By COGwriter
The ''Feast of Tabernacles'' is an 8-day Biblical pilgrimage festival, also known as the ''Feast of Booths,' the '''Feast of Tabernacles," or ''Tabernacles." In the 7th day Church of God groups it is one of the most important holy days as it lasts the longest and normally requires a great deal of preparation and travel to be able to attend. But it is normally the physical and spiritual highlight of the year for those that do observe it.
The Hebrew Scriptures
The Hebrew scriptures discuss this Festival in many places.
Leviticus 23:33-43 states,
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day-- besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD. '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; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God' (NKJV).
Christians have interpreted the statement about dwelling in booths to include temporary dwellings, hence most stay in hotels, motels, or tents to observe it today (and the idea that palm branch dwellings are not the only option is consistent with Leviticus 23:43). And the observe it on the same days that the Jews celebrate Sukkot (which is based on the same verses in the Hebrew Bible).
Christians have cited the following passages from Deuteronomy 14:22-26 to explain how this festival attendance should be financed:
You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household ( NKJV).
Most Christians who observe the Feast of Tabernacles save 10% of their income (normally referred to as second tithe or simply festival tithe) to finance this. They also point to those verses in Deuteronomy to show that they are to feast and rejoice during this time, which they feel points to the time when Jesus will reign on the Earth for a thousand years. A time they say will be filled with great prosperity--a glimpse of which they get when they spend approximately 10% of their annual income for an eight-day (plus travel time) festival (sometimes, portions of that 10% are used for the other biblical holy days).
Christians who observe this festival believe that part of the reason that there will be peace is that people will all be taught the law of God, as teaching the law of God was an important part of this feast during the days of the children of Israel:
"At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess" Deuteronomy 31:10-13).
Christians who observe this festival point to the following passage in Zechariah 14:16-19 to show that this festival will be observed in the future (hence, they feel this is evidence that it has not been done away with):
And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall 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 whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
While some falsely claim that the Feast of Tabernacles through current times must only be kept in Jerusalem, this is in error as the children of Israel were not even in Jerusalem for centuries after the commands for its observance in Leviticus 23 were recorded--hence Jerusalem was not possibly an initial option for them. Furthermore, the Bible shows that the Feast of Tabernacles can be kept in cities other than Jerusalem (Nehemiah 8:15; cf. Deuteronomy 14:23-24).
The New Testament Examples
Christians point out that Jesus kept the Feast of Tabernacles. This is discussed in detail in John chapter 7:10-26:
But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people." However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?" 16 Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" The people answered and said, "You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill? But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?
The Apostle Paul, after the Christ's death and resurrection indicated that it was important to keep the Feast in Jerusalem--and this may have been the Feast of Tabernacles. As it is noted in Acts 18:21,
I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.
Paul taught Gentiles to follow him as he followed Jesus:
Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Jesus and Paul kept the feasts. Are you following their example?
Notice that Paul does commend those in Thessalonica for initiating the church in Judea:
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 2:13-14).
The church in Judea kept the Feast of Tabernacles, etc. And those in Thessalonica were commended for receiving the word of God and imitating the practices of the church in Judea.
Others Have Kept the Feast of Tabernacles
Polycarp of Smyrna apparently taught this about the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day:
What must one say, when even He that was gentler than all men so appeals and cries out at the feast of Tabernacles? For it is written; And on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirsteth, let him come to Me and drink (Pionius. Life of Polycarp, Chapter 19. Translated by J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 3.2, 1889, pp.488-506).
The Greco-Roman Bishop & Saint Methodius of Olympus in the late 3rd or early 4th century taught that the Feast of Tabernacles was commanded and that it had lessons for Christians. And he tied it in with the teaching of the millennial reign of Christ:
...these things, being like air and phantom shadows, foretell the resurrection and the putting up of our tabernacle that had fallen upon the earth, which at length, in the seventh thousand of years, resuming again immortal, we shall celebrate the great feast of true tabernacles in the new and indissoluble creation , the fruits of the earth having been gathered in, and men no longer begetting and begotten, but God resting from the works of creation...
