Just Passing Through

Well, brethren, when we consider the transition that takes place between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day—you know, we're going from these seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles now to the Eighth Day—when we consider that transition and we consider what it is that God's plan for mankind entails, this transition between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day is one that is significant. It is one that's significant. The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths, is a time in which God's people are commanded in Scripture to come before His presence and in doing so to dwell in temporary dwellings or booths, as it sometimes lists in Scripture. Let's go to Leviticus 23. I want to pick a passage up here that kind of instructs this and gives us the basis of where we're headed and the direction we're going today. Leviticus 23, and we'll pick up the passage that kind of provides these instructions. And not just these instructions, but the ever-critical why of these instructions. You know, yes, God's commands are critical, and our obedience of those commands are critical, but understanding the principles behind it is also exceptionally important. Leviticus 23, and we'll go ahead and we'll pick it up in verse 39. Leviticus 23 verse 39. It reads as follows. It says, uh, nope, not that one, 39. Not 29, I'm sorry, I went to 29, I told you 39. Also, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you've gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days. On the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, willows of the brook. We mentioned this earlier in the feast, the lulav is what that's known as. Okay, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Verse 42, you shall 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 when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. And so Moses declared the children, or to the children of Israel, the feasts of the Lord. You know, as part of his command, God provides the reason. He says, we are to dwell in temporary dwellings so that all our generations may know that the children of Israel dwelt in booths when God brought them out of the land of Egypt. So there's something more then to this command than to just enjoy a vacation rental, to maybe enjoy the hotel room in the place where God has placed his name. This seemingly simple command carries with it deep spiritual meaning. We understand and recognize God brought Israel out of Egypt with a high hand. You know, they'd served as slaves for 400-plus years in the land of Egypt. Generation after generation knew the horrors of slavery. You know, the parents watched their children enslaved, their grandchildren enslaved, their great-grandchildren enslaved for 400 years, generation after generation after generation, knew what it meant to serve the Egyptians.

You know, we look at that number and we consider that number. That number is longer than the United States has been a nation, that they were in slavery. You know, at that time when you're looking at that and that's the direction and trajectory that the life of your family is going, hope would have been something incredibly hard to come by. After all, your kids are going to be slaves, their kids are going to be slaves, their kids are going to be slaves, and on and on and on, it is going to go. Of course, we know this story. We know that God delivered his people through a series of miracles. We know that he poured out 10 plagues on the land of Egypt, on their livestock, on their people. We know that Pharaoh finally allowed the Israelites to go free, and that God had redeemed his people. He had delivered them from their affliction. So what happens? Well, they go out into the land surrounding Egypt, they cross the Red Sea for the place that their God was preparing for them, and they cross into a largely inhospitable land in many ways. It was a land that was a challenge. It was a place in which water was difficult to come by. Food was hard to come by, comparatively, to the ease, quote-unquote, of life that they experienced under Egyptian rule, and Israel struggled mightily as they followed their God's lead. Their faith wavered. They turned on one another. They turned on their God. In Numbers 14, you can jot this down if you'd like. For reference, we won't turn there to the account, but we will reference it. In Numbers 14, Israel concludes they can't go up to the Promised Land that God has provided them because its inhabitants are too mighty. In that process, they end up managing to hatch a plan to overthrow Moses and Aaron as leaders of the congregation and ultimately return to Egypt. They got to the point of picking up stones against the leaders of the congregation at that time, and as a result, God punishes Israel. He gives them one year for every day they spied out the land, and he let the generation that showed so little faith in him and his promises die in the wilderness without seeing the Promised Land. And thus began 40 years of Israel wandering in the wilderness of Sinai.

Wandering in that wilderness. You know, the definition of a sojourner is someone who stays someplace temporarily. It's not their permanent home. It's a, we might say, a temporary place of residence. The Bible records that Israel sojourned in Egypt for the time that they were enslaved, and there are some translations that lump their wandering in with that sojourning. The Septuagint is one of them. It says that they, in addition to their enslavement in Egypt, as well as their wandering, that they'd sojourned during that time. In other words, they were temporarily in a place that was not their home. And so as Israel wandered, they would occupy an area for a time. They would end up in one place. They'd set their tents up, you know, where God stopped and where the presence of God stopped in the in the cloud of, or in the pillar of fire and cloud. Then when it got on the move, they'd pack their tents up again, and they'd follow it until it stopped again and set up in another area. And this went on and on and on for an extended amount of time. For 40 years, as they occupied various locations, kind of winding their way through the wilderness of Sinai. If you look at the map, I mean, it almost looks comical in a cartoony way. They're just kind of going back on their own routes sometime, just round and round and round as the wilderness, quote unquote, confounded them, as it says in some locations. But you know, as they wandered in these areas, and as they went their way through the wilderness of Sinai, just waiting to enter the Promised Land, until that promise was delivered in full, they were sojourners and pilgrims. They were just passing through, we might say.

