FEAST OF TABERNACLES FOR THE CHURCH

 Feast of Tabernacles for the Church 

Full Harvest and Glory

FEAST OF TABERNACLES -- FEAST OF UNITY

by George H. WARNOCK (written in 1951)

"And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly

trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees,

and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord

your God seven days.... Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all

that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths . . ." (Lev.

23:40,42).

     In the Feast of Tabernacles we have a beautiful picture of

the unity of the Saints. On this notable occasion every Israelite

must leave his place of dwelling, his farm, his flocks, his place

of business--and assemble together in the streets of Jerusalem or

along the highways, and dwell for seven days in the humble little

booths which they were to construct with branches and willows and

boughs of trees. They all had one common purpose in mind, to keep

the Feast of the Lord in its season, and to celebrate the

ingathering of their wines and oils. And if some would fear lest

the enemy would attack their homes during their absence and take

away their property, God promised that obedience to this ritual

would be their safeguard. "Neither shall any man desire thy land,

when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in

the year" (Ex. 34:24).

     If the saints of God could only see the glory of the Feast

of Tabernacles which even now looms before us, they could not

possibly be in doubt or fear concerning their little fenced plots

of sectarianism and division; and they would joyfully assemble

together in the streets of Jerusalem and keep this glorious

Feast. Let us be assured of this, our only safeguard rests in

obedience to the Lord and a willingness to follow in the path

which He shall choose for us. And if God reveals, as He does in

this present hour, that the Body of Christ is being firmly knit

together by the Spirit to form a vital, living organism,

operating in the power of the Holy Spirit--then obedience to that

revelation is all that matters. God will look after our property;

our pet doctrines, our theories, our little churches, our

opinions, our ambitions, and so forth. If any of these are of

God, He will preserve them for us; if not, then who is concerned

about maintaining them?

     What then is involved in the revelation of the Body of

Christ? Briefly and simply it is this: that henceforth we must

learn to minister and function as members of that Body, and not

as members of a sect or a denomination. In other words, we must

recognize that the Body of Christ is a spiritual organism, whose

Head is in Heaven, and whose very life and being is in the Holy

Spirit Himself. If any individual or group of individuals is

unwilling to recognize the Holy Spirit as the life of the Body,

and His ministries as the faculties of the Body, then a "sect" is

born. The word "sect" from the original Greek means 'opinion',

'sentiment', 'party'. Therefore it is quite possible to have

non-sectarian sects, as well as sectarian sects. That is to say,

it is not necessary to belong to a religious system in order to

be a "sect." There are many sects who loudly denounce the whole

ecclesiastical system--but they themselves are the most sectarian

of any. To be a member of a "sect" all one has to do is to refuse

to recognize the ministries which God is raising up and setting

in their place in the Body of Christ. To be non-sectarian it is

not sufficient to withdraw from the maze of religious schemes

abroad in the world today; but we must become a vital member in

the Body of Christ, functioning according to the power of the

Holy Spirit, and in the place and ministry which God has ordained

for us in the Body.

IS THIS UNITY POSSIBLE?

     It is amazing how unbelieving a believer can become. One

might as well call Christ a liar, and his apostles false

witnesses of God, as to deny that God is going to have a Body

functioning in absolute unity of the Spirit, with each member in

his proper place, and all members working together as one

harmonious whole. Here again, there is only one reason why

"believers" refuse to believe it, and it is because we have never

seen it either in our own experience or in the history of the

Church, and it is scarcely visible in the days of the early

apostolic Church. When will the saints of God realize that the

sins of Israel are recorded in the Word "to the intent we should

not lust after evil things, as they also lusted" (1 Cor. 10:6).

The story of strife and division and corruption that is recorded

in God's Word concerning God's people is for one purpose, namely,

that we should not follow in their pathway of disobedience. And

the Church's long and bitter history of disunity and strife does

not prove that God's Word means disunity when it speaks of unity.

If God said it, it is going to come to pass; and if Jesus prayed

for it, not all the devices of Satan can prevent the glorious

fulfillment of that prayer of faith.

THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST

     Let us examine briefly John 17, where we have the request of

the Son of God for this vital union among the saints:

"Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast

given me, that they may be one, as we are...

