JOHN 7:2 | THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
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Transcript
JOHN 7:2 | THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
JOHN 7:2 | THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
ILLUSTRATION: Tressa and I had just gotten married and we were traveling back from Indiana and we stopped in Minnesota to visit some of Tressa family.
And it just so happened to land at the same time as a major event taking place: the Minnesota State Fair.
Now, I have fond memories going to the fair growing up.
We had our local county fair in our town, and we would go to it and see the animals.
We would walk through all the 4-H buildings
We would walk past the rides that for some reason my parents would never let us ride because they said they couldn’t be trusted because some guy who was standing there with a cigarette in his hand, one eye, and one leg, but was proficient at assembling a ride that spins and flies in the air and was 3 hours ago driving 75 mph down the road, but for some reason the ride couldn’t be trusted.
And then there was the demolition derby that everyone in town came out for.
They were fond memories
Well that year at the Minnesota State Fair, I was introduced to something that opened up a whole new world for me.
You could smell it from 100s of yards away.
Our in the open, they had ovens baking chocolate chip cookies.
And for like $7 they would give you a bucket filled with warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies.
I don’t think it honestly gets any better than walking around with a bucket of warm chocolate chip cookies.
That state fair was a place where tens of thousands of people came to get buckets of cookies, and then walk around looking at animals in pens and projects that people had made.
And because of those cookies, everyone was happy!
At least that’s what I remember as I walked through the fair with my pale of cookies.
EXPLANATION: Last week, we walked our way through the first 13 verses of John 7.
And before we continue on, I want to circle back today to one quick verse we kind of just passed over, but it’s a verse that holds a lot of importance for some of the things we are going to find in the next two chapters.
In John 7:2
Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
Now, in our Gentile, non-Jewish for the most part, minds, that doesn’t mean much to us.
But to the Jewish population in Jesus’ day this was a major event.
God had instructed 7 different feasts to be held throughout the year, and the Feast of Tabernacles was the biggest feast.
It was one of 3 feasts that the men of the Jewish household were commanded to journey to Jerusalem each year to celebrate.
And so likely, hundreds of thousands of people would descend on Jerusalem with their families for this 8 day celebration.
I can see it like the massive crowds that were at the state fair!
And everyone was celebrating!
This celebration fell toward the end of September or the beginning of October… so right around this time of the year.
It was a time where people would celebrate the blessings of the harvest that God had given them.
And it was a time in which they would remember the deliverance of God from Egypt and the time spent in the wilderness.
In the initial instructions for the keeping of this feast, the purpose for it was clearly given:
That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
So, to ensure everyone clearly remembered what God had done, there were some interesting requirements they were required to do.
Everyone was instructed to build a little hut… it wasn’t even a tent, because it was only to be constructed with small, weak branches.
The tradition was for them to leave spaces in the ceiling of the little hut they built so they could look up and see the stars of the sky.
Over those 8 days, sacrifices were constantly offered to the Lord.
In those 8 days they would offer:
70 bullocks
14 rams
98 lambs
7 goats
Plus the grain and drink offerings accompanying every animal, plus the continual daily burnt offering that never stopped
Each morning of the feast, a priest carried a golden pitcher down to the Pool of Siloam, filled it, and returned in procession through the Water Gate as trumpets sounded.
The water was poured out at the base of the altar alongside the drink offering, while the people recited from Psalm 113-118 and Isaiah 12:3 — "with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."
It commemorated the water God brought from the rock (Exodus 17:1-7) and looked ahead to the outpouring of God's Spirit in messianic days
And then there was The illumination ceremony.
There were four enormous golden candelabra were lit at nightfall, and it was said that the light was bright enough to illuminate every courtyard in Jerusalem.
Men who were considered devout and holy danced with torches and sang through the night.
It commemorated the pillar of fire that led Israel through the wilderness.
It was by far the greatest sacrifice to be offered of any feast.
This feast served a couple of important purposes for the people:
I. THEY REMEMBERED WHAT GOD HAD DONE
I. THEY REMEMBERED WHAT GOD HAD DONE
That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
ILLUSTRATION: It happens to me all the time… I’m standing in the grocery store in a random aisle, thinking, “What did she tell me to get again?”
I of course remembered the Dr. Pepper that was on my list, but now I’m wondering aimlessly through the aisles.
I could text her and ask what she needed again, but I don’t want her to know I didn’t write it down.
