Feast of Tabernacles (A Short Teaching)

Succoth or Tabernacles was the last of the 7 feasts God gave Israel to observe according to Leviticus 23. It lasted for 7 days and was celebrated in the 7th month. The 8th day was a solemn day, a day of restraint, known as Simchat Torah-the Rejoicing of the Law.

These 7 feasts were observed three times in the year-- Spring, Summer, and Autumn. They were preceded by the Sabbath. Why? Before Adam sinned, he was a recipient of Sabbath rest, was given a spouse, clothed with the shekinah glory, labored without sweat, and had sovereignty over the earth. The day he sinned, he forfeited all these blessings.

The 7 feasts are God's restoration plan for man to be reconciled to God and to wear and bear His image with greater glory than Adam had in Eden. To develop this thought further, the reader is advised to ponder the five "much more" scriptures in Romans 5 verses 9, 10, 15, 17,20.

Jesus came to earth in the fullness of time and fulfilled the feasts. Consider the following days-- the day of His birth, the day of His circumcision, the day He was presented in the temple, the day He was baptized in the river Jordan, the day He opened the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue and the message He proclaimed, the day of His transfiguration, the day He entered Jerusalem the final week of His earth-life, the day of His death and burial, the day of His resurrection, the day of His final ascension, and the day He sent the Holy Spirit to the 120 in the upper room.

John, in his gospel, mentions the feasts but calls them the "Feast of the Jews". How sad that Israel missed the True Passover Lamb, The True Bread without leaven, the True Atonement. In this age, God is visiting both Jew and Gentile, to take out from among them a people for His name. He wants to fulfill these feasts in the Church and in Israel.

Time and space forbid our commenting on each feast. Suffice it to say, we begin our Christian life by experiencing a passover--from death to life, from darkness to light and from Satan's kingdom to God's kingdom. (John 5:24, 1 John 3:14, Acts 26:17-18, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Peter 2:9, Ephesians 4:17-18, Colossians 1:13-14). We embrace Christ as our Passover Lamb.

We have to go through the experiences of the remaining 6 feasts to arrive at total redemption for the whole man-- spirit, soul, and body. Three of these feasts were kept in the first month, one in the third month, and the remaining three in the seventh month. The first month speaks of beginnings, the third month of continuation, and the final three of consummation. What God has begun in us, He wants to complete (Phil. 1 :6). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are working together to bring about full salvation for man. In the first three feats, we have the work of the Son in His life, death, burial and resurrection. In the fourth feast, we see the work of the Holy Spirit in this age. And in the remaining three feasts the preparation for us to meet the Father, not in mortal but glorified bodies.

Very briefly, as we consider the Feast of Tabernacles, the dwelling in tents for 7 days indicate our complete sojourn on earth as pilgrims and strangers in preparation for the day when our physical bodies or tents give way to a house not made with hands-the body of glory. (2 Cor. 5:1-8)

Atonement, the 6th feast, paves the way for Tabernacles. Atonement speaks of deeper cleansing for the soul, weaned
from self-interest and self-indulgence, to gain the higher life of the Spirit which is the crown of life, a glorified body
destined for the city whose builder and maker is God. As Jesus was transfigured "after 6 days", so after 6,000 years, His end-time body will come into the change from mortality to immortality, from dense atomic matter into a body of
glory, no more subject to time and space and the four elements of earth. Are we groaning and longing for this day of full redemption? (Rom.8:23, Phil. 3:20-21, 1 John 3:2, 1 Cor. 13:49-58)

The feast of Tabernacles is the feast of rejoicing--"weeping may endure for a night (the time of His absence since His ascension) but joy cometh in the morning (the day of the Lord overtaking the day of man). Isaiah speaks of the "oil of gladness for mourning and beauty (His nature formed in us) for ashes (the death and extermination of the old Adamic nature)". The apostle Paul testifies, "as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing knowing that our light affliction which is for a moment worketh for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

 

Now let us consider this most interesting implication:

Haggai the prophet on the 21st day of the 7th month (the last day of the feast) prophesied of the greater glory to come on the Church and restored Israel in these last days of a dying dispensation. (Haggai 2:1-9, John7:37) Did you
notice that Haggai 2 is the 9Hth chapter of the Bible? The numerical value of grace (charis in the Greek) is 91l. His grace prepares us for His glory.

Jesus came the first time in a lowly tabernacle (Succoth). He is about to return to earth in His glorified body. His work of redemption at His first coming cost Him blood, sweat and tears. Soon He will see the travail of His soul and
be satisfied as great multitudes will bear His image and become His sheaves that He will bring with Him when His feet touch the Mount of Olives (Ps. 126:5-6). Notice the words "will come again with rejoicing." When will this event occur? I suggest the answer is in Zec.14: 1-9. That day will be the 14th day at evening in the 7th month--the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev.23:39), the time of the full moon.

I pray that at this season, you will be challenged to a deeper walk with the Lord. May your life be the very reflection of Him in all you say and do as the proverbial expression--"the man in the moon"-- Christ, the Man, fully formed in the moon, His people the Church, the ecclesia-His called out ones.

-by Deoram Bholan

1801 Holm Oak St.
Arlington, Texas 76012

Deoram@thechange.org

Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) - by Deoram Bolan

Deoram Bolan Telephone Message #87

Recorded September 23, 2013.  [Audio message available at phone # 712-432-0379, Code 779955.
Also now available: the audio recording of this is in MP3 version on www.archive.org .]  Published by Trumpet Voice Ministries and by Sharon Bolan Yerby Ministries, www.sharonbolanyerby.com also known as the ministry of Sharon Bolan Yerby. [Editor’ note:  all emphases in italics are reflecting the vocal emphases of the speaker with certain exceptions noted.]

FEAST OF TABERNACLES

A good evening to all our listeners. 

Yes, indeed, we thank God that He is the one, as He promised to the Church in Philadelphia which opens and no one can shut.  And He shuts and none can open.  It is good to know that He is giving us ways and means to spread His word.  And the ones that are hungry and thirsty are the one’s God will visit in this day and in this hour.  We cannot see those who are 100% dedicated to God.  But we need not worry over that.  The Bible says the Lord knoweth them that are His.  Are we assured of that?  We should be!  And let everyone who names who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity!  And again we know that God’s word will not return unto Him void.  So, some will hear and be blessed.  Others may not be blessed, but we still bless them.  And we rejoice to pass on the good news of the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

We were studying about the Feasts.  And that is a subject that can take very many messages.  Just going through the Passover Feast, you have so many details in Exodus 12!  That can fill a whole book if our spiritual understanding is opened.  Then we can get a long message on Unleavened Bread and the various kinds of leaven.  And leaven is a picture of sin.  And Israel was to put leaven out of their houses for seven days.  Once we have come under the shelter of the blood of the Lamb, now we are ready to eat from the bread of Life.  And make no room for the leaven of malice and wickedness.  1 Corinthians 5 tells us that.  Or the leaven of the scribes.  The leaven of the Pharisees.  The leaven of Corinth and Galatia.  And how about the leaven of Herod?  Would you, dear friends, explore these various kinds of leaven?  It is the secret working of sin to bind and to corrupt God’s people.  And God wants us to be a bread that is whole – like the Meal Offering - no leaven in it.  Just as in the Head of the Body there was no leaven, God wants us to be unleavened (as Paul says, God wants us to be unleavened), we are to put away every trace of leaven from our hearts and from our thinking.  And then we go to the blessing of the Resurrection – the third feast – the Feast of the First-fruits of the Barley Harvest which was waved by the High Priest “on the morrow after the Sabbath.”  And that is Jesus rising from the dead and performing the role of the High Priest by taking His blood within the veil as Aaron did on the Day of Atonement.  And He – Jesus – is a better priest than the Aaronic priest.  And He does not have to offer various offerings and sacrifices.  He is the one sacrifice that includes all the types and shadows and He is the key to all the mysteries.  And it is He Who is our High Priest representing us at the Father’s right hand.

