cover our sins and annulment. Pardoning and iniquity, and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage, He does not retain his anger forever because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. They're going to be totally taken away and removed to where you're not going to see them. They're going to be completely removed and covered. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from days of old. That will give hope for a new beginning to all of mankind. Now, let's look at the Feast of Tabernacles. We're all looking forward to observing just not too far from that. It's the first part of our first week, I think it is in October. The first part of October. As we know, the Feast of Tabernacles commemorates God's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt and out of slavery when they had to dwell on tents or booths for 40 years. Let's go back and read Deuteronomy 8. Turn back there to Deuteronomy 8. Keep in mind here that Deuteronomy was written right at the end of their 40 years wandering in the wilderness. When Deuteronomy was written, they had wandered, after receiving the Ten Commandments, they had wandered 40 years in the wilderness. To get to Cates Barnay, Cates Barnay was right at the border of the land of Canaan, the land of Parmas Land. The thing that's amazing, if you read the first chapter of Numbers, it tells you how far it is from Mount Sinai to Cates Barnay, traveling with your foot as they had to travel with their horseback or donkeys. It says, from Mount Sinai, Mount Seer, to Cates Barnay, was an 11-day journey, and it took them 40 years to go 11 days. Why? Why did it take so long? Deuteronomy 8, verse 1, Every command which I command you today, again, this is written after those 40 years of wandering, as you're about to enter the Promised Land, every command which I... this is reflecting back... Every command which I command you today, you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers. Now, he told them that 40 years before, but he didn't listen.

Verse 2, And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and to test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. So he humbled you and allowed you to hunger, and he fed you with man, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but the man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. It's quoted by Christ in Matthew 4.4, after he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, and then became tempted... then came... Satan came before him to tempt him. And he asked him, if you're the son of God, make these stones into bread. And that's when Christ said, man shall not live by bread alone, but whatever word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, quoting here, this verse here in Deuteronomy 8, verse 3.

But what happened to that generation back there that God called out of Egypt, and gave the Tenka Man on Mount Sinai, do it up to them. All that generation of Israel died in the wilderness with the exceptions of Joshua and Caleb. What happened? Why did they have to wander in the wilderness, living in tabernacles or booths for 40 years when it was only an 11-day journey?

Here's the reason. If you want to analyze this more deeply and look at it spiritually. Even though God had delivered them out of slavery, God could not deliver the slavery out of them. And that whole generation had to die before it would get rid of that. It had to have a new beginning. In other words, their desires became their new masters. And they remained enslaved to their former condition. They never got past their slavery. They'd been born as slaves in Egypt, and that's all they knew.

In other words, what's this telling us is this? Because so many people in the world today are in this state, in this situation. The bottom line is they were never able to rise above the condition of their birth. They were born slaves. They could never get past it. So many today have that same battle. They can't get past the condition of their birth. They never learned to master a key lesson of the extra story that would have given them hope for a new beginning. And what lesson is that? We don't need to be bound by the condition of our birth, or by the circumstances of our past. See, slavery is a condition, not an identity. Don't let what happened to you in the past become who you are in the present. Ask God to help you get a go of the past so you can have hope for a new beginning. Here's a second lesson we can learn from the Feast of Tabernacles that can give us hope for a new beginning. And that is the Hebrew word sukkah, or sukkah, for a booth or booth implies it as being a shelter, which it was. They're out there in the wilderness, and of course it was hot, and that little booth gave them shade, and he gave them shelter at night from the wind and the rain and the dust and so on. So it was a shelter from the sun and the wind and the rain. So the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booskah, can then pose this question. Where is the true shelter for our lives? What's our shelter? Is our shelter and our security being within the walls of our homes? Is that where our shelter is? When you get home, you walk in, you unlock that door, and you close the door, and wow, now I'm in my shelter. Of course, as we realize, all of our homes, as nice as our homes are, and compared to what Israel had, we have wonderful homes. And some people have marvelous homes, but any little home we have is marvelous compared to what they had. But nevertheless, all the homes we have, no matter how nice they are, they're only temporary. They're not going to be here forever. They're just temporary. And what if our world suddenly brings extraordinary circumstances, which we look at the world today with, I can see that could happen. What if the walls of our homes and the boundaries of our property are no longer safe havens? What then would our shelter be? What would our security be? What about someone that happens quite often as we get older? What if someone is removed from their home and they end up going to a hospital or nursing home and they've lost the shelter of their home? Now they're often in a hospital, maybe waiting to die or a nursing home or something? What then would their shelter be or their security be? Once they're no longer in their home, they will never get back to their home. They're going to be somewhere else. Not so pleasant. God used Moses to deliver Israel out of Egypt, as we know. And there's one psalm of all the psalms. There's one psalm that's attributed specifically to Moses. And that's Psalm 90. And it tells us what Moses learned from dwelling in temporary shelters for 40 years. Let's turn there. Psalm 90. Just look at the first two verses, right here in the very first part of the psalm. Psalm 90, verse 1. The very heading of Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses, the man of God. This is the only psalm specifically attributed to Moses. A prayer of Moses, the man of God. Verse 1. Lord, he says, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, wherever he had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. So what he's telling us here is our temporary dwellings are not our shelter. God is our shelter. God is our dwelling place.

