"Sukkoth, or The Feast of Tabernacles, was celebrated on the 15th of Tishri, the seventh month, as a “feast of the Lord” to give thanks for the produce of the land. On the first day of this eight-day festival, pilgrims brought the ripened tree fruit to the Temple. Lev 23:40 commands: “You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees (LXX karpo.n xu,lou w`rai/on), branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days”. (1)
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Blinky,
There is a Mystery here, tying Zecheriah 14, to Revelations 21.
Before you can even begin to see this, you must understand that Zecheriah 14, is not "The New Beginning" Nor is Revelations 21..."THE END"... rather Reveleations 21, is "the New Beginning" and correlates to the world of Genesis 2, having no more sea, in comparison to a world in which all creatures are made "from the dust of the earth" quite opposite from than those in Genesis one, in which many including the fowl of the air of "that creation" (Gen 1) are formed from the firmaments, the water. Clearly two different creations of earth...not two accounts of the same event, but two entirely different events.
The Jerusalem in Zecheriah 14:2 is not "The NEW Jerusalem," Though we do see the New Jerusalem in Zecheriah 14.
Note it shall
"be taken and the houses rifeled, and the women ravished;
and half of the city shall go forth into captivity."
Then in verse 4 we see a great quake witnessed by those on the Mount of Olives. I stated earlier about the new Jerusalem coming down to rest on Mt Zion. That Jerusalem, shall not have a temple, it is that Jerusalem of earthly origin, taken captive, prior to the quake in which there will be a temple. **
There will be a new MT ZION formed by the results of the quake, upon which the Comes down from heaven and there the NEW JERUSALEM SITS.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains
shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake
in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Note the feast in Zecheriah is that of Tabenacles. The topic of our Sabbath study. But our point here, is to tie Zecheriah 14 to Revelaitons 21. So...
Rev 21:3 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.
"BEHOLD, THE TABERNACLE OF GOD IS WITH MEN" this is our first clue. You alluded to the notion of animal sacrifices, and to the prescence of a temple in Zecheriah 14 with references to the new Jerusalem.
There were several different offerings and sacrifices during the feast of Tabernacles....
"These same Psalms were recited on every day of Tabernacles, the feast at which ripe fruit was brought to the Temple by pilgrims, and at which those pilgrims entered the Temple via the Ripe Gate. For this reason, these Psalms are one possible filter through which the healing of the cripple can be read and interpreted. " (1)
"example, John 13:29). At festivals, thank-offerings were obligatory: Those attending “shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed” (Deut 16:16). And further, “every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you” (16:17). In addition, the “sojourners, the fatherless, and the widows” were to be included in the festival (16:14). Therefore, a beggar could especially expect alms from those going to the Temple during a festival such as Tabernacles.
Peter and John are expected to have thank-offerings with them and they are expected to give alms. But they claim to have no “silver or gold”. Dunn thinks that this “representation of apostolic poverty is partly at least a story-telling device”.21 Others relate the reference to silver and gold to idol-worship, or think it must be understood on the background of 2:44-45, or, as evidence that the apostles’ power has nothing to do with money, a common motif in Acts.22 However, it is also possible that Peter is saying that he does not have the offering that festival pilgrims were expected to make. Beth Shammai held that the pilgrimage offering must be worth at least two pieces of silver and the festal offering at least one ma’ah of silver. Beth Hillel said that the pilgrimage offering must be worth one ma’ah of silver and the offering two pieces of silver (Hag 2a). If Peter is referring to this offering, then why does he not have the obligatory “silver and gold” as he goes into the Temple?23
At the anticipated ideal Feast of Tabernacles, everything in Jerusalem will be holy and there will be no more traders in the Temple (Zech 14:20-21). Significantly, Zechariah 14, was the hafterah read on the first day of Tabernacles (Meg 31a), Does the Peter of Acts 3 believe that such a time and such a celebration of the Feast have arrived? That this might be the case is implied in what he offers the man and in what follows.
Instead of giving him silver and gold, Peter says: “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraios,24 walk!” (evn tw/| ovna,mti vIhsou/ Cristou/ tou/ Nazwrai,ou, peripa,tei, 3:625). It is tempting to suggest that Luke is playing with the word Nazwrai,oj as a pun on the “ripe” (w`rai,oj) gate. Be that as it may, this exact combination of words is found again in Acts only in this same context (4:10). " (1)
There is a daily Sin offering kept in the feast of Tabernacles, in this world, in this earth.
The kingdom of God, shall be established in the end of this earth age as it passes away, to herald a new beginning.
Note there is a light, "IN THE EVENING" Zecheriah 14:6,7, one which is to that of the light offered in the first 3 days of our earths history, prior to the creation of the Sun and the Moon and the Stars. This light, eminates from
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
but it is not dark either, this occurs after the dust begins to settle on the Day of the Lord, at the end of the day, in the evening, as the day itself is one which is a day of darkness in which there is no light in it, Darkness begins to fade in the latter at the end of that day, in the new beginning, at the evening when it is supposed to be dark, on a day when it has been dark when it should have been light, in that evening, it is light...where does the light come from?
It comes from the new Jerusalem, whose light in oppositon to the condition of the world IS CLEAR AS CRYSTAL.
Revelations 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like
unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
(CONT'd NEXT POST)
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