The following Scripture passages are offered to aid beginning fellowships. The readings and commentary are offered as openings into dialogue about the subject or concept. And the concept behind the readings for Tabernacles is the roadmap that the holy nation of God follows from mortality to immortality.

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The person conducting the Sabbath service should open services with two or three hymns, or psalms, followed by an opening prayer acknowledging that two or three (or more) are gathered together in Christ Jesus’ name, and inviting the Lord to be with them.

The person conducting the services should read or assign to be read Leviticus chapter 23, verses 33 through 42, followed by Numbers chapter 29, verses 12 through 32, and by Deuteronomy chapter 16, verses 13 through 17.

Commentary: What is a “Christian” doing reading the Old Testament? Shouldn’t the Christian be in the New Testament, learning about those things that Jesus did?

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee. (John 7:1–9)

But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” … About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. (vv. 10–11, 14)

Even when leading Pharisees were seeking to kill Him, Jesus kept the Feast as both His brothers and the Jews of the temple expected Him to do. If, therefore, a disciple is to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6; 1 Cor 11:1; Phil 3:17), then the disciple will keep the Feast. The argument that disciples need not keep the Feast because Christ is the substance or reality of all festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths (Col 2:16–17) has a linguistic hole: a feast, a new moon, or Sabbaths are the shadow of the Body [sōma] of Christ. Disciples are the Body [sōma] or reality or substance of Christ (1 Cor 12:27). So when Jesus kept the Feast, shadow and substance were bodily time-linked in the personage of Jesus. The disciple who walks as Jesus walked will look like Jesus when this disciple keeps the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths; for only when disciples bring the tent of flesh in which they dwell into the presence of God on a Sabbath is both shadow and substance time-linked.

The concept being expressed seems convoluted so let’s see if it can be simplified: a shadow is cast in one dimension less than the thing casting the shadow; e.g., a three dimensional person or object casts a two dimensional shadow. And this principle of a shadow being in one less dimension cannot be minimized, because a three-dimensional person or object in a fourth dimension [i.e., space-time] doesn’t have as a part of the person or object this dimension of time, thereby separating “space” from “time.” The person or object exists in a moment that, if possible, could be unchanging. As a result, the person or object will still cast a two-dimensional shadow. This fourth dimension (time) is conveyed directly through the movement of the three-dimensional person or object appearing as movement of the two-dimensional shadow. There is not a shadow cast of this fourth dimension although the “space” through which the person or object moves is discernable in the shadow by its size if the movement is toward or away from the source of light.

The shadow of a person and the shadow of a non-living object are equally lifeless: shadows are without life and cannot reveal the presence or absence of life in the “thing” casting the shadow. The darkness of the shadow discloses—when light represents life—the absence of life.

Now moving to an inter-dimensional realm that is neither the heaven above where the throne of the Most High God resides, nor the earth below where human beings dwell [this inter-dimensional realm is described in Scripture as the bottomless pit, and as tartaros, the outer region of Greek mythology’s underworld], life becomes a “thing” that casts a shadow that is “lifeless.” It is in this inter-dimensional realm where fractals come into play for living entities, with the glorified Jesus becoming the scale model of the temple of God, and with Philadelphia today becoming the scale model for the sixth of the seven churches to which letters are addressed on the Lord’s day, or Day of the Lord.

Yes, there is an inter-dimensional realm that can to likened to the fissure in the earth’s crust that swallowed Korah and his rebellious friends: the fissure was a “new thing” in that Korah and those with him went down alive into Sheol (Num 16:30). The Adversary and his rebelling angels went down alive into the bottomless pit, into tartaros, as Korah and his rebellious friends entered hell.

In this inter-dimensional realm that is described in Scripture as both the bottomless pit and hell [not used in the traditional sense], living entities have life that casts shadows in this world, for these living entities block the light that is God and radiates forth as God … a person born of spirit as a son of God has spiritual life in the supra-dimensional heavenly realm, or at least has life in that portion that is inter-dimensional (the earth’s atmosphere also fell into the fissure that opened to swallow Korah so Korah could “breathe” as he fell), so the “shadow” of this person who has been born of spirit is not a darkened two-dimensional representation of the person, for a two-dimensional representation cannot disclose the presence of life in any dimension.