So it is a picture there of our glorying in the fact that we serve a risen savior.  We sing it, but do we always mean it?  “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today.”  “And you ask me how I know He lives?  He lives within my heart.”

Then we are prepared for the Fourth Feast in the third month.  And you have all the Feasts listed in Leviticus 23.   And you can study that chapter.  It is a very loaded chapter.  And we may not understand everything in it, but go ahead and read it with a prayer in your heart that God would give the spirit of wisdom and revelation to you, to enlighten you on what He is saying in the Feasts.  Yes, that is the life of being filled with the spirit and then continually being filled and then advancing in the spirit from being ankle deep to being knee deep, to loin or waist deep, and then reaching water to swim in as we see in Ezekiel’s river, in the closing chapters of the book of Ezekiel. 

So we can begin at the ankles, but, are we satisfied there?  Are we willing to go on to the knees and to gird up the loins of our mind with Truth?  And are we willing to launch out into the deep?   Launch out into the deep.  Yes.  It is up to us and how much of God we desire in our hearts.  So the Spirit filled life is not just an experience, but it is an experience that leads to a process. [Emphasis by the editor.]  

And we have much distance to travel.  That is why we have four long months separating the Fourth Feast from the Fifth Feast.  God had some lessons to teach us.  As we face the heat of trials and tribulations.  But with His help, we are learning.  It is not by might, not by power, “But by My Spirit, saith the LORD.”  We can face these trials and tests and overcome.  And even if we fail, we repent and we ask the Lord to forgive us and to strengthen us that we can learn from our failures.  And instead of going into the old ways, we say, “Lord with your help we will go forward.” 

We are coming to the Fifth Feast, the Blowing of Trumpets.  And that is the end of the old agricultural or civil year and the ushering in of the new civil or agricultural year.  And Trumpets link with God revealing deeper levels for those who are willing to have their ear pierced – the ear of the bond slave – to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.  

And as He begins to increase our understanding of His truths, if we are not careful we can get puffed up with our knowledge and, the Bible says, “Knowledge puffeth up but [divine] love edifieth.”  We need the knowledge but we need enlightened hearts.  So the more light we have the more humility and brokenness of heart we must possess.  Because God has to work truth into the very fabric of our being – the inner man.  And it is not our knowing it outwardly but that the Truth be living in us.  So the message and the messenger become one.  That is the greatest witness that we can become in these days.

 And that is not done overnight.  And so we need to come to soul affliction, to this time in which Israel showed signs of true repentance.  Yes, repentance is not only for the lost sinner.  Repentance is for the Christian.  And that is a whole subject in itself.  And five out of Seven Churches were commanded by the Lord to repent. So, again, there are deeper areas in us that must be cleansed and purged in order that we may become a vessel unto honor, that we might be fit for the Master’s use. 

So, our Day of Atonement which is the sixth feast is our coming to the end of ourselves. [Emphasis added by editor.]  Man in rebellion is “six”.  So, the Sixth Feast is the end of the rule of the man of sin in us.  By the purging fire and in the workings of that fire to reduce what is the old man in us to dust and ashes.  And when that process is completed, we are ready for the Seventh Feast, which brings us, as Isaiah tells us, He will give us “Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”  What a wonderful exchange that is!  So we pass through the Sixth Feast to come to the Seventh.  The seventh feast has many names.  Each feast has many names.  But, remember, three feasts in the first month.  One feast in the third month.  The remaining three feasts in the seventh month.  And in those specifications we have God beginning a work in us.  God continuing – when we reach the fourth feast.  And God bringing to a successful conclusion His work as we go through the remaining three feasts.

So we can be saved, redeemed in three parts of our being:  spirit, soul, and body.  In the first three feasts you meet the Lamb.  You know Who that Lamb is.  In the fourth feast we meet the Holy Spirit.  And in the remaining three feasts we are being prepared and adorned to meet the Father!  Think about that.  It is well worth meditating upon.  I cannot give it all to you.  Seek and you shall find!

So we see the six feasts of Leviticus 23 are like six steps on the ladder of redemption, leading to the seventh which is the fullness of rest for the entire makeup of man:  spirit, soul, and body.

The history of the redeemed soul ascends in the first four feasts:

1.       Passover – the shelter of Christ’s blood.

2.       Unleavened Bread – the way of holiness.

3.       Waving of the Sheaf of Wheat – the power of the risen life of Christ working in the believer.

4.       Pentecost (“Feast of Harvest”) – Constant anointing and constant repeated fillings of the Spirit.  -------------Then we have the remaining three feasts yielding a harvest of hope with reference to:                                                                                                                                                                                              

5.       Trumpets – The Lord’s trumpet call. 

6.       Atonement - Our own lifelong days of self-judgment and soul affliction.

7.       Then, we have reached “7”, the top of the ladder.  The feast of Tabernacles – Abundant entrance into the heavenly kingdom, clothed with a house from above as we read in 2 Corinthians 5.  That is the seventh feast.

And the period of time as you will read in Leviticus 23 is from the 15^th day of the seventh month to the 22^nd day.  Israel was to dwell in booths or in tents for seven days.  And they had a solemn assembly – [Hebrew words?]– it is a day which is a new beginning. It is in the 8^th day.  God designs the entire period to teach us deep truths.  And it will take time to explore all of these areas.

But during these days, when Israel dwelt in tents.  They were leaving the busy city life and they were now enjoying the fresh air and sunshine and the simple life.  They could now contemplate the deeper meaning of sun, moon, and stars.

When was the last time you admired a sunrise?  And when was the last time you admired sunset?  When was the last time you took interest into the four phases of the moon?  Dear friends, we are so bogged down with busy-ness, we do not know what it is to slow down and live.  And so we miss out on the very handiwork of God.  And we need be still.  And we need to get our eye off from things around us and get our eyes on things above!  “If ye then are risen with Christ, keep seek those things which are above!”

So, looking at Sun, Moon, and stars.  These are the silent missionaries that are preaching to the entire planet day and night.  Day and night.  And what are they telling mankind? I am going to leave that to you to figure out.

When you get to the Book of Revelation, you see Sun, Moon, and stars in more than one place.  And Sun, Moon, and stars are there in Genesis Chapter 1.  And Sun, Moon, and Stars are scattered throughout the Word of God.  And the Lord will bid us, “Look up and admire the heavens as David did.”  “When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, Sun, Moon, and stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man that Thou art mindful of him?  Or the son of man that Thou are mindful of him or the son of man that Thou visitest him? “

[Audio Recording, Minute 16:15]

So, we need to get alone.  Maybe we do not have a booth to live in.  But we can take time to get alone and to look up and admire God’s handiwork. These are faithful witnesses!  They are silent missionaries! “The heavens declare the glory of God! The firmament showeth His handiwork.” (Psalm 19). And you may well read the entire psalm.

