The Purpose of Temporary Dwellings

I appreciated Dale's message, again very much, pointing us towards the Feast of Tavern Achles, because we are in that season now. Our focus is shifting gears and directing in that way, and I very much appreciated how he brought in the concept of community and sharing.

As he mentioned, the modern age we live in, maybe we don't always think about what it means to take your tithe up to the feast, depending on what you grew or what you produced, and then how you would trade that for the other things that you would rejoice with at the feast. So I appreciated that very much. My message today would like to take a little bit different direction, but again talking about an element of the Feast of Tavern Achles, because the first day of the feast is just seven short weeks away from today.

And that's kind of hard to believe, because I feel like we were just talking about the spring holy days, and now our focus is turning towards the fall, and all of us will be attending those who are not shut in at one location or another. So we're making our plans, our preparations, planning our travel, planning our accommodations as part of that as well for those eight days that we'll be assembling, keeping the Feast of Tavern Achles, and also following on the heels of that, the eighth day, or the last great day. And because the Spokane Valley has been designated by the churches of Feastsite this year, those staying locally have been faced with an interesting question to ponder, maybe one that we haven't pondered in near 30 years, because I think the last feast I intended in Spokane was in 1994. So it's been been quite a while since we've had a feast in Spokane, and that question is, do I stay in my home during the feast this year, or do I secure temporary housing elsewhere during that time? Again, a feast is sort of out of range, and you're packing up and going, that sort of answers for you, but what's the point in staying in a hotel, or staying in some other accommodation, or switching houses with somebody, or in some way, you know, removing yourself from your home to go stay somewhere else during the feast? What's the point when the feast is in your backyard? When you can just walk out your front door, get in your car, drive 15 minutes, you're there at the feast site, you can enjoy the day, and then you turn around and head home afterwards. I mean, wouldn't that save money to do it that way, just to stay at home?

Wouldn't that make sense? You know, I figured it was a time to discuss it, again, because we haven't had this this feast in Spokane in that way in 30 years, but also I've received the question two or three times in recent months in various forms. So, brethren, why do we stay in temporary dwellings during the Feast of Tabernacles? You know, I think we can all explain what we do, but can we always explain why it is that we do what we do? You know, the why is important as well in being able to answer those questions and understanding the why. This applies across the board to all our beliefs, because if we understand the why behind what we do, then nobody will be able to snatch that out of our grasp when maybe a convincing argument comes along that would point us in another direction. So why? Why do we leave the comfort of our homes and go through all the effort to pack up our things and to stay elsewhere in temporary housing during that period of time, especially if the feast is right in our backyard? You know, I'm not talking about those who are infirmed or shut in or cannot in other ways get out and move and travel. I've known people that are homebound that have said, okay, well, we swapped rooms in the house during the feast, are packed up from this room, and I stayed in the guest bedroom, because, you know, this is temporary from what it is that I normally do. But why do we do what we do? I want to explore that topic a bit for the sermon today. The title is The Purpose of Temporary Dwellings. The purpose of temporary dwellings. And as we're going to see, God doesn't have us do anything for no good reason at all. When he gives us a command to do something, there's a purpose behind it. And there's lessons he wants us to learn. I feel like Dale Ropes helped us to see a number of lessons that we learned by, you know, taking our tithe and up to the feast. And, you know, we can sort of do these things on autopilot, but it's important to remember the lessons and what God would have us learn behind the actions of what it is that we do. There's lessons he wants us to learn. And again, these lessons come through the process of obedience. I want to begin in Leviticus chapter 23 today, because here we find the command to dwell in temporary dwellings during the Feast of Tabernacles. So we're going to start here with the command to do so. Leviticus chapter 23, and we're going to pick it up in verse 39. Leviticus chapter 23 verse 39. And 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 shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest. So we're considering as well the concept of the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, and then the eighth day, the last great day as well, following that. Verse 40, And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

Now, if we're going to see the purpose for gathering this vegetation together, as the instruction was to ancient Israel there, the branches of the leafy trees, on the first day it was for constructing a temporary structure for them to dwell in during the feast. Okay, they were to leave their regular houses, they were to construct these booths, and that is where they would spend their feast during that time. Again, specifically the seven days. Verse 41, it says, And ye shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. Ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. And ye shall dwell in booths. Verse 42, Ye shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths. And so again, this is a very specific command that addressed the question of where you were to dwell during the seven days of the feast. And it wasn't where you always dwelled throughout the other weeks of the year, because these days were set apart as different from all the rest by God's command. By God's command. I want us to notice Nehemiah chapter 8 in this regard as well. If you'll follow me there, please. Nehemiah chapter 8.