The usual meaning attached to the linguistic icon “shadow” only pertains to a two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional person or object; yet, a shadow will be cast by all objects that block “light” regardless of dimensions, with the source of spiritual “light” being God. Therefore, the shadow of a person born of spirit as a son of God is not the two-dimensional image of the tent of flesh, but rather a person who has not been given spiritual life and is thus darkened by the absence of spiritual life in the heavenly realm, or in that portion of the heavenly realm contained in the inter-dimensional realm. Bluntly put, the shadow of a born again Christian is an ancient, spiritually-lifeless Israelite who did the same things in this world that the born of spirit son of God now does before God.

By extension, shadows are cast by blocking “light” so the disciple who walks as Jesus walked, and looks like Jesus, who said of Himself that He was light of this world (John 8:12 et al), does not block light but is light albeit a candle in relationship to the sun. So the disciple who walks as Jesus walked casts no shadow. Jesus would not have cast a shadow of Himself. He was the prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15), but Moses was not His shadow. Rather, Moses and Aaron serve as shadows of the two witnesses.

There is not a contradiction within the paragraph above: today, every disciple is garmented by the righteousness of Christ Jesus and as such is without sin, but appears as light. However, when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:30), this garment of grace will be stripped away for it will no longer be needed. Every disciple will be filled with spirit or empowered by spirit and thus liberated from the indwelling sin and death that continues to reside in the fleshly members of disciples (Rom 7:21–25). And as Moses did not cross into the Promised Land because of striking a rock and as Aaron didn’t because of the golden calf—and as David was not allowed to build the temple because he was a bloody man—the two witnesses will not cross into the second half of the Tribulation because of who they are and what they have done (i.e., call famine and plagues upon humanity whenever they desired). They will die, and their public resurrection from death will be the blow that defeats Death, the fourth horseman and the fourth beast of Daniel chapter seven. So it is their dying that is seen in Moses and Aaron not being able to bodily enter the Promised Land even though Moses did enter into God’s rest or presence (Ex 33:14).

The ancient Israelites who kept the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths of God form the shadows of born of spirit disciples who keep the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths of God … there is now an introduced complication: ancient Israel did not keep the feasts of God as He intended. Ancient Israel never ceased worshiping the idols of Egypt, never walked in God’s statutes, never quit profaning His Sabbaths (Ezek chap 20). Only an exceptional Israelite here and there obeyed God. The vast majority of the nation was a rebellious and lawless mob that God eventually drove from His presence—and this is a very accurately described shadow of the Christian Church and of what will happen to the Church when judgments are revealed.

Christians cannot live like Gentiles and expect to be one with Christ Jesus. Yes, He has love for all, which is why rebels will be denied entrance in the kingdom of heaven when judgments are revealed. Rebellion breeds hate, which leads to murder and to the Adversary. The presence of rebellion is enough to condemn the person as a murderer. And failure to leave disobedience, or cease being disobedient when set free so the person can keep the Law is rebellion against God—liberation is from being consigned to disobedience, not from obedience. A disciple is liberated from disobedience and from being a son of disobedience so that the disciple can keep the commandments of God.

Stop for a moment. As a born of spirit son of God, stand upright and look at your shadow. What do you see today, this first high day of Sukkot? Do you see your shadow in services, knowing that the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths of God are the shadow of the Body of Christ? If your shadow is not in services, then is the new creature born of spirit that dwells within you actually a part of the Body of Christ, considering that the feasts form a shadow of the Body?

The above is a simple test to determine whether you are one with Jesus; for if you are one with Christ Jesus, you will look like Him, who even kept the Feast at the temple in Jerusalem when His life was threatened. Only, since Calvary He has been the temple. You are also the temple of God if you are one with Him, and when glorified, you will be New Jerusalem. So the earthily Jesus in the earthly temple at earthly Jerusalem forms the shadow and type of the new creature, born of spirit as a son of God, appearing before the Father as the temple in New Jerusalem … the juxtaposition is that the Father has already raised you from the dead by giving you life through receipt of His divine breath, and the Son will give life to whom He will when judgments are revealed, with this second giving of spiritual life coming through the mortal flesh putting on immortality.