And that's our security. Our real children and our real security is having God as our dwelling place. Dwelling with God and God dwelling with us and in us. The Feast of Sikoth or the Feast of Boos reminds us that our ultimate security is not found within the walls of our homes.

But it's found from the presence of God in our lives. It's found from our relationship we have with God. Dwelling with God and God dwelling with us and in us.

There's another major lesson from the Feast of Tabernacles that can give us hope for a new beginning. Or I should say that is another major lesson that can give us hope for a new beginning. Having God as our shelter and God as our present in our lives. And I'm going to add this as well because this is very important. The presence we have in dwelling with one another is God's people. It's God's spiritual church. That gives us security and hope for a new beginning, too. Having being part of God's family and having that relationship we have with one another spiritually is God's people. But finally, then, what about the Eighth Day? I find this so interesting. The Eighth Day is simply, the Bible is simply called the Eighth Day Sacred Assembly in the New King James. This is all I'm assuming, but I prefer Sacred, which I'll mention after the end of the sermon. But it's the interesting thing about the Eighth Day. It's the only name given to it in the Bible. The entire Bible is only called the Eighth Day, and it says very little about it.

Before we look at five, there's only five scriptures that even mention the Eighth Day in the Old Testament. What they say is very, very brief, within one verse for the most part. But as we look at those five scriptures, why is it just called the Eighth Day? Why is there a more descriptive name? You look at the other piece, they all have a descriptive name. They have Passover. You've got Unleavened Bread. You've got something you can look at and maybe learn a lesson from. You've got Pentecost, Count 50. You've got Trumpets, you blow a trumpet. You've got a tomelet, you fast. You've got pieces of tabernacle, you live in booths, and so on. But Eighth Day just is Eighth Day. There's nothing to describe anything that really you could sink your teeth into to give it meaning.

As we look at these scriptures, there's something else that always says to observe the piece of tabernacle seven days. Then after that is the Eighth Day.

First reference is in Leviticus 23. So if we turn to Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23, and I'll start in verse 34. Speak to the children of Israel. The fifteenth day of the seventh month should be the piece of tabernacle. Then again, for seven days. Always says, number of days, seven days. Every time you talk about the piece of tabernacle, observe it for seven days.

Seven days to the Lord. On the first day there should be a holy congregation. You should do no customary work. Then verse 36, for seven days you shall offer an offering made by the fire of the Lord. And then it says, on the eighth day, the first mention of the eighth day in the Bible. On the eighth day you shall have a holy congregation. You shall offer an offering made by fire. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work. Then the second mention of the eighth day in the Old Testament of those five places is right here in verse 39. Where it says, also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days. On the first day there should be a Sabbath rest. On the eighth day a Sabbath rest. That's all it says. On the eighth day in this verse. On the eighth day there should be a Sabbath rest. The third reference to the eighth day is in Numbers 29.

Let's go to the book of Numbers. Numbers 29. Before I look at the mention in verse 35, before we do that, let's read verse 12 first. Numbers 29 verse 12. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy congregation. You should do no customary work and you should keep a feast of the Lord for seven days. Again, emphasizing seven days. And of course, they have to talk about the Feast of Tabernacles. And then dropping down to verse 35. The third time we find the mention of the eighth day in the scripture. On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You should do no customary work. That's all it says. Have a sacred assembly. The fourth reference to the eighth day is in 2 Chronicles chapter 7.

2 Chronicles chapter 7. So if we go there, 2 Chronicles chapter 7 verse 8. We'll begin in verse 8. At that time, Solomon kept the feast seven days, referring to the Feast of Tabernacles. And all Israel with him a very great assembly from the entrance of Hamith to the brook of Egypt. And then verse 9. And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly. For they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast, referring to the Feast of Tabernacles, seven days.