Context of Nehemiah 8 here is following the Babylonian captivity, the remnant that had returned there to Judah and Jerusalem. And now we have a reading of the law by Ezra the scribe. Ezra, who is also a priest of God's people. And the reading begins on the Feast of Trumpets in Nehemiah chapter 8, but it carries forward from there. So Nehemiah chapter 8, we're going to begin in verse 13. It says, now on the second day, the second day of the reading of the law, the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people with the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe in order to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the Feast of the seventh month. And so again, this is a very specific period of time in which they were to do this, to construct these booths and to dwell in them during the Feast of the seventh month. Verse 15, it says, and that they should announce and proclaim in all the cities and in Jerusalem, saying, go out to the mountain and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees to make booths as it is written.

Verse 16, and the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one notice on the roof of his house or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God in the open square of the water gate and the open square of the gate of Ephraim. They just cover the whole place with these booths.

Verse 17, so the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so and there was very great gladness. Very great gladness. You know, clearly the booths were not their regular dwelling places.

You know, everything we see on this earth with our eyes is temporary, right? The things that are seen are temporary. The things that are not seen are eternal, but these booths were more temporary than what it is that they normally dwelled in day by day in terms of their housing. In fact, they didn't just stay in their houses during the seven days.

They pitched their booths on their flat roofs out in the courtyard. You know, if the feast was in their backyard, the the booth went outside or went on the roof or went somewhere, but it took them out of their regular dwelling place and it says there was great gladness in doing so. You know, they'd been in captivity. They'd been apart from really living to the fullest as they should, the law of God, the way of God, and now it's being expounded and read as it should have been every seven years, and they discovered we should do this, and they did it, and it led to great rejoicing and gladness among them.

And so we see specifically in God's command that the Feast of Tabernacles is to be observed in part by dwelling in booths, dwelling in temporary housing, and it is a part of the worship of God during those days. It's part of the obedience of the command of the Holy Day that God gives, and it's a part of the learning the lessons that God wants us to learn when we keep these days. It's important. You know, we go through the process.

We go through the routine because God says, there's lessons I want you to learn by walking through this. And similarly, there's lots of lessons we learn by dwelling in temporary dwellings during the Feast. Verse 18 says, also, day by day from the first day until the last day, he read from the book of the law of God, and he kept the Feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly according to the prescribed manner. And so, as actually Mr. Imes pointed out in a recent sermonette, there's biblical precedence for why we do what we do at the Feast. You know, there's biblical precedence for having an opening night service.

So, if we're able, we're encouraged to be there. There's biblical precedence for dwelling in temporary dwellings. There's biblical precedence for being at the Feast to hear the reading of God's Word each and every day.

You know, we don't skip a service to go scuba diving or rock climbing or parasailing or some great adventure at the Feast, and it doesn't mean we can't have fun. But the point was, you know, they came from the first day until the last, as the book of the law was being read, and they kept that Feast seven days. And it's the instruction that is given for us as well. So, what is a booth? What is a booth? If we're to dwell in booths at the Feast of Tabernacles, what qualifies as a booth?

When I attended Ambassador College in the early 1990s, I lived in a booth. And there was a whole collection of booths actually there, but I lived for two years, and it looked more like an 8x12 metal storage shed than it did a small house. You know, the tiny houses you could buy and transport around now are quite luxurious compared to that booth. But as we lived in those booths, when it rained, you knew it.

As in East Texas, the rain pours down, and it had metal roofs, and in the thunderstorms you knew it. And when the wind blew, you knew it. And when the tornado, silent siren, went off, right, you ran for the bathhouse because that was made of concrete block.

