FEAST OF TABERNACLES

DAY 7

Fred Coulter - October 8, 2001

And greetings, brethren. This is the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles because we are told to keep the Feast of Tabernacles seven days. Then on the eighth day (so we’ll talk about the eighth day tomorrow), but today is the seventh day, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. And what this does, this reminds us of what Solomon said, that there is a time, there’s a season for a purpose of everything under heaven. And so just as the Feast of Tabernacles began, it is also going to end. And in God’s plan there is a beginning and ending in relationship to human life.

Now let’s come here to Revelation 1 and let’s see what Jesus said of Himself, because the whole plan of God hinges around the plan and purpose through Jesus Christ as revealed in the word of God, and as revealed in the holy days. So just as we have seen, there was a beginning. Now we’re going to see there is an ending. And we’ll find out why there has to be an ending.

Now let’s pick it up here in Revelation 1:4. “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne;” Because those Spirits go out and search in the earth who is seeking God. “And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness [and that could even be martyr because it’s martus], and the [firstborn, as it should read, not begotten but firstborn] first begotten from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father:…” So there again is projecting forward what we are going to be doing during the Millennium, but also this is going to expand out into all eternity as we will see. “…To Him be glory and dominion…” Now dominion here means sovereignty. That God is sovereign and rules and reigns, “…for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:4-7).

Now how is it that those who pierced Him are going to see Him? They aren’t living today. But, let’s think on this for just a minute. The book of Revelation gives us the details of the fulfillment of the Last Great Day, which is the eighth day, isn’t it? And they shall see Him at that time. So they will literally see Him. Now there’s another explanation which you can apply to this, which is this: since Jesus died for our sins, which He did, we just read it. And since He became the sin offering for each one of us individually, therefore when He returns and we see Him, because our sins have pierced Him, therefore it could be fulfilled that way. But I think it’s talking about those who literally pierced Him. That is, the soldiers who did it, with the nails in His hands and in His feet, and the spear in His side.

Now verse 8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Now Jesus overcame death to set the pattern for those that followed Christ. And so, after John saw the vision of Christ in His glorified form, verse 17, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that [is living] liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [the grave] and of death” (vs. 8, 17-18). So with this we see there’s a beginning, there’s an ending. And we see that just as the Millennium began, it’s going to end.

Now let’s come here to Revelation 20 and let’s see it right here concerning the beginning and the end. And there are a couple things which are a little perplexing when you read this and try and understand what God is really telling us in these things. Now let’s pick it up in verse 1. “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit [or, the abyss] and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” So all during the Millennium Satan is not going to be around. That means that human nature is not going to have the intense evil that it has today, because Satan today is the prince of the power of the air. And he has all the things working for him, especially today to deceive people, to keep them deluded, to give them wrong information, wrong understanding, to try and take them away from God. So when he is removed, the author of sin is gone. Then human nature is not going to be intense as it is today. Because it’s going to be taught the good of God rather than having to have evil there and then repentance from the evil that in the depths of it.

Now let’s understand something also, that repentance during the Millennium is going to be perhaps for some people a little more difficult than it is today when they look and see all of the terrible sins that they have had in their lives. However, since God is the one Who grants repentance, therefore when God grants it they will repent. And it will be a…I don’t know if we can say a different kind of repentance than ours, from the point of view that they won’t have had experience in sin like we do. So from that point of view it will be a little bit different, but Satan won’t be there, that’s the main and important thing here.

But notice verse 3, “And cast him into the [abyss] bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled [completed]…” Now why is that? “…And after that he must be loosed a little season.” Why is that? Why is Satan not immediately, as we find here in Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [were cast, because that happened at the beginning of the Millennium] are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Now it is true that the verb here is a plural verb and should read, “and they shall be tormented day and night forever”, but that’s referring to Satan and the demons because wherever Satan goes the demons go. And we know that they will go back into the abyss because that’s where a lot of them came from.

Let’s come here to Revelation 9:1 and we will see this. “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the [abyss] bottomless pit. And he opened the [abyss] bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the [abyss] pit, as the smoke of a great furnace…” (Rev. 9:1-2). So this is the time when all of the demons that are there are released and let go. So let’s see if we can understand why this is going to happen this way. And we’re going to see that there are some other events that are going to take place. And we need to have an understanding of what the whole atmosphere is going to be like during the Millennium. We have seen how that the knowledge of God is going to cover the earth as the seas and the oceans cover the earth. We have seen that everyone is going to know God. In other words, everyone is going to have a chance for salvation. There will be universal salvation at that time. It won’t be anything like we have today.