For since in six days God made the heaven and the earth, and finished the whole world, and rested on the seventh day from all His works which He had made, and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, so by a figure in the seventh month, when the fruits of the earth have been gathered in, we are commanded to keep the feast to the Lord , which signifies that, when this world shall be terminated at the seventh thousand years, when God shall have completed the world, He shall rejoice in us. For now to this time all things are created by His all-sufficient will and inconceivable power; the earth still yielding its fruits, and the waters being gathered together in their receptacles; and the light still severed from darkness, and the allotted number of men not yet being complete; and the sun arising to rule the day, and the moon the night; and four-footed creatures, and beasts, and creeping things arising from the earth, and winged creatures, and creatures that swim, from the water. Then, when the appointed times shall have been accomplished, and God shall have ceased to form this creation , in the seventh month, the great resurrection-day, it is commanded that the Feast of our Tabernacles shall be celebrated to the Lord , of which the things said in Leviticus are symbols and figures, which things, carefully investigating, we should consider the naked truth itself, for He says, A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: to understand a proverb , and the interpretation; the words Of the wise, and their dark sayings. (Methodius. Banquet of the Ten Virgins (Discourse 9, Chapter 1). Translated by William R. Clark. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/062309.htm>)
Comments by Epiphanius and others in the late fourth century concerning the Nazarene Christians would also seem to support that those who kept the Fall Holy Days were located in several areas at that time (see Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes?).
The Feast of Tabernacles, consistent with biblical instructions (cf. Nehemiah 8:15; Deuteronomy 16:15), was being observed outside of Jerusalem centuries after Christ’s resurrection (other holy days, also were sometimes by Jews outside of Jerusalem, including apparently Pentecost in Luke 4:16 and the Days of Unleavened Bread in Luke 6:1, by Jesus). In the late fourth century, John Chrysostom (of Constantinople) commented that people who professed Christ in his area were observing it (John Chrysostom. Homily I Against the Jews I:5;VI:5;VII:2. Preached at Antioch, Syria in the Fall of 387 AD. Medieval Sourcebook: Saint John Chrysostom (c.347-407) : Eight Homilies Against the Jews. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-jews6.html).
Notice the following report related to the Middle Ages:
Under the name of Passagini, we have the clearest sort of statement that these people, about 1200, observed the whole Old Testament law, including the Sabbath and FESTIVALS! People called Cathars at Cologne, Germany, kept a fall festival, called "Malilosa", even before Waldo began to preach. Compare this unexplained name with Hebrew "melilah" (a harvested ear of grain -- Strong's Exhaustive Concordance) and the Biblical title "Feast of Ingathering" (Ex. 23:16). How much more we might have known about these Middle Ages' Feasts of Tabernacles had not the Inquisitors so zealously burned the records! The three-part division of tithes paid the Waldensian Church is significant. Even in the 1500's the same division continued. "The money given us by the people is carried to the aforesaid general council, and is delivered in the presence of all, and there it is received by the most ancients (the elders), and part thereof is given to those that are wayfaring men, according to their necessities, and part unto the poor" (George Morel, Waldensian elder, quoted by Lennard, "History of the Waldenses"). 1. Compare this practice with Num. 18:21 and Deut. 14:22-25, 28-29. Isn't it exactly what the Bible commands?... Most authors have ASSUMED the "wayfaring men" were the traveling "barbel." But THEIR expenses would have been paid from the money given the elders, at EVERY time of year, for the direct conduct of the Work -- "first" tithe and offerings. Notice that in Numbers 18:21. What Morel then mentions is a "second" tithe, for those traveling to and from the festivals -- wayfaring men; and following it, the "third" to the poor. See the explanation in Deut. 14. Feast goers who had more "second tithe" than they needed shared their excess with those who had need, even as they do today! (LESSON 51 (1968) AMBASSADOR COLLEGE BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place ..." Rev. 12:6).
Furthermore, Sabbath-keepers in Transylvania in the 1500s (and probably later kept) the Fall Holy Days such as the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Trumpets (called Day of Remembrance below):
The Sabbatarians viewed themselves as converted Gentiles..They held to the biblical holidays. (Liechty D. Sabbatarianism in the Sixteenth Century. Andrews University Press, Berrien Springs (MI), 1993, pp. 61-62)
Ivor Fletcher reported that some of the American Sabbath-keepers may have kept the Feast of Tabernacles back then:
By 1683 the American churches had realized the need of closer personal contact between the members.
With one church at Newport, on an island, and various scattered members on the mainland, they found great difficulty in meeting together as a group. On October 31 of that year Hubbard wrote to Elder William Gibson, who at the time was living in New London, "O that we could have a general meeting! but winter is coming upon us."
