Live in the Reality of the Feast of Tabernacles until we enter the Rest of New Jerusalem

The reality of the Feast of Tabernacles is a time of enjoyment in remembrance of how we experienced God and how God lived in us, and this feast consummates in the New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God with man, where we enjoy God for eternity! Hallelujah!

Our Christian life is a life of feasting on the Lord and with the Lord, and when we come together with the saints, we continue to feast on the Lord corporately. Amen!

Just as the children of Israel had three main feasts ordained by God when all the males had to go to Jerusalem and have a feast unto God, so we as believers in Christ have God-ordained feasts when we should come together and enjoy God with the saints and with God. Hallelujah!

The first of the feasts ordained by God was the Feast of Passover, which was a remembrance of how God delivered them out of Egypt by means of the Passover.

They had to kill the lamb, spread the blood on the doorposts, and eat the lamb together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Christ is the Lamb of God, and He gave Himself for our redemption; our faith in Christ’s redemptive work is the initiation of our Christian life.

When we believe into the Lord Jesus initially, we receive Him and eat Him as the Passover, and we enter a life of feasting on the Lord.

Now day by day we can apply the Lord’s precious blood as we confess our sins, and He is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Hallelujah!

We can enjoy Christ as the reality of the Feast of Passover day by day in our experience.

The last feast of the year in the Jewish calendar is the Feast of Tabernacles, in which all males had to come together and dwell in tents, booths, tabernacles, for one week, and feast together with the Lord and with one another.

Each one had to bring the surplus of their labour on the land and enjoy it, share it with God and with those who were poor, and just feast together. Amen!

As we come together in conferences, blending meetings, trainings, and other large gatherings, we need to have the attitude of coming to a feast.

We are being blended together by the Lord in the Body, just as the Israelites were blended at the feast, and we feast together with the Lord and with the saints. Hallelujah!

Our whole Christian life is a feast, and we need to keep the feast day by day both personally and corporately.

We live by eating the Lord and partaking of His riches, and we feast with Him and on Him with the saints corporately when we gather together.

The Reality of the Feast of Tabernacles: Enjoy and Remember how we Experienced God and how God Lived in us

The reality of the Feast of Tabernacles is a time of enjoyment in remembrance of how we experienced God and how God lived in us.

When we come together to feast on the Lord, we remember how we experienced God and how God lived in us.

The children of Israel had to recall how God rescued them from Egypt, how He separated the Red Sea for them to cross over, how God turned bitter waters into sweet, how God cared for them during their journey in the wilderness, and how He brought them all the way to the good land.

They had to recall the many wonderful things God did for them and also remember the times they rebelled against God and how He came to deal with the rebellion of Miriam, the rebellion of Korah and his people, and the rebellion of the whole people who were deceived by the evil report of the ten spies.

The children of Israel had a rich history from which they could learn very much and which showed them what kind of God they had and how their forefathers experienced God’s care, love, punishment, and forgiveness.

They also remembered how God dwelt in a tabernacle, for He instructed Moses to build a tabernacle for Him to have a home on the earth with His people (Exo. 40:18-38).

God dwelt in the Holy of Holies, and man could come forward to approach God by means of the high priest coming into the Holy of Holies.

It is there, in the Holy of Holies, that God met with His people and spoke to them, revealing His heart’s desire and His intention.

We need to remember and enjoy God, and we need to have a rich remembrance of how we experienced God and God lived in us and with us.

God saved us from the world with a mighty hand, and He redeeed us from our former manner of life (Eph. 4:22; 1 Pet. 1:18).

God imparted His divine life into us and took us all the way through the waters of baptism for us to be a new creation and live in resurrection.

Even though we rebelled against God and murmured before Him, He still was with us, feeding us and taking us all the way through the wilderness so that He may bring us into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.

We need to remember how the Lord turns the bitter waters into sweet when we apply the crucified Christ to our situation.

How wonderful it is when we are no longer bitter in our being, though the waters of our environment may still be bitter, because we have the crucified Christ applied to our being to change us in our very constitution!

We daily can eat Christ and partake of Him as our manna, our food supply, for us to continue on our Christian journey.

He is our bread of life, even the real bread that came down out of heaven, the bread that God gives us for us to eat, partake of, and be filled with so that we may live because of Him (John 6:48-51, 57).