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall

believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as

thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one

in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the

glory which thou gayest me I have given them; that they may be

one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may

be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou

hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

     Surely this marvellous prayer needs little comment. The

unity for which Christ prayed, and which the Father is duty-bound

to create, is going to be fulfilled. It is a unity both

inexpressible and exquisite: "Even as we are one ..." As surely

as the Father tabernacled in the Son, speaking through Him,

thinking through Him, walking in Him, working with Him ... so

shall it be in the Sons of God. They shall have "the mind of

Christ," and therefore they shall be "perfectly joined together

in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10; 2:16).

The many members shall function as the members of the human body,

in unity and harmony of purpose (1 Cor. 12:13,14). They shall "be

likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one

mind" (Phil. 2:2). They shall have the mind in them "which was

also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). Unthinkable! Yes, but God is

able to do exceeding and abundantly above all that we can ask or

think!

THE MEANS TO THIS END

     It is because such a measure of unity and harmony is so

positively beyond us, and almost inconceivable, that men refuse

to believe it is possible. And of course, it is impossible. But

with God "all things are possible." Let us not limit the Holy One

of Israel. For God has established a sure and a certain means by

which this inexpressible unity is going to be brought into being,

even the ministries of "apostles... prophets... evangelists...

pastors... teachers." These are given, we are told, "For the

perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry...." Step

by step the work is brought to pass: the ministries perfect the

saints, and they in turn are empowered "for the work of the

ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all

come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son

of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of

the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). Thank God the hour is at hand

when this glorious unity for which Christ prayed, and for which

He ascended on high and bestowed gifts unto men, is about to be

manifested. Ministries are being raised up and established in the

Body of Christ - and these constitute Christ's love-gift to the

Church for their perfection. Will they bring this unity to pass?

To doubt it is to doubt God's Word. It is not a case of rejecting

man, because of his faults and failures; but to reject the

God-ordained ministry is to reject God who gave him. Many would

much rather prefer to perfect themselves through prayer, fasting,

reading the Word, and so forth. These, of course, all have their

place, and will do much to prepare the heart and soul. But in

themselves they will not produce this perfection. God has

ordained ministries in the Body by which this perfection shall

come to pass. To refuse the ministries, then, is to say to

Christ: "I don't need your Ascension Gifts. I prefer to be

perfected some other way."

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S MINISTERS?

     The sincere saints of God are being subjected to a great

test; of that there is no question. For they are being called

upon to receive God's ministers on the one hand, and to refuse

the false minister on the other hand. And in this great hour when

God is establishing His ministries in the Body of Christ, Satan

is likewise sending forth His ministers of light; and we must

learn to discern the true from the false. Truly the saints are

like the multitudes over whom Christ yearned in the days of His

earthly ministry--for He beheld them as sheep having no shepherd.

Yes, there were Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees, men who

loved to wear the, garb of religion, and say long prayers, and

receive greetings in the marketplace, and to be called "Father,"

and receive the applause of men. But there were no true

shepherds. Even Paul in his day was forced to testify: "For all

seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's" (Phil.

2:21). It is therefore with the greatest concern and tenderness

that the Holy Spirit doth now raise up true ministers in the Body

of Christ to establish the saints, and to lead them in the path

of righteousness. And though it might be difficult for us to

discern the true from the false, if we will pay good heed to

God's Word, and the pattern of the true minister as outlined

therein, we shall not go astray. Here are a few ways and means by

which we shall be able to discern the true from the false.

THE TRUE MINISTER WILL LOVE THE FLOCK

     The good shepherd, Jesus tells us, will be prepared to lay

down his life for the sheep. (Jn. 10:11). In this hour of

comparative security and ease, there are thousands of hirelings

ruling over the sheep. But let persecution come our way, or let

some difficulty arise in the assembly that is apt to prove

dangerous to the minister,--and the hireling will flee because he

is a hireling and careth not for the sheep. But the true shepherd

will lay down his life for the sheep.

