Building on the Foundation

We have two Psalms left in this series, but that's not the end of our journey through the Psalms. We have another one hundred and forty two psalms to go once we finish with these first eight, and I fully intend to make it through them all by the time I finish. As I said in my first post on the Psalms, the Psalms are some of my favorite writings in the Bible. They are full of prophecy, poetry, pain, courage, worship, and love, with many of them being written by a man who God said was a man after His own heart. A man who loved God with everything he had and followed Him clear to the end because of that utter devotion. We are blessed that God preserved his writings for us today because there is much that we need to learn from them. I'm under no illusion that I am bringing you everything contained in these Psalms, but perhaps there will be one thing that you did not see before that is brought to light by my thoughts.  The seventh Psalm nicely corresponds to the first day of the Fea...

  The title of this commentary poses a question uniquely for American readers, for Thanksgiving would appear to be a uniquely American holiday. Yet we may also observe that, as a harvest festival, it has parallels throughout the world, for nearly every nation, culture, and religion on earth celebrates harvest festivals. Almighty God, too, has His harvest festivals: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Unleavened Bread marks the beginning of the barley harvest, as we’ve seen previously , and the Feast of Pentecost is “the firstfruits of wheat harvest” (Ex. 34:22). The Feast of Tabernacles, on the other hand, marks the end of harvesting: “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” (Lev. 23:39). For this reason, the Feast of Tabernacles is also described as “the Feast of Ingathering at the end [lit. “turning”] of the y...

  During His earthly life, Jesus Christ celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, for He obeyed His Father’s law perfectly “without sin” (Heb. 4:15). John 7 recalls one such celebration because it played a significant part in Jesus’ ministry. We’re told in vv. 37-38, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” From this verse has been coined the term, “the Last Great Day.” The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day Feast: “The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD” (Lev. 23:34). God’s Word tells us the same thing in Lev. 23:40-42; Num. 29:12; Deut. 16:13, 15; and elsewhere. So the Feast of Tabernacles begins on Tishri 15, by the Hebrew calendar, and lasts seven days. Immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles, on Tishri 22, is the Eighth Da...

  As summer turns into fall, the season of God’s fall Holy Days is upon us once more. The seventh month of God’s calendar is beginning. On the first day of the seventh month, as God tells us in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29, is the Day of Trumpets. On the 10th day is the Day of Atonement. On the 15th day begins the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, and on the 22nd day is the Eighth Day or “Last Great Day.” This year, these Biblical dates line up with October 3, 12, 17, and 24 on the Gregorian calendar. The Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Ingathering as it’s sometimes also called (Ex. 23:16; 34:22), is an event that many of us eagerly anticipate for months in advance, a highlight of each year. And well it should be! God commanded us to rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:40; Deut. 16:14). It’s also important, though, to be sure that we celebrate God’s feasts in the proper manner, the manner He prescribed in His Word. So let’s take a few moments to review God’s instruction...