For months, you have asked (or been asked) about Feast of Tabernacles destinations in practically every Sabbath conversation. You have made plans with friends attending the same site as you. Anticipation is building. The Feast nears!
Seeing friends and doing fun stuff make the Feast an annual highlight. But you must stop and think about why you keep the Feast.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Proverbs 29:18). As with so many other aspects of God’s way of life, the reason for the Feast season comes down to vision and law. God’s loyal people keep the Feast because it imparts a spectacular future vision—and simply because God commands it.
The Vision
A major part of our Feast observance is living in temporary dwellings known as tabernacles or “booths” (Leviticus 23:42). Living in a non-permanent residence such as a hotel during the Feast reminds us that we are just “strangers and pilgrims” in this present evil world, longing for a better world to come (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:8-10). While we live in this world, we must not be of this world (John 17:11, 14). God commands us to come out of Babylon, which represents the spiritually filthy ways of Satan’s world (Revelation 18:4).
As a godly teenager, you are required to live a vastly different way of life from your peers in the world! Your lifestyle should be a clear picture of the Millennium that God’s people envision at the Feast.
During the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on Earth, all mankind still living after the nightmarish Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord will finally have a chance to be taught by their Creator. “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:1-2).
After trying and failing for 6000 years to discover a way of life that brings contentment, safety, and prosperity, mankind will be eager to learn from the one true God in the World Tomorrow!
Are you similarly eager to learn from God at the Feast? Approximately one-fifth of all Church services instruction each year is delivered to us during the Feast! Take detailed notes. Soak it all in, and see how it can change your life like it soon will for the vast majority of mankind now dwelling in darkness. Resist the urge to prioritize socializing and activities above God’s truth at the Feast.
Only a government of perfect God Beings can establish world peace and solve all world problems in the near future. “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever” (verses 3-5).
The late educator Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like: “See, now, a glimpse into a world of no illiteracy, no poverty, no famine and starvation, into a world where crime decreases rapidly, people learn honesty, chastity, human kindness, and happiness—a world of peace, prosperity, abundant well-being.”
You should be able to catch a glimpse of this utopia at your Feast site. Notice your pleasant surroundings and the many smiling faces. God’s Church today is preparing to introduce a superior way of life to this dying world!
The World Tomorrow, pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles, will be a world free from fear. It will be a world where even the animals are peaceful: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9).
What a wonderful world that will be! What a vision God gives to us at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Law
Besides keeping the Feast to receive future vision, we also do it to obey God. “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein” (Leviticus 23:34-36).
God’s command to keep the Feast is in effect forever (verse 41). He couldn’t have been clearer about His expectations for ancient Israel regarding this festival. The same expectations still apply today.
Even in the World Tomorrow, all nations will be expected to observe the Feast: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16-19).
The same is true of us today. God has revealed the need to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and we must follow through to escape punishment. Rebellion is not a viable option.
But the Feast command is not a negative one at all! God expects us to rejoice and to cause others to rejoice at the Feast (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Consider what you can give at the Feast, even as a poor teenager, to cause joy: your time, service, an invitation to dinner, even a smile, hug, or friendly conversation.
True Education executive editor Joel Hilliker wrote in the October 2005 Philadelphia News:
[T]ry taking a king-priest approach to all the people at the Feast.
Just take the brethren in one at a time. Whoever you are speaking to, focus all your attention on that person. Make that person feel important. Radiate warmth and affection for them. Try to remember their name! Concentrate when they say it, and repeat it so you don’t forget it.
But go beyond just the name—get to know them. Add them to your prayer list. Know what is going on in their life. Listen to them. Treat that person like royalty! …
Young people, how good are you at talking to adults? Branch out from that small group of teens. Maybe it will feel a little awkward at first, but make a goal to talk to an older person at each Church service.
Proverbs 29:18 unlocks the two-part reason for the Feast season: to receive vision, and to obey God. Vision and law together are an unstoppable force! May the Feast vision motivate you to strive for perfect obedience as the wonderful World Tomorrow draws nearer by the day. Your time to impart vision and law to mankind will be here in a flash.