So, you have a three-fold witness:  the witness in the sky, the witness in the Word, and the witness in personal experience (the witness in the soul.)  So you have a three-fold witness.

God has written His truth in the heavens! That is another story that is so wonderful but it will never compromise with error.  The message in the heavens corresponds to the message in the Scriptures and the soul that is redeemed in the blood of the Lamb accepts the truth as it is revealed in the heavens and in the Scriptures.

The witness in the sky, the witness in the Scriptures, and the witness in the soul!

Psalm 19 is worth reading over a hundred times.  There are so many truths in it, it would take a lifetime and more to even get some of the hidden things in that Psalm.  And the companion to Psalm 19 is Psalm 119. (!)

There is an affinity between Psalm 19 and Psalm 119.  I would like you to take time to check on that. 

So, God was bringing His people together at this feast:  rich and poor, side by side to fellowship with one another.  So sad, in many places it is only a “Hi” and a “Bye” and “God bless.” It is so impersonal.  Instead, here was time for exchange of thoughts – sharing with each other precious truths that edified the saints.  And it was a time when Israel was not to forget their deliverance from Egypt, and God’s provision for them in the wilderness, and His protection over them, and His presence with them, as well as the promises He gave them.  He fulfilled His promises for He never breaks His word. 

We can link this feast with our American Thanksgiving Day holiday.  But should we wait until Thanksgiving Day to render thanks?  May God enable us to do so on constant daily basis!

This feast (of Tabernacles) was given three times.  ? … And at the birth of Samuel…? [Audio file, Minute 19:45, Message 87-3 CD]. That might surprise most of our listeners, but it is called “the yearly sacrifice.”  And it was the coming to the end of the sacred year.  See 1 Samuel 1:20.  The same word is translated, in Psalm 19:6, as “circuit.”  It is translated “end” in Exodus 34:22 and 2 Chronicles 24:23.  The meaning is, “revolution of the year.”

Hannah waited until the days of harvest and vintage were over before she presented Samuel to the Lord with rejoicing, accompanied by her friends. [Minute 20:18 of audio message].  So, that is the first time this feast is mentioned in a kind of hidden manner. 

But now we come to the second time it is mentioned:  in the days of Nehemiah.  When the saints were stirred up and a remnant came out of Babylonian captivity, there was a joint prayer meeting and Bible reading.  Read it all in Nehemiah.  And in Nehemiah 8:7, the Feast of Tabernacles had not been kept for 800 years.  My!  And so God began a restoration movement under Ezra and Nehemiah.  Would to God He would raise up many, many Ezras and Nehemiahs to be the restorers of paths to dwell in and to be the repairers of the breach. 

The Feast was celebrated with gladness.  It is the only feast that has no sorrow in it.  Have you paused to consider, dear friends, there was no celebration of this Feast in the Wilderness [in Exodus]?   And why is that so?  Because when Israel entered the Land, by the grace of God, they were to till the soil and depend on God to send the rain, to make the harvest fruitful.  Only when they reaped their harvests and their fruits were they to come in unison and celebrate this feast.

And so, that is to tell you that it is a feast that only links with [the Prophets / the promise?]

It is a feast in which there is a deep meaning.  But I am going to let you ponder it.  This feast is symbolic of the Millennial Age.  It is speaking of the heavenly Holy of Holies.  That is why in certain places it is known as “the Feast of Feasts.”  And Isaiah spoke of this feast when he said, “In this mountain God will spread a feast of fat things, of wines and the lees well refined.”  Yes!  God has kept the best until last.  As Nehemiah and Ezra exhorted the people:  “Eat the fat and drink the sweet and send portions (to the needy) unto them for whom nothing is prepared.”  And as you and I eat of the fatness of the word of God, and we taste and see that the Lord is good, we want to pass on portions unto our brothers and sisters in Christ.  So, the way they celebrated we can read about it in Nehemiah 7 and 8.  [Minute 23 in Recorded Message #87 on Telephone].

And then we read that in the time of Solomon, when the Temple was dedicated, and the great glory of God so filled the Temple that the priests could not minister.  And the glory came in its fullness at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.  So you can read about all these occurrences in the Scriptures.

It is good to see the kinds of trees that were used for the celebration of these feasts.  These trees do have a meaning.  May I say there are tongues [?] in them.  Think about that.  Every tree is symbolic of a truth.  God has truth in the natural creation!  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we can compile a list of all the trees of the Bible and to go through the references and all the trees of the Bible?  That would take a lifetime and more.  And learn the meaning of each tree.  So there is a meaning to the Palm tree!

[About 25 minutes into Message.]

The goodly tree, the myrtle, the willow.  And yes, the palm tree has taste but no fragrance.  The citron – what we would call the orange family – has taste and fragrance and its leaf is in the shape of the heart of man.  And the myrtle had [taste] and no fragrance; the leaves are eye-shaped.  The willow has no taste and no fragrance, but the leaves are in the shape of the human mouth.  So, we link the stiff branch of the palm with the spine of man.  The citron with the heart of man.  The myrtle with the eye of man.  The willow with the voice of man.  And what is God saying?  He is saying, I want My people to praise me with their entire being. “I will bless the Lord.” “My soul will make her boast in the Lord.”  “Continually.”  That will take in all the entire being: the heart, the spine, the eyes, the mouth.   And I am sure there are deep meanings in the branches of the trees which were used for the tabernacles.  For seven days they did not wither. And again, God is showing us that He wants us to have fresh experiences in Him.  And the manna was to be fresh each day, for unless we have fresh manna we will starve in the wilderness.  God wants us to have a fresh encounter with Him day by day.

Now, we cannot cover everything this week.  But I want to abbreviate some thoughts that you can explore on your own as you read Leviticus 23:33-44. This feast is called the feast of [increase?] or Ingathering.  It was the time of the last harvest.  And it was a combination of rejoicing and sobriety. [It was “a feast of fat things and the lees well refined.”(?)]  It was a feast of unity and consecration.  Dwelling in booths.  They are simply saying to us - they are speaking to us – that we Christians are dwelling in “tents.”  We are pilgrims on a journey. This world is not our home. 

And they dwelt in tents for seven days until the eighth day.  And when the “7” is completed, our tent will give way to a house “not made with hands eternal in the heavens!”  The days of our pilgrimage will be over! And the “8” is a new beginning.  And the tent gives way to the house even as the tents in the wilderness gave way to the houses in the Promised Land. 

Yes, another name for this feast is the Feast of Joy.  The joy of the Lord.  Not happiness based on happenstance. But the joy of the Lord is our strength.  Think about that.  Yes, Satan wants to rob us of our joy.  But, we can be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.  How can that be?  We can be celebrating Tabernacles and the Day of Atonement at the same time – in a spiritual sense I am talking about.

So, the joy of the Lord!  “Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame.”  There is so much God has to say about that word “joy.”  “The blessing of the LORD makes rich and it adds no sorrow to it.” It is “the Feast of Ingathering.” [Exodus 23:16].  It is the harvest of grapes and olives [and dates?].  The wine is a symbol of the joy of the Lord.  But there is also the wine of His wrath. And for those who despise the goodness of God, they will have to face the severity of God.

