Here in the Northern Hemisphere it is the season of Harvest Festivals and I have been reminded that Passover/Easter, Pentecost (Jewish and Christian) and Tabernacles (Final Harvest festival, yet to be fulfilled in Christianity) are all related to various stages of Harvest. Mindful also of Wesley's instruction to preachers: "Everywhere avail yourself of the great festivals, by preaching on the occasion" it seems that the Harvest season lends itself to the saving of souls.
"All the men of your nation are to
come to worship the LORD three times a year at
the one
place of worship: at Passover, Harvest Festival, and the Festival
of
Shelters." Deuteronomy 16:16
Three Festivals
In this reading God gives to the
people three festivals, three celebrations, three feasts
that they are to celebrate
every year in Jerusalem at the Temple. Now each of these
festivals was an agricultural
festival celebrating some stage in the harvest process, but,
and far more importantly,each
festival also had a religious significance.
Passover April 10-11,
2017
Passover(which for us now is
the Easter celebration of the Lamb of God who was
slain and raised to life in order
to set us free from bondage to sin) was a reminder and
celebration of the redemption from
bondage in Egypt, but it also had an agricultural element.
Passover ends with the Festival of
First Fruits, where the people bought the first
part of their harvest as an
offering to God in anticipation of a good harvest to come.
Jesus was raised from the
dead on the day of this festival which is why Paul says
(1Corinthians15:20) "Christ
has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those
who have fallen asleep so that in Christ all will be made alive."
Pentecost: May 30-31,
2017
The next festival mentioned is the
Harvest Festival, also called the Festival of Weeks,
as it took place seven weeks after
Passover and First Fruits. At the time of Jesus this festival
was known as Pentecost which
is a Greek word which means "seven weeks".The Jews
celebrated the harvest and
that God had given them everything they
had hoped for when they
brought theirfirst fruits.They also remembered on this day
the giving of the Law on Mount
Sinai. Pentecost became of course the time when God
poured out His Spirit and put His
Law into our hearts.
Tabernacles: October 4-11,
2017
The final festival mentioned is
the Festival of Tabernacles, and is celebrated at the
end of the harvest season.
Passover is in early Spring, Pentecost is in late Spring and the
Festival of Shelters or
Tabernacles or Booths is in Autumn.The Jews at this time remember
that during the 40 years in the
wilderness they lived in shelters or tabernacles, hence
its name. The prophet
Zechariah says: "Then the survivors from all the nations
that have attacked Jerusalem will
go up year after year to worship the King,
the Lord Almighty,and to
celebrate the feast of Tabernacles." (14:16)
This feast seems to look
forward to the time when the Kingdom of God will be
established on earth in all its
fullness at Christ's return.So while we as Christians can
look back and see how God
has used two of these festivals for His redemptive
purposes and they have in a
sense been 'fulfilled', this last one, the feast of
Tabernacles,is one which we still
look forward to being fulfilled.
What Tabernacles
anticipates
It points to Christ's return when, according to the New Testament, there will be
a new Jerusalem and God will
tabernacle with people: "Behold the Tabernacle of God is
with people and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall
be with them, and be their
God." (Rev 21:3)
The Times we are Living
in
Can you see that we are now living
between the fulfilment of the second and the
third Festivals, between
Pentecost, which has been fulfilled, and Tabernacles, which is yet
to be fulfilled? Going back
to the harvest calendar, the time between these two festivals
was a time of gathering in the
full harvest. No wonder Jesus said to his disciples
and says to us:"You
have a saying, 'Four more months and then the harvest.'
But I tell you, take a good look
at the fields; the crops are now
ripe and ready to be harvested!"
......and.....
"The harvest is large, but
there are few workers to gather it in.Pray to the owner
of the harvest that he will
send out workers to gather in his harvest."
.......and.....
"For the saying is true,
'Someone plants, someone else reaps.' I have sent you to reap
a harvest in a field where
you did not work; others worked there,
and you profit from their
work."
Jesus and Tabernacles
After this, Jesus traveled
in Galilee; he did not want to travel in Judea, because the
Jewish authorities there were
wanting to kill him. The time for the Festival of
Tabernacles was near,.... After
his brothers had gone to
the festival, Jesus also
went.....On the last and most important day of the festival
Jesus stood up and said in a loud
voice,"Whoever is thirsty should come to me,
and whoever believes in me should
drink.
As the Scripture says, 'Streams of
life-giving water will pour out from his side.' "
Happy and blessed harvest preaching to all preachers of the Gospel