Title of the second split sermon this afternoon, or this morning rather, is the eighth day.

It's the eighth day on this eighth day, is just passing through. The title is just passing through.

You know, when you consider the concept of a sojourner and what it implies, as we mentioned earlier, inside of that concept is the implication of a permanent home. That there is a permanent home, it's just that that sojourner is temporarily residing someplace else, and that someplace is not their home. They're just passing through, we might say. So we have physical sojourners, like we see in the example of Israel here. There are also spiritual sojourners, those of the faithful throughout time. Let's go over to the book of Hebrews, go over to the book of Hebrews, and we'll see some examples of those sojourners. The book of Hebrews. We're gonna go to Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11 is an incredible book of Scripture. In it, the author does just just masterful job of connecting that which occurred in the Old Testament with the New Testament, and really doing a great job of explaining some of these types and these anti-types that we see outlined in Scripture from the Old Testament to the New Testament. But Hebrews 11 and verse 13, well see, it says, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them. They embraced them, and they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland, and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But it says these individuals that are recorded here in Hebrews 11, these fathers of faith and mothers of faith, as we look back over their examples throughout Scripture, it says they desired a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. You know, these individuals died in faith believing, just assured of the promises that were to come. And having been assured of those promises, they recognized an incredibly important concept. I think, brethren, this is an incredibly important concept that all of us need to recognize as well. That the promises which God has provided and that which God has said is going to come, that God will absolutely deliver on those promises, it is an assurance.

And in the process of that recognition in those coming promises, they also recognized that their time here on this earth was temporary, that it was fleeting, that they were sojourners and they were pilgrims while they were here in this world. Verse 32 of Hebrews 11, down just a little bit, verse 32 of Hebrews 11, says, And what more shall I say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Verse 35, women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains, and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. But notice what it says in verse 38, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth.

As such, they were willing to accept the challenges that this world offered. Why? Why?

Why would they do that? What makes a person capable of accepting the challenges and the trials of their faith? Willing to accept the afflictions and the challenges and not shrink back, but continue to press forward? Well, they realized that they were sojourners and pilgrims on this earth. We might say that a different way. They understood that this is not their home. This is not their home.

As a sojourner, or as a pilgrim, you might say, they were looking forward to, and they were pressing toward another home. They were looking to a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. This earth, their lives, all that is in it—you know, we look at all that surrounds us at this time—it's temporary. It's fleeting. It fades.

It's like the grass that flourishes, but when the wind comes, it vanishes. It's like the things that are stored up that will be eaten by moth and rust.

It's corruptible. It's corruptible. The Greek word that's used to describe this concept of corruptibility is pthora. A little bit of a difficult one to pronounce. P-H-T-H-O-R-A. Pthora. And it's a word that's used to describe rot and decay. Rot and decay. It's also used to describe destruction. But when we say that physical humanity is corruptible, we're not talking about the idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's not what we're talking about. When we say that humanity is corruptible, we are saying that it is susceptible to decay. That it has, we might say, an expiration date. It's a kind way of putting it. It has an expiration date. The Apostle Paul understood this concept, and he understood it all too well. Let's go ahead and begin turning over to 2 Corinthians. We know that the Apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker, and at this point in history, it's kind of interesting. The tents, that likely the kind of tents that the Apostle Paul was working on, were likely a four-wall type. Not much different than some of the hunting tents you might see today with the walls, the four walls, and they put the little camp stove in them, and the flaps, and the, you know, they're very nice little tents. But not unlike that style. But the difference is, they were made of goat skins, stitched together. Big squares of goat skins, and so it looked like almost a quilt in a way, if you look at it, but it's all just goats. It's a quilt made of goats, or not whole goats, the skin of goats. Make that clear so we don't have a picture in our head of, you know, several goats stitched together. Yeah, that becomes a little bit challenging. But these were leather tents that had wooden poles that held that up with a taut rope stretched between the two, and then that large set of hides that had been stitched together would be strung over the top of it. In fact, Roman soldiers that stayed in these sorts of tents at that point in time, they were referred to as sub-pelibis.

