Feast of Dedication (Feast of Lights)

“The feast of dedication was instituted in the days of Judas Maccabaeus to commemorate the dedication of the new altar of burnt-offering after the profanation of the Temple and the old altar by Antiochus Epiphanes. The feast began on the 25th Chisleu, the anniversary of the profanation in 168 B.C. and the dedication in 165 B.C., and lasted eight days, during which no fast or mourning for any calamity or bereavement was allowed. It was kept like the Feast of Tabernacles with great gladness and with the bearing of the branches of palms and of other trees. There was also a general illumination, from which circumstance the feast got the name of the Feast of Lights. (Jos. Ant. 12.7.7) The Jews attempted to stone Jesus when He was walking in the Temple in Solomon’s porch during this feast. (John 10:23)” (Watson, The Cambridge Companion to the Bible, “The Antiquities of the Bible,” p. 416)

“This feast was instituted to commemorate the cleansing of the Temple after its defilement by Antiochus Epiphanes … Its institution is recorded in 1 Macc. 4:52-59. Established by Judas Maccabaeus, it was kept on the 25th of the winter month Chisleu, December, and lasted eight days. It was celebrated nearly in the same manner as the Feast of Tabernacles—the offering of many sacrifices, the carrying of branches of trees, and other rejoicings. It is mentioned only once in the Canonical Scriptures, John 10:22.” (A Selection of Helps to the Study of the Bible, Oxford University Press)

Feast of Passover (Unleavened Bread)

“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of the unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days.” (Lev. 23:5,6)

“The Passover, which was the most solemn of the three festivals . . . was kept for seven days, from the evening which closed the fourteenth to the end of the twenty-first of the first month of the sacred year, Abib or Nisan (April). The Paschal Lamb was eaten on the first evening, and unleavened bread throughout the week, and the first and the last days (the fifteenth and twenty-first) were holy convocations … Its first institution in Egypt, and its second celebration before Sinai. (Num. 9:5) It was slain in each house, and its blood was sprinkled on the door-posts; the supper was eaten by all members of the family, clean and unclean, standing and in haste, and without singing; and there were no days of holy convocation, from the nature of the case, though their future observance was named in the original law (Exodus 12). But the ‘Perpetual Passover,’ as arranged by the law and by later usage, the Paschal Lamb was selected any time up to the day of the supper (Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:7-9) … the supper was eaten only by men (Exod. 23:17; Deut. 16:16), and they must be ceremonially clean (Num. 9:6-14—Those who were unclean or on a journey were permitted to keep the ‘Little Passover’ a month later … ); they sat or reclined at the feast, which they ate without haste (Matt. 26:20; Mark 14:17; Luke 22:14), with various interesting ceremonies, and with the accompaniment of the Hallel, or singing of Psalms 113-118 (Isa. 30:29; Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26).

“In the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of Exodus there are not only distinct references to the observance of the festival in future ages (see Exod. 12:2, 14,24-27,42; 13:2,5,8-10), but there are several injunctions which were evidently not intended for the first Passover, and which indeed could not possibly have been observed. In the later notices of the festival in the books of the law, there are particulars added which appear as modifications of the original institution. (Lev. 23:10-14; Num. 28:16-25; Deut. 16:1-6) Hence it is not without reason that the Jewish writers have laid great stress on the distinction between ‘the Egyptian Passover’ and ‘the Perpetual Passover.’ The peculiarities of the Egyptian Passover, which are pointed out by the Jewish writers, are the selection of the lamb on the tenth day of the month, the sprinkling of the blood on the lintels and door-posts, the use of hyssop in sprinkling, the haste in which the meal was eaten, and the restriction of the abstinence from unleavened bread to a single day … both men and women were then required to partake, but subsequently the command was given only to men. (Exod. 23:17; Deut. 16:16) Neither the Hallel nor any hymn was sung, as was required in later times in accordance with Isa. 30:29; there were no days of holy convocation, and the lambs were not slain in the consecrated place.” (Smith, Old Testament History, ppg. 260, 261)

“The Passover Feast, in commemoration of the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt; typical of the deliverance of Spiritual Israel from the bondage of sin and Satan; and typical also of the ultimate deliverance of those who love righteousness, and desire to serve the Lord, from Satan’s bondage, by his complete overthrow during the Millennium.” (R2379:6)

“The Feast of the Passover, celebrated every year for seven days, began with the fifteenth day of the first month. It celebrated in a general way the deliverance of the people of Israel from the bondage of Egypt—but particularly the passing over, or sparing alive, of the first-born of that nation during the plague of death which came upon the Egyptians, and which, as the last of the plagues, finally compelled them to release the Israelites from their compulsory servitude. The passing over of the first-born of Israel became the precursor of the liberation of the whole nation of Israel, and their passing in safety over the Red Sea into freedom from the bondage of Egypt.” (F457)