So instead I will wander every aisle of the store in hopes that something will jog my memory about what it is I have forgotten
EXPLANATION: This feast was an opportunity for the people to look back and remember the blessings that God had given, both in the harvest, and His guiding hand through the wilderness
The timing of the feast wasn’t an accident… it was immediately after they had taken in the blessings of the harvest
The blessings from God were fresh… and God says, “Remember what I’ve done!”
Because it’s easy for the generations following the blessing to forget the blessings that had been given.
And so this was a tangible reminder for the children of Israel.
As they saw the continual smoke rising from the sacrifices.
As they watched the water poured out
As they saw the candles lit in the darkness
As they looked through the weakly build hut they were in, and could see the stars of the sky
Each one was an opportunity for the parents of the kids to let their children know what God had done for them and for their people.
APPLICATION: Friend, we may not have a festival like the Jewish people did, but we are commanded none the less to remember!
I will remember the works of the Lord: Surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits:
Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Listen, I know life can get busy and difficult, but don’t forget to take time to remember what God has done for you!
On occasion we have opportunities for people to share what God has done in their life through times of testimony.
If we paused the service this morning and gave an opportunity for you to share what God has done in your life, would you have anything to say?
Or would it be like so many testimony times, where the bulk of it is just spent in silence?
Friend, do you remember what God has brought you from?
Can you look back in your life and see the blessings and orchestration of God in your life that brought you to Him?
Maybe it was being born into a godly family
Maybe it was an invitation from someone
Maybe it was a difficult situation that you couldn’t understand why… but now as you look back, you see the fingerprints of God all over it!
When the children of Israel came for this feast, it wasn’t that the 40 years in the wilderness was always happy and easy.
But through the entire time, God’s hand could be seen as He led the whole way.
And friend, it’s good to pause and look back on the blessings of what God has done!
Not only were the people to remember what God had done…
II. THEY REJOICED IN THE BLESSINGS
II. THEY REJOICED IN THE BLESSINGS
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
EXPLANATION: I love this part… God wanted them to rejoice!
Now I don’t know if there was anyone there making fresh chocolate chip cookies, but the feeling was to be the same.
There was to be joy in the midst of the congregation!
And it was a celebration to be observed by everyone!
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
Because their rejoicing wasn’t just based in their current circumstances or political standing.
For one week, the focus wasn’t about who you were, what you did, or what tribe you came from.
Everyone was in a similar weakly built tent and on equal ground.
And all the attention was turned the same direction: to the One Who deserved it!
It was all about praising and worshipping God.
ILLUSTRATION: Over in Luke 15, Jesus tells three different stories and they all have a common theme
Jesus begins by telling a story about a man who has a sheep that gets loose and his lost.
He goes searching for the sheep and when he finds it, he calls all his friends and neighbors and says, “Rejoice with me.”
Then Jesus tells a story about a lady who had some precious coins, and one goes missing.
She searches everywhere, lighting a candle in her house, searches under the bed, behind the couch, and in the closet.
And she finds it!
She calls her friends and her neighbors and says, “Rejoice with me!”
And then Jesus goes in depth into an account of a father who has two sons.
And the younger son tells his dad, “Give me my inheritance”… “I wish you were dead.”
The father gives it to him and he takes off to a far away country, wastes his life, and eventually is left empty.
As he finishes finding the pigs and is so hungry he decides he’s going to try a bite, his mind wanders back home to his dad.
He decides he’s going to go back home and beg his dad to allow him to be a servant.
But when the father sees him, and runs and embraces him and brings him back home.
And then he calls out to his servants and tells them to prepare a feast, because they were going to celebrate and rejoice in the return of his son.
But out in the field, his older son that stayed home hears the sound of the party and when he finds out what is going on, he refuses to go in.
The dad approaches him and asks him why he didn’t come and celebrate the return of his brother.
The older brother’s response is self centered and jealous.
And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
And the father responds to his son:
And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
“It was good that we rejoiced and celebrated…”
And yet there is an important lesson that can be learned… Some people only want to rejoice when things go their way and on their terms.
APPLICATION: Friend, God wants you to rejoice in what He has done.
There was one sin that the children of Israel battled more than any other in the wilderness… it was the sin of murmuring
They struggled with complaining
So God told them… stop complaining, and instead, start rejoicing!
Give praise to God for what He has done!
Friend, how are you at praising God?
Is it something you only do when things go your way and on your terms?
Are you like that brother standing outside of the house with his arms folded who refuses to rejoice and praise God?
When we sing the songs in the service, “I don’t sing”
When the preaching is taking place, there isn’t so much as a holy grunt that will escape your lips.
You say, “Well, I’m just not a vocal person.”