THE TRUE MINISTER WILL NOT BE COVETOUS

     The size of the congregation, the amount of money one is to

receive, the kind of place a man will have to live in--these will

not matter to the true minister. He will as readily preach to the

ones and the twos, as to the hundreds and thousands. And if

necessary, he will work with his own hands to sustain himself,

rather than burden the flock. Paul said, "I know both how to be

abased, and I know how to abound . . ." (Phil. 4:12). Very few

"know how to abound." Riches have deceived many and ruined their

ministry. The true minister, as a pattern of the flock, must know

how to suffer hardship in times of difficulty, and to use the

world without "abusing it" in times of plenty.

THE TRUE MINISTER WILL SHOW THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT 

     Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." We must

admit there is a woeful lack of the real fruit of the Spirit

everywhere; but it is beginning, nevertheless, to become manifest

in those who are going on with God. And this fruit shall be the

final test: "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,

goodness, faith (fulness), meekness, temperance (self-control) .

..." (Gal. 5:22,23).

THE TRUE MINISTER SHALL NOT SEEK HIS OWN GLORY

"He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that

seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true . . . (Jn.

7:18). It is usually not difficult to discern whether the

minister is taking the glory unto himself, or ascribing all the

glory unto Christ. The true minister will exalt Christ, and

Christ only; and not merely with lipservice, but from the heart.

THE TRUE MINISTER SHALL DISCERN THE BODY

     He shall recognize the ministries which God is beginning,

and will continue, to establish in the Church. God is going to

vindicate his true ministers so that there will be no confusion

in the minds of those who are really seeking to follow the Lord.

The ministries will be contested, as with any ministry God ever

established in Old Testament or New. They contested the authority

of Moses, of Aaron, of Elijah, of Elisha, of David, of Solomon,

of Jeremiah, of all the prophets, and of Christ Himself. But God

vindicated them all in one way or another--and in such a manner

that the people feared God, knowing that of a truth they were His

chosen. The ministries will not be established by

self-appointment, nor by human-appointment, but by Divine

Appointment; their word shall be with power and authority, and

not as the Scribes; and the true minister of Christ shall

recognize and acknowledge them.

TABERNACLES--THE FEAST OF JOY

"And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy

daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the

Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are

within thy gates" (Deut. 16:14).

     Israel continued to live in peace and prosperity as long as

they obeyed God and walked in His ways. But with disobedience

came drought and famine and depression--and the Feast of

Tabernacles ceased to have any real meaning to them. It is just

as true with the Church of Christ. And though the Church as a

Body has never really observed this Feast, there were

nevertheless periods in her early history when she had a

foretaste and an earnest of its glory. Our testimony is therefore

that of Joel:

"The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted;

the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O

ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the

barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is

dried up, the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the

palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the

field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons

of men" (Joel 1:10-12).

     The new wine, the corn, the oil, the wheat, the barley, the

palm, the apple: all these speak of the abundance of spiritual

blessings and the joy which they impart to the saints. And

because of the spiritual drought in the Church: 'Joy is withered

away... '

THE BLIGHT OF BABYLON

     This hilarity of our modern churches is not the joy of the

Holy Ghost. In most cases it is the song of Babylon. In other

words, it is an attempt of the enemy to lull the saints to sleep

and to cause them to forget their heritage in the Spirit. By

Babylon we mean what it meant to Israel: bondage in a strange

land. When Israel walked in disobedience they lost their glory,

their beautiful temple, their place of worship, their prominence

as a nation and kingdom. And when the Church of Christ walked in

disobedience, she too lost her glory, her beautiful temple was

destroyed, and from her lofty position as a "holy nation" and a

"royal priesthood" she degenerated into a nation of slaves and

bondservants. Her people were taken captive at the hands of the

world, the flesh, and the Devil--and her joy departed.

     And so the Babylonians came to the children of Israel in

their captivity, and said unto them, "Sing one of the songs of

Zion." Perhaps many of them consented. The Church, likewise, has

been too willing to accommodate the world in this manner, and to

partake of her false joy. But the godly remnant in Israel refused

to do so, because they knew they had nothing to sing about. "By

the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we

remembered Zion . . ." How could they rejoice as they

contemplated the desolation of their beautiful temple and city?

"How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" was their

reply. (See Ps. 137).

