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(FOT Day 1)
Fred R. Coulter—October 7, 2025
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Greetings, brethren, and welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles! How many have been in the Church long enough to remember the booklet, 1975 In Prophecy? When I first came into the Church—I was baptized in 1960, October 19th—that was 15 years in advance.
Of course, they were preaching on the World Tomorrow program that that looked like when Christ was going to return. Well, we won't get involved into a long discussion on that, however, it proves two things:
- the ideas of men wrongly interpreting the Scripture never transpire. It doesn't matter:
- who they are
- how important they are
- how intelligent they are
- how stupid they are
it never works! An important lesson out of that is this:
- No one, no human being—man or woman, past, present or future—is ever going to tell God what to do, or what they discovered as 'truth' when it's not
and God must accept it from that person, because they're so smart!
Now that doesn't make any sense because God knows everything, past, present and future, and you talk about people, you talk about nations. What does He say about nations?
Isaiah 40:15: "Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket…"
So, the Word of God is the Truth from the God of Truth so that we may know the Truth IF:
- we believe Him
- we obey Him
- we love Him
Those are the conditions all through the Bible!
Now we all know about the Sabbath Day and there are a lot of people who keep the Sabbath Day who are not in the Churches of God, especially the Seventh-Day Adventists, and a good number of the Jews.
However, the Sabbath Day is only one part of what God's Plan is. So, at the Feast of Tabernacles, God has revealed some very important things that were never really understood until the book of Revelation was finished.
God didn't give that until about 98, 96AD somewhere in there, and only to one man: the Apostle John; he was the disciple or apostle that Jesus loved.
We're going to see that the Feast of Tabernacles is a great Feast of God, and tells us what God is going to do and answers the question: What is the Plan of God?
I just talked to a man the other day and he has been going through the book: God's Plan For Mankind Revealed By His Sabbath and Holy Days.
That's what's important; it is God's Plan revealed in His Word to His people IF we rightly divide and understand the Word of God and maintain the Truth.
Now here's what we're dealing with, and this is what is important because what God has for us and what God has for all of mankind is the greatest, most fantastic thing that there ever was. It can't be understood unless:
- you have the Spirit of God
- you believe Him
- you obey Him
- you love Him
- you live by every Word of God.
And the thing that we need to understand is this, and always keep in mind: that we are not dealing with God as with another person. God is dealing with us as God and we are His begotten children! We are here:
- to learn
- to grow
- to change
- to overcome
- to enter into the Kingdom of God at the first resurrection
Rev. 1—I've read this a lot recently in some of the messages that I have brought because we are living in the time when the events in Revelation are becoming clear. One hundred and fifty years ago in the days of the Church of God and Seventh-day Adventist and the Church of God Seventh-day, they looked at prophecy and they saw the things that were correct at that time, but they had no idea of the vast expanse of time that God was going to give and of the things and developments that would come at the end of the age, which none of them could understand!
Almost all of them have it wrong concerning the Mark of the Beast. The Mark of the Beast has nothing to do with Sabbath or Sunday-keeping! It has to do with buying and selling as I have pointed out in a recent message. But 150 years ago they had no thought of that. They had no thought of what we have today, instant communication around the world.
That's what's brought out in the book of Revelation, because they end up being churchwide down through history and worldwide problems of a magnitude that we can only comprehend through the Word of God!
Let's understand that we come to God because He's God! He has called us! We are His children, begotten with the Holy Spirit of God the Father!
Notice the message that John received concerning Christ and His coming. We know it's closer than it is at any time before, but we don't know how long it's going to be. Now we do have a clue where we can begin looking at things when they start building the third temple. How soon that will be or how far off that will be we don't know. How many of us who have been in a Church for decades will even be alive at that time? That will be for those who are living when it is built. This is important, this is for all of us in the Churches.
Revelation 1:4: "John to the seven churches that are in Asia…"
Of course, that's prophetic, down through time the seven churches and their attitudes and problems and difficulties have been evident in every age, some more predominant at a certain age than others.
"…Grace and peace be to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; and from the seven spirits that are before His Throne" (v 4).
Christ wants us to know, God the Father wants us to know, but They must reveal it!
Verse 5: "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood."
Key thing: Only the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ can forgive us our sins!
Then He gives a little hint of the future. This is for us:
Verse 6: "And has made us kings and priests to God and His Father; to Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the Ages of Eternity. Amen."
That ties in with Rev. 20 that we will be priests of God and kings!
Verse 7: "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him… [no secret rapture] … and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen."
This is quite a thing that's going to happen here. Now notice what He says and this is what we need to keep in mind when we're coming before God.
We're not coming before God especially for any elders or ministers or long time people in the Church. We need to remember this, we do not have the power to replace God—period! We always need to look to God the Father and Jesus Christ!
Verse 8: "'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending,' says the Lord, 'Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come—the Almighty.'"