Disciples are the temple of God, with this temple now consisting of “new creatures” dwelling in tents of mortal flesh, with these new creatures being analogous to the Levitical priesthood in the tabernacle in the wilderness. When these tents of flesh put on immortality, they will be the Bride of Christ or New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2, 9–10). So the temple that was torn down and rebuilt in three days in the person of Christ Jesus is the fractal image that will be scaled up to produce the entirety of New Jerusalem. Every disciple will look like Christ Jesus, or the disciple will not be glorified. Therefore, when Jesus goes secretly to the Feast at Jerusalem, He produces the collective image of all disciples. Likewise, when He stands up to speak mid-Feast, He produces the image of the kingdom of this world being delivered to the Son of Man halfway through the seven endtime years of tribulation. Jesus going into the temple and beginning to teach (John 7:14) pictures two realities: (1) the work that the remnant of the Woman’s offspring (Rev 12:17) will do when the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh, making all of humankind Israel (i.e., God’s people called out from Babylon — Rev 18:4); and (2) the Lamb of God leading the 144,000, all natural Israelites (12,000 from 12 tribes) who have by faith professed that Jesus is Lord.

The Woman that brought forth the man child (Rev 12:5) who will rule the world is Israel. The offspring of this woman (v. 17) are the man child, Jesus of Nazareth, and all who are one with Christ Jesus. The remnant, then, of this Woman’s offspring are those disciples who not only look like Jesus because they, by faith, keep the commandments, but they additionally hold the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10). Every other offspring of the Woman will die physically sometime during the first 1260 days of the seven endtime years of tribulation. The confusion and dissention that presently exists within Sabbatarian Christendom will end and will not go into the second 1260 days: those Sabbatarian disciples without the spirit of prophecy but who loved Jesus enough to physically give their lives for Him will rest in their graves until He returns. Those Sabbatarian Christians who are not observing this first high day of Sukkot as a Sabbath might well be part of the Bride when Jesus returns, but they will not be part of the remnant of the Woman’s offspring and they are certainly not part of the 144,000. They will not be witnesses to the third part of humankind (Zech 13:7–9), born of spirit when the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh halfway through the seven endtime years.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28) occurs when the single kingdom of this world is given to the Son of Man (Dan 7:9–14; Rev 11:15–18). It doesn’t occur when Jesus returns as the Messiah, but three and a half years earlier. The great harvest of firstfruits comes not from the many “Christians” who have figuratively come to Christ throughout the centuries, but from the two-plus billion people that remain physically alive and without the Holy Spirit when the kingdom of this world is given to the Son of Man. Satan as the present prince of the power of the air will be cast to earth (Rev 12:7–10) and a new Prince will become the Prince of the power of the air, with the new Prince being Christ Jesus. He will put His mind and His nature in living creatures. Even the predatory natures of the great predators will change (Isa 11:6–9). But He is not a respecter of persons: disciples since the 1^st-Century CE have had to make a journey of faith equivalent to the patriarch Abraham’s physical journey of faith, and disciples called out of fallen Babylon (Rev 18:4) will have to make a similar journey of faith, only today’s disciple’s thirty or forty year journey will be compressed into three and a half years, making the journey shorter in time but daily more intense.

Jesus doesn’t return when the kingdom of this world is given to Him because of the harvest of this world isn’t limited to today’s Christendom, but will include many who are presently trapped in the worship of demons; for even after the sixth Trumpet Plague and a third of humankind is again killed, the remainder of humankind did not repent of worshiping the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons (Rev 9:20–21). Babylon is reeling, but hasn’t yet fallen. It will shortly topple. But even when it falls and the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh, time is needed so that those who were only days or months before worshiping demons can exercise faith and cleanse hearts and be baptized, with some who have received the Holy Spirit choosing instead to take upon themselves the mark of the beast.

Christians do not magically escape what befalls all men: death for disobedience, or life for obedience. Prior to when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:30), grace covers the disobedience of saints. Sin is not counted to them, but the person knows whether he or she consciously tries to walk as Jesus walked or ignores making an attempt to walk as Jesus walked. Every Christian knows that Jesus was the son of David, that He lived as an observant Jew, that He declared Himself the Lord of the Sabbath. Not every Christian, though, knows that He spoke no words other than the Father’s words, that the healing miracles He did on the Sabbaths were Him speaking the Father’s words which were too large to be conveyed by human breath but were conveyed through the divine breath of the Father healing on the Sabbath as a speech-act of the Father. Expressed more simplistically, the Father spoke and Jesus delivered these words through human utterance and through healing the lame and infirm. The Father delivered “sermons” on the Sabbath that are recorded in Scripture through the healing of the helpless when Jesus repeated the Father’s words.