And if a tornado actually swept through there, you knew there would be nothing left of that temporary structure. In fact, the booth that I dwelled in was in the middle of a whole assembly of booths, and I called it Booth City. You know, they're all lined up, you know, side by side, Booth City. And they've been there for decades.

Booth City was originally constructed for the years that there were thousands of people that made their way to Big Sandy, Texas for the Feast of Tabernacles. And back in the 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s, and even somewhat in the 90s when I was there, you know, people would flock to Big Sandy. There was the piney woods that stretched out for long ways behind the campus. People would pitch tents. They would have campers. And other people as well would rent these booths as the temporary housing that they stayed in during the feast. And that was their purpose. A booth, as the Bible uses the term, is a temporary dwelling. The reference in my marginal column reference of my Bible notes that these booths were tabernacles or shelters made with tree boughs. And the tabernacle, or a tabernacle, can be a tent as well. You'll recall when God dwelled in a tabernacle with Israel, that was a tent. But it was a portable structure. It could be set up. It could be taken down when Israel moved. But it essentially was a tent that was erected that housed his presence with the people. But it was a temporary house for God. And you recall David said, I want to build you a permanent house. And God allowed his son Solomon to do that eventually. But a tabernacle is what God dwelt in, and that was a temporary dwelling. And it was just like as well the tents that Israel dwelt in as they moved across the desert. They pitched their tents when the clouds stopped, and they stayed in those temporary dwellings as they were on the move to the promised land. And so the Feast of Tabernacles is to be an annual observance in which the people of God dwell in temporary dwellings. In booths, in tabernacles, right, it is the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Booths. Booths. Feast of temporary dwellings. And I want us to notice why. Let's go back again.

Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 42. It might have sounded like I said it was the Feast of Booths.

It is why I clarified. Okay. Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 42 says, You shall dwell in booths for seven days, all who are native Israelites, who dwell in booths. Notice why. 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 I love the way God uses the Holy Days not to just point us to something forward-looking, but also to point us to something that He's done historically.

So we see there's consistency in what it is that God does from beginning to end. And the booth command is to be a reminder that it was God who delivered the Israelites out from the hand of Pharaoh in order to bring them somewhere better. And as they left Egypt and they struck out across the wilderness, again following the cloud and the fire, they dwelled in booths. It dwelled in tents.

They dwelled in temporary dwellings, and they had to. Why? Because they were always on the move.

This was not a permanent place. They didn't hike 40 miles into the desert and then put up a permanent structure. They were on the move to the Promised Land, and that was the destination. And they weren't putting down roots in the wilderness, and they weren't stopping to make a permanent residence along the way. They followed God from the beginning to the end of the journey. That was God's intent for them anyway, and they dwelled in booths. And so when we occupy temporary dwellings at the Feast of Tabernacles as well, we're reminded of these things. Reminded that Israel, through their journey, did not put down roots, and that you and I in this life and our journey to the kingdom of God do not put down permanent roots here. We're following the lead of God to the Promised Land, to the destination that He has intended for us as His people. It's the kingdom, and our journey is not to be stagnant. It's not to be one of standing still, one of being comfortable of just, you know, this is a nice valley. I'll just put down roots here. Why carry on?

You know, it's not a journey of becoming comfortable and content with where we are.

This is a journey of forward momentum, of movement, through the entirety of our life. As we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It's a journey towards a destination that God has set before each and every one of us. And the booth reminds us that we came out from somewhere.

We are going somewhere better according to the promises of God. It reminds us that our time here in this journey is temporary. This world isn't our permanent home. So the contrast is dramatic when you go to the feast because at the feast you're looking towards the time after the return of Jesus Christ, the establishment of the kingdom of God. And the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And God's way will be instilled in mankind, and yet we realize we're not there. Okay, we're passing through. So when you unlock the door and step into your hotel room, your rented house, you know, they build them with a little nicer sticks today, maybe, than the ones you gathered out of the hills, but they're temporary for those seven days. We're to be reminded that this isn't my home. We're just passing through, but while we're here in this temporary place, we're looking towards the kingdom. And it's there to remind us of what our focus indeed ought to be. You and I are simply passing through. It's always been that way for the people of God.