Now that's quite a thing isn't it? The Almighty!
- everything that He says is going to be done
- everything that He has proclaimed will come to reality
Verse 11: "Saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book, and send it to the Churches that are in Asia:…'"
Notice one thing, Rome was never mentioned and has nothing to do with the true Churches of God!
"…to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea" (v 11). He's the First and the Last!
Let's go back to a beginning part of the Bible, Lev. 23 and understand this. We all know it has all the Holy Days of God beginning with the Sabbath. Isn't that interesting? God says these are His days,
- they're not our days
- they're not the Jews' days
- they're not anybody else's days
They are God's days! He gives instructions here to the children of Israel what to do on all of these Feast days. We will see that we are to follow the outline that is given here and then add in all the things of prophecy and all the things of the New Testament that pertain to the meaning of it.
We've gone through all of them now, all the way from the Sabbath and Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and now the Feast of Tabernacles.
Leviticus 23:33: " And the LORD spoke to Moses saying"—Moses wrote it down!
God never gave His Word to be handed on by oral tradition from one generation to another generation as the Jews and the Catholics claim. In claiming that, they say, 'We are men who know better than what is written down.' That's how they get their entrance into it to change it!
But you can't change it, because Prov. 30 says to be careful in handling the Word of God, you can't add to it or take away from it, lest you be found to be a liar! Now he says this, continuing in Lev. 23
Verse 34: "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month… [which is today] …shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day shall be a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD'" (vs 34-36).
Now seven days they had sacrifices every day. Today we have no sacrifices. So, we take up an offering on the first day and then on the Last Great Day. The sacrifice of Christ has fulfilled all the animal sacrifices, and now has elevated our contact with God to heaven above through the Holy Spirit of God!
Verse 36: "…It is a solemn assembly. And you shall do no servile work therein."
That means anything necessary for keeping the Feast you can do!
Verse 37: 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."
Now you find that in Num. 28 & 29, and each day it was different.
Verse 39: "Also, in the fifteenth day of the seventh month when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a Feast to the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath."
Isn't that interesting that there's always the eighth day? And He saves that for right at the end. That the eighth day we'll see on the Last Great Day is one of the most important days in the Plan of God.
Amazing! Mentioned the least! Now then, we find in Deut. 16 we're to bring an offering. So what we'll do, we'll take a pause and take up an offering for the Feast of Tabernacles 2025.
Remember that we give from the heart and all the funds are used to serve the brethren, to produce the things that we need, to preach the Gospel, to help those who are in need. It is used in that way so that we can accomplish the very most that we can with everything that God sends to the Christian Biblical Church of God.
(pause for the offering)
Thank you very much brethren for your offering. We appreciate it and we know that you give from the heart and you love God and we respond to you and to God the same way.
Now let's come to Rev. 20; an amazing thing. As we know, as we learned with the Day of Atonement, Satan is put away.
Revelation 20:1: "Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Then he cast him into the abyss, and locked him up…" (vs 1-3).
Verse 4: "And I saw thrones; and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given to them…" How are we going to judge?
- we're going to judge by the Word of God
- we're going to judge by the attitude
- we're going to judge by the repentance or lack thereof
"…and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and those who did not worship the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark in their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (v 4).
That's the whole purpose of it. So, the Feast of Tabernacles being seven days pictures what God is going to do for the thousand years when Christ returns and all of the saints are resurrected.
- we are going to rule
- we're going to reign
- we're going to serve all the people
We're going to see some tremendous things that are going to happen, which only God can bring about!
Verse 5: "…This is the first resurrection." We'll talk about the other resurrections later on because there's more than one.
Verse 6: "Blessed and Holy..." Isn't that the way God is?
When we're resurrected as spirit beings, what is that going to be like? Well, John said that 'we will see Jesus exactly as He is, because we will be like Him.'
Isn't that a marvelous thing that God is going to do? He's going to raise us from the dead. He's going to give us a spirit mind, a spirit body, and we are going to rule and reign with Christ a thousand years! There we are going to exercise judgment, as well.
Verse 6: "Blessed and Holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power…."
Now we'll talk about the second death on the Last Great Day.
"…But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (v 6).
That's quite a thing. Now we're going to see how that is going to be.
- God has not chosen the rich
- He has not chosen the wise
- He has not chosen the leaders of this world
but He has chosen us! A lot of us wonder: Why did God call me? Because:
- you repent
- you believe God
- you obey God
- you love Him
- you live by His Commandments
- you grow in grace and knowledge
- you develop the character of God
- you develop the righteousness of God
- you let the Word of God be written in your heart and in your mind
How many of the leaders of the world do that? Virtually none!
All right, let's read what God has done, because He does that which the world can't understand! Why He would do it. If I had all the brethren who are watching this at all of the Feast of Tabernacle, wherever it is, what do we see? We see people whom the world virtually counts as nothing!