“Following the apostle’s indication, we see clearly that Israel according to the flesh typified the whole people of God—all who shall ultimately become his people, down to the close of the Millennial age; that the Egyptians represented the opponents of the people of God, Pharaoh, their ruler, representing Satan, the prince of evil and darkness; and Pharaoh’s servants and horsemen representing fallen angels and men who have associated or who will associate themselves with Satan as opponents of the Lord and his people—the New Creation, and in general the household of faith . . . The entire race of Adam is in bondage to sin and death, and their only hope is in God and in the antitypical Moses, who he has promised shall deliver his people in his appointed time—bringing them across the Red Sea—representing the Second Death, in which Satan and all who affiliate or sympathize with him and his evil course shall be everlastingly destroyed, as was typified in the overwhelming of Pharaoh and his hosts in the literal Red Sea.” (F458,459)

“Only the church of the firstborn, the household of faith, the consecrated, are spared or passed over through divine mercy, through the merit of Christ’s sacrifice, during this Gospel age. Nevertheless the divine plan does not end with the deliverance of ‘the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven’ and who shall share with Christ in ‘his resurrection’—the first, or chief resurrection. The appropriation of the merit of Christ first to the church is merely an incidental feature of the divine plan.” (R4555)

“The Passover was not for all the people, but only for the first-born. This symbolized, therefore, the work of Christ for the church of this Gospel age, which is elsewhere designated the ‘church of the first-born.’ Evidently the church has no share in her own deliverance, which is entirely a work of grace and love divine. As the passing over of the first-born of Israel led to the making of the Law Covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai, so the passing over of the church of the first-born during this Gospel age leads to the inauguration of the New Covenant for the blessing of natural Israel and the world, Moses, representing The Christ, Head and body.” (R4335)

“The Passover Lamb found its antitype in our Lord alone. This is in harmony with the words, ‘Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast.’ (1 Cor. 5:7,8) The Passover Lamb was prepared whole, not a bone being broken. It thus represented our Lord alone, and not his ‘members,’ the church.” (R4335)

“The Passover lamb did not represent Jesus the Head and the church his body. It represented specifically our Lord Jesus, ‘The Lamb of God.’ It was prophesied of our Lord that not a bone of him should be broken. And the same was commanded respecting the Passover lamb … The Passover lamb and its blood affected, preserved, ‘passed over,’ the firstborn ones only, representatives of the church of the firstborns only. The deliverance of the others is no part of the Passover picture.” (R4384)

“The death of that lamb, which typified the death of Jesus, was therefore not for all the people, but merely for the firstborns who were passed over ‘in that night.’ The ‘household of faith’ are Scripturally represented as ‘the church of the firstborns’ and that night typified this Gospel age, when gross darkness covers the earth and will continue to cover it until the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his beams will arise, ushering in the Millennial day. Then there will be a general deliverance of all Israelites from bondage to Egypt, the world. In other words, when the Millennial morning shall be ushered in, the passed-over church will alone have been spared or passed over or been delivered from death by the efficacy of the blood of the Lamb. However, the general deliverance of the people resulted, and so deliverance will come to all who will accept it during the Millennium. Only the church are being passed over now. The general deliverance of the world will be in order soon. That deliverance could not in God’s order take place with- out first the passing over of the firstborn.” (R4492)

“The whole world is reckoned as already dead—because under sentence of death through Adam; and unless they eat (assimilate and appropriate by faith) the flesh (sacrificed humanity) of the Son of man, they have no life and can have no life. (John 6:53) And those who do so ‘eat’ are said to pass from death unto life now, reckonedly, but the actual making alive of such, as stated in our text, will be in the Resurrection morning. And so it will be with the world in general during the Millennium: they will be awakened by the great Redeemer in order that each may have the offer of everlasting life, on condition of becoming Christ’s, accepting his gracious work for them in the past and his regulations for their future. Thus they may ‘eat’ his flesh— appropriating his merit and receiving thereby his strength and life. They will be accounted or reckoned as beginning to live from the time that they begin to ‘eat,’ but they will not be fully alive, perfect, until the close of the Millennial age of trial or testing.” (R3132)

“The apostle adds, ‘For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show forth the Lord’s death till he come.’ (1 Cor. 11:26) This shows us that the disciples clearly understood that thenceforth to all of the Lord’s followers the annual Passover celebration must have a new meaning: the broken loaf representing the Lord’s flesh, the cup representing his blood … Faith in the ransom continues to find its illustration in this simple memorial, ‘till he come’—not only until our Lord’s parousia, or presence, in the harvest or end of this age, but until during his parousia one by one his faithful ones have been gathered to him, beyond the ‘Veil,’ there to participate to a still fuller degree, and, as our Lord declared, partake of it ‘anew in the Kingdom.’ (F465)

“There can be no doubt from the account that our Lord and his disciples ate the Passover Supper on the day preceding the one on which the Jews in general ate it; for in John’s Gospel we read (18:28; 19:14) that when our Lord was before Pilate in the Judgment Hall, which was after he had eaten the Passover, the Pharisees, his accusers, had not yet eaten it—nor would they eat it until the evening after his crucifixion.” (R2771)

“The Jews computed their days from evening to evening; i.e., from the set- ting of the sun of one day to the setting again on the next day …

“The day was again divided into two equal portions, from the rising of the sun until noon was the morning, and after that, until the sun had gone down, was the evening … Again, the morning and the evening were divided each into two equal parts, for the regulation of the morning and evening sacrifices and prayers.