And a wonderful story of the feast of Tabernacles is the story of the last miracle that only John records in John chapter 21. That will take several messages to explore, but it is an ingathering of the fishes.  One hundred and fifty-three without the net being broken! And all reaching shore safely! And God is going to have multitudes out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and tribe.  What an ingathering! And you and I are privileged to be reapers in this day – to bring many to the Lord and to lead many into [ ].

So, you can study all those incidents.

It is the feast of the glory of God coming in a greater measure than at Pentecost.  And it was on that day that Haggai had a word for His people.  As we will see, the Lord going to that feast in John, chapter 7. It is the feast of His appearing!  He appeared in the midst of the feast, secretly and then He openly manifested Himself.  All of that is a picture of the way He will return in the last days.  And what a wonderful word is that word “appearing”.  “Appearing.” Well, “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple.”  “But who will abide the day of His coming, for He is like refiners fire and fuller’s soap.  But He is working in us, so we can become candidates to be participants in the greater glory which He has reserved for the latter day house which is the church of the end-times.

So there is much mystery, but it will be revealed concerning the stages and the phases of His appearing.  Another name for this feast is “the feast of the open book.” You can read Deuteronomy 31:9-13, 16-30, 2 Chronicles 17:7-9, Malachi 2:1-10. God wants to open up His word to us in these days.  He wants to increase light.  And it is the “open book” that John was to take from the hand of this mighty messenger in Revelation chapter 10 and John was to eat this book.  And it was “sweet to his taste but bitter in his inward parts.”  John was going through his day of atonement and getting a little preview of Tabernacles – the sweet and the bitter.  Think about it.  It is the feast that will be called, in the millennial age, “the feast of holiness to the Lord.”  You can read about it in Zechariah 14:16-19. 

[Track 2, Minute 5:15]

Dear friends that is the command of God to us: “Be holy for I the LORD your God am holy.”  And, the final part of the garments of the High Priest was the plate of gold over the forehead on which was written the words, “Holiness unto the LORD.”  Yes, He is our holiness, but that holiness must be in-woven in the inner man.  And our thoughts must be holy.  And He wants to free us from every trace of sin and to bring us into a state and condition of total holiness.  That is why it is called the feast of feasts.  Because it brings us into the holy of holies so we can sing the song of songs!  And, Oh!  There is so much in all these expressions! 

Are we thankful to the Lord for His protection over us?  His provision for us? His providence even when we had not [seen] His guiding hand?  Are we thankful for the promises He has fulfilled?  Yes, it is the time of true repentance.  And it is a time that will result in feasting on the good things of the Lord and rejoicing in Him like the prodigal son being brought to repentance and restoration with the full rights of sonship being given him.  Oh how great is our God.  How great is His name. And we cannot begin to thank Him completely for all He has done and all He is doing.  We can only be grateful that He is opening our eyes and He is showing us much into the mystery of the feasts. And we are even now beginning to joy in the Lord, going through the processings of the Lord.  And we are anticipating that time when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

[Track 2, Minute 7:37]

And after the labor in the field has ended, then come rest and rejoicing leading up to the eighth day.  And only Israelites born can dwell in booths.  That is another – another – difficult passage to understand!  Who are the “Israelites born,” dwelling in booths?  Those who are born of the Spirit!  And we have this treasure in earthen vessels.  Yes! Not he is a Jew who is one outwardly, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is not of the flesh but is of the heart.  So, God wants us to be born of the Spirit and then to come into that time of full birth when we are fully born of God, then we are ready to leave the booth and to enter into the house not made with hands!  And that will be the fullness of birthing – from the earthly to the heavenly!  Then in the heavenly Promised Land we will celebrate the feast of ingathering, the feast of abundance, the feast of glory.  Because the only light in the Holy of Holies in the New Jerusalem is the glory light and they need not the light of the Moon.  They need not the light of the Sun. The Lamb is the light and the glory [of that city].

May we be stirred by what we hear tonight to weigh what we have heard, to check the appropriate Scriptures.  And may we humble ourselves and say, “Lord, who am I that you should be mindful of me?  But I am willing to submit to Your headship and lordship.  Keep on working in me.  Keep on changing me from glory to glory!  For, like David who saw ahead of his day, saying, “I will be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness!”  May that be so for us tonight.

[Track 2, Minute 10]

Sharon speaking:  Dad, that is powerful!  Wow.  I just want to shout. I don’t know how anybody can be listening to this and not be stirred. You have an amazing gift of teaching. God has really anointed you and it just keeps getting greater and greater.  Now, I have to say this tonight before we close.  Could you, because you went really fast, and because people are trying to take notes… .  Obviously we need to listen to the replay.  But could you go over the trees again?  You said the palm tree, the citron, the myrtle, and the willow.  So, the palm is the spine.  The citron is the heart.  The myrtle represents the eye.  And the willow represents the voice.

Brother D speaking:  Yes. Or, the willow represents the mouth.  And I am sure there are numerous meanings for all the trees that are mentioned.  But we could say of the willow:  some are on mountaintops, some are in valleys, some are by streams, and they link with the experiences.  We hear of the weeping willow – those dark dreary days when we shed many tears.  But God is so good to blend the willow with the other trees.  All these show us we will have good times and we will have rough times, but count your many blessings as the song tells us. Name them one by one.  Thank God even for the hard times, the bitter times.  And thank God for the times on the mountain.  And thank God for the times when we don’t even feel like praising Him but we say, “I will bless the Lord (!) in spite of what things are appearing to be.”

Sharon speaking:  Okay, the next thing – and I love this – it is also called the feast of the open book.  Isn’t that interesting that the Lord gave me on August 17^th that vision of the scroll on which the seventh seal was being opened.  Does that link with the feast of the open book?  The reason being that the breaking of the seventh seal is the opening of the book?

Brother D speaking:  Certainly it does.  And remember only He can open up the book.  He closed the book in Luke chapter 4 and did not open that book.  He closed the book in Luke chapter 4 and never opens any other book until you get to that in Revelation where He opens the seven seals of the scroll.  And it is an amazing thing just to explore that!

Sharon speaking:  Wow.  Dad, can you give us the scriptures for that. 

Brother D speaking:  Deuteronomy 31:9-13, 16-30.  Nehemiah 8. Read the whole chapter. 2 Chronicles 17:7-9.  Malachi 2:1-10. And you can go along with that to Revelation 10.

Sharon speaking:  I love that expression, “the feast of holiness to the LORD.”  The High Priest wore on his headband those words, “Holiness to the LORD.”  And I have Zechariah 14:16-19 for that.

Near the very end of your message, you said that only the Israelites born could dwell in booths – and that means only those born of the Spirit.  That is such a powerful statement because that is so true!  You cannot dwell unless you are born of the Spirit!

Brother D speaking:  Yes. And that makes you a pilgrim.  The days of pilgrimage will be over when we reach the conclusion of the feasts.  Remember the God’s last feast had seven days!  But they resumed living in houses on the eighth day!  So, there is much about the deep symbolism involved in seven days leading to the eighth day.  It is the tent giving way to the house.  The tent is something fragile and temporal giving way to something that is eternal and never fading!  A realm of incorruptibility!  A realm of permanence! This earth and all in it is as a fading leaf! But God is preparing us as pilgrims for a realm that cannot be shaken!  It is immovable!  And He is preparing us to come into an inheritance “incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in the heavens!”  Then we will come into the full blessings of the feasts.  And then we will be born even out of this realm, to come into the heavenly realm – with the tent giving way to the house, this mortal putting on immortality, this corruption putting on incorruption!