Those soldiers were sub-pelibis. It means they were under the skin. They were under the skin. It means that they were staying in these tents of goat skin. It's very likely that these were the kind of tents that Paul was making at this time as a tentmaker. Imagine we can, one way we can know that the Apostle Paul was no wimp, you know, that leather goat skin hide covered tent would have been incredibly heavy to work with. You know, absolutely incredibly heavy to work with. And so, you know, you think about the Apostle Paul, you think about his writings, you think about the things that he said. Often, I think as speakers and writers, we draw analogies from the things we have experience with, and Paul was no different. Paul talked about tents. He knew tents, so we talked about tents. 2 Corinthians 5, we'll pick it up in verse 1. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 1. Paul says, "...for we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed..." The word tent there you might see in your Bible may be translated tabernacle, okay? "...this tent is destroyed. We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. If indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed," he says, "...that mortality may be swallowed up by life." Now, he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Verse 7, "...for we walk by faith, not by sight." We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Paul uses this concept of a tent. The word in Greek is skēn, S-K-E-N-E, to describe this physical body that we are in at this time. Interestingly, this word skēn is one of the root words for the word tabernacle, which is skēnapēgia, skēnapēgia in Feast of Tabernacles. The root there that it comes from, I love etymology, so I try to throw this in as often as I can, but the root word is pegnemi. Skēnapēgia comes from skin and pegnemi. Why does that matter? Well, pegnemi means to pitch or to set up. So the Feast of Tabernacles in Greek is literally the feast of pitching or setting up tents, talking about the booths in which the Israelites stayed or the booths in which we've symbolically stayed this week, that they are temporary. They are not meant to last. You know, this temporary nature, this presence of this temporary dwelling, it's integral to the symbolism of the transition between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day going forward. You know, as we transition from the Feast of Tabernacles, which again ended yesterday, to this Eighth Day of God's plan for mankind, what we see in God's plan is a transition from physical to spiritual. We begin to see a transition from temporary to permanent, from corruptible to incorruptible. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Just a couple pages over here from where we are in 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15, and we're going to pick it up to begin with in verse 42. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 42.

1 Corinthians 15 and verse 42 says, 1 The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 2 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness. 3 It is raised in power. 4 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 5 There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body, and so it is written, 1 The first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 2 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 3 The first man was of the earth, made of dust, the second man is the Lord from heaven. 4 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust, and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. 5 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.

Paul tells the brethren in Corinth that this life is temporary.

6 This body is planted, or sown, we might say, in corruption.

7 But it will be raised in incorruption. 8 It is sown a natural body, and it is raised a spiritual body. 9 As Mr. Laux pointed out in his message earlier this week, 10 None of us want immortality in a body that is subject to corruption.

11 None of us want immortality in a body that is subject to corruption. 12 We desire the incorruptible body that we should be like Him.

13 That spiritual body doesn't come first.

Instead, the natural body does. 14 Then afterwards, the spiritual. 15 God purposed that man exist physically, temporarily, corruptibly, in this earthly tent before He raises them to be a spirit being. 16 But you know, despite this purposeful design, man has spent their entire life trying to figure out how to postpone death so that we can get as many years as humanly possible out of this body.

Society is focused on looking young, being young, remaining young, doing everything humanly possible to postpone aging and ultimately death. If you've lived a life of joy and you've smiled and you've just laughed and had a wonderful time, guess what? You've probably got crow's feet. That's the little wrinkles right here by the edges of your eyes, because when you smile, it wrinkles up. Well, we've got a solution for that.

We'll jab botulism toxin into your skin and even those out so you don't have them anymore.

Keep trying to look young, not acknowledging that we do age. I just saw this just three weeks ago. There was a report that came out by one of the news sites of a substantial investment by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Might be familiar with Jeff Bezos. Into a tech startup known as Altos Labs. Altos Labs is one of a number of tech startups trying to determine how to utilize technology to rejuvenate human cells and to extend life.

They call these technologies Fountain of Youth Technology.

Mr. Bezos is not the only billionaire that is funding these startups.

I think sometimes when you have more money than you can spend in a thousand lifetimes, you need a body that can keep up with the zeros in the pocketbook.

They're fighting a losing battle. They're fighting a losing battle. This body's not designed to last. It has an expiration date because we are temporary, physical, and subject to decay. But God has a plan for that, too.

That is what is so beautiful about God's plan. God has a plan for that, too. Let's pop back up to verse 20.

Pop back up to verse 20. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20 says, But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Verse 23, But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ that is coming, then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, and when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. Verse 26, The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

The final enemy that will be destroyed is death itself.

Now, obviously, this plan of God's resurrection, it has an order. It has a direction that it goes.

The beginning of a millennium, we kind of pictured at the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles, that change has already happened. With God's firstfruits at Christ's coming, the resurrection has already happened.