It's always been that way for the faithful who look to God. Notice Hebrews chapter 11 in this regard. Hebrews chapter 11. Think of the life of those who followed God contrary to what everyone else in the world around them was doing. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 8 says, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And it says, And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Right? So God called Abraham from where he was, where he was settled, and he said, You know, walk away from it. Get your wife and, you know, a lot went with and the other family, but get out. I'm going to take you to a place that will be your inheritance. And it sounds a lot like Israel's journey, and it sounds a lot like our journey today as well. Verse 9, By faith he dwelled in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in, notice, intense, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

So you had Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they were sojourners, and they were pilgrims, and they were people who weren't putting down permanent roots along the way because they knew God was leading them someplace better. That he held before them a vision of a heavenly country. He held before them a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And when you have foundations, that's permanent, isn't it? It's not like you pitch a tent and drive a few steak pegs in the ground, and you pull them back up. No, you dig into the ground, and you have a firm footing, and you pour that foundation and consider the city in which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That is permanence. And that's what they looked to. Even as they journeyed through the promised land, they said, this is a temporary existence, and they had their flocks, and they heard, and they wandered, and they never put down roots anywhere because that's not in their heart and in their faith, where they intended to remain. They were simply passing through.

Verse 13 says, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them far off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. You're looking for something, you're yearning for something, even while here. Again, in our nation, and in the blessings that we have, it can be so easy to become comfortable and complacent and say, hey, you know, this is pretty good. I could stay here forever. In Africa, the question is, how do you yearn for the kingdom of God in the United States when you live in the promised land?

From their perspective, it's the promised land. But again, it shouldn't be our final destination, even from ours. Life is good compared to a lot of the world, but this isn't the life that God has called us to, and the reward ultimately will be so much better even than this.

I can't remember now if I read verse 16, but they would have an opportunity to return, but now they desire 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. And so these are things they sought after in their wanderings, the kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem, the relationship with God in an age and, frankly, in a spiritual form that was not temporary, but indeed permanent. They dwelled in temporary structures, and as we attend the Feast of Tabernacles, we're commanded to do so as well.

And maybe you've noticed, as we've kept God's Holy Days for many years, He uses symbolism and typology in so much of what He gives us to observe during these days. What do we do during the Feast of Unleavened Bread? We eat unleavened bread, right, for seven days during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. What do we do during the Feast of Temporary Dwellings? The Feast of Tabernacles. We dwell in tabernacles, in booths, in temporary dwellings, because just like that unleavened bread symbolizes and teaches us lessons throughout those seven days, that dwelling isn't just, hey, a fancy condo that's nicer than home. Sometimes it is, and maybe we lose focus of what the lesson is through walking into that. Okay? It's temporary. It's not permanent. When those days are over, you leave, you're going.

And the fact is, we dwell in a day and age where we look to the kingdom of God. This is not permanent.

This is temporary, and our focus must be such as we consider the blessings God has in store.

And so He's called us out of the world, and He's leading us someplace better. And like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and our fathers before us, like Israel before us, we're passing through. We've come out of spiritual Egypt, and there is a destination, and we're not there yet.

Let's go back now to Israel's story and consider another lesson of temporary dwellings. Let's go to Exodus chapter 13. Exodus 13. These are all things we should remember as we, you know, we pick up the key and we unlock the door and we step into our temporary dwelling place at the feast.

He recalled that God led that nation of Israel through the desert, Dintny. He watched over them.

He provided for them. When they were hungry, He gave them manna. He gave them quail. When they were thirsty, He brought them water from the rock, or He purified the water that was stagnant when they came to those pools of water. So God's provision was there. But on top of that, I want us to recognize God provided a covering of protection over them as well as they journeyed across the desert. And what we're going to see is that Israel actually dwelled in a tabernacle from God as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Exodus chapter 13, this takes place as God leads them out of Egypt. In verse 21, it says, And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and by night.