We are in the beginning of the Fall feasts – so that must be telling us something.  Again, God has His times and seasons.  And it is good to know we are in the first day of the new season.  And lets trust God for new developments and new blessings as we go through the seasons looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Sharon:  Awesome!  It is getting better and better.

Now, you saints of God know that you are generally not hearing these messages on Sunday mornings.  Most are not.  Some may.  But the majority are not hearing it.  Nor are you hearing it on television or radio. I mean:  this is so rare.  What Brother D is teaching.  And I go back again tonight to what I said when I initially began this recording tonight.  That is, God is raising up this message right now for people that are truly hungry, because God is raising up His end-time army – people that are going to truly sold out and surrendered to God.  But only those that are hungry are going to be filled. But God has ministries that He has been holding back on reserve for this last day.  And I believe, as we are coming into the end of this age, that the Lord is bringing out right now out of the wilderness those that have been hidden away that will preach this end-time word with the greater glory.  It is awesome! And the word awesome should be reserved for God and God alone.

Day of Atonement (by Deoram Bolan)

DEORAM BOLAN, Telephone Message #86, Day of Atonement (See also Feast of Tabernacles message #87)

Recorded September 16, 2013 (complete document, not edited much yet) [Available at phone # 712-432-0379, Code 779955.  Published by Trumpet Voice Ministries, Arlington, Texas, USA,  and by Fullness of Glory Ministries, www.thechange.org also known as the ministry of Sharon Bolan Yerby.]

 

DAY OF ATONEMENT

-          A Bible Study by Deoram Bolan of Arlington, Texas

-           

Good evening to all of our listeners.  May the Lord’s blessings follow you at this special time of the year when we consider the feasts which God gave Israel to observe and [when we observe] how those feasts are not only for Israel but for the saints of the New Covenant and it is good that we flow into the seasons of God.

The Day of Trumpets was the first feast of the seventh month.  You can read all about the feasts in Leviticus 23.  You have three feasts in the first month, then the fourth feast in the third month, and the remaining three feasts in the seventh month. 

The first three feasts speak of beginnings.  We start out by embracing the Lord as our Savior and our Redeemer.  We accept Him as our Passover Lamb.  By coming to repentance, forsaking our sins, and believing in His finished work on the Cross.  Because we have, then, passed from death to life, that is our Passover.  We have passed out of Satan’s kingdom and we have been translated into the kingdom of our Lord.  That is a Passover.  We have passed out of darkness into His marvelous light.  That is our Passover.  It means to spare.  It means to leap for joy, to defend, to protect.  So when we think of the Lord passing over us, He is saying, “I rejoice when a sinner turns from sin and turns to Me.  I spare that person from the wrath of God.  I defend them from the attack of Satan."

And once you have Life, then you are ready to feed on the unleavened bread.  That bread is our Lord Himself who is bread without leaven.  Leaven is a picture of sin.  So, to eat of unleavened is to eat or fellowship with Him who is the bread of Life.

Then we see the need to yield ourselves fully to God.  Consecration is the meaning of the third feast which is a handful of barley presented in the Temple by the high priest and waved in an ascending and a descending motion.  That barley was fully consecrated to God and it was our Lord Who was fully consecrated in His life, in His death, in His resurrection, and ascension.  So once we are totally surrendered to God, then we are ready for the fourth feast which is the giving of the Law or, in the New Testament, it is Pentecost.

Pentecost was in the third month, fifty days after the ascension of Jesus.  Fifty days after Israel departed from Egypt, they came to the foot of Mt. Sinai and the Lord appeared to them in flaming fire and gave them the Ten Commandments audibly.

Now, how does that relate to us as Christians?  When we present ourselves to the Lord in total consecration – then God is willing to pour out His Spirit upon us.  The 120 in the upper room had presented their bodies a living sacrifice.  Whenever God was pleased with a sacrifice, He sent fire to consume it.  So these were set ablaze by the Spirit of God.  And God was pleased when a burnt offering was presented unto Him and He showed His satisfaction by consuming it with fire.  So He was pleased with the 120 and sent the fire to energize them, to consume sin from them, to enlighten them, and to cause them to speak as the oracles of God.

Well, it may not be a long time between the third feast and the fourth feast in our experience, but sometimes it takes a long time before we know about being filled with the Spirit and the importance of being filled with the Spirit.  And because we were not taught, it took us a long time to come there.  But God can hasten His blessings for those who are willing to be instructed.

Many believe that, once you are filled with the Spirit, this is the highest experience that one can relate to.  But that is not the case.  Once we are filled with the Spirit, now we are ready to get some schooling; we are only in grade one.  Just think about that!  But some think they are ready to graduate.  So, we need some correct teaching on the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  And it all depends on how far we are willing to advance in the Spirit.  Some begin in the Spirit but end up in the flesh.  And some begin in the Spirit and operate in a mixture like the Galatians.  And we have some lessons to learn in this world.  And so the Spirit does not give us all the lessons in one day.  It takes time.  And as we learn the ways of God we make progress in the Spirit.  Like Ezekiel, we start out with the waters reaching our ankles. [Ezekiel 47:3-5].  Then we go further and the waters reach our knees.  Then we go further another 1,000 cubits and the waters reach waist deep.  But then another 1,000 cubits and there were waters to swim in.  So there is a walk in the Spirit.  And we start out at the ankles.  Then we learn the ministry of prayer [represented by water up to the knees].  We gird up the loins of our minds [represented by water up to the waist – which is the loins].  That is where the greatest areas of conflict occur as we cast down the vain imaginings and areas of disobedience to God, and we bring all thoughts into captivity to the feet of Christ. [2 Corinthians 10:3-5].  So the area of the loins speaks of the mind.  That is part of the armor which the Lord wants us to wear. Peter says, “…Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; …” [1 Peter 1:13] And as our mind is being renewed in truth and we are walking in obedience to the Spirit of God, then we are ready for waters to swim in.  That is an ocean, as it were.  That is the full life of the Spirit. The work of the Spirit in us has reached its full development.  So when we have been filled with the Spirit, we learn to walk and live in the Spirit.  And as we do so we are ready for the Fifth Feast which is the Feast of Trumpets.  And that means God has much to tell us.  But we cannot take it all in a short time. It is a progressive unfoldment of further truth to us as the Spirit of Truth Himself.  As we are willing to walk in what we hear, then He adds more to our knowledge and understanding.  It is like Peter admonished us:  to grow in grace and knowledge – or the full knowledge of God.  So the blessing of the Trumpets can synchronize with the seven times Jesus spoke to the seven churches.  “He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” [Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29, Revelation 3:6, 13, 22]

 And His voice is that of a trumpet.  Remember that in the very first chapter of Revelation. And a trumpet speaks of [symbolizes, or signifies] a message. And I am sure we have barely scratched the surface in going through the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches.  There are so many depths of meaning in each letter as we hear the message and obey it and allow the Spirit to unveil more of the words of the Lord.  Then it is like hearing the First Trumpet sounding, the Second Trumpet, going all the way to the Seventh Trumpet.