And because we're converted and love God, we're going to be resurrected to be kings and priests! Why? Because we will teach and preach the Word of God and then help all of those human beings come into the Kingdom of God!
Quite a thing indeed. You look at that and down through the history and all that God is dealing with, and it's not very many people.
1-Corinthians 1:23: "But we proclaim Christ crucified…." That was quite an enigma for people to understand:
- Who was Christ?
- Why did He come?
- Why did He die the way He died?
- Why did He die on the day that He died?
- Why was He resurrected, 'IF He was resurrected?
- they don't even know
- they don't even believe
"…To the Jews it is a cause of offense, and to the Greeks it is foolishness" (v 23).
They had all these philosophies and all of these gods and goddesses and everything like that that they believed in, and they thought that they were the wise ones! They thought that they were intelligent and smart. When Paul went to preach to them at the Athena temple there in Athens, he told them:
Look, I came in here and saw all these idols and you're certainly devoted to deities. But I saw this one to the unknown God. So I'm going to preach to you the unknown God.
Now, did they all repent and follow Paul? No! There were two people that followed Paul. All the others said, 'We don't know about this and this strange God that he is preaching.'
Verse 24—this is where we fit in: "But to those who are called…"
The call goes out, and we have to choose. When we choose and repent, we receive the Holy Spirit of God.
Verse 24: "But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God's power and God's wisdom."
We get wisdom from God, and strength from Him through His Holy Spirit!
Verse 25: "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men…" God doesn't have any foolishness in Him, but He has some humor!
"…and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (v 25).
We don't know what weakness God may have, but He really doesn't!
Verse 26: "For you see your calling, brethren, that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh, not many who are powerful, not many who are highborn among you."
You look around everyone there keeping the Feast of Tabernacles with you. Quite a thing!
Verse 27: "Rather, God has chosen the foolish things of the world, so that He might put to shame those who are wise…"
Because if you have the wisdom of God, though you started out being foolish, you're wiser than the wise people in the world.
"…and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things" (v 27).
Who are strong? Here just recently one of the strongest men in the world. Hulk Hogan, great wrestler, died at 71. Never called!.
Now notice the lowborn, you don't have a long pedigree of special people as your ancestors.
Verse 28: "And the lowborn of the world, and the despised has God chosen…"
We're called and chosen! The calling goes out all of the time. We have to answer the call! WHEN we answer the call, THEN God chooses us and we're baptized! Now, why does He do it this way?
"…even the things that are counted as nothing—in order that He might bring to nothing the things that are" (v 28).
Isn't that going to be true with the return of Christ and what he does to everything on the earth? We'll talk about how the earth what shape the earth will be and when we come to take over to rule with Christ. It's going to be an unmitigated disaster from horizon to horizon!
Verse 29: "So that no flesh might glory in His presence."
There was one man who tried that; remember him? Remember his name? Job! He did everything that God taught, but then he thought he was better than God! So, God had to come and show him: 'Look, you're just flesh and blood.'
Job finally repented! That's why we repent and we come to God, and know everything that we have comes from God.
Verse 30: "But you are of Him in Christ Jesus, Who was made to us wisdom from God, even righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; so that, as it is written, 'The one who glories, let him glory in the Lord'" (vs 30-31). Now that's quite an amazing thing, isn't it?
- What is God going to do?
- What is it that God has planned for us?
- this takes time
- this takes study
- this takes effort
- this takes prayer
- this takes drawing close to God
- this takes overcoming human nature
- this takes overcoming obstacles and difficulties that come our way
- What does God have for us?
We're told certain things which are amazing, but we're not told all the things of God that God is going to do for us. Remember: all of those who have the Spirit of God are the beloved of God the Father; we are his children his sons and his daughters. That's why we're here. We're here so that we can be:
- educated with the Word of God
- experience in life
- living by the Spirit of God and the Word of God
- everything that we do
So that we yield to God, and at the resurrection He will give us a spirit mind, a spirit body and we will be the literal spiritual sons and daughters of God!
Now, that much we know, but beyond that… Let's come to 1-Cor. 2. Listen, brethren, the knowledge that God has given us…
- is not to be found in any university
- it's not going to be found in the highest levels of government
- or those who are working on a super-secret project
- or those who are working on things so that they can expand the intelligence of man, presumably by putting a chip in them (amazing, we've talked about that in the past)
Paul came in Spirit and power of Christ. What for?
1-Corinthians 2:5: "So that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." You're not going to find it because of 'wise' men.
One of the wisest men on earth today that you can see on television all of the time is Victor Davis Hanson. I don't know how much he knows about God, but he's one of the wisest in the world today, but:
- Does he know God?
- Does he keep the Sabbath?
- Does he attend the Church?
- Does he quote the Bible?
- Does he live by every Word of God?