And we also know, let’s come to Acts 3 again and let’s just briefly review this, that the world is going to be put back into the same order that it was when God created it. Acts 3:19 where Peter says here, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21). So the earth is going to be restored. And as we’ve seen, the people under our supervision are going to build the cities, they’re going to raise up the waste places, they are going to have wealth, they are going have fine homes. Everyone is going to keep the Sabbath. Everyone is going to keep the holy days. No question about it.

Now let’s come back here to Isaiah 62 and let’s review just a couple of these things so that we can understand, what is it going to be like in the Millennium? And as we’re coming back here to Isaiah 62 let’s think about one of the weaknesses that human beings have. So you think about it and kind of write it down and we’ll see if you picked out the right weakness that is going to be most prevalent during the Millennium.

Isaiah 62:1, “For Zion’s sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.” Now that’s referring to us who are going to receive the new name, and we’re going to rule and reign with Christ. “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” Now then He talks about Israel. Israel was forsaken. “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married” (Isa. 62:1-4). And so God is going to make the whole earth that way with all the peace, with all the great things that are going to be taking place. There are going to be children born. There are going to be big families because God wants a lot of spiritual sons and daughters in His kingdom.

And then I’m sure that God is going to, since the restoration of everything, I’m sure that God is going to take away the curse of the problems in childbearing, and also child rearing, because there’s going to be right education, see. Where there isn’t going to be any NEA to teach the kids. And you won’t have to send them off to college just to get their brains all messed up. They’re going to learn the right things.

Now, let’s see what else they’re going to do. Let’s come to Isaiah 66:23, and here’s what they are going to do all through the Millennium. This is going to be quite a thing. This is going to be a magnificent thing indeed. And this will also show you some of the activities that we will be doing in helping and teaching and training in all of these things. And I’ve often wondered, what is the society going to be like that has everything that it needs, and also have the knowledge of God, and also know the truth of how to live? Isn’t that going to be something? From the very time the children are taught they are going to understand that there is a purpose in their life. And they’re going to be taught how to fulfill that purpose.

And of course we’ll see here Isaiah 66:23, “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another,…” Now this indicates that there is going to be a restoration of the astronomical things. So is this telling us that there will be a 360 day year again? Don’t know. But at least this means from month to month. “…And from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the LORD.” And so that’s going to be happening all during the Millennium.

Now, is there a time in history which gives us a close proximity as to what it’s going to be like to have the perfect society? Now we will look at one that’s recorded in the scriptures here that was nearly perfect, as far as human perfection and it had God’s blessing and it had God’s inspiration. Let’s go back to 2 Chronicles 9, and let’s look at the reign of Solomon. Now Solomon, when he was made king, remember what happened. He came to God and prayed to God, and God appeared to him in a vision, because Solomon prayed to God and said, “I need wisdom to rule Your people because I’m so young.” God came and said, “Now choose what you want. Wealth, power, whatever it is. You say what you want and I’ll give it to you.” And so he said, “I need wisdom so I can judge Your people.” So God says, “Because you asked for wisdom I’m going to give you wisdom.” And He also gave him wealth because he didn’t ask for it, and made Solomon the wealthiest man on earth, as well as the wisest. Now you see we’re also going to learn in this, that wisdom without retaining the knowledge of God can lead to a disaster.

Now let’s pick it up here in 2 Chronicles 9:1. “And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the [food] meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her” (2 Chron. 9:1-4). It just took her breath away it was so beautiful. Now this was a very advanced civilization. And I’m sure that all of the clothes….you know you talk about clothes today. These are nothing but cheap rags compared to what they had. And the wealth was unbelievable.