If the man Jesus of Nazareth forms the image of every disciple who will be glorified, with every disciple individually and collectively forming the Body of Christ, and if the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths of God form the shadow of the Body of Christ, then disciples are “seen” in the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths of God! And if when an Israelite looks at a feast or at a Sabbath and doesn’t see the disciple in this feast or Sabbath, then the disciple is not part of the Body of Christ.

·       The Christian who doesn’t walk as Jesus walked doesn’t look like Jesus.

·       If the Christian doesn’t look like Jesus, the Christian is not of the Body of Christ.

·       If the Christian doesn’t see his or her shadow in the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths of God, then the Christian is not of the Body of Christ.

·       The “Christian” who claims to be of Christ but who doesn’t look like Jesus nor sees the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths as his or her shadow, is not of the Body but is, rather, of the synagogue of Satan.

Although the synagogue of Satan is twice mentioned in the letters to the seven churches (Rev 2:9; 3:9) identification of this synagogue has proven difficult to establish, for who claims that they are Jews but lies? The Apostle Paul, however, gives the information needed to make the identification.

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Rom 2:25–29 emphasis added)

Those who say they are Jews but lie are those who say they have spiritually circumcised hearts when they have made no journey of faith and have not cleansed their hearts so that they can be circumcised. And if the uncircumcised person who keeps the precepts of the law (v. 26) and actually keeps the law (v. 27) has his or her uncircumcision counted as circumcision, and if the person who doesn’t keep the law has even his circumcision counted as uncircumcision, then keeping the law is a determiner of who has or doesn’t have a circumcised heart.

·       Those Christians who say they have circumcised hearts but who do not keep the law are liars.

·       Those Christians who claim to have circumcised hearts claim by extension to be Jews, but unless they also keep the law they lie and thus they form the synagogue of Satan.

Simple? The Christian who looks like Jesus, who walks as Jesus walked, who follows Paul as he followed Jesus forms the Body of Christ—this Christian has made a journey of faith that has cleansed the heart and allowed this Christian’s heart to be circumcised (Deut 30:6). Every other Christian is of the synagogue of Satan … if a person doesn’t look like Jesus, how can the person sincerely claim to be one with Jesus?

The above presents a significant problem for most of Christendom, a problem that will be usually ignored and often scoffed-at. However, historic Christendom casts as its shadow the lawlessness of ancient Israel, not the feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths of God. Historic Christendom profanes God’s Sabbaths as ancient Israel did. It will not walk in His statutes, but insists that since Jesus fulfilled the Law, Christians do not have to keep the Law … this argument is ridiculous. There is no disagreement about Jesus keeping the Law, about Jesus living without sin, about Jesus living as an observant Jew. No one seriously argues otherwise. What’s unimaginable is that because Jesus kept the commandments those disciples who are to walk as He walked do not have to also keep the commandments. Somewhere within Christendom is a logical disconnect of gigantic proportions. And it is this disconnect that has to be—and will be—bridged if evangelical disciples are to enter the kingdom of heaven; for right now, evangelical disciples are as the scribes and Pharisees were in Jesus day. They have the Law but they do not keep it (John 7:19); thus, they are hypocrites (Matt chap 23) and because they are hypocrites they will in no way enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:20).

What evangelical in America doesn’t have access to a Bible? Which one hasn’t read the commandments? Which one would not like to see a copy of the commandments in their county’s courthouse? But which one believes that he or she should actually keep the commandments? Not one? That would seem to be the case as they collectively profane the Sabbaths of God while refusing to walk in His statutes.

Sunday is not the Sabbath—most evangelicals know this. Perhaps some Mormons and some Catholics do not, but if not every Baptist at least virtually every one knows that Sunday is not the Sabbath. Fewer, though, know that Jesus was not crucified on Friday, that Jesus fulfilled the only sign He gave that He was from heaven, this being the sign of Jonah that He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish (whale). And it will be this sign of Jonah that will be addressed during Feast.

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The person conducting the Sabbath service should close services with two hymns, or psalms, followed by a prayer asking God’s dismissal.

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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

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