“The morning sacrifice and prayer was allowed to be offered at any time between the rising of the sun and the third hour, i.e., 9 a.m., and the evening sacrifice and prayer … at any time during the first evening. Hebrew, erev katon, the short or lesser evening, i.e., from noon until ninth hour, or 3 p.m.; and from that time until sun setting, is called in the Hebrew erev gadol, i.e., the greater evening. It was between these two evenings the paschal lamb was to be slain, and so was Jesus, the antitype, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world as recorded.” (R2953:5*, letter from J. Gronowsky)

“And they shall eat the flesh in the night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.” (Exod. 12:8)

“IN THE NIGHT”

The “night-time of this Gospel age”—before the Millennial morning dawns, and its Sun of Righteousness arises. (F460)

“ROAST WITH FIRE”

Reference here is undoubtedly to the trials and trying experiences which gave to Jesus that merit which, to those privileged to journey on to “Canaan,” would constitute a nourishing, a sustaining “food.”

“AND UNLEAVENED BREAD”

The “truth”—“the precious promises which come to us from the heavenly Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. ‘This is the bread that came down from heaven, whereof if a man eat he shall never die.’ (John 6:50)” (R2918) This “truth” (as embodied in Jesus, who declared, “I am … the truth”—John 14:6) was pure and unadulterated—therefore “unleavened” —“without the corruption (leaven) of human theory, blight, ambitions, selfishness.” (F464)

“WITH BITTER HERBS”

The trials and experiences, which Jehovah God ordains, shall whet our appetites the more for the “roast lamb”—the “bitter experiences and trials which the Lord prepares for us, and which help to wean our affections from earthly things and to give us increased appetite to feed upon the Lamb and the unleavened Bread of Truth.” (R5870)

“Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.” (Exod. 12:9)

“EAT NOT OF IT RAW”

The life of Jesus is not to be appropriated by any, apart from his trials and experiences—i.e., there isn’t the necessary nourishment in the appropriation of Jesus’ life as a mere teacher of ideals.

“NOR SODDEN … WITH WATER”

Water here does not refer to nor represent the Truth; but it is intended to reflect that very human tendency to soften, to water down, to wash down, to swallow without mastication, those aspects of the life of Christ Jesus which bear most strongly the impress of his consecration unto death. Such is not the way to “eat” the flesh of the Son of Man.

“BUT ROAST WITH FIRE”

In full recognition of the fact that Jesus himself was perfected by the things he suffered. (Heb. 5:8,9; 1 Pet. 4:1,2)

“HIS HEAD WITH HIS LEGS”

Also the mind which “was … in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5), and the manner of his walk, are to be taken into account in this appropriation.

“AND THE PURTENANCE THEREOF”

Everything, all the life and death, of this Lamb of God are to be appropriated by those whose privilege it is to be “passed over” in this “night time”—“night of death”—the Gospel age.

“And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth until the morning ye shall burn with fire.” (Exod. 12:10)

The “morning” here typified is that of the Millennial day, in which there no longer will be the opportunity of becoming the “firstborns” to be passed over in the “night time.” The “high calling of God” will have ceased. For the “firstborns,” then, this “night time” of the Gospel age is the “acceptable time … the day of [their] salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2), and that wherein they attain unto the divine nature—immortality. (2 Pet. 1:4)

“In the beginning of the Millennial age, those who now walk the narrow way will have gained the great prize for which they ran, immortality … With the end of the Gospel age, the narrow way to immortality will close, because the select ‘little flock’ that it was designed to test and prove will have been completed. ‘Now is the accepted … time’—the time in which sacrificers, coming in the merit of Jesus and becoming dead with him, are acceptable to God—a sacrifice of sweet odor. Death … as a sacrifice … will be acceptable and rewarded only during the Gospel age.” (A212, 213)

It is this that God intended to be here reflected. It is, however, hardly possible that the Israelites were able to gauge their capacities so well that nothing of the Passover lamb was left over; and so, that the type might be true, whatever did remain until the next morning had to be burned with fire —destroyed; it was not to be eaten.

But after the Gospel age is fully ended, and the Millennial age has begun, another picture presents itself. The whole world of mankind—an antitypical Israel—will be in “an acceptable time”—the time in which their salvation will be accomplished—i.e., they will have the opportunity of becoming identified with Christ Jesus (not in the same sense as the Church is now, but to be found in him). (F698) With the end of the Millennial age will also come the time for the antitypical Pharaoh, Satan, and his hosts to be ever- lastingly destroyed—when “Israel” (the world of mankind) shall have “eaten” (appropriated) “his flesh,” and will have been “passed over” the “Red Sea” (the Second Death).