Now there’s going to be plenty of wealth during the Millennium. God is not going to hold back anything. God is going to bless all the people and they will be tithing, all of them properly, and there won’t be anymore confounded taxes from the countries. And the money is not going to be wasted cause there will be no crime. There will be no jails, there will be no hospitals, there will be no big departments like we have in governments because we will be the government. The government will be on Christ’s shoulders but we will be the government and we will live off the tithes. And also, they’re going to keep the land sabbath every seven years. And the land sabbath guarantees a perpetually prosperous economy, because if it’s done right the land sabbath takes out the ups and down cycles of the economy that we have today. Because they get too much and then the bottom falls out. So you see, every seventh year if you rest the land then that solves the problem.

Ok, now back to this. So after seeing that, took her breath away, it must have been just absolutely splendiferous, if I can use that word. “And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard. Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom” (vs. 5-7). Now there is going to be nothing but happiness during the Millennium, see, and we’re going to help bring that about. Isn’t that going to be amazing? I mean you stop and think. Every evil under the sun is going to be removed. It’s going to make this just become almost pale in comparison, but notice this gives us a good idea what it’s going to be like.

“Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on His throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made He thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.” Sound a little familiar about what we’re going to do? Yes, it does. “And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, [that’s a lot] and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.” I wonder what those special spices were. But he didn’t have them till she brought them. “And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir [now Ophir, as far as we are able to understand, Ophir is Southeast Asia], brought algum trees and precious stones. And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king’s palace, and the harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants” (vs. 8-12).

“Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year…” (vs. 13). Now this is yearly. This is an annual tribute from all the nations of the earth, because you see at that time Israel was a world ruling empire. And Israel’s job was to be functioning toward God and the rest of the world as priests of God. Now hold your place right here and let’s come back to Exodus 19 for just a minute, because I don’t think we understand what a great failure it was that Solomon did when he sinned the way that he did.

Let’s come back here to Exodus 19:4. Now listen to this, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Ex. 19:4-6).

Now let’s come back here to 2 Chronicles 9, because Solomon had the opportunity to really do that because of the blessings that God gave to him. Now let’s come to verse 13 again. “Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold…”, 666, isn’t that amazing. And that’s the number of the mark of the beast. So is that the number of the best society that men can do? Now you see this was the real Kingdom of God. The kingdom of the beast is going to be the fake kingdom of God. So isn’t it interesting that the number of his mark is 666. And it has to do with buying and selling.

Ok, we’ll go on. We’ll just let you think on that one. Verse 14, “Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target” (vs. 14-15). And shows all that he did and the tremendous and beautiful throne that he made for himself.

Now let’s come down here to verse 20. Now how’s this? Listen to this wealth. They had so much gold, listen to this. “And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold…” Can you imagine drinking water and wine out of gold? I mean you almost have to use two hands to pick it up because gold is pretty heavy. Now it doesn’t tell us how thick they were, it doesn’t tell us if they were 100% gold. But at least they were of gold. “…And all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not anything accounted of in the days of Solomon.” Now that is such a booming prosperous kingdom and economy, it’s just unreal.

Verse 21, “For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.” And so that’s why when he built his terraces he probably had the finest zoos in the world. He had the specimens of all animals. And when he looked out and saw Jerusalem, which he had built, boy it just took his breath away. But he forgot God, didn’t he? Yes, he did. We’ll talk about that in just a little bit.

Verse 22, “And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year” (vs. 22-24). So this was a world wide tax that came from all of the countries. Now this thing that America was not discovered until Columbus is just a bunch of bunk. They had ships that went around the world. How long does it take to go around the world when you use a sailing ship? Three years. That’s how long it took Magellan to do it. And you know they knew how to build things. And I’m sure they had far better ships than we ever give them credit for. But you see because of the evil theory of evolution people think of these times as a bunch of just ignoramus people that knew nothing. Well, here this is telling us of very advanced, very advanced society, isn’t it? Now the reason I bring this out is because the Millennium is going to be even more advanced. And it is going to have such wealth, as we have seen, that God is just going to just pour out His blessing on all people, on all nations, and everything that they do, and there’s going to be universal salvation for everyone.

Now let’s come back here to Isaiah 61, and let’s see if we can put this together and understand what’s going on here. This is going to be something. And you know the thing that’s so important brethren, is this. We have been blessed to be called to have a part to do this. Isn’t that something? Have you ever down deep, deep…I know I have…down deep inside of them, I’m sure everyone of you have…that you have wanted to do something to really make this world right. But you see with Satan there you can never make anything right because he always has agents there to upset it. So now all during the Millennium he’s going to be removed, and we’re going to do the things to make it right.