And He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. So God led them by this cloud. And when the cloud moved, they moved, and the cloud stopped. They stopped. Cloud by day, fire by night. And yet those two elements actually were temporary. Verse 22 does say that God did not take it away from them, but we also know there came a time when the cloud and fire ceased. There came a time when the manna ceased, when they crossed over into the Promised Land, when they arrived at their destination. And I would assume the cloud and the fire ceased at that time as well. Notice Exodus...

We'll come back to that. But it ceased, right? The journey was temporary. The destination is what God was bringing them to. And as they journeyed across the desert, then God kept them encased in a tabernacle. And not only did the cloud and fire lead them, but I want you to consider how it was a covering tent for them. Okay, we're all aware of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1. I hope so. It's a memory scripture, which says, all our fathers were under the cloud, all pass through the sea. And so the point is, they did not only just follow the cloud, they were under the cloud. And the cloud was above them. And as you consider how that would work in the desert, the cloud cast a shadow of protection over the people. Turn on the news these days, and you know, in the south and in the west, the temperatures are very, very hot, and people are going out on day hikes and they're not coming back. Right? They're getting overcome by the heat, and we're hearing those stories almost daily. Heat stroke. Israel went into the desert, and without the covering protection provided by God, without that canopy, they would have died in the wilderness. The heat would have scorched them by the cloud if you consider this whole nation moving in a shadow cast by the cloud as a covering from God. And in some of these desert places, when the sun goes down, it gets very, very cold very quickly at night, and that pillar of fire would have provided the light and the heat they needed to sustain them as well. And so what we have here is a covering over Israel that was a type of a tabernacle as they journeyed out of Egypt towards the Promised Land. Notice Psalm 105 in verse 37.

Psalm 105 in verse 37, a recap of God's blessing in bringing them out of Egypt.

Psalm 105 verse 37 says, He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among his tribes, as in there was nobody that God brought out of Egypt that didn't have the ability to make it to the Promised Land if they looked to him in faith and trusted his lead in their life.

And I would say, in similar regard for those that God calls today and to a relationship with him, there's no one that cannot make it to the kingdom of God according to God's call. If indeed you look to him in faith and follow in obedience. None feeble among his tribes. Verse 38, Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen upon them. And it says, He spread a cloud for a covering and gave them fire, gave them light at night. The people asked, and he brought quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock and the water gushed out. It ran in the dry places like a river. The point is God provided for them all along their way, whatever it was they needed to make it to the destination. But I want you to notice again, verse 39, which said, He spread a cloud for a covering. God's covering was like a tabernacle of protection over his people as they journeyed. It was a canopy of his care and his provision that he spread along the way to the Promised Land. Deuteronomy chapter 32 contains the song of Moses. I want us to notice there how this concept of God's care is described. Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 10. Again, what does a tabernacle and a dwelling, a temporary dwelling, teach us? What does it remind us of? Well, we should remember the tabernacle of God's provision he provides as we make this journey.

Deuteronomy 32 and verse 10 says, God found him, found Israel, in a desert land, and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness, he encircled him. He instructed him, and he kept him as the apple of his eye. Verse 11, as an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings. So the Lord alone led them, and there was no foreign God with them. Again, the point in all of this is that through their journey to the promised land, they dwelt in their own physical booze, right? They had their tents that they pitched as they went each and every day. But in addition to that, God's provision and protection was with them, as he, as it says, encircled them. Verse 10, he encircled them, right? He was their forward guard, he was their rear guard, he encompassed them about, and the cloud was over them as a covering of protection. And that nation literally moved from Egypt to the promised land in a tabernacle provided by God. It was temporary, but it was leading and taking them. It was God's care and provision and protection as they journeyed to the permanence that he was setting before them. And it's the same concept that applies to the spiritual journey you and I take today as well. God has encased us in the tabernacle of his care as well. Psalm chapter 91 in verse 1. Psalm chapter 91 in verse 1 says, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

He shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. It's the same concept, right? As what God gave Israel when that cloud cast a shadow over the nation as they moved towards the promised land.

As the people of God today, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High abides under the shadow of the Almighty. Verse 2, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him I will trust. Why do we trust in God? Because He has encased us in His protection.