It is amazing how much God has put into the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches.  Are you willing to see that when God spoke these seven letters to the seven churches, He started out with a Garden of Eden and He ends up with The Throne?  So, there is much to learn about each promise to the overcomer and the six steps to the Throne in the six promises to the overcomer.  And Solomon’s throne had six steps to it.  “Solomon” means “peace”.  And “six” is preparing us in this age as we read in the Letter to the Seventh Church, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame and am sat down with my Father in his throne.” [Revelation 3:21]. So the six promises to the overcomer have to be experienced before we qualify for the seventh.  So the trumpets of truth are hidden in the letters to the churches.  I would suggest that you take much time and go through the Letters to the Seven Churches slowly and prayerfully.  Even if you have done so, do not think you have got it all figured out.  There is much awaiting discovery. 

Well, the Festival of Trumpets ushers in the new, but it closes the old year.  God wants us to walk in the light as He is in the light.  His light is progressive and God is unveiling much to us in these last days.  He has much to reveal before this age is over.  So let us say, “Lord, give me the ear of a bond slave so I can hear and obey what the Spirit says to the churches.” [Reference Exodus 21:5-6, Isaiah 50:4-5, Revelation 2-3].

But it is easy to be puffed up with revelation knowledge.  It is easy for us to think we are superior to others.  We have to guard against that kind of wrong spirit.  The Bible says, “Knowledge puffeth up, but divine love edifieth.” [1 Corinthians 8:1 partial]  So, let us see that we do not know anything yet as we ought to know. “But then shall we know,” the Bible says, “if we follow on to know the Lord.” [Hosea 6:3 partial]  So with much knowledge comes much responsibility.  And with much truth God requires a cleansing, a deeper cleansing in the inner man, which brings us to the Sixth Feast:  the Day of Soul-Affliction, the day of true repentance and the day when Israel fasted – the only fast day.  But fasting is a picture of humbling oneself.  And it is beneficial and it is good for us whether we can fast or not.  But we do it as unto the Lord. And just as, in the natural realm, fasting cleanses the system, so there is an internal cleansing that God wants to perform within us.  This is deeper than at Passover.   Sins have accumulated from the first to the sixth feast.  And it takes time to see our condition.  And the light of God has to penetrate our inner man so we are willing to be adjusted and freed from areas that have been clogged up.  And it is a day of afflicting our souls.  That may take another message in itself.  Jesus said that if we love our soul life (the word there is psuche – our psyche) – this means the life of the soul.  If we love our soul we will lose it, but if we lose our soul we shall find it.  The Day of Atonement is when we will decide whether the soul will rule us and take our spirit into bondage or whether the spirit will rule us and the soul will be subjected to the spirit, and our spirit in turn will be in subjection to the Holy Spirit.  That is the order of God!  Not soul first, followed by spirit then body.  But, rather, spirit first, followed by soul then body.  Many times the spirit is willing but the soul is not wiling.  And that is the conflict we will find until we are willing for God to break the stubbornness in our soul.  That is why the Bible says – and it is Jesus Who said it:  “In your patience possess ye your souls.” [Luke 21:19].

I never understood that for a long time.  What does it mean to possess your soul?  It means to have dominion over your soul.  It means to win your soul.

You shall have dominion over the soul life where the soul is no more ruling but is willing to take the place of submission.  That is why the overcomers in Revelation chapter 12 are where they are.  They have gone through the six feasts.  Yes.  And they are ready for the Seventh.  But before we get to the seventh, which is the Feast of Glory and the Feast of Restoration and the Feast of Ingathering.  And there are many names for the feasts – especially the last feast.  And, by the way, the word,”feast” has nothing to do with eating and drinking.  A “feast” is a fixed time, an appointed season.  And, just as there are seasons in the natural realm, there are seasons in the spiritual realm.  So the saints who have overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, it is said of them, “And they loved not their lives unto the death.” [Revelation 12:11].  What is that?  The word “life”, again, is “psuche”.  They do not give in to their psuche or, soul life which is the seat of the desires and emotions.  And how easy it is to let our soul govern us!  That is why the Psalmist says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul. And all that is within me, bless His holy name.” [Psalm 103:1]  He also said, “I will bless the Lord at all times.  His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”  [Psalm 34:1]. 

“I will.” That is the spirit.  “O my soul, bless the Lord.”  That is the spirit and soul in unison.  And, wherever they meet in the internal man, that constitutes the heart of man.  Now you will have to weigh [ponder, consider] that for a long time.

The heart is the meeting place of the spirit and soul.  “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength.” [Mark 12:30] And with unity in the spirit and soul walking together under the control of the Holy Spirit.  And the Bible says of the overcomers in Revelation 14, “these were not defiled with women…”  Some teach that those are persons who never get married.  But the Bible teaches, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed is undefiled.” [Hebrews 13:4]. So what does it mean, “These were not defiled with women…”? [Revelation 14:4 partial]. There were two women in the Book of Revelation.  One is that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess.  And one is “Mystery, Babylon, the mother of harlots.”  So, it is right to say these were not defiled with false religious systems.  They were willing to be separate from all confusion and distortion of Truth.  And, beloved, we pay a price if we settle for Truth.  “Buy the truth and sell it not.” [Proverbs 23:23 partial].  So that is one way of looking at it.

But when you find out that in the Bible the woman is a type of the soul and the man is a type of the spirit and that in every census only the men were counted, not the women, not the children, does that mean that God does not care for women and children?  Certainly it does not.  But God’s purpose for us is to come to full development in spirit.  So, to be “masculine” [symbolically speaking] is to move in the full control of the Holy Spirit working in our spirit and in our soul and in our body.  To be in the feminine rank is to let the soul dominate.  But here, “These were not defiled with women.”  What is the inference there?  They are men; they are masculine.  They are walking in the Spirit.  They include both male and female.  They were not defiled with the soul desires.  They overcome the fluctuations of the soul life (high today, low tomorrow.)  And they learn in all things to say to their soul, “Why art thou disquieted within me?  Hope thou in god, for I shall yet praise Him.  Who is the help of my countenance and my salvation.”  For that is another meaning for you to chew upon.  And this day of affliction – soul affliction was a time of deep affliction.

[DB #86… 25 minutes into message]

Imagine:  five out of seven churches were commanded to repent!  That means, as Christians when God shows us our need, we begin to repent and confess and forsake all that is contrary to His will.

Two churches were not commanded to repent.  But that did not mean that they were perfected yet.  They were instructed to go on.  The others were instructed to go back and master the foundational truths.  That is why we read in Hebrews 6, (having mastered the elementary truths, then we are ready for the next word of God):  “Let us go on to perfection [maturity] … and this we will do IF God permits.”  God does not permit us to go on until the foundation is properly laid and the foundational truths are mastered.  Then we are ready to go on.  And move on until He has finished the work that has started in us. 

So the Day of Atonement is a time of deep soul searching under the inspection of God.  Remember, “All things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”  The Bible says again, “There is nothing hid that should not be made manifest.”  And God wants us to have a heart that is always transparent before Him.  That we will walk in constant union and communion with Him.  And as we go through our Day of Atonement, it is like we are willing for god to break us and melt us and remove hidden things that we were not even aware of.   And, by the way, we read in the Scriptures, “Having therefore, brethren, these promises, let us cleanse ourselves of every filthiness of spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

 You see that is a scripture that links with atonement, the Day of Atonement, and the meaning of that feast.  How that day has to be worked out in us in areas in which our spirit is defiled.  Yes!  We can say the right things and have wrong spirit, a boastful spirit, a prideful spirit.  And all this is abomination in the eyes of God.  “But a broken and a contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

So there are pollutions even in our spirit and in our soul.  Even as we relate pollution in the outer man and we need a thorough bath, so we need a thorough bath for our spirit and our soul.  And God has provided the means for our cleansing.  The Blood, the Water of the Word, the Fire of His Spirit.  So we go through these daily cleansings and washings.  And as we do, the inner man is being set free and pliable to the rule of the spirit in our lives.  And the spirit overshadows us.  And eventually we are ready for the change in the outward man, when the lost glory that man had in the beginning is now restored as “this corruptible puts on incorruption and this mortal puts on immortality.”  That is the crowning feast:  Man restored completely in the image of God.  And our Lord came to make this available.  He fulfilled the Feasts and He fulfills them in you and me as we submit to His rule and the Spirit has come to help us and to guide us into all truth.