The nation (of Israel) through its representatives, the rulers, instead of receiving him, rejected him, and thus identified themselves for the time with the Adversary. Nevertheless, by God’s grace, the blood of the Law Covenant is efficacious for the house of Jacob also, and upon all who desire harmony with him.

“Inasmuch as the law provided that none of the lamb must remain over to be eaten on the morrow, it seems to signify, typically, that the privilege of participation in the Lord’s sacrifice is meant by the eating, and that this fellowship or communion in sufferings is confined to the Gospel age. This is intimated also by the Apostle.—1 Cor. 10:16,17” (R2116)

“For just as all men die by virtue of their descent from Adam, so all such as are in un- ion with Christ will be made alive again.” (1 Cor. 15:22, Williams’ Translation)

“Adam’s race was in him actually and legally, without any choice or volition—in him by nature. Those in Christ come into him by grace—individually and on conditions. Under the divine arrangement the redemption of Adam from condemnation of death will ultimately affect all of his race, to the extent of releasing them from the sentence of death, and to the further extent of furnishing them the light, the knowledge and the opportunity of coming into Christ; but it will be only those who will avail themselves of this privilege, and come into Christ, that will be made alive, in the full, proper sense of that word—lifted up out of death completely … the world, awakened from the ‘sleep’ of death and brought to a knowledge of the Truth during Millennium, will be privileged to come unto him, as their ‘father’ by consecration (Isa. 9:6); and if they abide in this relationship it will mean their development to full restitution of human perfection—to all that was lost in the first Adam. Thus all in Christ will be brought to perfection of life— ‘made alive’ in the absolute and complete sense.” (F698, 699)

“The blessing of life in its full, everlasting, complete sense is coming to ‘all in Christ’ and to none others … in the time of his presence the world of mankind will be granted an opportunity to see and to hear and to accept of divine mercy in him—not by becoming the bride, for that class will have then been filled, but they will be granted the privilege of coming into relationship with the Christ as children, receiving of his life, being begotten again to restored life—to a restitution of all that was lost in the first Adam and restored in the second Adam.” (R3927)

“The world in general is not in this danger; they are still under the original condemnation, and hence not subject to the second condemnation or the second death. This type marks clearly what all the Scriptures so forcefully express, namely, that the present is the trial time of the church, as the Apostle expresses it, ‘If we sin wilfully after that we have received a knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking forward to of judgment that would devour us as adversaries of God.’ ” (R3995)

Feast of Pentecost (Feast of Weeks)

“And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete; even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days.” (Lev. 23:15,16)

“The Pentecost, or harvest feast, or Feast of Weeks, may be regarded as a supplement to the Passover; and accordingly its common Jewish name is Asartha, the concluding assembly. It lasted only for one day; but the modern Jews extend it over two. The people, having at the Passover presented before God the first sheaf of the harvest, departed to their homes to gather it in, and then returned to keep the harvest feast before Jehovah. From the sixteenth of Nisan seven weeks were reckoned inclusively, and the next or fiftieth day was the Day of Pentecost, which fell on the sixth of Sivan (about the end of May). (Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:15-22; Num. 28:26-31; Deut. 16:9-12) The intervening period included the whole of the grain harvest, of which the wheat was the latest crop. Its commencement is also marked as from the time when ‘thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.’

“The Pentecost was the Jewish harvest home, and the people were especially exhorted to rejoice before Jehovah with their families, their servants, the Levite within their gates, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, in the place chosen by God for His name, as they brought a free-will offering of their hand to Jehovah their God. (Deut. 16:10,11) That offering of course in- cluded the Chagigah; but the great feature of the celebration was the presentation of the two loaves, made from the first-fruits of the wheat-harvest, and leavened, that is, in the state fit for ordinary food. In this point, as contrasted with the unleavened bread of the Passover, we see the more homely and social nature of the feast; while its bounty to the poor is connected with the law which secured them plenty of gleanings. (Lev. 23:22) With the loaves two lambs were offered as a peace-offering; and all were waved before Jehovah, and given to the priests; the loaves, being leavened, could not be offered on the altar. The other sacrifices were, a burnt-offering of a young bullock, two rams, and seven lambs, with a meat- and drink-offering, and a kid for a sin-offering. (Lev. 23:18,19) Till the pentecostal loaves were offered, the produce of the harvest might not be eaten, nor could any other first-fruits be offered. The whole ceremony was the completion of that dedication of the harvest to God, as its giver, and to whom both the land and the people were holy, which was begun by the offering of the wave-sheaf at the Passover. The interval is still regarded as a religious season.” (Smith, Old Testament History, p. 264)

“Pentecost was a notable day in the Jewish calendar. It marked the fiftieth day in the harvest—after the gathering of the first ripe sheaf. Our Lord in his glorious resurrected condition was the antitype of that sheaf, the First- fruit of God in the great plan of redemption. The first forty days … were used in giving occasional lessons to the disciples—helping them over the difficulties of their position, getting them properly started, with proper faith in the resurrection, to make a good witness and to gather out the Lord’s jewels from amongst men. But when Jesus left them at the end of forty days, he instructed them not to begin their ministry at once, but to wait until they would be endued with power from on high—by the Holy Spirit.