     We ought to have been mourning and howling for the

desolations wrought in the Church, instead of trying to generate

a false joy in our midst. And yet this continues unto this very

hour: the world is invited to come and hear "one of the songs of

Zion." You may read in the advertisements in the "church" section

of the newspapers about good orchestras ... lively singing ...

so-and-so will play the sleighbells, or anything else that might

produce a tune. Why not? they would argue. Get the sinners out to

"church" and then preach the Gospel to them. But "How shall we

sing the Lord's song in a strange land"? Far better that the

Church should mourn and howl before God, and her priests be

clothed in sackcloth and sit in ashes.

     Israel did not have one percent of the glory that the Church

had in the beginning, and yet her people expressed far more

sorrow and repentance in their desolation than we have in ours.

"The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep

silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have

girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang

down their heads to the ground. Mine eyes do fail with tears, my

bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the

destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children

and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. They say to

their mothers, Where is corn and wine?" (Lam. 2:10-12).

     Where is corn and wine? Where is purity of thought and

conduct? Where is holiness of life, and separation from the world

and its charms? Where is victory over sinful habits, freedom from

covet ousness, from lying and falsehood, from malice and

bitterness? Where is the desire to pray and seek God? To

intercede on behalf of others? To deliver those who are held

captive by Satan, and set the oppressed free? Where is the mind

of Christ, the life that is hid with Christ in God? Where is corn

and wine?

     But Babylon has been good to us; so good, in fact, that we

are one with them, participating in her pleasures, her politics,

her wars, her earthly programs, her strife, and her religious

systems. Consequently, as it was with Israel, so it is with the

Church; as the cry goes forth in this hour for separation from

the world and its systems, there is dismay. God says, "Come out

of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that

ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4). Babylon means

"Confusion." It speaks of this whole world-system, political as

well as religious. But we have been utterly deceived by her

veneer and her charm, not realizing that "her sins have reached

unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities" (Rev. 18:5).

In her there is no good thing. Satan is "prince of the power of

the air," and "god of this world,"--and the whole worldsystem is

anti-God and anti-Christ. Her doom is sealed. "Babylon the Great

is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and

the hold of every foul spirit . . ." (Rev. 18:2). "The abundance

of her delicacies" have deceived all nations, including the

majority of God's people. "She hath glorified herself, and lived

deliciously," and all nations of the earth have "committed

fornication and lived deliciously with her" (Rev. 18:9). 

     Has the Church of Jesus Christ not followed hand in hand

with the course of this world for centuries, befriended her in

all her devilish programs, and lived as her captive slaves? "Ye

adulterers and adulteresses," says the apostle James, "Know ye

not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" (Jas.

4:4).

     But what else could we do? We were captives in a strange

land, with no power to deliver ourselves. However, the cry goes

forth, "Escape from Babylon . . ." Let the Church arise from the

dust and shake herself, and return unto her land and Temple, even

"Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." And

God will abundantly pardon, and give grace to re-establish the

praise, the worship, and the Temple of the once-glorious Church.

THE LORD TURNETH OUR CAPTIVITY

     With the turning of the captivity of the Church, joy is once

again being restored, even the joy of the Holy Ghost. Songs of

Zion can be heard once again in the congregation of the saints,

and the Choir of Praise has been restored to the Church. Singing

in the Spirit is one sure evidence that Zion's captivity is

coming to an end. Says Paul, "Teaching and admonishing one

another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with

grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16). Surely it is

significant that Psalm 126 has now been restored by the Spirit,

music included:

     "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, We were

     like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with

     laughter, And our tongue with singing: Then said they among

     the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.

     The Lord hath done great things for us; Whereof we are glad.

     Turn again our captivity, O Lord, As the streams in the

     south.

     They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

     He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,

     Shall doubtless come again, Shall doubtless come again,

     Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Brin ging his

     sheaves with him."

     This, then, is a time for rejoicing. "Be ye glad and rejoice

for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem

a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in

Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall

be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying" (Isa. 65:18,

19). 

     A faithful remnant are returning from the captivity to raise

again the walls of Jerusalem and restore the gates of Zion. And

God is in the midst of her to bless and to impart the joy of the

Holy Ghost.

TABERNACLES-THE FEAST OF INGATHERING

"And the Feast of Ingathering, which is in the end of the year,

when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field" (Ex.

23:16). 