So if we study the Bible carefully, we will find certain things that happened on this day.

 Maybe we are not too sure of it, but that was the day when Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised.  And Abraham was 99 years of age.  And he was circumcised before he became a father.  And what is that to tell us?  That there is a spiritual circumcision that must take place in the inner man before we are to become fruitful and useful and be changed into the image of the Lord in the Seventh Feast! 

This was a day of confession and repentance.  And it was a day when the High Priest alone ministered.  The other priests were subordinate to him, because they took the backstage and he did most of the work on that day.  And, because it is a very deep message (in Atonement) as you will read in Leviticus 23, you will get more details in Leviticus 16.  That is not an easy chapter to assimilate.  So you will have to take your time and see all the sacrifices that were offered.  How many times he went within the veil.  And how did he go?  And how many times did he sprinkle the blood?  Can you imagine the blood being sprinkled forty-three (43) times on the Day of Atonement?  And there was to be a cleansing for the High Priest and his family - for the priests as well as for the people.  And there was to be a cleansing of the Sanctuary.  Oh, beloved friends, this was a day in which every unclean thing had to be removed.  And who is our High Priest today?  And does he have to cleanse us once a year or is once enough? 

Yes the blood of bulls and goats could not remove sin, but only temporarily cover sin.  But the Blood of Jesus Christ not only covers but removes sin.  “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” [Psalm 103:12]  So we are redeemed with better blood than that of bulls and of goats. [Hebrews 9:13, Hebrews 10:4].

And our High Priest was clothed in white after He surrendered His life to the death of the cross.  When He rose from the dead, He ascended in a body of glory.  That is what it means to be clothed in white.  For the heavenly realm is a realm of holiness.  And the Bible says, “Follow peace and holiness [or, sanctification] without which no man shall see the Lord.”

So, all that the High Priest did our wonderful High Priest did on a greater scale.  And you will have to make the application as you study the events of the Day of Atonement.

[[Deoram Bolan Telephone Message 86 - Minute 29 of Audio Message]

And I want to give you some men who had to go through their Day of Atonement.  We think of one of the greatest prophets - Isaiah.  The sixth chapter of Isaiah tells us what happened to him.  Although he was prophesying in the previous five chapters and pronouncing woes upon various ones, but in the sixth chapter he pronunces the woe upon himself when he confessed, “Woe is me, I am undone.  I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of unclean people.”  There is so much in Isaiah 6.  The half has not been told.  It takes time to see the depth of that chapter.  But Chapter 6 is not a chapter of Isaiah experiencing the Passover.  Not.  That is Isaiah a man who is greatly blessed of God, coming to his Day of Atonement.   He was hearing from God.  He was a man of the Spirit.  “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  He knew the Lord, but here he is coming to a day of deep, deep cleansing.  Notice the confession.  Dear friends, confession is healthy.  Yes, repentance is needful.  And the seraph came with a flaming coal of fire.  And we have to understand this in spiritual context.  What was the seraph doing?  He was pointing him to the finished work of Christ on the cross.  When the fire consumed the sacrifice and wood!  So the coals came from the burning wood.  And it is the fire of the wrath of God that Jesus faced.  Except there is one difference:  The fire of God consumed the burnt offering on several occasions.  But when the fire of God consumed Elijah’s offering, it not only consumed the offering but the wood and the altar itself and the water in the trench and the altar and reduced everything to dust and ashes!  It never happened before or after.  But it was a picture of how Jesus would face the wrath of God against sin when he died on the cross.  And the difference is:  on Mount Carmel the firs consumed the sacrifice and the altar and then all in that vicinity.  But on Calvary, the sacrifice consumed the fire.  And the sacrifice was not reduced to dust and ashes.  Think on that for a long, long time!  He not only faced the wrath of God, He endured the wrath of God.  That is something most astounding and, yes, He could only die once.  That is altar was destroyed.  The cross was not to be repeated!  So Isaiah had a glimpse of Calvary, and it brought him to soul affliction and repentance.  And after he went through that deep inner cleansing, he became an oracle for God!  And he gave us a mini Bible with 66 chapters books of the Bible. That is another story in itself which I will forbear from expounding upon.

Who is another man who went through his Day of Atonement? The man Daniel – a great prayer for this season – but it links with true soul affliction and repentance when Daniel confessed not only the sins of his people but his own sins.  Who would have thought Daniel would mention his sins when we read hardly of any sin he committed.  But he was aware of his own sinful condition.  And he said, “We have sinned.”  He identifies with the people as he prays and confesses and goes through deep soul affliction, guess what happens. God is pleased and sends Gabriel to cheer him up and give him beauty for ashes.  That ninth chapter, you can read it many, many times. There is much spiritual gold in that chapter.  That is the chapter with the 70 weeks prophecy which prophecy has been so very much misunderstood and had so much controversy about it.  But God will enlighten us about it when we are ready for it.  So it is interesting that Daniel was heard.  God accepted his prayer for himself and his people.  Isn’t it absolutely beautiful that Daniel is of Judah and he does not have a temple to visit.  And he is not a priest according to the old covenant but here is a man without a temple!  [38 minutes into the message.] He is a man from Judah!  And yet his is taking the place of a priest in a strange land! Need I say anything more?  I will leave that for you to go and search out.  When the priesthood fails, God always has someone to fill the gap.  So consider Daniel in that light. 

I must leave Daniel and bring you o Samson – a man mighty in spirit, doing exploits but who got entangled with women.  We could say was defiled with women.  Notice in Revelation chapter 14, “These were not defiled with women.”  Scripture says, “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.”  And so Samson knew he had sinned grievously.  And he paid a big price – even to the loss of his sight.  He cried out to God and went through his Day of Atonement.  And guess what?  His hair began to grow!  And though his physical eyes were blinded, his spiritual eyes were opened and he slew more in his death than in his life.  When we are willing to die to the self-life it will be a gain and not a loss. 

So the whole story of Samson is prophetic.  If you can venture into it, the seven letters to the seven churches are hidden in the life of Samson. Selah!  That means “pause and reflect.” 

Another man that had to go through his Day of Atonement – you will read about it in Zechariah 3.  He was Joshua the High Priest.  And he is clothed with filthy garments and he is accused by Satan before the Throne.  But the Angel of the Lord comes to his rescue.  Who is that?  He is none other than the one mediator between God and man.  Prior to His coming to Bethlehem, He was seen as the Angel of the Lord.  And the Angel of the Lord is a portrait of Him prior to His birth in Bethlehem of the virgin Mary who was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.  The Angel of the Lord is the one who comes to pronounce judgment against Satan:  “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan.” [Zechariah 3:2, Jude 1:9]  And the Angel of the Lord is the one who comes to defend Joshua the High Priest and who commands him to be cleansed and to be clothed. [Zechariah 3].

