Tabernacles: The Feast of Unity‏

Shalom,

 

    Please begin by reading Lev 23:39-43.

 

    In the Feast of Tabernacles we're given a beautiful picture of the unity of the saints.  This is one of the three high feasts where all Israelites must leave their homes and livelihoods to assemble together in Jerusalem.  For 7 days they were to dwell along the streets and highways, living in little booths which they constructed of branches from citrus, palm, myrtle, and willow trees.  It was a time to celebrate the reaping of grapes and olives and fall grains, and to be united in worshiping the Lord God Almighty.

    They didn't need to fear for the property they left behind because Yahweh promised to protect it.  Their only safeguard was found in obeying the command of the Lord.  We need to gain some understanding here as well.  We Christians are so divided and sectarian, worried and fearful about protecting our little plots of land - or "our" people.  Our only safeguard is found in obedience to our Lord and a willingness to follow his chosen path.  Yahweh is firmly knitting together the Body of Christ right now.  The Holy Spirit is forming a vital, living Church of Jesus Christ right now.

    Yahweh will look after our property.  He'll care for everything that's good and right about our communities of faith.  We all have too many pet doctrines, "our" personal theological theories, "our" churches, "our" opinions, "our" ambitions.  If any of these are of Yahweh, he'll preserve them for us.  If not, why are we so concerned about maintaining any of them?

    If any individual or group is unwilling to recognize the Holy Spirit as the life of the Body of Christ and his ministry as the movements of that Body, then a "sect" is born.  The word sect means an opinion, sentiment, or party.  And it's not necessary to be a religious system to become a sect.  Many sects loudly denounce organized religious systems, but they're probably the most sectarian groups out there.  To be a member of a sect all you have to do is refuse to recognize the ministries which Yahweh is raising and setting up.  To be non-sectarian is more than removing yourself from the denominational systems.  We must become vital parts and members of the Body of Christ, functioning according to the power of the Holy Spirit and abiding in the place Yahweh sets forth for each and every one of us.

 

    The root of the word sukkot, Hebrew for Tabernacles, is to be intertwined.  Good fellowships of believers aren't loosely connected together, they become intertwined because of intimate contact with our loving Father.  The four types of branches used to build the booths represented the bringing together of different types or kinds of people into the fellowship of Yahweh.  The rabbis came up with this picture of the coming together of the nation of Israel during the Feast of Tabernacles.  The citrus has a pleasing scent and good tasting fruit.  This represents those with knowledge of the Torah who also obediently walk out their faith.  The palm (date palm) has tasty fruit, but no scent.  This represents those with knowledge, but weak in obeying Yahweh's Word.  The myrtle has a nice scent, but no fruit.  These are those who try to obey without a working knowledge of the Torah.  Lastly is the willow which has neither a good scent nor pleasing fruit.  These are those without knowledge or obedience.  And Yahweh wants all types brought together.  We should seek this kind of gathering to encourage the weak and reach the ignorant.

    It's amazing how unbelieving a "believer" can be.  To deny that Yahweh can have a Body functioning in the absolute unity of the Holy Spirit is to call Jesus a liar and the Bible a false witness.  We can all be in our proper place, working together as one harmonious whole.  Most likely, the reason we refuse to believe this could happen is because we've never seen it in our lifetimes or even the history of the Church.  The story of strife and corruption is recorded in Yahweh's Word to show us how to avoid this level of disobedience.  1 Cor 10:16 says, "These things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did."  The Church's long and bitter history of disunity and strife deosn't prove that Yahweh's Word isn't true.  It just proves human sinfulness.  If Yahweh said it, it's going to come to pass.  If Jesus prayed it (John 17), nothing Satan or this world can do will prevent the fulfillment of our Lord's faithful prayer.

    It's because this fullness of unity is so certainly beyond us and humanly inconceivable that people refuse to believe it.  And it truly is impossible without our heavenly Father's intervention, but "with God all things are possible" (Matt 19:26).  Yahweh has provided us with the means for this amazing level of unity to be brought into being.  He's given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.  And their work is to equip and build the Body "until we all reach unity in the faith" (Eph 4:11-16).  And right now Yahweh's moving to make this a reality.  He's shaking up the Church, trying to get everyone's attention.  We can listen and obey and receive the riches of this great gift; or we can seek to maintain our little kingdoms as they are and miss out or even worse be cast aside.