     If the Passover was wonderful - and it certainly was--how

much more wonderful shall we expect Pentecost to be in its

fulness? And if Pentecost is wonderful, how much more shall we

expect Tabernacles to exceed it in glory? In the Passover we have

but the Sheaf of Firstfruits by way of harvest, and not the

harvest itself. But Pentecost was the harvest. And what a

tremendous harvest there was! And so now the Feast of Ingathering

must far surpass Pentecost, even as Pentecost surpassed the

harvest of the Sheaf of Firstfruits.

A GREAT ECLIPSE

     The Cross and Pentecost--this was but the dawning of the

great Day of the Church. That Day has already extended some

nineteen hundred years and more, and the sun rises higher and

higher and higher in the heavens of God's eternal purpose. We are

not inferring that the glory of the Sun continued to grow more

brilliant as it rose in the sky. It should have done so, but

through the disobedience of the reapers the sun was darkened, and

the moon (even the Church) did not give her light. The history of

the Church is a history of darkness and sorrow and bitterness.

What happened? Did the Sun of Righteousness set in the heavens,

and was the Church swallowed up in defeat? Ah no! It was not the

setting of the Sun, but it was a great eclipse that caused the

darkness, even the eclipse of the Dark Ages.

     First there was the eclipse of the moon, the Church. In her

circuit about the heavens she was caught in the shadow of the

earth, and the corruption of the earth transformed her beautiful

glow into blood and sorrow. And then there was the eclipse of the

Sun. The apostate Church in her circuit obscured the glory of the

Sun, so that earth-dwellers witnessed the eclipse of Truth

himself. Truth perished from the earth; and joy withered away

from the sons of men. Hence the Dark Ages! A few godly saints

were left, for God has always had His believing remnant; and how

they must have thought the Sun had set for ever upon the

once-glorious Church! But no! It was just an eclipse, and in due

course--according to Divine pattern, the moon began once again to

take on her celestial glow, and the Sun began to shine

brilliantly in the heavens of the Church Age. The Reformation had

started. Light began to dawn upon the darkened understandings of

men, and truth began to be restored to the Church. And the

Reformation has not ended by any means. Indeed, it too seems to

have gone into partial eclipse. But rays of promise are again

breaking forth from the heavens. "The darkness is passing away,

and the true light now shineth" (1 Jn. 2:8, Literal).

"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moor.,

clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" (Song

6:10.) She is the group known as the overcomers. She is the

"undefiled," "the choice one of her that bare her." 

     As we mentioned before, there are many, many groups in the

Church, according to God's plan and purpose; and we are not

attempting to make any particular distinction between them.

"There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and

virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled is but one" (Song

6:9). There is a place for all God's people in His great House;

but shall we not seek after that intimate place of fellowship and

communion with Him in the very "secret place of the Most High"?

Says Paul, "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold

and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor,

and some to dishonor . . ." All the saints have a place in God's

Church; but one company receiveth the highest prize. The

challenge is therefore thrown out to the saints everywhere, to

rid themselves of the corrupting influences of the flesh and of

the natural, and to diligently seek the things of the Spirit of

God. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a

vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and

prepared unto every good work" (2 Tim. 2:20,21).

THE CHURCH, THE GARDEN OF GOD

     Jesus testified, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the

husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh

away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (pruneth)

it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (Jn. 15:1,2). The Church,

the Garden of God! Surely this truth alone is sufficient to

establish the fact that the Church's day must end in great

fertility and unparalleled prosperity. If we constitute God's

Garden, then nothing shall prevent the great Husbandman from

bringing His heritage to abundance and fruition. It is His

responsibility to look after it, and to see that it brings forth

a harvest for His glory. "For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he

will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her

wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the Garden of the Lord;

joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the

voice of melody" (Isa. 51:3).

     God always brings light out of darkness, life out of death,

joy out of sorrow, strength out of weakness, and fruition out of

barrenness. We can rejoice, therefore, as we see the desolation

of Zion, knowing that her "desert" shall become like the very

Garden of the Lord. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall

be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as

the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy

and singing . . ." (Isa. 35:1,2).

WINDS OF JUDGMENT AND BLESSING

"A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a

fountain sealed ... Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south;

blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out" (Song

4:12,16).