But that same person will lose their mind when their team scores a touchdown
Or their grandkids makes a good play in the game
Or when you watch the news!
Friend, you aren’t at an art gallery or an auction, it’s ok if you lift your hands and say “Amen”
“Praise God”
To rejoice in the Lord!
Mom and dad, can I ask you, when is the last time your family heard and saw you praise God?
When is the last time you rejoiced in the Lord for what He has done and Who He is?
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
I know we are in Montana and I’m not saying you have to get all emotional…
But maybe it would be good for your kids or your grandkids to see you respond to the Lord different than you respond to watching the paint dry!
Let’s be a people that rejoices in the Lord!
“Can I get an Amen?”
The people were there Remembering what God had done in the past
They were to Rejoice in the blessings of God.
But don’t miss this last part
III. THEY MISSED HIM
III. THEY MISSED HIM
EXPLANATION: You see, the people had made their way to Jerusalem and they were doing all the religious rituals.
They had built their huts, they were offering their sacrifices.
And in the midst of the ritual, the God who tabernacled with them in the wilderness is walking through the crowd…
And most of them don't recognize Him
They had nailed the ritual, the remembering and the rejoicing… but they were missing the main point of the whole feast.
You see, John told us back in chapter 1, John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The word “dwelt” means tabernacled… it’s the same picture that John brings us to in chapter 7.
While John testified that he had the privilege of beholding Christ’s glory in 1:14, for the majority of the people, they missed the One Who was dwelling among them!
They were doing all the right things… but the right things had become ritual because they were missing the main thing… they missed Jesus
They were so good at doing the methods that they missed the Messiah.
APPLICATION: You know, sometimes the same thing can happen in our church.
We sing the songs
We pray together
We even preach the Bible
But could it be, that even in a church like ours, we could do all the rituals… but forget that its all about Jesus.
ILLUSTRATION: The good news is… we wouldn’t be the first place this happened…
In the book of Nehemiah, roughly 1000 years had passed since the children of Israel had made their way through the wilderness.
While the children of Israel still observed portions of the Feast, they had stopped building the huts to stay in.
They had kept some of the command for the rituals sake.
But once the wall of Jerusalem had been rebuilt, an incredible change takes place and the root is found in Nehemiah 8:13-18
And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.
And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:
And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.
For a thousand years, the children of Isreal had turned this time of worship to God into just a religious ritual that was done simply because it was commanded.
But notice what turned it around.
It wasn't the wall.
It wasn't a new program.
Verse 13 says they gathered together "even to understand the words of the law."
And verse 14 says "they found written in the law…"
They opened the Book.
And what they found, they did
And look how the passage ends… "And there was very great gladness."
A thousand years of going through the motions… and in one week, the gladness came back.
Not because they tried harder to feel something.
But because they got back into the Word of God and did what it said.
APPLICATION: Friend, has the Christian life just become a ritual to you?
Maybe you've been here every Sunday.
Maybe you've sung every song and heard every message.
But somewhere along the way it became something you do instead of Someone you know.
The way back for them is the same way back for you: get into the Word of God, and do what it says.
Friend, if you've never trusted Christ — He isn't distant this morning.
He's calling you now!
And if you are saved — He's not just among you.
He's living in you.
And yet we can sit in a service with the Son of God dwelling inside us… and live like He isn't even here.
Friend, make your Christian life more than a bunch of rituals you do, and make it a relationship you enjoy!
You friend, the greatest blessing of the Christian life isn’t all the blessings you get to remember and rejoice over.
The greatest blessing of the Christian life is that you get to have a personal relationship with Jesus!
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
You see, have you ever thought about what makes heaven, Heaven?
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Yes there will be a golden street, gates of pearl
There will be the permanence of no more sorrow or tears.
And yes, your family that trusted in Christ will be there.
But the thing that makes heave, heaven, is that Jesus is there.
And we get to enjoy his presence for all of eternity.
But I’ve got great news, you don’t have to wait until someday.
He’s here today.
And He wants you to experience His presence.
He wants you to experience a real relationship with Christ!
Yes we have so much to remember and rejoice in, but the greatest is that sweet relationship with Jesus
ILLUSTRATION: As we walked down the road of that fair, if we had just passed by the cookie stand, we would have missed the best part of the fair!
APPLICATION: Can you smell the sweetness of a relationship with Christ?
It’s better than a whole bucket of cookies!
Remember what He’s done
Rejoice in the blessings
But don’t miss the best part… Jesus wants to have a real relationship with you today!
So don’t pass by… come to Him for the first time or the first time in a long time today!