    To doubt that this level of unity can happen is to doubt Yahweh and his Word.  It's not a case of rejecting the philosophies of man, but it's a rejection of Spirit-ordained ministry.  And that is a rejection of the God who gives gifts to his people.  Too many people want to perfect themselves through self-effort, through their individual sacrifices of fasting and prayer and personal devotion.  These are good things, but in themselves they limit us.  Yahweh ordained unity, the ministries of the Body of Christ working in harmony as the way perfection is to come.  To refuse to work with these ministries is to say to our Lord and Master, "I don't need your gifts, I prefer to be perfected in my own way."

 

    In Psalm 133 we find some hopeful and inspiring words about the fellowship of believers.  We understand the difficulty of true unity.  It doesn't come easily, but it's simple to know what Yahweh expects of his people.  When Jewish pilgrims sang this psalm as they traveled to Jerusalem, they didn't sing it solo because they harldy ever traveled alone.  They came from various tribes, areas, and walks of life.  But no matter how different they were the fellowship of Yahweh's people made the trip refreshing because they could sing this song of ascent together.

    We're pilgrims, too.  We're traveling together on the long road to heaven.  It's foolish to try to be a believer in isolation.  The moment we become a Christian we become a part of a body of believers.  Jesus is the basis for our fellowship.  We're part of a world-wide Christian community and yet many struggle to join a local fellowship of believers, a local church.  No Christian is an only child.  We can't thrive in isolation.  We're a part of a living body.

    Jesus modeled the community of believers for us in the way he lived with the disciples.  They shared a common purpose, united around their Teacher, but they didn't always get along.  There was bickering and competitiveness.  Jesus had to remind them that they were brothers, and not to let their differences break them apart.  When we trust Jesus we gain abundant resources to live godly lives, but we still have a bent for sinning.  Our personalities don't change completely.  Introverts don't turn into chatty extroverts.  Dominating extroverts don't settle quickly into a meek and mild mode.  We are who we are, different and united.  We may not think alike, but Yahweh expects us to work together.

    Psalm 133 contains two images of what unity does for us, oil-anointing and dew-refreshing.  The first image appears kind of messy to us.  When we anoint the sick with oil we normally only use a dab of it.  The image here is of oil running down over Aaron's head and dripping from his beard.  Oil wasn't dabbed on him, but poured over his head.  The oil was scented, fragrant with spices.  The smell would cling to Aaron.  We're reminded of this in 2 Cor 2:14.  "God, through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."  We're to be sweet perfume to a decaying world.  Oil is a symbol of Yahweh's presence and Spirit.  Oil was used to set apart prophets, priests, and kings.  This is significant to us because Christ means "anointed one."  As Christians that makes us "anointed ones."

    We're called to the ministry of the priesthood.  Pastors and elders may provide spiritual leadership, but everyone is called to minister as a priest of the Most High.  When we realize that we and our fellow believers are all priests, this should energize us to do good works.  Not works that earn anything from our Father, but the kind of works "which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph 2:10).

    The image of the dew is often neglected.  Our preachers and teachers remind us of the anointing unity brings, but many times fail to point out the refreshing it offers us.  On the mountains of Israel the dew falls heavy and thick.  The mountaintops are drenched and the feeling is one of freshness and fertility.  Israel's a primarily arid country, so the morning dew is important if plants are going to grow.  We need the dew of unity and fellowship in our lives if we're to flourish and grow spiritually.  And like the dew it can't be manufactured by human effort.

    Unity is a gift from our Lord God Almighty, produced by the Holy Spirit in response to a faith-filled prayer lifted by our Savior Jesus.  The unity Yahweh wants of us is based on himself.  Yahweh is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He's three-in-one, a tri-unity.  The goodness unity brings is there because it's based on Yahweh's perfect goodness.  He's directly involved in our lives, but he also made us to need the fellowship of other human beings.

    Dew and oil both flow down.  Yahweh is the focus and source of these blessings.  They come down from him to his people.  Unity is a gift of his grace.  When we live together as Yahweh's people, we're being given a taste of eternal life.  As we look around at the Church, we see people we're going to be spending eternity with.  Why wait until then to enjoy their company?  Come together now and rejoice in the richness of Yahweh's grace and blessing.  Unity is possible.  In Christ unity is ours.  It's not about our efforts to overcome our differences and the ability to have worship services together, it's about loving one another as Jesus has loved us.  With the help of the Holy Spirit we can do this and be truly united.  This is what the Feast of Tabernacles was supposed to be pointing us toward and helping us to learn.

 

    Blessings & Peace,    Mike