     Both winds are necessary for God's Garden: the blighting

cold wind of the north to test and try the saints; and the warm

breezes from the south, to bring forth the fragrance of the

Spirit. We can be thankful, then, that in all the strife and

bitterness of the Church's history, God's sovereign purposes have

been fulfilled. For God has reserved the time of the "south wind"

until now. "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and

gone; the flowers appear on the earth . . ." (Song 2:11,12).

THE LATTER RAIN

     We are looking forward with anticipation for the coming of

the promised "latter rain." The saints of God are thirsting for

these living streams from heaven. But how little do we realize

that God is more anxious for the "latter rain" than we are! And

why? Because He is the Gardener; and He is waiting for the Feast

of Ingathering, when He might gather in the precious produce.

"Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the

earth, and hath long patience for it, until he (it) receive the

early and latter rain" (Jas. 5:7). God is waiting for the hour

when He shall bestow His latter rain, just as anxiously--and even

more patiently--than we are. James says, "Be patient therefore,

brethren, unto the coming of the Lord," for in a very real sense

the coming of the latter rain is the coming of the Lord into the

midst of His people. That is exactly what the prophet Hosea

declared: "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord:

his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come

unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the

earth" (Hos. 6:3). The time is at hand when we may with all

confidence expect the latter rain, for this is the last day, and

God's triumphant Church must be a glorious Church. However, it is

not only the latter rain for which we are looking, but the latter

and former rain! What does this mean?

JOEL'S PROPHECY

     Let us refer to Joel's prophecy concerning the former and

the latter rain. This refers to the seed rain and the harvest

rain. God promised that His people should have both in due season

as they walked in His ways: "The first rain and the latter rain,

that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil"

(Deut. 11:14). This is what James was referring to, and it is

that which Joel prophesied about:

"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your

God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he

will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and

the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full

of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil" (Joel

2:23,24).

     Of course, this passage did have a partial fulfillment at

Pentecost, inasmuch as Peter declared: "This is that which was

spoken by the prophet Joel . . . " and we have already pointed

out that Pentecost is a harvest of Firstfruits. The fulness of

the harvest, however, is the Feast of Ingathering in the seventh

month, when the wine and the oil were gathered in. You see,

Israel observed two different calendars: they had the Sacred Year

which began with the Passover in April, commemorating their

departure from the land of Egypt, and their beginning as a

redeemed nation. But they also had what has been termed a Civil

Year, or an Agricultural Year, which began in October. This,

then, was the first month of the Civil Year, but at the same time

it was the seventh month of the Sacred Year--the month of the

Feast of Tabernacles.

     What Joel prophesied then, was this: "Be glad then, ye

children, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you

the former rain moderately, . . ." Dispensationally this was

Pentecost, when God first poured out His Spirit in copious

showers of the former rain. Peter therefore could testify: "This

is that . . ." But it was only part of what Joel had prophesied,

for he continued: "And he will cause to come down for you the

rain, the former rain, and the latter rain, in the first month."

The period from October to April was the rainy season. Then

followed the long summer months when no rains were to be

expected. The October and early November rains were called the

former or the seed rains--the rains which prepared the ground for

the seed; then the rainy season ended with the latter rains of

April, or the harvest rains--that which caused the grain to

ripen; preparatory for the harvest.

     Joel's prophecy, therefore, speaks of Pentecost--but it goes

on to embrace the fulness of Pentecost, even the Feast of

Tabernacles. God did give the former rain moderately--in the

Pentecostal Age extending from the early Church until now. But

here is something very unusual. Right here in the "first month"

of the Agricultural Year (the seventh month of the Sacred year)

God has promised to do something most unusual; for He would give,

not only the former rain which belongs to that month, but He

would give the former rain and the latter rain combined!

     Can we not see from this what God has promised His people in

this great hour? Not only the fulness of a great and glorious

harvest, as in Pentecost. And not only the wonderful harvest of

Tabernacles, the Feast of Ingathering. But all the glory and

power of the early Church combined with all the glory and power

which rightfully belongs to the triumphant Church of the last

days! All her former glory combined with all her latter glory!