We need to remember that today God dwells in us and He also dwells in the church, for today God is in a tabernacle among us, in the movable church life, for Him to be carried to every part of the earth and established there (Eph. 2:21-22). Hallelujah!

We need to remember how we experienced God and how God lived in us.

We also need to be reminded how we rebelled against God and He came to deal with us; He deals with us according to His righteousness and He forgives us when we repent and return to Him (Prov. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:4-11).

Oh, what a Christ we have! What a God we have!

We need to have such a rich remembrance of how we experienced God and enjoyed Christ, and how God lived in us day by day!

We have this rich remembrance not to praise or exalt ourselves or anyone else but to praise the Lord and to bring the riches of Christ experienced by us to the church for the building up of the church!

When we all bring our rich experience of Christ to the meetings of the church and have the reality of the Feast of Tabernacles among us, the church is built up and Christ is richly displayed and manifested among us! Oh, what a feast this is!

Lord Jesus, we want to have the reality of the Feast of Tabernacles by having a time of enjoyment in remembrance of how we experienced God and how God lived in us! Praise You, dear Lord, for redeeming us by becoming the Lamb of God for us to be sprinkled with the blood, eat, and be strengthened to get out of the world! Hallelujah, our Christ took us all the way through the waters of baptism for us to be rescued from the world and to live in newness of life. Thank You, dear Lord, for coming into our situation where we are to turn our bitter waters into sweet waters by applying Yourself as the crucified Christ to our situation. We remember You, dear Lord, for You are our daily food; You are our manna, the food that comes down out of heaven for us to eat and partake of so that we may live because of You! What a rich Christ we have! How privileged we are to enjoy Christ and have experienced God in our daily living! Praise the Lord, our God dwells among us in a tabernacle, and we can come forward to the Holy of Holies with boldness to touch the throne of grace! Praise the Lord!

Being Reminded we’re Still in the Wilderness and need to Enter the Rest of the New Jerusalem, the Eternal Tabernacle and Fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles

Heb. 11:9-10 tells us how Abraham dwelt as a foreigner in the land of promise as in a foreign land, making his home in tents with Isaac and with Jacob, the fellow heirs of the promise.

Abraham eagerly waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God.

Today as we keep the Feast of Tabernacles we need to remember that we are still in a tent, in a tabernacle, and God also is in a tabernacle, in the church life, but we’re looking forward to the eternal tabernacle, the New Jerusalem! Amen!

Our enjoyment of Christ today as the Feast of Tabernacles, in our corporate coming together for blending to enjoy the riches of Christ as the produce of the good land, reminds us that we are still in the wilderness and need to enter into the rest of the New Jerusalem, which is the eternal tabernacle (Rev. 21:2-3). Amen!

The New Jerusalem is the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22), the Jerusalem above (Gal. 4:26), the holy city (Rev. 21:2; 3:12), which God has prepared for His people (Heb. 11:16) and the tabernacle of God, in which God will dwell with man for eternity (Rev. 21:3).

As we keep the Feast of Tabernacles we are reminded that we still live in a tent today and God still dwells in a tabernacle, but we are eagerly awaiting the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God. Hallelujah!

Even in the coming age, the age of the kingdom, the overcomers will live in tents, not being settled yet, until the New Jerusalem is fully prepared as the bride. Hallelujah!

And the New Jerusalem, though it is the city of God, is also called the tabernacle of God, for God will tabernacle with man.

Even when we enter into the New Jerusalem by becoming the New Jerusalem, we will still have an eternal remembrance of how we experienced God and how God lived in us, and how we used to live in a tent on the earth, being sojourners and wanderers on earth, living for God and God living in us. Hallelujah!

Our Feast of Tabernacles will be the enjoyment of the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth; that will be the real consummation of all the harvest of our experience of God.

Today we experience God here and there, on and off, but on that day we will fully be in Him and He will be fully in us!

Today we are on the earth, living throughout human life as earth dwellers, those who dwell in tents and who sojourn on this earth.

As we are making our tents, living on the earth, God wants us to remember that we are here just passing through; we’re moving toward a goal, just like Abraham.

We are eagerly awaiting the city which has foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God.

The New Jerusalem will be our eternal dwelling place, the holy city, and that city will also be called, the tabernacle of God.

Today as we are journeying through the wilderness, everything is dry around us, we are looking forward to the New Jerusalem, the city of water and rich supply.