The first "General Meeting" was held in late May, 1684, shortly after Pentecost. All the brethren in New London, Westerly, Narraganset, Providence, Plymouth Colony and Martha's Vineyard were invited to attend. "The object of this meeting was to bring the members, so widely scattered together at a communion season." This was the first recorded general meeting of Sabbath-keepers in America. According to Hubbard 26 or 27 people were in attendance. Prayers were given and discussion took place on several doctrinal issues. "By this time, more members lived on the mainland than at Newport. Sabbath keepers had lived at Westerly since 1666, converts of Mumford. At a yearly meeting of the Church, at Westerly, on September 28, 1708 (New Style), the decision was made to separate into two churches. There were 72 at Westerly and 41 at Newport. (The Feast of Tabernacles for that year started Saturday, September 29.)
Previously it was common to hold the yearly meeting at Westerly. Its first elder, John Maxson, was ordained October 1, `by fasting and prayer and laying on of hands." There are strong indications that many of these annual meetings took place either during the fall Holy Day season or near Pentecost.
Although these people probably had only a limited knowledge of God's Plan of Salvation, pictured by these days, they were at least attempting to follow the Holy Day pattern that God had ordained. (Fletcher I.C. THE INCREDIBLE HISTORY OF GOD'S TRUE CHURCH, Chapter 13. Copyright 1984, by Ivor C. Fletcher. Reprinted in 1995 by Giving & Sharing)
And the Fall Holidays are still observed into the 21st century by many Sabbath-keeping Church of God groups.
Basic Interpretation
One group that observes the Feast of Tabernacles, the Living Church of God, states:
...Old Testament meaning
...A seven-day celebration of the great fall harvest, observed by living in temporary dwellings for the duration of the Feast. (Leviticus 23:33-43)
...New Testament meaning
...Pictures the Millennium, when the earth will be ruled by Jesus Christ and His saints. [The Holy Days]
Millenarianism (a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, often called the millennium) was taught by the early Christians.
The Feast of Tabernacles: Additional Interpretation
R.C. Meredith wrote the following:
After Satan is put away (please see article on The Day of Atonement: Its Christian Significance), the next stage of God’s Plan is the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ as King of kings. This involves Christ and the resurrected saints teaching ALL of humanity the ways of God. It involves the MASSIVE "fall harvest" of saints—the time when everyone then living will finally learn the ways of God and have full opportunity—without Satan’s deceptions—to serve and obey the Creator.
In Leviticus 23:34, God commanded this Festival to ancient Israel, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.’" So the Feast of Tabernacles was to last seven days. It pictures the seventh millennial day or 1,000-year period of human history—coming just ahead of us. In Leviticus 23, it is called the Feast of Tabernacles or "booths"—to remind Israel that they were "sojourners" in the land. Spiritually it reminds Christians that we are—as our father Abraham—"strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13) looking forward to the Kingdom of God.
But in Exodus 23 we find an autumn Festival described as "the Feast of INGATHERING, which is at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field" (v. 16). So it also pictures and celebrates the great fall harvest in Israel—picturing for Christians the great spiritual harvest of souls to be reaped during the one thousand year reign of Christ!
As we have already seen, at that time the earth will become "full of the knowledge of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:9). And "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain." There will be an outpouring of peace and JOY such as the world has never experienced: "No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain JOY and GLADNESS, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (35:9–10).
The inspired Peter called this period the "times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of ALL His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21). Indeed, literally scores of prophecies throughout the Old and New Testaments speak of the time of Christ’s return, of all the world coming to understand, and of genuine peace and safety permeating the earth because humanity will be learning God’s righteous LAWS and practicing His entire way of life:
"Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the LAW, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (Isaiah 2:2–4).
When the modern Israelites return from their end-time captivity: "They shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations…. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; EVERLASTING JOY shall be theirs" (Isaiah 61:4, 7).
The millennial reign of Christ is definitely the time prophesied by Jeremiah: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put MY LAW in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31:31–33).
For God’s magnificent spiritual law, the Ten Commandments, has NEVER been done away! But they have been "magnified" by Jesus Christ and made even more binding, so that we are to keep, not only the letter but the spiritual intent of God’s law. So we do not merely refrain from murder, we refrain from enmity and hate and the attitude of murder (Matthew 5:21–22). We are taught not only to forsake adultery, but not even to "look on" a woman to lust after her! (vv. 27–28).