I don't know, that's up to him!
Verse 6: "Now we speak wisdom among the spiritually mature…"
Now, if you have the Spirit of God and you're growing and overcoming you're being matured into the point of the resurrection!
"…however, it is not the wisdom of this world…" (v 6).
You're not going to find any of what we're going to cover today in any publications that are written by men cut off from God!
"…nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing" (v 6).
- What's going to happen to the Beast and the False Prophet, the greatest two men that the world will ever see? The Lake of Fire!
- How's that for coming to nothing?
Verse 7: "Rather, we speak the wisdom of God…"—which is:
- love
- truth
- hope
- overcoming
- changing
- growing
Verse 7: "Rather, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom that God foreordained before the ages unto our glory."
So, God had His Plan all figured out to begin with before He started!
Verse 8: "Which not one…" I want to emphasize that, and you can go back and start with Nebuchadnezzar, the most important Gentile King that there ever was.
Verse 8: "Which not one of the rulers of this world has known (for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory); but according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'" (vs 8-9).
Now that's quite a statement, isn't it? And you watch all of these all these experts discuss this, discuss that, discuss the other thing, regardless of what the topic is: whether it's finance, whether it is government, whether it is personal behavior, whether it is psychology, whatever it is! They only come so far and or understanding and then they always end up finding out that what they knew was really not the truth.
But look at what we have; v 9: :But according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'" IF you love Him:
- you obey Him
- you believe Him
Isn't that true? Yes indeed!
By God has revealed them to us by His Spirit. That's how you understand the Bible. By God's Spirit in you when you read it, then there is that spiritual connection that comes!
For those who don't have the Spirit of God if they begin with the simple things and begin to understand those and begin to do them, then their minds begin to be open. The blindness that they have covering their eyes will disappear and they will know. But you can't find it.
Verse 10: "But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches ALL things—even the deep things of God."
How deep does that go? Well, we won't find out until we're resurrected! We can only go so far. So, even at the best the greatest knowledge that we have can be like little kiddies walking in a waiting pool, compared to what God is going to give us:
- in wisdom
- in knowledge
- in understanding
- in power
- in glory
- in rulership
and all of that!
Because the basic fundamental of having the Spirit of God, growing and overcoming, and being faithful to the end is going to be so that we will be kings and priests with Christ and we're going to reign a thousand years! Then after that on into all eternity! Amazing!
Verse 12: "Now, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God."
That's a wonderful thing, isn't it? That's how it is! Now what we're going to see is that in the Old Testament—in the Psalms and in some of the Prophets—that there are things that are prophesied into the time of what we call the Millennium!
That's going to be quite a thing.
(break@36:55)
Psalm 119:18: "Open my eyes so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law"—which then is all of the Word of God! Amazing!
Psa. 15—here's a prophecy that people have not understood because the Kingdom of God is not on earth, nor was the New Testament written, although David had a lot of understanding concerning it. But these are all prophetic, because every part of the Word of God has many meanings, some far more than others. It's interesting, you look back at
Psalm 14:1: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God!'…."
- What follows after that? The ones who were wise!
- Who are the wise ones according to the New Testament? Remember the 10 virgins: 5 wise/5 foolish!
The wise kept busy studying, praying, growing, overcoming and living by God's Word. The foolish thought they knew it and it didn't work out the way they expected. Here's the fool who says there is no God!
Psalm 15:1—the question comes up: "LORD, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle?...."
Now, that's very interesting, because as we will see (I don't know if we will today or tomorrow) but there's going to be a great tabernacle over Jerusalem, mainly on top of the Mount of Olives. No temple! The tabernacle!
"…Who shall dwell upon Your Holy hill?" (v 1).
- Where is Christ going to return when he comes back? To the Mount of Olives!
- What's going to happen? It's going to split in two! And all the saints are with him (Zech. 14).
So, He answers the question here:
Verse 2: "He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness…"
What is righteousness? Righteousness is Commandment-keeping!
Now, let's talk about the Commandments for just a minute.
Deuteronomy 6:5: "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might"—and being.
Verse 9: "And you shall write them upon the posts of your house and on your gates"—and talk about it wherever you go!
Jesus reaffirmed that we are to keep the Ten Commandments. When he said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God. And the greatest Commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and being!
When you come to Heb. 10, what does it say? He's going to write His Laws in our hearts and in our minds and in our inward parts!
Do you see the progression? Here is the physical. Then we have growing toward the spiritual with Christ! Then we have the fulfillment at the resurrection!
Psalm 15:2: "…righteousness, and speaks the Truth in his heart"
Now think about that, because what is the heart of man before conversion? The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things!
Oh, yes, it has good things it can think about this and that, but they are still NOT the goodness of God!
Isn't it interesting, "…the Truth in his heart"—because some people can speak the Truth! but it's NOT in their heart!