Now here, Isaiah 61:1. “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek…”, is what we’re going to do. We’re going to preach the gospel every Sabbath, every holy day. We’re going to show people how to live. We’re going to show people how their lives can interact with what God has provided for them. They will be educated, they will be skilled. We won’t have any of the diseases. No mental problems or anything that we have today. It is going to be just stunning brethren. “…He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.” And then as we read before, verse 4, “…build [up] the old wastes [waste places], they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations” (Isa. 61:1-4).

Now remember that we are going to be given authority to rule over the nations, aren’t we? Given authority to rule over the cities. We’re going to be responsible for making sure that the cities are right. Not the jumbled up messes that we see today.

Now let’s come over here to Isaiah 60:16. “Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise” (Isa. 60:16-18). That’s something. Now think of this for a thousand years, and children being born into this environment. What a tremendous thing, right?

Now then, let’s see that there is something else that’s going to happen. Let’s understand this: all through the Millennium there’s going to be the right way of God taught, but that they’re also going to have to choose. Now their choices will not have the broad spectrum that we have today but they’re still nevertheless going to have to choose. It’s not going to be quite exactly the same that it was when God told Israel that “I set before you this day life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life that you may live.” But there will have to be that. There will have to be…the penalty of sin is going to be known, because people are going to sin just simply because there is human nature.

Now let’s come to Isaiah 65 and let’s understand this in relationship to the Millennium. And I think with it this year I’m able to understand one part just a little bit better in this that I didn’t quite understand before, but I’ll see if I can make sense of it for you. Now let’s pick it up here in verse 17. “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth…”, and that’s what we’re going to be doing during the Millennium. “…And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Now let’s understand something. This section of scripture can apply, 1) to the Millennium, and also as we will see, 2) to the Last Great Day. Because those people that are resurrected in the second resurrection will be coming into what? A new heaven and a new earth, and every thing is going to be different than what they understood it was when they died. Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

Now verse 18, “But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more [from that time] thence an infant of days [that is, which shall not have fulfilled their purpose, or an infant of days that dies prematurely - that’s the meaning of it], nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed” (vs. 18-20). Now, I think this is telling us very clearly that the life span in the Millennium is going to be approximately 100 years.

Now then it says, “…the child shall die being a hundred years old. The sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.” So there will still be sinners. Now we’ll look and see how God will handle sinners. Now let’s understand this. We’ll see a little bit later on here, we’ll come to it in just a little bit. We are told… Well, let’s go on, let’s see if we can make some sense of this and put it together to understand about the child dying a hundred years old. In other words going to live a hundred years. “…The sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.” In other words if you sin to the point that you die and you are buried you know that that person is waiting for the lake of fire for the second death, because that’s what accursed means.

Now let’s come to Hebrews 9 and let’s see what it says about all men. Now when it says about all men that means all human beings. Let’s look at it here what it says. Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment…” Now then let’s understand something. When God calls us, we’re baptized. When we are baptized what is that? That is a spiritual death, is it not? And it is a covenant death. You are actually pledging your life unto God that if you do not remain faithful you shall likewise die. Now if you are faithful, Christ has removed the second death from you. So until Christ returns everyone who has the Spirit of God that dies, they die once.

Now let’s look at a couple of other things that are important in it and let’s ask a couple of questions here. Let’s come to 1 Thessalonians 4 and let’s see, is there a time when God suspends the death, the first death? Yes, there is. 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not [precede] prevent them which are [fallen] asleep [now that is, those who are dead in Christ]. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first…” (1 Thess. 4:14-16). Ok, all those who are dead in Christ have died once, have they not? They also died the death of baptism too, didn’t they? Yes. That’s why Paul said that he was dead to sin. He died that death of baptism.

Now let’s look at the exception for those who are still alive and there is not time for them to die. Because Christ is coming. He’s here, He’s on His way. Verse 17, notice, “Then we which are alive and remain [shall die]…” Now it doesn’t say that. “…Shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air [or that is, for the meeting of the Lord in the air]: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Now then, since the saints who are still alive when Christ returns have died that death in baptism, therefore God has suspended the judgment of death upon those people who are converted, and they shall be changed.