But brethren, as we've talked about the millennium this week, as we've talked about these things here at the Feast, physical human life and the cycle of birth and death will continue for mankind throughout that millennium.

Generations will live and they will die in those 1,000 years. Despite the incredible prosperity that we see, despite the incredible restoration of the land and the waters that we see pictured in Isaiah, mankind will have the opportunity to see that the removal of Satan, the Word of God going out as the waters cover the sea, a restored earth and it healed waters. It's not enough.

There's something more that still has to take place. God's intent for forever was not physical life going on at infinitum and the cycle of life and death occurring forever and ever and ever. Verse 50, Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. He goes on and says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. He's speaking here of the first resurrection. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible is put on incorruption and this mortal is put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that his written death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?

But then we see that the millennium goes on, and the death continues, and life continues during that time.

You know, this day that we are here to keep today represents in some ways the precipice of eternity.

It's interesting. You look at the account of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. What did God let Moses do right at the end before his life ended?

God let Moses go to the top of Mount Nebo and look out over the Promised Land, to peer out over this promise that was going to be given to his people.

And then Moses died without having received that promise.

And in many ways, brethren, on this eighth day, we do much of the same.

We're here to look at and we're here to consider and to peer out into eternity, into the fulfillment of God's promises.

Let's go over to Revelation 21. Revelation 21.

And we'll fast forward a little bit here to the fulfillment of the plan. Revelation 21.

Revelation 21. Heard these words sung by Miss Tia Christopher today. Appreciated that very much, the New Heaven and New Earth. Revelation 21. And we'll see the fulfillment of this plan. Verse 1. Now I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away. It says, Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Verse 3. And I heard a loud voice from Heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God, or the tent, the skein, the dwelling place of God, is with men, and He will dwell with them, and He shall be His people, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. Verse 4. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Brethren, that's what the Scripture says. That's what it says.

There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. No more pain, for the former things have passed away. The plan of God accounts for the removal of death. It accounts for the removal of that which makes us physical and temporary, which provides the expiration date, so to speak.

Death is the great equalizer. You may have heard that quote before. It doesn't matter if you're rich, if you're poor, if you're famous, if you're unknown, powerful, weak. Death comes for us all. That's the idea behind that concept of death being the great equalizer. But the time going forward from the eighth day symbolizes a time in which death no longer has a sting, where it no longer has victory. A time in which God dwells with his people, which he tabernacles with them. A time in which he wipes every tear from their eyes, removing again one of the most significant causes of sorrow and tears in the world. The loss of those we love. You know, as we lose people that we love. God has a plan to remove the temporary nature of this life and to transition it from temporary to permanent. From physical to spiritual, from temporal to eternal. Let's go down to verse 9. Verse 9 of Revelation 21 says, Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come, I'll show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone clear as crystal. She had a great and high wall with twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates, names written on them which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. Now the walls of the city had twelve foundations. On them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. Says the city is laid out as a square. Its length is as great as its breadth, and he measured the city with the reed. Twelve thousand furlongs, its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured one wall, or measured its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. Goes on and talks about the materials that were present. It goes on and discusses some other things. But I want to take a second and pause right there. The word that is used for the measurement here in this that has been translated to furlong is the Greek word stadia. And it's a unit of measure that the Greeks used, and it's equivalent, roughly, of about an eighth of a mile. It's about the same of a furlong. Pretty close.

It says its length, height, and breadth is 12,000 stadia. 12,000 stadia. 12,000 furlongs.

I did the math, saved you the time. It's approximately 1,381 miles. That is, width, breadth, and height. Okay? Perspective, because I don't know, maybe you're like me and you don't do great at judging distance. I tried to find a city that was 1,380 miles from Bend, Oregon, to provide a comparison. I found one. At 1,379 miles as the crow flies, that is Minneapolis, Minnesota.

From one side of this to the other side of this is the distance from where we are standing today to Minneapolis, Minnesota, which for those of you that have driven it is a two-day drive.

Unless you drive like myself, and then it's a three-day drive. I'm kidding.

The interesting thing about that, though, is that that's not just this way and this way. It's also up. There's a line called the Carmen Line that's around the Earth. It's kind of the generally recognized beginning of what we would call space. You might have heard a little bit about this recently because there's been some arguments. NASA redefined space to make Mr. Bezos and his friend not astronauts, and they were very upset about that. But there's an argument as to exactly where space begins and whether space tourism is space. Anyway, digress. But if you go up 13 181 miles, Jerusalem is firmly in space. Firmly in what is now recognized, New Jerusalem, as space. The beginning of space is roughly 62 miles above the Earth's surface. In fact, the upper limits of the city, as it's described, would be above the lower limit of medium Earth orbit satellites, which orbited about 1,200 miles. So if you went out in your hot tub this week at the feast, and you looked up and you saw a satellite go by, the top of the New Jerusalem will be above that.