- Do you see the difference?
Which means that: IF you have the Truth in your heart:
- What are you going to speak?
- How are you going to come to God?
- What are you going to be doing?
Verse 3: "He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor, in whose eyes a vile person is despised…" (vs 3-4).
Their behavior, what all that they do. And look at all of the vile people that are seeking political office right now. Remember this, 'woke' is: Wicked Obsessions Kill Everything! And isn't that what they're doing? Mainly in the Democrat Party? Yes, indeed! That's the epitome of those in the world who are blinded in the sin, who think they're wise. You can see that example right there today.
"…but he honors those who fear the LORD…" (v 4).
In the New Testament, we're to love the brethren! Isn't that true? There we go!
"…he who swears to his own hurt and does not change it" (v 4).
In other words, your word is good. You don't say one thing at one time, and then change it to something else at another time when circumstances haven't changed. There it is right there.
Verse 5: "He who has not put out his money at usury, nor has he taken a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved."
Isn't it interesting that David wrote most of the Psalms, and he was 'A man after God's heart,' even though he did all of the things with Bathsheba and he had to suffer for it.
You don't realize how miserable that his life was after that. There was rebellion. There was an overthrow to try and take the throne from him. It was a disaster, and a lot of people died because of his personal lust.
Now, we mentioned there Isa. 4 about the great tabernacle that's going to be over Jerusalem. Now here it talks about it:
Psalm 84:1: "How lovely are Your tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!"
- amazing
- lovely
- beautiful
- magnificent
Something that is going to be greater than any human beings and any of the spirit beings have ever imagined!
Notice how we seek God; this is how it guarantees that we're going to be there. This shows about the spiritually (1-Cor. 2).
Verse 2: "My soul longs, yea, even faints… [putting out all the effort, all the emotion, everything there] … for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."
- for the conversion
- for the change
- for the resurrection
Isn't that something? That's all part of conversion! This shows conversion right here. Notice what he says about the current temple:
Verse 3: "Yea, even the sparrow has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God."
So here we have a blending in and out of that which is future and that which is present. We find that all the way through the Old Testament and that's why it's hard to understand.
Verse 4: "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house..."
- Isn't that where we're going to be?
- Who shall be in Your tabernacle?
"…they will still be praising You. Selah." (v 4).
Now wherever you see 'Selah,' it means to stop and meditate on it!
Verse 5: "Blessed is the man whose strength is in You…"
- our strength of character
- our strength of thought
- our strength of emotion
- our strength of love
- our strength of hope
- our strength of praise
and all of that comes from God! That's all a part of conversion! So, the Feast of Tabernacles holds out the goal:
- where we're going to be
- how we're going to be
"…Your ways are in their hearts; Who passing through the valley of weeping make it a place of springs…" (vs 5-6).
Every disaster that comes along, God is going to turn it out to something good in the long run.
Verse 7: "They go from strength to strength… [that's how we're able to overcome, change and grow] …every one of them appearing in Zion before God."
That directs right into what we're talking about with the resurrection. Back then it was talking about those who were faithful and came to the temple.
Verse 8: "O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah."
Sometimes we have to do that. Sometimes we sit back and we think: Will God hear our prayer? Well, we ask Him to hear our prayer! He will!
Verse 9: "Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed, for a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere" (vs 9-10).
One day in the courts of God as a spirit being is greater than anything else!
"…I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (v 10).
We've understood how wicked the world is. And we're going to see how bad it's going to be here in the next few years.
Verse 11: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield…"
That's amazing, isn't it? What does it say? It's going to be one of the rewards of the righteous, as Jesus said in Matt. 13. The righteous: their face shall shine like the sun!
Think about that! Is there anything greater than having the strength and the power and the spiritual things that God will give you? You will have so much glory that it will be like the sun in its full strength! Or as Daniel wrote in Dan. 12: those who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars of heaven! That's an amazing thing!
You get the book that we have, Why Were You Born? We have some pictures of what it's like:
- before you became a human being
- as you're a human being
What it's going to be like when you're a spirit being.
All the pictures of the galaxies there. And then after you're done with that, go onto the James Webb website and look at all of the galaxies, all of the stars; trillions and trillions and trillions of them! So far out and so vast. It's awe inspiring, indeed! That's what it's talking about here!
"…the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (v 11).
That's how we enter into the Kingdom of God. That's all a part of us coming into the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Verse 12: "Oh O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You." For this; all of this!
You start adding up all of these things that God has for us. And really, it's quite overwhelming. It's quite humbling that God would do this to the ones that the world despises!
Psa. 85 comes right along with it. There's a lot of spirituality and fulfillment in it when we bring in the Spirit of God from the New Testament in our heart and in our mind. When we read these things, we get a greater understanding and a deeper understanding of what God is doing.
Psalm 85:1: "O LORD, You have shown favor to Your land…. [that's grace] …You have brought back Jacob from exile."