And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly. And then what happened the next day? On the 23rd day of the seventh month, he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart, and for the good that the Lord had done for David and Solomon and the people of Israel. The eighth day occurs on the 22nd day of the seventh month. So the 23rd day would be the day after the eighth day sacred assembly. And then everybody goes home, as we do today. Now the fifth and final reference to the eighth day is in the Old Testament, it's found in the book of Nehemiah. Let's go to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 8. Nehemiah 8 verse 18. Also, day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast, referring to the Feast of Tabernacles, they kept the feast seven days. And on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly according to the prescribed manner. Again, that's all it says. On the eighth day there was a sacred assembly according to the prescribed manner. So the first question here is, why is it called the eighth day? To me, it's called the eighth day to indicate it's a separate and distinct holy day that has a separate and distinct meaning, apart from, in addition to, the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles. A second question. Since this meaning is not given in any of those five passages, how can you ever come to understand the meaning? Where can you go in those passages to really understand, get your grips on the meaning of the eighth day? Well, I think God's word answers that question for us. Very interesting.

This is from Psalm 111, verse 10, which says, A good understanding of all those who do his commandments.

It's interesting. Go look at Mr. Armstrong's autobiography. He began observing God's end of the Feast of the Holy Days. When he began doing that in the 1930s, he didn't understand what anything really meant.

But as he observed them, God gave him understanding, as he now does for all of us. That's how we can understand by observing them. People criticized him in that time, because he was keeping the satellite, he criticized them for the Holy Days, the way he observed them, he knows. And he didn't know what their meaning was, but God said to do it, so he was going to do it. And as he observed them, God gave him understanding.

See, the meaning of the eighth day is gained by observing it. And by God then giving us understanding as to what it means.

And of all of God's annual feasts and holy days, I think none is more significant than the eighth day when it comes to hope for a new beginning. Let's go to our last passage here we'll look at as we wind down. Let's go to Ezekiel 37. Nothing here in the Bible that ties us directly to the eighth day, but as we know now, this is really what's going to happen on the eighth day. Ezekiel 37, verse 1, The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out in the spirit of the Lord, and he sent me down to the midst of a valley full of bones, full of people who died a long time ago. And he called me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley, and they were extremely dry. They'd been dead for a long time. They almost turned to dust, just a little bit left. He said to me, Son of Man, can these bones live?

Good question. Is there any hope for a new beginning for all these people who have died and been in their graves for a long time?

So I answered, and I said, Lord God, you know. So he said, prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says Lord God to these bones, Surely I will cause breath and winter into you, and you shall live. Obviously, now you read this. This is talking about your resurrection back to physical life. Not eternal life, physical life. I will cause breath to winter into you, and you shall live. I'll put sinews on you, and I'll bring flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live. And then you're going to come to know that I am God. I am the Eternal. So I prophesied, as it was commanded, Ezekiel says, and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. And indeed, as I looked, the sinews and flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them, but there was no breath in them yet. So I said to me, prophesied to the breath, prophesied, I sent a man, and said to the breath, Thus says the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on the east lane, that they may live. So I prophesied, as he commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. So the eighth day tells us there will be a new beginning for all those who have died and are now in their graves. There's going to be a new beginning, and there's going to be hope.

And this is not just hope for a new beginning, as well. This is a promise of God, it's sure. As the latter part of verse 10 says, Surely I will cause breath to enter in you, and you shall live. It's a promise of God. You shall live again. One final question. Why do you prefer that the eighth day be called a sacred assembly, rather than a solemn assembly, as it is in the Old King James? For two reasons. Number one, because it shows that every life is sacred to God, and that every life has meaning and purpose to God.

God knows every hair on our head, he remembers everything about us, he never forgets anything. He's all preserved. Every life is sacred, and the life of every person is sacred. And second reason why I prefer sacred assembly is because a sacred assembly is the meaning of the eighth day when you stop and think about it.

When the rest of the dead live again after the millennial reign of Christ, a sacred assembly of millions of people, actually probably billions of people, will be resurrected to stand before God.

For what purpose will they stand before God? To learn the truth, and to have the opportunity to learn the purpose for which they were given the gift of life by God. They're going to meet God, come and understand God, and understand the purpose for which they were created by God and given life. Or Ezekiel 37.10 says it will be, and as I should say it says it, it shall be an exceedingly great army, millions and even billions of people, all of whom will then be given a new beginning. So quickly, then, in conclusion, that then is what the fall, feast and holy days will mean for all of us and for the entire world, and how they will offer hope for a new beginning to all mankind.