“Accordingly, they waited ten days, and then their waiting was rewarded by the outpouring of his Spirit upon them in the upper room on the fiftieth day, Pentecost.

“These annual gatherings at Jerusalem were directly commanded by the Lord through Moses, and were observed by all the Jews who remained loyal to God and his Word. If they moved into other countries and were located there for business reasons, they nevertheless came regularly every year to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. It was these reverential people who were especially blessed at Pentecost. For although some of the number tried to explain away the phenomenon by saying that the apostles had evidently drunk too freely of grape juice, new wine, nevertheless, apparently the majority of those who heard were provoked with such an interpretation and took more readily to what the apostles said, and realized in time that they were telling the same glorious message of the love of God, though telling it in various languages, so that all present might understand.

“The figure of a temple is variously used in respect to the church. Each Christian is spoken of as being a temple of the Holy Spirit.

“The thought is that as God in olden times was represented in the Tabernacle by the Shekinah glory of the Most Holy, and was also represented in the literal temple of Jerusalem, so he is represented now in all those who are begotten of his Holy Spirit, and will be represented further by all who walk in harmony with their spirit-begetting and continue to abide in the Lord’s love.” (R5830:4,5)

Feast of Purim

“And they all ordained with a common decree in no wise to let this day pass undistinguished, but to mark with honor the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (it is called Adar in the Syrian tongue), the day before the day of Mordecai.” (2 Maccabees 15:36)

“The Feast of Purim (called Mordecai’s Day, 2 Macc. 15:36) was instituted by Mordecai and confirmed by Esther to commemorate the overthrow of Haman and the failure of his plots against the Jews. (Esther 9:20-32) The name Purim (lots) was given in mockery of the lots which Haman had cast to secure a day of good omen for his enterprise (Esther 3:7). The feast was held on the 14th and 15th of Adar (the twelfth month); the 13th of Adar, which was originally the feast to commemorate Nicanor’s death (1 Macc. 7:49; 2 Macc. 15:36), afterwards became a fast, called the Fast of Esther, in preparation for the feast. During the feast the whole book of Esther was read in the synagogues, and all Israelites, men, women, children and slaves were bound to be present. The reading was accompanied by clapping hands, stamping feet and clamorous curses on Haman and the Jews’ enemies, and blessings on Mordecai, Esther, etc. The feast was celebrated with great joy, shewn by distributing gifts. It was the Christmas of Jewish feasts.” (Watson, The Cambridge Companion to the Bible, “The Antiquities of the Bible,” p. 415)

“Haman, one of the nobles of the land and a favorite with the king, became incensed against Mordecai because the latter would not show him as much respect as others of the people. His pride excited his animosity to such an extent that he secured the king’s decree against all Jews everywhere throughout the civilized world under the control of the Persian government. The edict was sweepingly broad, and directed the people in every quarter of the Persian empire to destroy, to kill, to cause to perish, all Jews both young and old, both little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. This commandment of the king was written out in various languages of the various people of the realm, signed with the king’s seal and sent out by special messengers, a year being allowed to give ample time for the information to reach even the most distant quarters of the realm; and as an incitement to the doing of the work thoroughly, those who killed the Jews were given the privilege of taking all their possessions. Haman felt that he now had accomplished a great revenge against the Jew who stood at the gate. Mordecai and all the Jews, on learning of the edict, were of course greatly troubled. They had but a year to live. We may safely assume that such an experience as this would do more to draw the hearts of the Jews to the Lord in reverence and supplication than anything else that could have occurred to them. They fasted and prayed, in sackcloth and ashes.

“Mordecai, evidently trusting in the Lord that the decree could never be accomplished, called the queen’s attention to the fact that quite possibly she had come into her present position of honor and privilege for the very purpose of staying this evil against her people. His suggestion was that quite likely God’s providence had brought her to that place to be the divine agency for preserving the Jews from the evil malignity of their enemies in power. But he added that if she failed to respond to these opportunities, to manifest loyalty to the Lord’s people, failed to risk something on their behalf, it would mean her own loss anyway shortly; and that he believed that God would provide some means for the deliverance of the people in general. It was her opportunity, it was her duty to act, and the responsibility he cast upon her.

“The latter (Haman) had been grieving over what he considered Mordecai’s insult to him in not bowing to him, and feeling very confident of his influence with the King he had already erected a gallows in the court of his own house, purposing to have Mordecai hanged thereon by the king’s decree before another day. He had come to the palace for the very purpose of requesting Mordecai’s life when he was requested for by the king, and asked to suggest what would be suitable honor to be done to a man whom the king desired to honor. Thinking that he was the person to be honored he suggested the king’s horse, the king’s robe, the king’s crown, and one of the king’s chief men to lead the horse throughout the city proclaiming in a loud voice that the king was thus honoring the one who rode. To his surprise the king directed him to carry out his program with Mordecai as the honored man, and himself, the king’s representative leading the horse and proclaiming the King’s favor. The king’s word could not be questioned, and the latter was carried out in every detail, but Haman covered with shame and mortification, returned to his own house for consolation from his friends for his wounded pride.