What we're going to do is bring back Israel, bring back all the nations and so forth, as we're reigning as kings and priests and over cities, and be administrators and things like this.
Verse 2: "You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people… [you read about how bad it is] …You have covered all their sins. Selah"—with the sacrifice of Christ!
Verse 3: "You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger. Restore us, O God of our salvation…" (vs 3-4).
- that's to us in the resurrection
- that's to the children of Israel physically on the earth when they come back to the 'promised land' at the beginning of the Millennium
What a thing that's going to be! Amazing!
Verse 5: "Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?" When the Millennium starts, all of that will cease!
Verse 6: Will You not give us life again…"
Very interesting statement, isn't it? Could this also be a prophecy of the second resurrection? Remember, that's an interesting thing in Rev. 20; one sentence. At the end of the thousand years, the rest of the dead live again. One sentence for one of the greatest acts of God! We'll cover that on the Last Great Day.
Verse 7: "Show us Your mercy, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation." That's what we want! We need that every day!
Verse 8: "I will hear what God the LORD will speak…"
We'll hear it all the time! Think what it's going to be like to keep the Sabbath during the Millennium as spirit beings and we're taught by Jesus Christ. That's going to be something!
"…for He will speak peace to His people, and to His saints, but let them not turn again to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, so that glory may dwell in our land" (vs 8-9). Not only in our land, but within us!
Verse 10: "Mercy and Truth have met together…"
I like this: Mercy and Truth; that's what we want. WHEN you understand Truth, THEN you will understand mercy, and when you receive the mercy, you'll understand the Truth! It's a two-way thing.
Verse 10: "Mercy and Truth have met together… [that's through conversion, God's Spirit and the forgiveness of sin] …righteousness and peace…"—keeping the Commandments of God, and peace with God!
What do all of the Epistles of Paul open up with? Peace and righteousness!
"…righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (v 10). Now that's a close, intimate thing indeed, isn't it?
Verse 11: "Truth…"—that's what's lacking, and we're going to bring it! We will help fulfill this verse right here.
Verse 11: "Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven"—from God the Father down to the earth, to bring everything good and right!
Verse 12: "Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield its increase."
All the physical people of Israel back in their land, and all the other people back in their lands "shall yield its increase."
- they will have food
- they will have plenty
- we will rule over them
- we will teach them the way of God
- we will give them the Laws of God
- we will bless them
- we will teach them every Sabbath
- we'll be taught by Christ
- He's taught by God the Father
See how all of that works, and it's going to be so great during the Feast of Tabernacles!
Verse 13: "Righteousness shall go before Him and shall set us in the way of His steps."
That's how we're going to live! If we're going to be the sons and daughters of God, we're going to live like God.
Psa. 46—we will see that it talks about something that only God can do. Let's look at it this way.
Right now, Donald Trump is trying to bring peace to the world. But it's not going to be a peace like God's peace. Because it's going to be peace by Trump through strength of arms and bombs and planes. And all the other nations are going to be arming themselves, as well.
So the peace is not going to be truly a peace. It will be a standoff for fear of war. Now that may last for a while. We're not told how long. We may end up with a lot of prosperity for a while. But we're not told how long that will last.
Psa. 46 will teach us a lot, too. This will teach us a lot about
- our overcoming
- what we need to do
- how we grow in grace and love
- how we grow in grace and knowledge
- what God is going to do
- how the Millennium is going to take place
Psalm 46:1: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Always there!
Remember when you come along and you have problems and difficulties to overcome and the troubles come to you, you go to God and He'll help you out of them!
Verse 2: "Therefore, we will not fear…"
- we're not going to be in anxiety
- we're not going to be 'worried to death,' so to speak.
"…though the earth should change and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea… [that's going to happen with all the events taking place before the return of Christ] …though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains shake with the swelling of it. Selah" (vs 2-3).
How many earthquakes do we see that are going to take place in the book of Revelation? When that happens, how many volcanoes are going to go off? Now, compared to that, all the trouble.
Verse 4: "There is a river whose streams make the City of God rejoice, the Holy dwelling place of the Most High."
- help comes from God
- the water is like the Holy Spirit
Verse 5: "God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God shall help her at the approach of the morning."
So, God is always there. We can count on that. That's how we're going to enter into the Kingdom of God.
Verse 6: "The nations raged, the kingdoms were shaken; He uttered His voice, the earth melted."
Quite a thing! This is all the events in the book of Revelation right here in the Psalms.
Verse 7: "The LORD of hosts is with us…" Think about that!
Of all the people on the face of the earth, God is with His people! He knows we're going to have our difficulties. But we can overcome every single one of them:
- through faith
- through His help
- through His Spirit
- through the circumstances that He will bring about.
Verse 7: "The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD who makes desolations upon the earth" (vs 7-8).