During the Millennium, God’s laws are to be written in the hearts and minds of His people all over the earth. For God’s laws expresses His very CHARACTER—the character He demands that we develop in order to be kings and priests forever in His Kingdom! This blessing will be afforded ALL MANKIND during the wonderful "Feast of Ingathering," the 1,000-year reign of Christ here on this earth. Revelation 20 tells us: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (v. 6).
So all true Christians should be preparing NOW to learn and PRACTICE God’s laws and His way of life so that they will be able to TEACH these things to others in Christ’s soon-coming world government. The inspired Apostle Paul admonishes true Christians: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?" (1 Corinthians 6:2–3).
Will just the "true Christians" or the Israelites observe the Feast of Tabernacles? Notice Zechariah 14:1–4: "Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives." Then read verse 9, "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—‘The Lord is one,’ and His name one." And read verses 16–19, "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall 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 whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of ALL the nations that do not come up to KEEP THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES."
The above verses should make it very clear that ALL nations will learn to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in a very few years under the immediate direction of Jesus Christ. Even the Egyptians, who may at first have resentments against anything "Jewish," will, learn to OBSERVE the Feast of Tabernacles—and ALL of God’s commanded Festivals" (Meredith RC. The Holy Days - God's Master Plan. LCG booklet).
The Eighth Day (also Known as "The Last Great Day")
The seven day Feast of Tabernacles is immediately followed by the eighth day. Christians normally call this the ''Last Great Day'' based on these statement from Jesus in John 7:37-38,
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."
According to an old, but probably modified in the 4th century document, it seems that Polycarp observed the Feast of Tabernacles in the second century including the Last Great Day:
I will give the narration in order, thus coming down to the history of the blessed Polycarp...
So also he pursued the reading of the Scriptures from childhood to old age, himself reading in church; and he recommended it to others, saying that the reading of the law and the prophets was the forerunner of grace, preparing and making straight the ways of the Lord, that is the hearts, which are like tablets whereon certain harsh beliefs and conceptions that were written before perfect knowledge came, are through the inculcation of the Old Testament, and the correct interpretation following thereupon, first smoothed and levelled, that, when the Holy Spirit comes as a pen, the grace and joy of the voice of the Gospel and of the doctrine of the immortal and heavenly Christ may be inscribed on them. And he said that they could not otherwise receive the impression of the seal which is given by baptism and engrave and exhibit the form conveyed in it, unless the wax were first softened and filled the deep parts. So also he thought that the hearts of the hearers ought to be softened and yield to the impress of the Word. For he said that it unfolded and opened, like closed doors, the minds of recent comers; and accordingly the prophet was bidden by God, Cry out mightily and spare not, Raise thy voice as a trumpet. What must one say, when even He that was gentler than all men so appeals and cries out at the feast of Tabernacles? For it is written; And on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirsteth, let him come to Me and drink. (Pionius, Life of Polycarp (1889) from J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 3.2, pp.488-506.)
The Living Church of God states this about the eighth day of the feast:
...Old Testament meaning
...Adjacent to the Feast of Tabernacles, this eighth day is considered a separate Feast.
(Leviticus 23:36, 39)...New Testament meaning
...Pictures the coming "Great White Throne Judgment" at which all of humanity not previously called will have the chance to hear the True Gospel and accept salvation. [The Holy Days]
Most of the small groups that observe the Feast of Tabernacles and the eight day that follows it are in basic agreement with the statements quoted from the Living Church of God.
While pagans have had holidays for the dead, the Last Great Day is really the "Day of the Dead". That is those that were spiritually and physically dead will be resurrected to have their opportunity for salvation (see also Hope of Salvation: How the COGs differ from most Protestants and Universal Salvation? There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis).
Here is some of what the late Herbert W. Armstrong taught about the Last Great Day:
This eighth day, technically a separate feast, is called "the last day, that great day of the feast" (John 7:37).
What does this final holy day represent?
Notice what Jesus preached about on that day: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink . . . out of his belly [innermost being] shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive . . .)" (John 7:37-39).
This was Jesus' sermon giving the meaning of the last great day!