“In the afternoon the messenger arrived to escort him to the banquet with the king and queen. Thither the unhappy man went, little surmising what more there was in store for him. In the midst of the banquet the king again pressed the queen to know the important thing she had to request. Her time had come, and she besought the king for her own life and the life of her people, telling him that their enemies had inveighed him against them for their utter destruction. The king, evidently failing to comprehend, asked who was the wicked person who had thus plotted to kill his queen and all her family connections, and she replied, This wicked Haman, who is with us at the banquet board. The king was perturbed in mind and walked from the banquet room into the garden to meditate what course he should pursue.

“Meantime Haman perceived that everything was going wrong with him, that his life was in jeopardy, and that only the queen’s word could spare his life; and so when the king left the apartment Haman made every appeal to the queen for her forgiveness and intercession on his behalf. In his frenzy of fear he forgot the circumstances and surroundings, and was partly stretched upon the couch upon which the queen was reclining at the banquet, when the king reentered, and noting the situation, his wrath knew no bounds. Ascertaining about the gallows he commanded that Haman should be hanged at once upon the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Hamon’s estate was conferred upon the queen by the royal decree, and then the queen explaining that Mordecai, who had saved the king’s life, was her uncle, requested the royal interposition to counteract the effects of the previous edict for the extermination of the Jews.

“When we note the divine providential care over God’s typical people it increases our faith and trust as his spiritual children … Likewise we reason that if God exercised his providential care in the interests of the typical people he is both able and willing to do as much and more for his spiritual Israel—Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile—those who have entered into covenant relationship with him and are seeking to walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.” (R3656:6-R3658)

Feast of Tabernacles (Ingathering)

“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.” (Lev. 23:34)

“The Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Ingathering, completed the cycle of the festivals of the year, and was celebrated with great rejoicings. It was at once a thanksgiving for the harvest, and a commemoration of the time when the Israelites dwelt in tents during their passage through the wilderness. (Exod. 23:16; Lev. 23:43) It fell in autumn, when the whole of the chief fruits of the ground, the corn, the wine, and the oil, were gathered in. (Exod. 23:16; Lev. 23:39; Deut. 16:13-15) Its duration was strictly only seven days. (Deut. 16:13; Ezek. 45:25) But it was followed by a day of holy convocation, distinguished by sacrifices of its own, which was sometimes spoken of as an eighth day. (Lev. 23:36; Neh. 8:18) It lasted from the fifteenth till the twenty-second of the month of Tisri.

“During the seven days the Israelites were commanded to dwell in booths or huts (tabernacles) formed of the boughs of trees with thick foliage. (Neh. 8:15,16) The command in Leviticus 23:40 is said to have been misunderstood, that the Israelites, from the first day of the feast to the seventh, carried in their hands ‘the fruit’ (as in the margin of the A.V., not branches, as in the text) ‘of goodly trees, with branches of palm-trees, boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook.’

“The burnt-offerings of the Feast of Tabernacles were by far more numerous than those of any other festival. There were offered on each day two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid for a sin-offering. But what was most peculiar was the arrangement of the sacrifices of bullocks, in all amounting to seventy. Thirteen were offered on the first day, twelve on the second, eleven on the third, and so on, reducing the number by one each day til the seventh, when seven bullocks only were offered. (Num. 29:12-38) When the feast of Tabernacles fell on a Sabbatical year, portions of the law were read each day in public to men, women, children, and strangers. (Deut. 31:10-13)

“There are two particulars in the observance of the Feast of Tabernacles which appear to be referred to in the New Testament, but are not noticed in the Old. These were the ceremony of pouring out some water of the Pool of Siloam, and the display of some great lights in the court of the women.” (Smith, Old Testament History, ppg. 265, 266)

“The most joyous of all festive seasons in Israel was that of the ‘Feast of Tabernacles.’ It fell on a time of year when the hearts of the people would naturally be full of thankfulness, gladness, and expectancy. All the crops had been long stored; and now all fruits were also gathered, the vintage past, and the land only awaited the softening and refreshment of the ‘latter rain,’ to prepare it for a new crop. It was appropriate that, when the commencement of the harvest had been consecrated by offering the first ripe sheaf of barley, there should now be a harvest feast of thankfulness and gladness unto the Lord. But that was not all. As they looked around on the goodly land, the fruits of which had just enriched them, they must have remembered that by miraculous interposition the Lord their God had brought them to this land and given it them, and that He ever claimed it as peculiarly His own. For the land was strictly connected with the history of the people; and both the land and the history were linked with the mission of Israel. If the beginning of the harvest pointed back to the birth of Israel in their Exodus from Egypt, and forward to the true Passover sacrifice in the future; if the corn harvest was connected with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai in the past, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; the harvest-thanksgiving of the Feast of Tabernacles reminded Israel, on the one hand, of their dwelling in booths in the wilderness, while, on the other hand, it pointed to the final harvest when Israel’s mission should be completed, and all nations gathered unto the Lord.” (Edersheim, The Temple, p. 232)