We're going to see that. The earth is going to be absolutely upside down and just almost demolished.
Verse 9: "Who makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth…"
What's going to happen? They're going to beat their spears into pruning hooks and their swords into plowshares! Quite a thing!
Think about all of the full employment that's going to be at the beginning of the Millennium: melting down all of the weapons, all of the tanks, all of the cannons, everything. Melt it down! God is also going to change the hearts of the people!
- they won't be so carnal
- they won't be so antagonistic
And there will be no more war!
Verse 9: "[He] Who makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots in the fire."
I was watching about all of the great inventions that they have with the modern tanks. They can shoot way far off; no one can even see them, but they can see them on their radar right in the side of the tank. It's all going to be melted down! What are we going to do with all the metal?
- we're going to build new cities
- we're going to make things in peace
- we're going to judge righteous judgment
- we're going to help people come to God
That's what God is preparing for us! The Feast of Tabernacles is to remind us that:
- we're going to live with God
- we're going to dwell in His house
- we're going to do the things that He wants
- we will be part of that which comes out and goes to the whole world
Verse 10: "'Be still, and know that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations… [Millennium] …I will be exalted in the earth.' The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob… [Israel] …is our refuge. Selah" (vs 10-11).
What a Psalm. One short little Psalm that talks about everything concerning the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and how it's going to be carried out and that we will be part of it.
Let's look at the fulfilling of this. Isaiah is quite a book. It has more to do—and we'll cover this a little later in the Feast—with the Millennium and bringing the Kingdom of God on earth than any other book in the Old Testament.
It's very interesting that one of the reasons why the leaders of Judaism and the rabbis rejected Christ, not only because of who He was on the earth when He was here in the flesh, but they sat down after they were expelled from Jerusalem, and a question came up: Why should they accept Jesus as the Messiah?
So, what they did, they looked at many prophecies in the Old Testament, which were to be fulfilled at His second coming, and they didn't know anything about it, because they didn't have the New Testament, nor did they believe in Jesus.
What they did, they read these passages in Isaiah. Some of them we're going to read here right now, and some we're going to read in the rest of the days of the Feast here.
And they said, 'If He was the Messiah, why didn't He do this or that? Because of rejecting the New Testament they never had a clue, because they didn't believe He was raised from the dead, that He was going to come again. Amazing!
We will see that it will be fulfilled in the Millennium, but it wasn't fulfilled in His first coming. The Jews had no idea that it was actually the Messiah who was going to die for the sins of the world and return as a glorified spirit being.
Isaiah 2:1: "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass, in the last days…" (vs 1-2).
Now, here's the key. A lot of people think all the time we're in the last days. They thought that all the down through the history of Israel right after the destruction of Jerusalem the first time, and then the second time. The church thought of it. Actually, one of the first epistles of the Apostle Paul was to the Thessalonians. And in the second epistle that he wrote shortly thereafter, he talks about 'the abomination of desolation' in the temple by the Beast Power, and that he's going to be destroyed by the brightness of the coming of Christ!
So, they thought it was going to happen in their day. Well, here we are, pretty close to 2,000 years later! How far is it off in the future? Well, it looks closer, but how far is close and how close is far? We don't know.
Verse 2: "And it shall come to pass, in the last days the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains…"
Christ didn't do that when He was here the first time, but it will be when He returns!
"…and shall be exalted above the hills; and ALL nations…" (v 2)—all the nations on the earth!
Now, this is what's going to be important, because men think they can solve all of their own problems. And 'if we have a one unified world government'— which is what they're going to establish—'that will solve all of our problems.' But what will happen? It will be utter destruction! Because:
- only God can bring peace
- only God can end wars
"…the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.'…." (vs 2-3).
Now, this shows that in the Millennium, when people are going to be led to conversion, they're going to:
- walk in the ways of God
- the Commandments of God
- the Truth of God
That's throughout everything in the Bible!
So all of these lawless so-called Christians know nothing when they reject the Laws and Commandments of God, because that's like rejecting the first grade.
"…we will walk in His paths, For out of Zion shall go forth the Law…" (v 3).
As we covered, for those of us who are converted today, it's written in our heart and in our mind!.
- this is how we act
- this is how we think
- this is what we do
"…For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and 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" (vs 3-4).
No more toy soldiers, toy tanks, galloping toy horses, and knights and shining armors and swords and all of that.
Verse 5: "O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD."
Isaiah 11—we will see how glorious this is going to be..
It's going to be like something that we can only, dream of or think of it, but the words of God have described it for centuries. God is going to fulfill it!