[Approximately 41 minutes into the audio message.]

Read it for yourself.  And how he was commissioned.  And all of that is so beautiful.  When we see that the High Priest was the best man in the nation.  And if he is clothed with filthy garments, then it was showing the state of the nation.  But if the High Priest is cleansed, then the way I clear for the nation to be cleansed.  We see a foretaste of that.  And we see a foretaste of that on the Day of Atonement. 

But if you want to look at another picture that is Jesus, Joshua of old was a picture of Jesus.  “Joshua” and “Yeshua” are the same name in the Hebrew language.  And Jesus takes on the sin of all mankind at Calvary.  The just for the unjust, the sinless takes the place of the sinful.  But after He rose from the dead, He is clothed with new garments.  That is why He left the grave clothes behind.  So, Joshua was symbolically portraying the Lord taking our sins away and rising from the dead in resurrection glory! And in becoming our High Priest to represent us at the Father’s right hand.  So that is in Zechariah 3 and has tremendous veiled truths which I cannot go into in this short space of time. 

If you want to look up another man who had to go through his Day of Atonement, you see that in the person of Jonah. 

As I have told some of you before, the seven Feasts are hidden in the Book of Jonah.  And the Lord likened Himself, but He said, “A greater than Jonah [Jonas] is here.”  [Matthew 12:41, Luke 11:32].  And in Jonah’s life the whole story of the seven Feasts is veiled.  The spirit of God will unveil that truth to you if you will take time to seek the Lord. 

And Jonah - when he was disappointed that Nineveh was not judged – God had to use an object lesson to teach him.  He was grieving for a tree that offered shade for him in the heat.  And that tree withered and died he was complaining.  He built a booth and was expecting to stay under that booth and see the destruction of Nineveh.  Instead he was annoyed that God spared them.  So God had to show him that if he mourned the loss of a tree, how much more important the lives of those souls in Nineveh who could not tell right from wrong.  Jonah stopped his complaining. 

[Almost 43 minutes into the message.]

Imagine writing a book and showing yourself in a terrible light.  It will not make the “Best Seller list!”  But this is a man who knows what it means to keep quiet when the Lord intervenes.  As the Bible says, “The Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silent before Him.” [Habbakuk 2:20]. Jonah is much too argumentative.  And at times he can become that way.  And when God spoke to him, he had no more to say.  Isn’t it interesting that this book has the introduction, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah.”  How does it end?  With a word of the Lord.  Is the Lord having the last word?  Is He not the Alpha!?  Is He not the Omega?!  Is He not the Beginning?  Is He not the end? Jonah is willing to come to repentance and to acknowledge that God is always right.  Man is always wrong.  “Let God be true and every man a liar.” [Romans 3:4]. But how wonderful to know that our Lord did not need to repent of any sin.  “He was in all parts tempted as we are, yet without sin.” [Hebrews 4:15].  So here is something you can look into as we bring this to a close tonight.  And that is:  the transfiguration of Jesus took place on a certain day.  It is not given in the Scripture, but it has to be revealed to us.  I will venture to say to you, because that with an important event in the life of the Lord, and because it was the highest point in His every test from the world, the flesh, and the devil.  On the mount, by the way.  He is not transfigured in a plain or in a valley.  Where is he transfigured?  On a mountain.  This is so awesome an event!  Only three men were chosen by Him to see it!  And as I have set before you, all the end-time events are hidden in the Transfiguration of Jesus!  Did you hear that?  May I repeat it again?  May I repeat it again?  We are wrestling with how things will end and what will take place and what will not take place.  And the Transfiguration [Matthew 17, Mark 9] is described by Peter in these words:  “We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you” – two words – “the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 1:16].  So the Transfiguration links with the poor and coming of our Lord.  But the word “coming” is not a once for all coming and all of that is hidden in the Transfiguration. [Matthew 17, Mark 9].  It is my conviction that took place on the Day of Atonement.  Was not the High Priest clothed in white?  What happened to Jesus’ garments?  “They were exceeding white”!  And they “shone.”  Think about it.  [In that situation of the Transfiguration], He had a choice, would He go back to the Father now that He had a body of glory?  Or will He leave the mountain and descend all the way to Calvary?  Are you glad tonight that He chose to come down the mountain to die for you and me? 

So, what are we to see on this mountain?  We see a Baptism of Glory to prepare Him for the Baptism of Suffering on the cross.  That is a powerful statement you will need which you will need to hear and to apply.  I will repeat it.  He received the Baptism of Glory to prepare Him for the Baptism of Suffering on the cross.  When you read what He went through on the cross, you realize that no human being can survive that as He did.  And there was no need for Him to confess any sin – because He is sinless!  And as you study the events of the records given in the three Synoptic Gospels, there is much to learn.  And we can say, up that mount Jesus is the Ark of glory.  Jesus is transfigured.  He is the Holy of Holies – that natural temple.

[Approximately minute 46 in audio messag].

While the Temple of Herod did not have the glory, did not have the Ark.  Now you see the true Ark and the true glory.  How amazing!  What is taking place?  He is clothed in white to lay down His life for us at the cross and take it up again in resurrection.  Because the veil of the Temple was rent in twain when He died on the cross.  That was the only day the High Priest had access to the Holy of Holies clothed in white.  And that is Jesus on Resurrection Day taking His blood within the veil and making atonement for us in the heavens and descending that same day to be handled and touched and to encourage the grieving ones who did not fully understand why He had to die.

So Jesus in His transfiguration is telling us volumes.  Well, we cannot understand all of that, beloved, in a short course of several minutes or 10 months.  The things of God are very deep, but we humans think we can go through this and go through that and we have got it all figured out.  We have a lot yet to figure out.  So I keep telling you that the Transfiguration event took place on the Day of Atonement and it was Jesus getting ready to offer Himself as both priest and sacrifice.  That is why Moses and Elijah spoke with Him concerning His EXODUS on the cross.  But it was not a defeat.  It was glorious victory in His death as well as in His resurrection, as well as in His ascension.

So this Day of Atonement has many lessons to teach us.  I am simply giving you a few.  Is the Lord saying to us today that we must go through all these dealings of God?  In the previous Feasts, leading up to this one, where every idol in us is broken down, where everything unclean is removed from us.  Where are we fully sold out to God for Him to complete His sanctifying, purifying, purging work in us so we can be changed fully within and then be ready for the seventh Feast which is the Feast of Glory.  And the Feast of Joy.  And because there is so much in this feast, we cannot cover it all in one lesson or two.  I will leave you to search out the matter and may God bless you for listening tonight and may we be touched afresh by His Spirit.  And we celebrate the Feast in the power of God’s spirit.  Not as a ritual but in obedience to the Lord.  And He will refresh us – as the Bible speaks of the Lord sending us “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.”  And the word “times” has reference to the Feasts.  So we know the times a flow with the times.  We can look to God to add special blessing on His people. 

[Sharon Bolan speaking:  Thank you all for tuning in tonight.  I know this is a powerful message and it is going to take some time to digest it.  I would suggest that everyone search out the Scriptures for yourself and study it because there is much yet to be uncovered.  The Lord bless you all.  Thank you again for tuning in tonight. … God bless you all. Have a good night.

____ End of recorded message.