“And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: and ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish: and their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams, and a several tenth deal to each lamb of the fourteen lambs: and one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot: and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner: and one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering thereof, and their drink offerings. And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish; and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner: and one goat for a sin offering; beside the contin- ual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner: and one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the fifth day nine bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without spot: and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner: and one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the sixth day eight bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner: and one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner: and one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.” (Num. 29:12-34)

This feast is called the “Feast of Tabernacles” in Lev. 23:34 and the “Feast of Ingathering” in Exod. 34:22.

“The fall festival was held in connection with the Day of Atonement and its sacrifices for sins, which typified the better sacrifices of this Gospel age and the ultimate atonement for the sins of the whole world, and the consequent ultimate removal of the curse which still rests upon the world of mankind. The festival was instituted at the time Israel passed from the wilderness life into the land of promise. It commemorated the wilderness life and the entrance into Canaan where they were privileged to enjoy their inheritance and have more substantial dwelling places. It was really the festival of the New Year, and a kind of thanksgiving occasion for the ingathering or harvest of the year—Exod. 23:16; Lev. 23:33-44.” (R3508:6-3509:1)

Bro. Russell wrote two articles on “The Feast of Tabernacles” (R3508 and R3676), but in neither of them did he specifically deal with the matter of the diminution in the number of bullocks in the burnt offerings of these seven days. In one article he does quote quite extensively from the works of Alfred Edersheim and others.

I suggest that Israel here typified the world of mankind during the Millennial and subsequent ages. Israel’s Day of Atonement was but a type of the “better sacrifices” (Heb. 9:23) of this Gospel age which the world of mankind (as an antitypical Israel) will have to appreciate during those ages which follow. It will be recalled that Israel’s firstborns were passed-over on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan) which Bro. Russell suggests corresponds to the passing-over of the real “firstborns” during the “nighttime” of this Gospel age. The general deliverance of the Israelites took place on the 15th of Nisan (Num. 33:3) and this corresponds to that deliverance of the world of mankind in the “morning” of the Millennial “day.”

“The sacrifices offered by the people (Israel—the world) on their own individual account, after the Day of Atonement sacrifices, typified by the general offerings of Israel, belong to the next age.” (T93)

He also says that consecration will also be in order in the next age; but no longer will it be unto death, but unto life, and that “consecration must always be a voluntary presentation of one’s powers, and hence this is represented in some of the sacrifices after the Atonement Day.” (T94)

Among such sacrifices we shall have to consider those offered in connection with the antitypical “feast of tabernacles”— a feast which the world of mankind, as an antitypical Israel, will be commemorating. It will be a most joyous occasion, by way of which the people will show their appreciation of what God has done for them; and will, in gratitude and praise, be emulating the example of that “priesthood” that purchased them (T99) during the Gospel age making their rejoicing during the Millennial age possible.

The love and appreciation rendered unto God by the then Israel—the world of mankind—is also reflected in these burnt-offerings of this anti- typical “feast of tabernacles.”¹

1. Perhaps it should also be noted that here the burnt-offerings of Num. 29:13,16, 17,19,20,22, etc. precede the sin-offerings. The former were “free-will” offerings whereas the latter were “mandatory” offerings.

The bullocks of the burnt-offerings were, in a sense, typical of the “priesthood” (Head and body members) whose dedication to the will of God is reflected in the ritual of Leviticus 8 where only one bullock was a sin-offering and where there was no goat at all! We, the Church, were all accepted in the beloved. (Eph. 1:6) The rams and the lambs of this burnt-offering of the “feast of tabernacles” represented this self-same class who, in the Revelation (14:4) are spoken of as those who follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth!

Now for the diminution of the bullocks from 13 down to 7—one less on each succeeding day—whereas the rams and the lambs remain the same in number throughout the whole period. As suggested, the burnt-offering, being a “free-will” offering, represented the love and appreciation of mankind, as they will endeavor to express it by way of consecration and dedication in emulation of the example set before them by the Church of the Gospel age.

There are really two aspects to love, both of which are evidenced in the true love of any man for his beloved wife. In the earlier days there is considerable romance manifested in this love as evidenced in the giving of bouquets of flowers, boxes of candy, presents, etc., to the object of a man’s affections. However, as the years roll by, much of this romance (in fact, perhaps all of it) may disappear. Will this be because there is now less love then was once evidenced? Of course not! Quite to the contrary. The later manifestations are richer, deeper, and far less subject to variation or change. It isn’t any longer necessary to continually remind her that he still loves her! She KNOWS it by unmistakable evidences of his devotion, without a word being spoken concerning it.

