Why did Jesus not go up with His Followers?

• Are we not to follow Jesus example in life. Jews wanted to kill Him.
• We can do that in many different ways today, where they could not.
• Go in person, Have sickness, illness, health concerns, we can do this in different way.
• Watch service on the internet, broadcast, Podcast, radio, rebroadcast, etc

1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered f or us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

1 John 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.  (4)  Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.  (5)  But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: (6) Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.     {follow His example} 

Jesus in His life set us an example to follow and we are to do likewise

If we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, we are promise 3 things:

Deuteronomy 16:15 For seven days you are to celebrate {the festival} in the presence of the LORD your God at the place where the LORD will choose; for the LORD your {1} God will bless you in all your harvest and in {2} everything you do {in all the work of your hands}, and your {3} joy will be complete.

Living in a temporary {Condo or Hotel} dwelling will teach us that our bodies in this life are only temporary, like a tent.  It is not meant to last forever.

The Apostle Paul tells us:

2 Corinthians 5:1-2  For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  (2)  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,

2 Peter 1:13-14 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,  (14)  knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.

The Feast is a time to rejoice because it pictures the World Tomorrow, 1000 year, the Millennium.

What will it be like to live during the Millennium under the rule of the Jesus the Messiah, Creator Lord in the Kingdom of God.

Micah 4:1 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 peoples shall flow to it.    {Jesus Kingdom will be over all the earth} 

Micah 4:2 Many nations 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 the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 

Micah 4:3 He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; 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.  {Peace in the world}

Micah 4:4-5 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.  (5)  For all people walk each in the name of his god, But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God Forever and ever.  {people will have their own land, example, we like our 5 acres}

• We will have a 1,000 years of peace and
• We will be the firstfruits of God’s spiritual born into God’s
• We will have the opportunity of bringing Word of God to every human then alive and to those born during the millennium

Will Jesus insist that everyone observe the Feast of Tabernacles after He returns?

Zechariah 14:16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.  {left from battle}

Zechariah 14:17 If anyone from the families of the earth will not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, there will be no rain for them.   {people at first will be force to be happy}

Zechariah 14:18 “If the people of Egypt do not come to Jerusalem to take part, they will have no annual Nile overflow {no rain}. A plague will come from the LORD to strike the nations who do not come to observe the Feast of Tabernacles.  {no rain, and a plague on those who does not go to feast}

How will knowledge of God’s ways go to all nations? 

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.   {we will be there to help with the education of all people}

Jesus in His life set us an example to follow and to do likewise.

After returning to the earth in power and glory, Jesus will reeducate the people through His annual festivals.  It is so much hard to unlearn false things than to learn new truths.

We saw from the past that Jesus will rule from Jerusalem and we will rule under Jesus and we will be Spirit born Saints.

Daniel 7:14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. 

Daniel 7:27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’

Do we know who will be in the Kingdom of God

Luke 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.

Ezekiel 37:24 “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 

Here, Jesus is talking to His disciples, over 12 tribes of Israel

Luke 22:29-30  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me,  (30)  that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”   {disciples reward when Jesus returns to the earth}

Revelation 5:10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”  {we will be there}

Revelation 2:26-27 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations  (27)  ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels— as I also have received from My Father;

Everyone will bend the knee and acknowledge Lord Jesus is God

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,  (10)  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  (11)  and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1 Kings 19:18 Nevertheless, I’ve reserved 7,000 in Israel who have neither bowed their knees to Baal nor kissed him.”

Will the Government of God last forever?

Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

• We just covered why the Feast of Tabernacles was given to us by our Lord Jesus.
• Jesus gives us a glimpse of what life would be like during the Millennium (1000 years) as the Spirit of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

Will we be serving the people by teaching the Law of God and directing them to take the right action?  We will be teachers. 

Isaiah 30:20-21 And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.  (21)  Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.   {we will be doing this?, teaching friends, people, family member not called during this time}

Will we be successful in teaching the people during the Millennium?

Jeremiah 31:34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”  {Yes, all will know about Lord Jesus}

Will we have to worry about wild animals?

Isaiah 11:6-9 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.  (7)  The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  (8)  The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.  (9)  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.  {to be full of knowledge, there has to be teachers}

Will there be fear and worry in the cities during the Millennium?

Zechariah 8:4-5 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit In the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand Because of great age.  (5) The streets of the city Shall be full of boys and girls Playing in its streets.’  {family get together, protection for children} 

Will Food will be plentiful in the lands?

Isaiah 30:23 Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures.

Will the wasteland will become fertile?

Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;  {rain provided}

Will there be a new language?

Zephaniah 3:9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him with one accord.  {now we have one world language}

What happens at the end of the 1,000-year period or Millennium?

Revelation 20:3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him (Satan) up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

Revelation 20:7-8 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison  (8)  and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.  

Revelation 20:9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

Luke wrote in the summer of 52 A.D. about Paul planning to keep the feast at Jerusalem.  

Acts 18:21 but took leave of them, saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.

Ezekiel is covering the various Feast Days during the Millennium

The Feast of Tabernacles will celebrate Israel’s new position in God’s Millennial Kingdom 

Isaiah 66:23  And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.  {people will go to Jerusalem to worship Lord Jesus}

Ezekiel 44:24 When disputes arise, they {Priests} are to serve as a judge, adjudicating matters according to my ordinances. They are to enforce my laws, my statutes, all of my appointed feasts, and they are to sanctify my Sabbaths.      (Notice, My, yes we will enforce the Law of God)

• By keeping His festivals we remain focused on what is important in our view of the future and our role in it.
• Each time we keep them we deepen our understanding of prophecies throughout the Bible that fill in the details of God’s wonderful plan for us and mankind.

The 8^th Day of the Feast is a High Sabbath and pictures the final judgment, when salvation will be made available to all those who never had an opportunity in their first life.  One of the greatest miracles of all time.  We will cover the 8^th day next week.

We have been blessed to know this information.