By Jan Willem van der Hoeven
120 men and women had the privilege to be THERE in the Upper Room on Mount Zion when during Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell upon them as promised by the Lord! Who from us will be THERE this time when the former and the latter rain, God’s double portion, will be poured out upon us during the Feast of Tabernacles as promised by our Lord?
Will you?
We have now entered 2010. What was on my heart when we began to celebrate the Feast about 30 years ago remains – the belief and inner anticipation that one day, during a celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, the double portion of the Holy Spirit will fall upon us all. This will be the former and latter rain, as the prophet Joel promised-also in relation to Israel-for these latter days:
Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. (Joel 2:18)
Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done marvellous things! (Joel 2:21)
Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you-the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. (Joel 2:23)
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-29)
What is remarkable in Joel’s beautiful prophecy is the stress placed on the restoration of the land, and not only of the people of Israel. Remarkable too is the foretold subsequent pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit during ‘the first’ month (which may indeed be during the Feast of Tabernacles).
The Bible teaches us that this restoration of the land is a key element in God’s dealing with His people Israel. It was the promise of the land, and the restoration to, and of, that land, that was linked with the further abundance in physical as well as spiritual blessing. This is so clear in this passage, but it is also clear in other portions of Scripture concerning God’s future dealings with His land and people.
For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory.
You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62: 1,2,4,5)
It is this biblical balance between the importance of the physical restoration of the land and people of Israel, and their subsequent spiritual restoration, which formed the basis of the vision calling Christians to support God’s glorious promise to come to Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. These Christians have gathered year after year to praise Him and be a channel of comfort and encouragement in the name of millions of Bible-believing Christians from all over the world.
In these days we hear of revivals in different parts of the world where God is pouring out His Holy Spirit in remarkable ways to get His Gentile body of believers ready both in quantity as well as quality. But this is only a foretaste and a foreshadowing of the mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit over all the house of Israel as promised by His prophets. And this will happen one day during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.
It was during the Feast of Tabernacles that the Lord Jesus made His wonderful promise of rivers of living water! It did not happen on Pentecost-that was only a foreshadowing of the greater rains to come, a foretaste of Joel 2. No, Jesus made this offer during the last and great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, thus indicating that the wonderful day during which the Lord would give us the former and latter rains would be during this Feast.
It was during a celebration in Jerusalem that the Passover was fulfilled in the Messiah becoming, as the Servant of God, the Passover Lamb whose blood was sprinkled before His heavenly Father on the mercy seat.
It was during a celebration in Jerusalem that Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, was poured out on the early believers-the first fruits.
Is it then not reasonable that in like manner, something will occur during a celebration of Succot in Jerusalem that will fulfil all that the biblical Feast of Tabernacles stands for?
Is it not remarkable that it is the Feast of Tabernacles, and not Pentecost or Passover, that is to be kept during the millennial reign of the Messiah, and that this is foretold with the added warning that ‘no rain’ will fall on all those nations who refuse to attend that Feast? Surely there has to be a tremendous reason why, out of all the feasts to be kept during those wonderful years of the Messiah ‘s earthly reign, the one singled out of all the major biblical feasts is the Feast of Tabernacles. There may be more than one reason for this, but certainly it bears pondering.
So there is ample reason for us to celebrate this Feast with great expectancy in our hearts. No wonder that God commanded the Israelites in days past concerning Succot:
“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast … Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.” (Deuteronomy 16:13-17)
As we were preparing to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, the Lord stressed to us the importance of worshipping Him in our lives, but especially during the celebration of Succot. After all it is, as God commanded, to be a feast of joy, and what better way is there to rejoice than with singing and dancing before Almighty God. This joyful and abundant Davidic praise and worship has become the hallmark of the Christian celebration during the Feast of Tabernacles. As the Psalmist says:
Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise His name with the dance; let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. (Psalm 149:1-3)
A further reason to praise God is because this is exactly what He has in mind: to show His mercy and faithfulness to the House of Israel so “that all the nations of the world may know and realise the He is God indeed”. This is the general thrust of many of the promises of God’s restoring love and favour for His people Israel: that He might be glorified even among the nations.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the LORD brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:7-10)
No wonder that God calls upon the heavens, and the lights in the heavens, to rejoice with Him in the light of this outpoured love and comfort for His people after the centuries’ long road of torture and sorrow. How much more should we then praise Him and worship Him in great joy as believers here on earth, especially as we have come so near to this prophesied miracle and time of Israel’s restoration? As Isaiah prophesies further:
Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, AND GLORIFIED HIMSELF IN ISRAEL. (Isaiah 44:23)
And:
Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:9-10)
Thus the reason for rejoicing and singing, especially as we come together in Jerusalem during the Feast, is that God is about to comfort and show favour to His people. We are not just rejoicing as we are accustomed to do as Christian believers, to thank Him for what He has done for us! This gives a completely new dimension to our praise and worship, lifting it to a different level above ourselves and the interests of our lives. It is so far reaching that it will cause God to turn on the heavenly lights: The moon and the sun shining more brightly than they have ever done in ‘the day that the Lord will heal the stroke of His people Israel!’
So great is the crescendo that God is building up in His great and astounding acts toward His people Israel that even the nations will be forced to acknowledge the greatness and wisdom of the LORD.
What a considerable reason to exalt the Lord our God-the all-inclusiveness of this latter day outpouring of His grace and Holy Spirit upon His people! And we believe that the timing of this event was revealed in what His Son said on that last, great day of the Feast of Tabernacles:
“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.” (John 7:37b-38)
I believe that it will be during this Feast, while we exult in Our God and Saviour for all He has done, and is still willing to do, for us, and as we especially praise Him for all that He is about to do for His people Israel, that the Holy Spirit of God will one day fall. Like a wind gathered from the four corners of the earth, it will blow upon the gathered nation of Israel as she is supported and joined by thousands of Christian believers from all the nations of the world. Is this not even the way it was in the foreshadowing of this great outpouring of God’s Spirit on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2:1-4?
Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting … And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-2,4)
It is therefore the Feast of the nations, the fullness of the Gentiles coming up to Jerusalem to experience with Judah, the Jews, the blowing of the Wind of God’s Spirit, the Feast of the double portions, the former and the latter rain which will fall upon God’s people in the month! It is also amazing to note that it was during the Feast of Tabernacles that the inauguration of Gods temple took place, when the glory of the Lord came down to fill the House of God, as we learn form the second book of Chronicles:
Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD up from the City of David, which is Zion. Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.
Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves…), and the Levites who were the singers… clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets-indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:2,3,7,11-14)
May this soon become again also our experience during this Feast of Tabernacles designed to become one day the Feast which will bring us back not only to the experience written about in the Acts of the Apostles – but even “the greater works” so that indeed the second glory of His house and body will be greater than that of the first!
May it soon come!
Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director
International Christian Zionist Center
© Israel My Beloved