Now turn to Revelation 20. After the Millennium, what happens? A resurrection! The dead stand before God. This couldn't include true Christians today, as they will appear before the judgment seat when Christ returns. It couldn't refer to those converted during the Millennium. They have already inherited the Kingdom during the Millennium, after living out a normal life-span. Those in this resurrection must be those who died in ignorance in past ages! They are not brought to life until after the Millennium (Revelation 20:5).
This is that judgment day mentioned in Matthew 10: 15. It is a time when Gentiles who died in ignorance will be given an opportunity to receive salvation. Ezekiel 16:53-55 makes this very plain. Even those in Israel who died in their sins will be given their first opportunity to understand the truth of God and His way (Ezekiel 37). The prophet wrote that God would pour out His Spirit on those resurrected (verse 14). This is precisely the salvation that Jesus mentioned in His sermon on that great day of the feast in the autumn of AD 30.
This eighth day, which immediately follows the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, pictures the completion of the plan of redemption. It is just prior to the new heaven and the new earth. All parents and children, young and old will be resurrected. Notice that the "book of life" typifying salvation is opened (Revelation 20:12). Revelation presents the final view of the "judgment day" as the present material heaven and earth are perishing and the faithful are receiving their eternal reward at the throne of Christ. The wicked those who disobey are seen perishing in the lake of fire! What a marvelous plan! All will have an equal opportunity (Armstrong HW. Pagan Holidays--or God’s Holy Days—Which?, booklet).
Isaiah prophesied how long the White Throne Judgment period would last. During this time Christ and the resurrected saints will rule. It is the time of the second resurrection. The earth will be as peaceful and productive as the Millennium itself. Children who died will live again for one hundred years, building character through the power of God's Holy Spirit. Older people who had died without knowing God's plan for them will also be resurrected to live for one hundred years. The close of the one-hundred-year White Throne Judgment is pictured by John in Revelation 20:11-12…100 years of testing…Isa. 65:20. (Bible Correspondence Course, Lesson 39. 1954, 1965 Edition).
A major reason that I became part of the old Worldwide Church of God (the group that took over WCG stopped observing biblical holy days) and remain part of the genuine Church of God is that in addition to proving all things from the Bible, I truly believe that since "God is love" (1 John 4:16) that He has a plan of salvation that will ultimately result in everyone being called and nearly every one who ever lived being saved.
Two must read articles to demonstrate the truth of those doctrines are Hope of Salvation: How the COGs differ from most Protestants and Universal Salvation? There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis.
These Holy Days were Condemned by a Catholic Leader
In spite of their biblical origin, the Catholic saint John Chrysostom preached against the Fall Holy Days in 387 A.D.:
The festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews are soon to march upon us one after the other and in quick succession: the feast of Trumpets, the feast of Tabernacles, the fasts. There are many in our ranks who say they think as we do...If the Jewish ceremonies are venerable and great, our are lies...Does God hate their festivals and do you share in them? He did not say this or that festival, but all of them together (John Chrysostom. Homily I Against the Jews I:5;VI:5;VII:2.. Preached at Antioch, Syria in the Fall of 387 AD. Medieval Sourcebook: Saint John Chrysostom (c.347-407) : Eight Homilies Against the Jews. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-jews6.html 12/10/05).
Now this actually causes a problem for the Catholic Church. First, it shows that until at least the late fourth century, that some who professed Christ still kept all the Holy Days. But secondly, and more importantly, since the Catholic Church claims that it still keeps a version of Passover (though under the name Easter in English) and Pentecost, then their saint, John Chrysostom, should never have condemned all of the festivals that God gave the Jews. Yet he did.
Furthermore, it needs to be understood John Chrysostom made many non-Christian statements towards Jews, and hence appears to have not been motivated by the word of God or love (more information can be found in the article Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days?).
How do Christians observe these Holy Days today?
Well, part of it is based upon the teachings of the Old Testament and part of it on the New Testament.
Recall that Deuteronomy 14:22-26 teaches:
You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household ( NKJV).
Because of this, Christians in the tend to go somewhere for the Fall festivals. The primary (if not only) location for the old Radio Church of God (which became the old Worldwide Church of God) was in Belknap Springs, Oregon. Herbert W. Armstrong attended the feast of Tabernacles there from at least 1946-1951 (he may have also attended there in later years). When our family went to the Feast in Oregon one year, we visited Belnap Springs and took the following photographs:
River at Belknap Springs and the building that services for the Feast of Tabernacles for 1946-1951 were held.