Okay, that's what we're talking about here.

The description of this city is incredible. The beauty that's contained within it, the gold, the precious stones, the pearls. Honestly, it's hard to fathom. It really kind of is. It is tough for us to wrap our human brains around this to process it. But it's going to be the most beautiful thing you've ever laid your eyes on. Adorned like a bride for her bridegroom.

Why does it need to be so beautiful? Because within it will reside God the Father and His glory. Let's skip down to verse 22. Skip down to verse 22 of Revelation 21. It says, But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need for the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it.

You don't need electricity, at least light, I should say, because the glory of God will illuminate it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light. And the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. In fact, it says in parentheses that there shall be no night there. Verse 26, they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it, but there shall by no means enter into it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Brethren, can you imagine this? Can you imagine this? And I don't mean that in a rhetorical sense. I mean, can you literally visualize this as it's been described? You know, we are admonished in Scripture frequently to taste and see that the Lord is good. You know, put God to the test, so to speak, you know? See if he won't pour out a tithe or beyond what the storehouse can hold. Visualize the coming of this city to earth, a city in which there's no need for light, because the Shekinah glory of God, which is not tabernacled with man in this fashion, since Solomon's temple will fill this city with light.

There's no night there because the light of God's glory will illuminate it. Brethren, it is this promise. We read about the people in Hebrews 11, those who were sojourners and pilgrims, this city is what they were waiting for. This is the promise that they were waiting for. This was what they were willing to accept. All those challenges and affliction and difficulties and trials, because they knew this right here where we are, is not our home. But that city that is coming, it is, because that is where our father will be. That is where our elder brother will be. They endured those challenges.

They endured those trials because they knew this is what was coming. That this home would one day be theirs. That they would dwell with the Father and with Christ. That the former things would pass away and all things would be made new. That there would be a new heaven and a new earth, for the former had passed away. That they would be raised, as we saw, scripturally to immortality, to incorruptibility, I should say.

No longer subject to decay. As part of the resurrection of the firstfruits at the return of Jesus Christ, you know, becoming a part of God's family in that new Jerusalem, according to the record in the book of life. But I think this is what's so critical and so important about this day. It's not just them. That is what is so powerful about this day, and that is what is so incredible about the eighth day. It's not just them. It's not just the firstfruits. When we reach the eighth day, we commemorate the great white throne judgment.

We commemorate the general resurrection of those, all of those who have ever lived, to stand before God with the books open, with Scripture opened, and for them to be recorded, hopefully, in the book of life. That book of life being opened. Let's go over to Revelation 20, verse 11. Revelation 20, verse 11, says, then I saw a great white throne in him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. Scripture was opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. Verse 13, we see the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. We see a third resurrection.

They were judged, each one according to his works. We know, verse 14, let's read that real quick. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire, cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. God is adding brothers and sisters, spiritual brothers and sisters, members of his family, to the book of life at this time, in God's plan at this time. God is working to bring his children home. He's working to bring his children home.

John 3 16, right? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

Brethren, this day represents the fulfillment of that love, of giving the opportunity that we have been given in this life to all who have ever lived, to those who never knew Christ, who never knew God, who had not been called at this time. God is bringing his children home.

For the past 6,000 years, mankind has just been passing through. Here in these earthly tents, we're subject to the aches and the pains of this life. We're subject to corruption, we're subject to decay. But the eighth day represents a time in God's plan in which we see an incredible transition. We see a transition from physical, temporal human life to the beginnings of eternal life in the family of God. The death is done away. All things are made new.

No longer will mankind sojourn through the desert, so to speak. No longer will they spend their lives in uncertainty as to their purpose or their reason for their existence.

The promise will be fulfilled. Their God will be here. They'll be standing before him with the same opportunity that's been offered to us to dwell with him for eternity. Let's go to Revelation 22 today to close. Revelation 22, because again, we have opportunity to peer into eternity and get glimpses. Revelation 22 will pick up the account in verse one. Revelation 22 and verse one says, And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there, they need no lamp, nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Brethren, I hope that you have had a spiritually rewarding and enriching feast of tabernacles. I hope that your cup is full and that you are able to return to your local congregations, energized and ready to go forward, taking this calling that we have been given to the world. I hope that you all have safe travels. Until we meet again next time.