Whatever segment of time we live in, in the expanse of time that God has given to fulfill these things, leading up to the return of Christ, we have our opportunity for salvation; our opportunity:
- to grow in grace and knowledge a
- to love God
- to serve God
- to keep His Commandments
- to grow in grace and knowledge
- to have our minds written with the Laws of God in it
So
- we think with the Word of God
- we lead our lives with the Word of God
- God opens our minds to see wondrous things out of His Word
All of that together, see? It doesn't come all at once. Comes bit at a time, here a little, there a little, and so forth.
Now, here's what the Millennium is going to be like. It's going to bring a magnificent time. Trump is talking about the 'golden age' right now. Well, his 'golden age' is going to look like the poppers on 'skid row' compared to what God is going to do during the Millennium. We'll see that as we go through the Feast.
Isaiah 11:1: "And there shall come forth a shoot out from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." That's a prophecy of Christ!
Verse 2: "And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD."
Every one of those things are major building blocks of character, and we grow in them at different rates at different times, depending on:
- the things we go through
- the things that we are taught
- the things that we learn
Because sometimes we have to be taught over and over again before we learn it up here (in our mind)!
That's why we have repetition with the Word of God.
Verse 3: "And His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. And He shall not judge according to the sight of His eyes, nor after the hearing of His ears. But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth…." (vs 3-4).
That's how it's going to be. The love of God will be everywhere. The righteousness of God will be exemplified by us in teaching the people, helping them to learn and grow and overcome. I'm sure that God is going to look at what we're going to do:
- How are we teaching the people?
- What are we doing for them?
- How are we coming to Christ so that we get more wisdom and understanding as time goes on?
All of those things! Just like we read. The deep things of God! The fullness of that understanding will not come until the resurrection.
"…And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth… [if they rebel] …and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked" (v 4).
What does it say of the wicked? They're going to be thrown into the Lake of Fire!
Verse 5: "And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." That's the whole substance of the Kingdom of God, right there!
Verse 6: "Also, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb..."
So, God is going to change the nature of animals. Won't it be nice? Kids have the little 'wolfie-wolfie.' And it grows up and it doesn't eat them! Amazing!
Or how about this: A lot of kids would like to have a lion! Nice lion! Well, you get a little cub and it grows up and here's this big lion just like a big purring kitty cat. That's your pet.
I don't think there will be very many plastic toys for kids in the Millennium. They'll have the real thing as pets!
"…and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the cub lion and the fatling together… [ they're all going to eat at the same time] …and a little child shall lead them" (v 6).
Now that's an amazing statement, really, when you think about it! A child! 'Here lion, lion.' Or if you want a tiger? a leopard?
Verse 7: "And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox."
Now that's one I haven't been able to figure out. How is that going to be? The only thing I can think of is the cartoon where it shows the lion with human teeth. Eats grass! Not animals! Not people! Grass! Now you talk about a complete change and conversion of something. This has nothing to do with becoming a spirit being. That's just the physical animals that are here.
Verse 8: "And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper's den."
The deadliest snakes in the world! Now myself, I can't stand snakes. When kids were growing up and we were down in Pasadena, we would go down to the San Diego Zoo. They had a whole reptile thing there; they showed all the snakes. I don't like them, so I'd be walking out here and Jonathan and David would be walking down here. 'Come over here and look at this, Dad!' They'd show me a Palestinian viper. And I was shocked! I couldn't believe it because it talks about viper here; a little child is going to play on the whole of a viper. And there the Palestinian viper had a large head; a big one! Big mouth! Poisonous! And its body was big around. And it was only about four to five feet long. And if you met one of those out in the field and surprised him, BANG! You're history! So, this is an amazing thing that it's talking about here!
Now let's notice something else with it. Not only getting rid of the war, not only getting rid of all of the weapons.
Verse 9: "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy mountain… [Why?] …for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be the Root of Jesse standing as a banner for the people; to Him the nations shall seek; and His rest shall be glorious" (vs 9-10).
The 'rest,' meaning the peace during the 1,000 years, the fulfillment of the Millennium! This is how it's going to start. We'll look at other things concerning it because the feast goes for seven days. So, this concludes the day one of the Feast of Tabernacles 2025.
Scriptural References:
- Isaiah 40:15
- Revelation 1:4-8, 11
- Leviticus 23:33-36, 37, 39
- Revelation 20:1-6
- 1 Corinthians 1:23-31
- 1-Corinthians 2:5-10, 12
- Psalm 119:18
- Psalm 14:1
- Psalm 15:1-2
- Deuteronomy 6:5, 9
- Psalm 15:2-5
- Psalm 84:1-12
- Psalm 85:1-13
- Psalm 46:1-11
- Isaiah 2:1-5
- Isaiah 11-10
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Proverbs 30
- Numbers 28; 29
- Deuteronomy 16
- Zechariah 14]
- Hebrews 10
- Matthew 13
- Daniel 12
Also referenced: Books: {truthofGod.org}
- God's Plan For Mankind Revealed By His Sabbath and Holy Days
- Why Were You Born?
FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 8/11/25
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