Truly we cannot begin to imagine the great and tremendous things

which God hath prepared for them that love Him! "And he will

cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the

latter rain, in the first month,"--Or, "in the beginning of the

season." It is the promise, not only of the early and latter rain

in the hour of the Feast of Tabernacles (the "first month" of the

Civil Year, but the seventh of the Sacred Year) - but it is also

a promise of the great day of harvest. "And the floors shall be

full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil"

(Joel 2:24). The normal procedure is: the early and the latter

rain, then the harvest which culminates at Pentecost, then the

long summer months of dry weather, and then the final ingathering

at the year's end. And that indeed is the way it has happened

dispensationally in the Church: the former rain at Pentecost, but

only moderately--producing only a moderate harvest, and followed

by a great period of drought for century upon century. Now the

Lord will do a quick work in the earth. This is the focal hour of

Church history. Now we shall have not only the great and mighty

harvest of the seventh month, the Feast of Ingathering, but the

former and the latter rain combined! A veritable deluge of rain

from the gates of Heaven! No wonder the prophet prophesied, "The

glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.."

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

     "And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall

overflow with wine and oil." Or, literally, "New wine and oil,"

beautiful symbols of the fruit of the Spirit in the saints. Said

Paul, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled

with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). And the oil, as we know, is a

symbol of the anointing. "The anointing which ye have received of

him abideth in you . . ." (1 Jn. 2:27).

     This great ingathering is the harvest for which the

husbandman has been waiting ever since the foundation of the

Church. Gifts of the Spirit are really no evidence of spiritual

attainment; God bestoweth His gifts freely by His grace upon

whomsoever He will. But with fruit it is entirely different.

Fruit must grow; and God has never intended that the Body of

Christ should ever bring forth fruit except through a continual

Divine growth in the Spirit of God. The Ascension gifts that we

mentioned are for the purpose of adding growth to God's Garden,

that we "may grow up into Him" (Eph. 4:15). God will not come to

us looking for gifts, but for fruits of the Spirit. He gave us

His gifts freely by His grace, and all we had to do was to

receive them and use them. What God wants now is fruit, because

that is something which He can receive from you. That is

something which must grow upon you by your patient and continual

walk with God and your appropriation of His Spirit. Until now the

Husbandman has come into His garden, pruning, cultivating,

watering--without expecting anything in return. But now the

harvest time is approaching, and soon He shall visit His garden

for one purpose and for one purpose only: seeking for fruit, and

trusting that His tender care over the vine has produced genuine

fruut of the Spirit.

     Let us never forget that the fruits of the Spirit, and not

the gifts of the Spirit, constitute the real test of spiritual

life; for the latter are given to produce the former, and it is

the fruit that is the embodiment and expression of

Christ-likeness within the heart and soul. That is why Paul

exhorted, "Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts . . ."

(1 Cor. 14:1). Gifts are absolutely necessary, for they are the

means to the end; but Love is the end, the consummation, the

fruit for which God is waiting. Love is the Ultimate, because

"God is Love," and it is His purpose to conform the saints even

unto "the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among

many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). Love is the End: but it is an End

which knows no beginning or ending, for it is God himself; and

when we become thoroughly united with Him we are in a realm which

is eternally progressive.

     O what a grand and glorious day awaits the Church in the

Feast of Ingathering! The Day of the fruit of the Spirit! Because

we do not have the fruit of the Spirit in any degree of fulness,

we cannot appreciate its glory. Before the gifts of the Spirit

were restored to the Church we had a faint conception of what

they would be like, but what a revelation it is as we see them

gradually unfolding before our eyes! So with the fruit of the

Spirit. We know what they are: "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,

gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22).

But we shall never appreciate any measure of their real glory

until the fruit of the Spirit becomes visibly manifest in the

saints of God.

TABERNACLES--THE FEAST OF REST

"Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have

gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the

Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the

eighth day shall be a sabbath" (Lev. 23:39).

THE SABBATH FEAST

     All the Feasts of the Lord were observed in connection with

sabbath days, for they were a time when Israel (in type) must

cease from their own works, and rest in the work of Christ.

However, the Feast of Tabernacles is the real Feast of Rest, of

which the others were but the earnest and foretaste. In the first

place it was in the seventh month, even as God "rested on the

seventh day from all his work."

..........

To be continued