Lesson 88 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).

Notes

The Last Feast

The third and last feast that God required the Children of Israel to keep was called the feast of tabernacles, or ingathering. During the seventh Jewish month, starting the fifteenth day, all the men presented themselves before the Lord once more. We have studied the feast of weeks, which came at the end of the harvest of grains of wheat. Then after all the harvest was over and all the fruit of the land was gathered in, they met again for the feast of the ingathering. This was a memorial of Israel's living in tents during their wanderings in the wilderness, and of the ingathering (or gathering in) of the products of the year.

The feast of the ingathering was one of the three feasts that God had commanded the Children of Israel to remember always. At this time they gathered with offerings and praise to God, not only for what He had done for them in the past but also for the blessings that they received at each harvest when their crops were stored away for the season. We must not fail to thank and praise God for what He has done for us. For past and present blessings, we consecrate our lives daily to the Lord.

The gathering for this feast was somewhat like the people's going to the church today for a meeting. Only this meting lasted a whole week; it was something like a camp meeting. The law was given very clearly just how they were to worship God at the feast. The first and the eighth days were holy days; no work was to be done, and they were to be kept as Sabbaths. Each day they were to make a special offering to the Lord. In the 29th chapter of Numbers we read what animals -" lambs, kids, rams, and bullocks -" and how many they were to offer each day for the week. When we go to church, and whenever we present ourselves to God, we are not required to bring an offering of an animal. The Lord wants us to give Him offerings of praise. God's children praise Him in song, in prayer, in testimony, even in the way they listen to the sermon and the way they act in church.

Thanksgiving

Our nation, too, has set aside one certain day of the year in which to give thanks. We call it Thanksgiving, which was started many years ago for the purpose of thanking God for the food that the people had gathered in. It has often been said that every day is a day of thanksgiving to a Christian. We do not want to be guilty of thanking God just one day a year, or even just one day a week.

In the third chapter of Ecclesiastes we read that there is a time for everything -" a time to plant, a time to pluck up that, which is planted, a time to weep, and a time to laugh. The feast of tabernacles was a time of praising God and making offerings. When we come to God's house, or wherever we come before God, we must remember that it is a solemn time, a holy time, a time of praising God. We want to conduct ourselves, and our worship, in an orderly manner. We want to go to God prepared to make offerings of praise and consecrations.

The offerings at the feats were to be given besides the gifts, besides all their vows, besides all the freewill offerings ([LEV:23:37-38]). "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee" (Deuteronomy 16:17). Some people think that they do so much when they do what is required of them. But God wants us to do more than that. The Children of Israel were required to offer certain sacrifices, but God expected them to give gifts and freewill offerings. Jesus told the disciples in Luke 17:10, "When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants."

Rejoicing

The people rejoiced and were happy for the temporal blessings that God had given them in the form of their crops. They also trusted in God for their next crop. No doubt they looked back to the time when they had no fields to till and no crops to gather. We, too, feel like praising God when we count our blessings " both spiritual and temporal. We can look back to the time when God's smile of approval did not rest upon our lives, because of sin.

The Children of Israel were to "rejoice before the LORD," and we read the same thing in many places in the New Testament. We read, "Rejoice in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:3); "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4); "Rejoice evermore" (I Thessalo-nians 5:16); "Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). It was never intended for a Christian to be sad. A Christian rejoices even during sickness and hard places. The disciples rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus' name. We rejoice also in the hope that we have of being in the last ingathering -" when the saints are gathered Home. Some people praise God but they are not very joyful nor do they look joyful. "Make a joyful noise unto God" (Psalm 66:1). We want to do more than just make a noise unto God; we want to make it joyful and happy.

To Dwell in Booths

During the feast of tabernacles the Children of Israel were to live in booths, or tents, made of boughs. They took the limbs of trees -" branches of palm and willow are mentioned.

They left their homes and lived for seven days in these booths made out of branches of trees. That was to remind them of the tents in which they lived during their wanderings in the wilderness. There they had no real home, but God Himself hung a cloud to cover as well as to guide them ([PS:105:39]). After living in these booths for a week, they were thankful for the comforts of their homes. Sometimes it is good for us to recall how we dwelt in tents of wickedness; then we are aware of the blessings we have by dwelling in the Lord. We appreciate the shelter, comforts, and conveniences of the Gospel.

Some people think so much of their dwellings or homes on earth that they cannot leave them to worship the Lord. We want to feel like Paul when he wrote to the Hebrews, "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." He meant Heaven, that City whose Ruler and Builder is God. We want to think about the mansions that Jesus has gone to prepare for us. We want to get ready: to be saved and prepared for the great ingathering of God's people that is coming soon.

Declared by Moses

Moses was faithful to teach the Children of Israel concerning these feasts, for it was the Law that they should keep. Not all their leaders were faithful to the Children of Israel, and for many years this feast of tabernacles was not kept. We read in Nehemiah, the eighth chapter, of a time when this Law was brought to their minds. In the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, they read the Law to the people and learned about this feast of the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the feast of tabernacles.

The Children of Israel made booths of the branches of trees and dwelt in them, just as they were told to do. "And there was very great gladness" (Nehemiah 8:17). There is always great happiness when one is obedient and does what God wants him to do.

How thankful we are today, for leaders who teach us the whole Bible. They are faithful to tell us not only what God demands of us and the offerings (consecrations of our lives, our time, our talents) He wants, but they also tell us of the privileges we have and the promises we may claim. Let us be one of those who have God's blessing upon their lives because of obedience. Jesus told the disciples, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17).

Questions

1. Which feast came after the harvest of wheat?

2. Which feast came after the end of all the harvest?

3. Give another name for the feast of tabernacles.

4. Why was this a time of rejoicing?

5. At what other time were palm trees used as the people praised the Lord?

6. Why did they live in tents, or booths?

7. What great ingathering is yet to take place?