We are passing through temporarily in our earthly journey through this wilderness, and we’re looking for our destination – the city with the foundation!

May we not set our hope on the things on this earth nor set roots here but be ready to move one with the Lord for His interest on the earth today.

The New Jerusalem is called the Tabernacle of God because the overcomers in the first stage of the New Jerusalem remember how they also dwelt in tents.

They lived on the earth as strangers and sojourners and were looking forward to the eternal tabernacle, the God-built city, the mutual habitation of God and man.

Praise the Lord, as we sojourn on the earth today, we dwell in God’s tabernacle and are looking forward to the New Jerusalem, the eternal habitation of God and man, for us to enjoy God and experience Him and dwell with Him for eternity!

In the New Jerusalem we will keep the Feast of Tabernacles for eternity with full enjoyment and satisfaction.

For eternity we will remember how we used to live in tents and how God used to live in a tabernacle, and how we were strangers and sojourners. Amen!

The New Jerusalem will be consummated first to be the firstfruits in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the overcomers and then consummated finally to be in the new heaven and new earth as the full enjoyment of God’s full salvation to all the perfected believers!

Hallelujah, for eternity we will keep the Feast of Tabernacles in and as the New Jerusalem, enjoying God and remembering how we experienced God and how God lived in us!

Lord Jesus, we praise You and we want to enjoy You today as we sojourn here on earth. We realize that we are in a temporary tent today, for our eternal dwelling place is in God, the New Jerusalem! Amen, Lord, even as we dwell on earth today and meet with the saints to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in spirit, we are reminded that we only dwell in tents today and the New Jerusalem is our home! Hallelujah, as we journey through the wilderness on earth today we are looking forward to the New Jerusalem to enter into its rest, for the holy city will be our eternal tabernacle! Yes, Lord, we eagerly await the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God! We want to live one spirit with You today. We want to enjoy You and experience You, taking You as our life, our life supply, and our home. Amen, Lord, as we live on earth as strangers and sojourners, we are looking forward to the eternal tabernacle, the God-built city, the New Jerusalem! Praise the Lord!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” pp. 389-391, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2024 July Semiannual Training), week 8, Christ as the Feast of Tabernacles and as the Spirit Flowing out of the Believers as Rivers of Living Water.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Reconciliation, Enjoying God, and Becoming His New Creation, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, outline via, LSM webcast.
  – The New Jerusalem (6) – Its temple, a portion from, Life-Study of Revelation, Chapter 64.
  – The kingdom of the heavens, a portion from, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God with the temple, a portion from, The Central Thought of God, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – 3 – The Ministry of Reconciliation, From chapter three of The Ministers in the Lord’s Recovery – Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, via, Shepherding Words.
  – New Jerusalem, Eternal Tabernacle and Temple, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Christ died for the Church, His Joy; we want to Live for the Church! More via, 21 century nazarites.
  – The eternal dwelling – the New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God with man, a portion from, Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 108, by Witness Lee.
  – 3 Major Steps in God’s Plan of Salvation after the Fall of Man, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The feast of Tabernacles, a portion from, The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John, Chapter 20, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Look! God’s tabernacle now is with the saints; / Emmanuel—God with us, we proclaim. / Everything is done, so let His children come; / Christ and the church—where God and man are one! / Lift up your heads, ye cities of the earth; / Open your gates, and let the King come in. / Shout to His praise—He’s coming in to reign! / Shout to His praise—He’s coming in to reign! (Hymns #1222 stanza 4)
  – Now behold the greatest wonder—New Jerusalem descend! / She’s the building of the Triune God with man—a perfect blend! / She’s the Bride, prepared, adorned for Christ—of all God’s work, the end! / The victory is won! / It’s the tabernacle of our God, His dwelling place with men; / In His holiness and glory He’s expressed through all of them. / “It is done!” O brothers, see it! See the New Jerusalem! / The victory is won! (Hymns #1101 stanzas 11-12)
  – The new Jerusalem will be / The full perfection ultimate / Of all the types of house and bride, / Th’ eternal plan to consummate. / It is the Bride which matches Christ, / Thru whom He may Himself express; / It is God’s tabernacle too / In which our God can rule and rest. / The ultimate completion ’tis / Of God’s work in humanity, / His full expression glorious / Thru His redeemed eternally. (Hymns #980 stanzas 7-9)