God recognizes this characteristic of human love—He may even have ordained it so—and caused it to be reflected in this beautiful “feast of tabernacles” ritual. The exuberance manifested in the beginning of the feast may seem to have given way to a more sober behavior—the number of bullocks in the burnt-offerings grew less each day. However, note the number of rams and lambs remained unchanged! Here is reflected those deeper aspects of love and appreciation. If they do change, they do so only by growing evermore deeper and deeper (more permanent). Certain aspects of the world’s appreciation of God’s goodness and mercy toward the children of man may seem to have grown less and less as time goes on, but God will be able to see that what does remain is by far the better part of it all.

In the sin-offering, of course, the bullock died. This is true of the antitypical bullock—not only of Christ Jesus, the High Priest, but also of his underpriesthood as well. This was beautifully set forth in the type of Lev. 8:14,15. But the Psalmist David said something about the burnt-offerings which the world of mankind will eventually offer:

“Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.” (Psa. 51:19)

While the priesthood in their consecration, as it were, died to their humanity as represented in the bullock (Leviticus 8), it will be different with the world of mankind in the Millennial age, for the death of their “bullocks”1 will signify the completeness of their consecration; but it will not be “unto death” of their humanity.

“The completeness of consecration was shown by the death of the animal— that is, each member of the race must consecrate his will; but it will be followed neither by the destruction of the human nature (the burning of the flesh outside the camp) nor by taking of the life into a new nature—into the ‘Most Holy.’ ” (T96, 97)

But a lamb-like disposition of meekness and lowliness, and docility, will mark every human being as represented by the rams and the lambs, for as Jesus himself declared, “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold [not of the “little flock” of this Gospel age]: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice [in the Millennium]; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)

Feast of Trumpets

“In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein.” (Lev. 23:24,25)

“The Feast of Trumpets, called in Lev. 23:24, a ‘blowing commemoration’ by trumpets, marked the commencement of the first month of the ‘civil’ year, and was thus a ‘new year’ festival. It was held as a solemn rest-day or Sabbath, on which no work was done.” (The Bible Reader’s Encyclopedia and Concordance, p. 382)

“In Scripture this feast is designated as the ‘memorial blowing,’ (Lev. 23:24), or ‘the day of blowing’ (Num. 29:1), because on that day the trumpets, or … horns, were blown all day long in Jerusalem. It was to be observed as a ‘Sabbath,’ and ‘a holy convocation,’ in which ‘no servile work’ might be done. The prescribed offerings for the day consisted, beside the ordinary morning and evening sacrifices, first of burnt-offerings, but not the sin-offering, of ordinary new moons, with their meat- and drink-offerings, and after that, of another festive burnt-offering of one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs, with their appropriate meat- and drink-offerings, together with ‘one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, to make an atonement for you.’ ” (Edersheim, The Temple, p. 256)

“The ‘Feast of Trumpets’ on the first day of the seventh month … It was a time for the general gathering of the people, the beginning of their civil year, announced by trumpet blowing …

“There is a lesson here for God’s people of today—all who are interested in the welfare of Zion and in the repair of her walls of righteousness. As Nehemiah looked up the genealogies of the priests, it is appropriate for us to recognize the difference between the consecrated, whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, and the unconsecrated, whose names assuredly are not so written, and who therefore cannot be recognized as religious teachers in any sense. So also today our Governor, the Lord Jesus, is search- ing amongst the people and separating to himself those whose names are written—the consecrated—for his kings and priests—a ‘royal priesthood.’ Arrangements are already made for the great antitypical ‘Feast of Trumpets,’ and the beginning of a new civil year or Millennial era for mankind— for all who desire to be the Lord’s people, to hear his word and to obey it. Raised above the people, on a higher plane of being, will be Christ, the great Priest, and his associates, spiritual Israel, to declare the Word of Jehovah, the law of righteousness, the truth; and amongst the people, to teach them and to expound the law to them, will be the ancient worthies, representatives of Israel in the flesh, and the Levites, all who believe, the entire household of faith aside from the elect and then glorified church.

“The blowing of the trumpets announcing the beginning of the antitypical Jubilee year will soon be heard throughout all the world, and the true-hearted will speedily respond. Meantime our great and wise Governor is instructing the royal priesthood, and thus preparing for the great work of the future. The arrangements are all so perfect and so complete that when the declaration comes the people will all hear the word of the Lord ‘distinctly,’ and they will get the ‘sense’ and ‘understanding’ of it. It will no longer be as in the past and at the present time, a din, a Babylon of confused noises, misrepresenting the divine message, and confusing those who desire to know the will of the Lord. The first result of that presentation will be weeping and mourning for sin, but the message of the great Priest and Governor will go forth to the people, to the effect that they need not weep and mourn, because the great sacrifice for sins has already been offered, ‘the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world,’ and that in consequence the Millennial day in which they will be living is not to be a day of mourning but a day of rejoicing, a day of acceptance of divine favor, a day of newness of life and of consecration to the Lord.” (R2531:1,4)

1. The “bullocks” represent their perfect humanities—perfect sacrifices (T96), whereas the “lambs” bespeak their dispositions.