He has encircled us. He is our... He's the one that goes before us. He is our rear guard, and in His care we are encased in this fortress of protection and blessing and spiritual care and provision. I want you to just consider that, again, dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty, circled about as a fortress of protection. It's as Israel came across the wilderness, again, not putting down roots, not saying this is home, but going to where God was leading them. But for the journey, there was a tabernacle that was temporary that accompanied them until they reached then the destination. And just like Israel, we too have a booth placed around us by God as we make our journey out of this world and towards the kingdom of God. And that booth consists of God's love and His care for us as He goes before us and as He is our rear guard. And so, brethren, when we stay at our temporary dwelling at the Feast of Tabernacles, it should serve to remind us of these things, that we're pilgrims on the earth. We're just passing through. We're not putting down roots here and that we are dwelling in the tabernacle of God's care. He's taking us there. He's guiding and directing us there. But our focus must be there as well. It must not put down permanence in this place. We must not become comfortable. We must not become complacent. We are on a journey. And this journey must always include forward movement. Another thing that our temporary dwelling at the Feast should bring to mind is the concept that our physical bodies are a temporary habitation as well. This physical flesh that we inhabit today, this life that we live as we have our relationship with God is a temporary habitation as well. And it's literally physical tents that we dwell in as we make this spiritual journey. Psalm chapter 39 and verse 4. Psalm chapter 39 and verse 4.

Let's notice the understanding David had of the the concept of the temporary nature of the flesh compared to what it is that God holds out before us. Psalm chapter 39 and verse 4 says, Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days that I may know how frail I am.

He says, indeed, you have made my days as hand-breaths, and my age is as nothing before you.

Certainly every man at his best state is but a vapor. And it's like probably around feast time, you may go out in the morning and it could possibly cool enough in the morning that you see your breath when you breathe out. We've had some feasts in Spokane over the years where it's sunny and 90 or there's snow on the hills, so you know we'll see what comes. But there's times where you just breathe out and you see your breath, that vapor there for a moment, but then it's gone.

And he says, that's what this physical life is. It's temporary at its best state, but as a vapor.

Continuing on, verse 6, surely every man walks about like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. He heaps up riches and does not know who will gather them. You know, I'm putting down a foundation here, thank you very much, and I'll build it permanent. But if you're not permanent, who's going to get those things? Somebody else. It's not what we're striving for. Verse 7, and now, Lord, what do I wait for? David says, my hope is in you. David understood the temporary nature of this physical life, and what really matters is putting our focus and our hope in God, our trust in God, looking to Him to provide the permanence. That truly will be a blessing to our lives, because this physical state is but a vapor, but what God offers from a relationship with Him is not temporary. It is eternal, and that is what He lays before us. Again, walk into your temporary dwelling at the feast, remembering this time and place is temporary. My life is temporary.

This physical tent that I'm clothed in is temporary, but all that God holds before us is eternal.

The apostles understood this concept very well. 2 Peter, chapter 1, notice how Peter references the physical body he dwells in, or did dwell in. 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 10.

2 Peter 1, verse 10, Peter says, therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What is everlasting? It is the kingdom to come. It's the permanence that God will send with His Son.

Verse 12, for this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right as long as I am in this tent.

He's not talking about camping, okay? I think it is right as long as I am in this tent to stir you up by way of reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Verse 15, moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. So Peter understood that the time was coming in which he would die, and he wanted to convey principles to the church that they must hold on to and never lose sight on.

But I want to draw your attention to the fact that Peter called his body a tent.

Called it a tabernacle. Called it a temporary dwelling, and it's a recognition that our physical lives are only temporary. And these bodies, these dwellings of dirt and water, essentially, right, that's what we are, is temporary. And in the scope of what God has called us to, it's the tabernacle that we walk in day by day, but it's what we dwell in as we seek the promises of God. But the time will eventually come when our time in the flesh is over, and as the Bible describes it, we put off this tent. But that's not the end of it.

This tent is temporary, but what replaces it, indeed, if we are faithful, will be permanent.

Apostle Paul expressed this same concept as well. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 1.

