The End of Creation

Dwight A. Pryor

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WWW.JCSTUDIES.COM

“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. Seven days you shall . . . surely rejoice.” (Deuteronomy 16.13-15 NKJV)

“What is the end for which God created the world, and how might we contribute toward that goal?”

Asking this question of ourselves can profoundly impact the way we live. It can reorient our priorities and fill us with a sense of divine purpose in an otherwise mundane life. It can enlarge our understanding of the great salvation we have in Messiah Jesus and transform the way we relate to our Father, the mighty Creator and gracious King of the Universe.

But who ever thinks like this? Who ever takes the time to reflect on such exalted subjects? So busy are we coping with the urgent matters of day-to-day existence that seldom, if ever, do we stop to reflect upon important cosmic questions. So focused are we laboring at our ‘anthills’ and building our ‘barns’ that we rarely stop to “look up!”

There are times we need to get outside our comfortable houses and common routines and lift up our heads to contemplate the awesome wonders of God’s creation. We must give thanks for all His abundant provisions, both material and spiritual. In other words, there are times we need to rejoice with Jesus in the Feast of Tabernacles!

The God of Israel sets apart festal seasons or appointed times for His people to reflect upon the important things of life and to respond appropriately. In the spring of the year we are reminded of His great Redemption wrought in the Passover (Pesach). In the early summer, fifty days later, at Pentecost (Shavu’ot) we are reminded of the great Revelation given by the Holy Spirit first at Mt. Sinai and then on Mt. Zion. And then in the autumn of the year, we are enjoined to rejoice in the goodness of the Creation by celebrating our Creator during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

The three Pilgrim Festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles drew all the men of Israel, including Yeshua and His disciples, up to Jerusalem and the House of the LORD to celebrate. These extraordinary convocations were far more, however, than mere celebrations of agricultural seasons or commemorations of historical events in the life of Israel. They were seasons of intense spiritual opportunity – reminding Israel of important truths about the character and conduct of the LORD their God, and enhancing their relationship with Him.

Tabernacles gets its name from the sukkot (booths) in which families dwelt in their sojourn from Egypt to the Land Promised to Abraham. The journey from slavery to the place of promise and prosperity had to be made in flimsy temporary shelters, with a radical dependence upon God for direction, protection, and provision. One of the lessons we learn from the Feast of Tabernacles is that our real security is found not in bricks and mortar and the things made by our hands, nor in our stored up treasures. The Source and Supply for our life and liberty is the LORD of Hosts! All else, ultimately, is “vanity, vanity.”

The book of Ecclesiastes is read during the week of Sukkot. The final harvest of the season is secured; the barns and vats are full of grain, new wine and oil. At this very moment of prosperity and plenty, the Creator reminds His people that He is the source of their goodness, and that He, not Mammon, is to be their God.

Jewish families construct temporary shelters or sukkot in which to dwell during the seven days of the Festival. They take their meals and even sleep under the tabernacle of God’s covering. They get out of their normal routines and focus on the natural wonders of God’s creation and the spiritual calling of their journey of faith. 

A tabernacle must be made of natural elements and the roof thatched. Sitting under the sukkah, one must be able to look up and see the starry sky, for this is the time to take a “telescopic” view of life. To gaze upon the heavens, the handiwork that declares the glory of an awesome Creator, and to rejoice in His goodness and greatness – this is an essential component to the Feast of Tabernacles.

The goal or telos of the creation – the end for which the world was made – is to manifest God’s Glory. And His glory is never more magnified than when His creatures delight in Him. When we rejoice in our Maker, He is exalted; when we worship the King with joy, fervency and focused attention, He is enthroned in our praises. This is precisely the reason for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. 

Scripture teaches that God has continuing obligations toward his covenant people, Israel. At the end of the age, when “His-story” comes to its final, glorious consummation, it will be to Jerusalem that all the nations will ascend for the great Feast of Tabernacles. [Zechariah 14.16] On that Great Day, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be King over the whole earth. “The LORD will be one, and His name the only name!” [14.9]

This feast has abiding spiritual significance for us as well, in our pilgrimage of faith in Yeshua. As believers in Messiah, the “ends of the ages” already has broken in upon us in the redemption of His blood, the reception of His spirit and the authority and power of His Kingdom. How fitting then that we should celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in His name. We rejoice because already we have seen – and by faith believe that all the ends of the earth shall one day see – the salvation of our God. [Isaiah 52.10]

It is for this reason that believers from around the world will journey up to Jerusalem on October 3-6, 2004, to rejoice with Jesus and fellow Jewish believers in the Feast of Tabernacles. You’re invited!

Dwight A. Pryor is the Founder and President of the Center for
Judaic-Christian Studies in Dayton, Ohio, www.jcstudies.com.