Zechariah 14:16-19

Zec. 14:16-19. "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of TABERNACLES. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain: there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen, that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations, that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles." The feast of tabernacles here spoken of, is the glorious spiritual feast that God shall provide for all nations in the last ages of the world, and in the expected glorious state of the Christian church, which is spoken of, Isaiah 25:6. This feast was on the seventh month of the year, which was a king of a holy sabbatical month, as the seventh day of the week was a holy day, and the seventh year a holy year, and also the year of jubilee, at the end of seven times seven years, so this glorious state of the church is to be in the seventh age of the world, or seventh thousand years. The feast of tabernacles was the greatest feast in the month, it was to be kept on that month, after Israel were prepared for it by the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement, both in the same month. So way shall be made for the joy of the church of God in its glorious state on earth, by the preaching of the gospel, and deep repentance, and humiliation for its great sins and long-continued deadness and carnality.

The feast of tabernacles was the last feast they had in the whole year, before the face of the earth was destroyed by the winter. Presently after the feast of tabernacles was over, a tempestuous season began; see Acts 27:9, "Sailing was now dangerous, because the feast was now already past." So this feast of the church will be the last feast she shall have on earth; the last pouring out of the Spirit, before the lower world is destroyed. The feast of tabernacles was kept when they had gathered in the fruit of their land; Leviticus 23:39; and is called the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year. So this great spiritual feast of the church shall occur after God's ingathering of both his harvest and vintage spoken of Revelation 14. It will be the times of his gathering in all his good fruits before winter, as it were; that is, before the destruction of the world, a time wherein the saints of the earth will come to their full ripeness.

The feast of tabernacles was kept in commemoration of God's setting up his tabernacle among the children of Israel in the wilderness, but in that glorious time God will above all other times set up his tabernacle among men, in the midst of his spiritual Israel, as is prophesied, Ezekiel 37:27, and proclaimed in Revelation 21:3. The world was created about the time of the feast of tabernacles. See No. 204 on Leviticus 23:34-36. So this is the creation of the new heavens, and new earth. The temple of Solomon was dedicated at the time of the feast of tabernacles; then God descended in a pillar of cloud, and dwelt in the temple; so this is the time wherein the temple of God should be erected, and beautified, and dedicated, and God shall come down from heaven to dwell in his church. The church of God shall as it were go up to the mountain of the hill of the Lord, as they did on that great occasion of Solomon's dedicating the temple.

Christ was born, and came to tabernacle in flesh on the feast of tabernacles; so then shall Christ be born. The woman in travail shall then bring forth her son that is to rule all nations, and then mankind above all other times shall enjoy the benefit of the birth of Christ; Christ shall then be born in the souls of men.

There seems to be greater tokens of rejoicing in this feast than any other. The people dwelt in booths of green boughs, which represent the flourishing, beautiful, pleasant state the church shall be in, rejoicing in God's grace and love (represented by the color green). She shall yet dwell in tabernacles on this side heaven, her land of rest. Their branches of palm-trees represent the church's flourishing as the palm-tree, and the glorious victory the church shall then have obtained. The willows of the brook they shall make use of, represent the flourishing state of the souls of God's people, as a tree planted by the rivers of waters. Leviticus 23:40; Nehemiah 8:15. The olive-branches represent the church's fullness of the Spirit, the antitype of the oil of the olive. At the feast of tabernacles God's people left their houses to dwell in booths, which represented two things that should be in the glorious times, viz. their great weanedness from the world, and their joy in God.

Thus the two great feasts of the Jews that followed the passover, represent the two great seasons consequent on the death of Christ, which was at the passover of the communication of the benefits of Christ's redemption to his church on earth; one that which was in primitive ages of the Christian church, which began in the day of Pentecost, on which the Holy Ghost was not only given in the ordinary sanctifying, saving influences, but also given in extraordinary gifts of inspiration for the revealing the mind and will of God, and establishing the standing rule of the faith, worship, and manners of the Christian church, which answered to the giving of the law at mount Sinai, which was on the feast of Pentecost: the other is that which shall follow the destruction of antichrist, which answers to the setting up the tabernacle in the wilderness, and the gifts, sacrificings, and rejoicings that were on that occasion, which was on the same day of the year that the feast of tabernacles was. These three great feasts do prefigure those three grand events that are brought to pass for the church of God in the progress of the work of redemption, and the death of Christ to purchase salvation for the church, and those two great outpourings of the Spirit to apply it. See Note on Ezekiel 45:25. Malachi

Mal. 2:15