2 Corinthians 5 and verse 1. Paul says, For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

So there's a recognition that this earthly house, this physical body that we reside in, is only temporary. But God has something permanent planned for us, and it's something that's so much better. It is a spiritual body. If indeed we are faithful to the end and are raised up at the time of Christ to receive that. Continuing on here in verse 2, he says, 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, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. And he's saying we groan in these physical tents, because there's aches and there's pains and there's injuries and we hurt. Darla and I were over at the orthopedic surgeon yesterday.

She's going to be having a hip replacement in a few months. And when she walks, she limps, and she's in pain all the time. Right? She would like to have that fixed. So again, that hip replacement will come along, but that's a part of the physical body. We have aches and we have pains, but we don't want to be unclothed because of it, right? Okay, if your hip is shot, you want your hip fixed, but you want to carry on in this body. I'm not ready to give that up yet. So we don't want to be unclothed, but what's the concept? We want to be further clothed. You know, God built into us the desire to possess the covering that is glorified and eternal, and that will come at the resurrection of the saints. And that is permanent. So as we live in this flesh, it is a tense. It is a tabernacle. It is temporary, but it's while we are in the temporary that God does His greatest eternal work in us. And we have to be focused on that. It's while we are in the temporary that God does His greatest eternal work in us. He's developing our character today to be in His likeness for His kingdom. And so the temporary, although it is temporary, it is a time that is to be used well.

When you walk in the feast, and you walk into your temporary housing, remember this is temporary, but this is time to be used well. It is a temporary time that God is accomplishing great eternal purpose in our life through these days and to His glory. So Paul just, again, simply said that for we who are in this tent grown being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Again, a permanent condition in the family of God.

2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16, just across the page. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 16, therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outer man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. There better be growth that's taking place day by day, even in this temporary state, because it's reaching and yearning towards the eternal. You know, redeem the time, use it, use it well. For our light affliction, verse 17, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. For we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And brethren, the booze remind us that this life is temporary. That it's fleeting, that it's passing, that we're not putting down roots here.

But we should put our best effort into making the most of this time.

Put your best effort into making the most of the feast as you reside in those temporary dwellings.

Learn the lessons God would have you learn. Build the relationships He would have you build.

Share what He would have you to share. It is a time of wonderful blessing for His people that does point to something more permanent. While we're dwelling in booze at the feast, we're reminded that it is while we're in the temporary that God is doing His greatest eternal work in us. So we do not become comfortable here. We are moving towards the destination. We may stop and pitch a tent. We may drive some tent pegs in for a night or two. But we pop them up and we move forward again. When the cloud moves, we move because we're heading to a permanent destination.

During the millennium, during a thousand years following the return of Jesus Christ, the people of this earth will continue to dwell in the same physical booths that you and I dwell in. The people that have lived through the Great Tribulation, through the Day of the Lord, be physical beings continuing to reproduce in the millennium. They'll come to understand the knowledge of the Lord as it covers the sea. But they too will come to understand what it means to seek a permanent homeland even while living in these tents. And just as God placed the tabernacle around Israel, coming out of Egypt to the Promised Land, just as He places the tabernacle around us coming out of this world towards the kingdom of God in the millennium following the return of Jesus Christ, God too will place a tabernacle around His faithful people as they seek His kingdom.

Notice Isaiah chapter 4. This is a millennial connection for us now, and this is what the feast points to in terms of time frame. Isaiah chapter 4 and verse 2.

Isaiah chapter 4 and verse 2, In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious.