In the 21st century, the Living Church of God normally has had at least 40 festival locations each year around the world (Living Church of God's 2012 Feast of Tabernacles' Information). Other COG groups have additional sites.
Our family has been to Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Canada, Fiji, Greece/Turkey, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and various states in the USA for the Feast of Tabernacles (all in different years, except Greece and Turkey which was combined via a cruise).
Jesus Himself attended the Feast (John 7:10-26).
Normally, attendees at the Feast go to church services for two hour most days, and normally have two or three services on the Holy Days (first day of the Feast, the Sabbath, and the Last Great Day). Sermons often focus on the Kingdom of God, the law of God, and the Millennial reign of Christ, though pretty much any topic of Christian interest can be covered.
The Church normally has some type of family day activity for one day, often also a dance or social event at least one evening, and sometimes organizes group activities.
The time not at services or church activities is essentially free time, and people tend to go to restaurants, go sight-seeing, participate in local activities, or otherwise attempt to enjoy being away from most of the cares of their normal lives.
The Holy Days
The Feast of Tabernacles is significant for Christians. It pictures the reality of Christ's reign on the earth and that this current world is simply temporal.
Perhaps it might be helpful to realize that Catholics do admit that early Christians (sometimes called Nazarenes, see Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes?) did observe the Feast:
St. Jerome (PL 25, 1529 & 1536-7) speaking of how the Judaeo-Christians celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles…tells us that they gave the feast a millenarian significance (Bagatti, Bellarmino. Translated by Eugene Hoade. The Church from the Circumcision. Nihil obstat: Marcus Adinolfi. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 26 Junii 1970. Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, p.202).
Here is some of the actual Latin, from PL 1529 & 1535-1536:
1529...Judæi et Christiani judaizantes... Judæi Christiani…
1535-1536... Omnes, inquit, qui relicti fuerint de gentibus quae venerint contra Jerusalem, ascendent per singulos annos, ut adorent regem Dominum exercituum, et celebrent festivitatem Tabernaculorum. Hæc quoque Judei cassa spe in mille annorum regno futura promittunt, cujus solemnitatis istud exordium est:(It is typed by hand from that shown in Catholica Omnia Tabulinum De Ecclesiae Patribus Doctoribusque Materia Migne JP Argumentum Patrologia Latina Volumen MPL025 Ab Columna ad Culumnam 1415 - 1542A, pp. 922, 930 http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/02m/0347-0420,_Hieronymus,_Commentariorum_In_Zachariam_Prophetam_Libri_Duo,_MLT.pdf and is part of http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/1815-1875,_Migne,_Patrologia_Latina_01._Rerum_Conspectus_Pro_Tomis_Ordinatus,_MLT.html which is related to http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/25_20_25-_Rerum_Conspectus_Pro_Auctoribus_Ordinatus.html)
Here is a basically Google-machine translation with minor adjustments for English:
Jews and Christian judaizers…Christian Jews… All, he says, those who remain survivors of the nations that come against Jerusalem, shall go up every year, to worship the King the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles. These also shall hope in, through the hollow devotion of Jews, a thousand years old promise of the future kingdom, whose festival this is the beginning of:
We in the genuine Church of God also believe that this Feast foreshadows the coming millennium.
And the eighth day festival pictures that salvation will be offered to all humankind.
Jesus, Paul, and true Christians kept these Holy Days. Though they were condemned by one who called Jews "miserable", this does not change the fact that they are taught in the Bible and were observed by true Christians.
Sadly, since most professing Christianity do not keep these days and the other Christian Holy Days, they often do not have a proper view of God's plan of salvation. These day picture not only what has happened but what will happen.
This is information that Christians living in these latter days should value.
Where is the Feast of Tabernacles held? Here is the Living Church of God's 2012 Feast of Tabernacles' Information. These are the publicly announced sites thus far; other groups also have sites.
More information on the Holy Days can be found in the booklet, The Holy Days - God's Master Plan or the articles:
Hope of Salvation: How the Church of God Differs from Protestantism
Universal Salvation? There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis
Is There "An Annual Worship Calendar" In the Bible?
The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time to Learn the Law
Did Early Christian Teach Millenarianism? (a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, often called the millennium)
Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread?
Melito's Homily on the Passover
The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets?
The Day of Atonement--Its Christian Significance
COGwriter 2005/2006/2007/2008/2010/2011/2012 0924