The branch is a reference to Jesus Christ. And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. So we have this remnant that will come through now, Israel. They'll be regathered. They'll be settled back into the land, again following the return of Jesus Christ. Verse 3, And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem, when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. Verse 5, Then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion and above her assemblies, above the people who are gathered together, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all the glory there will be a covering. And saying that God will once again place a covering of his cloud by day and pillar of fire by night over his holy people. Just as he did for Israel, as he brought them out of the promised land, just as he does by his provision and protection of us today, as his people, God will again place a tabernacle about the people of Israel in the millennium. Again, verse 5, Then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion and above her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and a shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all the glory there will be a covering. Verse 6, And there will be a tabernacle. Yes, very important word. It's what we've been focused on. There will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat for a place of refuge and for a shelter from storm and rain. And so, brethren, this is the millennial connection to the tabernacle that God provides over his people as they in that age begin the spiritual journey, the relationship while they dwell in this tent, right, called to be his people seeking the permanence that you and I seek as well. And we sing about this. We sing about this. There's a song in our hymnal, and sometimes I think we sing without quite fully realizing what it is we're singing, and I won't sing it for you. But the words, right, round each habitation, hovering, see the cloud and fire appear, for a glory and a covering showing that the Lord is near. Glorious things of thee are spoken, and it is indeed what God will do in that day. Again, a booth and a tabernacle, but it does represent, even there, a temporary dwelling because those same people called of God, his holy people, will seek the same permanence in his spiritual family when their change comes, such as you and I seek today. Even in this millennial tabernacle at Zion in Jerusalem, it will be a temporary dwelling place, but we wait for something that is permanent. We've been talking about the temporary all along, but the permanent is the destination, and we look for the permanent, and we yearn for the permanent. So let's conclude with the permanent habitation today, the New Jerusalem. Revelation chapter 21. We understand this trek, this journey, this dwelling in a temporary existence.

It's all a part of the process of reaching for eternity, which God has set before us, but we must use this time well. Revelation chapter 21 and verse 1, John says, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Also there was no more sea. And so what we come to see, brethren, is that even the earth as we know it.

Is what? It's a temporary dwelling place. One day it too will pass away. It's a booth for a time, for there's something more permanent that is coming. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Verse 2, Then I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God. What we understand about this tabernacle of God is that it will not be a temporary dwelling place. This is the city made of God, which has foundations.

Its builder and maker is God. This is a temporary, not a temporary, but a permanent dwelling place, now yet to come by God's own hand. In addition to that, God will dwell there, and he will dwell among his people. Verse 4, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There should be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There should be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. You know, those things were there for a time, but they're permanent. They're not in the permanent.

They're temporary. They're gone. They passed away. Why would you want to put your roots down there?

Why would you want to make your home there? The former things have passed away. They've been replaced. Verse 5, Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. What's incredible about this vision of permanence is that God holds it out before us in our temporary state. He's given us a glimpse of it in this life, in this flesh, so that we might reach for it and yearn for it and be motivated in this life to achieve what it is he has set before us by his grace and his mercy. We go from the temporary to the permanent. And what we find is that when we come to the eighth day, and the, I'm not going to say the conclusion of the eighth day, the eighth day is open-ended into eternity. But when we come to what it is that God ultimately purposes for his spiritual family, there will come a time when that which is seen and is temporary passes away. And what will remain is the permanent things of God and the permanent family of God. So why do we stay in temporary dwellings at the Feast of Tabernacles? Well, number one, because it is God's command that we do so.

It is part of the Feast command. Just as we eat unleavened bread during the days of unleavened bread, we stay in temporary dwellings during the Feast of Temporary Dwellings. It was what God has given us to do. But in addition to that, there are important lessons we learn from the experience.

It reminds us that Israel dwelt in booths when they came out of Egypt. Dwelling in temporary dwellings reminds us that we are moving towards our Promised Land just as they were moving towards theirs. We're not putting down roots here. This is not our permanent home. You and I are simply passing through as strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were passing through, we seek that heavenly country and that city with foundations whose builder and maker is God. Staying in temporary dwellings at the Feast of Tabernacles reminds us that God is our refuge, and He places a covering overhead and a hedge round about us as we make this journey.

That we're just passing through, but indeed God is there with us every step of the way. And as we live in our temporary dwellings, we're looking towards the permanence of what His Kingdom will bring during each of those seven days. And as well, it reminds us that this current form of the heaven and earth that we now see will one day pass away, only to be replaced by something new that will abide forever. Again, that which is seen is temporary. That which is not seen is eternal.

And it is during the time that mankind dwells in the temporary, in the flesh, in the tent, in the tabernacle, that God does His greatest eternal work in us. Temporary dwellings, brethren, they may last for only a moment, but the lessons they teach us are eternal.