The Spiritual Meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Succoth

The Jewish holiday of Succoth is approaching, which is also widely called the Feast of Tabernacles.  There are three main religious festivals in the Jewish religion: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  All of these Jewish rituals have a symbolic spiritual meaning.  It is well known in Christianity that the Passover ritual was fulfilled on Easter, as Jesus was crucified on the Passover.  As a deeper meaning, the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt signifies deliverance from the bondage of hell.  What is not so well known is that between heaven and hell there is a middle region in the spiritual world where both the good and evil dwell for a time before being judged, and in this state those who are good may suffer for a time due to falsehoods they had adopted as true and are thus held back for a time.  These souls who were trapped were delivered and released and ascended to heaven, which took place at the time of Jesus' death and resurrection. This is the general spiritual meaning of the Exodus, passing through the Red Sea, the wandering in the wilderness, and entry into the Promised Land.

The next Jewish feast, which always takes place 50 days after Passover, is the feast of firstfruits where an offering of the firstfruits of the harvest was given to Jehovah. What is not so commonly known about the feast of firstfruits is this feast actually commemorates the day in which Moses revealed the 10 commandments. I accidentally discovered this when I investigated Biblical chronology many years ago, and it is also presented on the web site The Exodus Route: Travel times, distances, rates of travel, days of the week - 

The web site is actually a good reference on research that indicates that Mt. Sinai is actually in western Saudi Arabia, not in the Sinai peninsula.  But returning to the topic at hand, in Christianity the feast of firstfruits was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, where the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles and the first followers of Jesus Christ.  Before the 10 commandments were written on tablets of stone, and in Christianity the 10 commandments are written on our hearts.

We now reach the feast of Tabernacles, or Succoth, in which the Israelites were commanded to make temporary shelters to commemorate the time they dwelt in temporary shelters while traveling to the land of Canaan.  This feast happens in the fall in September-October, depending on the lunar calendar. It just so happens that it was some time in the fall that the Israelites reached the land of Canaan, but of instead of entering immediately they spied out the land for another 40 days, and could not enter. My guess is that it may have been intended for a historical event to take place on the feast of Tabernacles, but since the Israelites delayed and could not enter for another 40 years this did not happen. By careful study of the Gospels, it is now known that Jesus was most probably born on the feast of the Tabernacles in the fall, and not on December 25 as commonly celebrated now.  Thus John wrote:

The word for "dwelling" here means literally to tent or encamp. And later Jesus would refer to His body as a temple.  For this see Was the Birth of our Messiah on the Feast of Tabernacles?

SO WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF ALL THIS?

So far, everything I have said is from a literal, historical and prophetic perspective.  But scripture has a deeper spiritual meaning: these three Jewish festivals represent three stages in our spiritual development, and understanding the spiritual meaning will allow us to immediately apply it to our lives. Hidden behind the literal stories of scripture there is a deeper spiritual meaning, and this is what in fact makes scripture Divinely inspired, for understanding it and applying it allows us to connect more directly with heaven.  To obtain a deeper understanding, I will now quote from Emanuel Swedenborg on the spiritual meaning of these three Jewish festivals in his commentary on Exodus 23:14-16:

"...by the feast of unleavened bread [Passover] is signified purification from falsities, by the feast of harvest [feast of firstfruits, or Pentecost] the implanting of truth in good, and by the feast of ingathering [Succoth, or Feast of Tabernacles] the implanting of good thence derived, and thus full deliverance from damnation; for, when a man has been purified from falsities and then introduced by truths into good, and at length when he is in good, he is then in heaven with the Lord, and consequently is then fully liberated. The successive steps of deliverance from damnation are as the successive steps of regeneration, inasmuch as regeneration is deliverance from hell and introduction into heaven by the Lord; for the man who is being regenerated is first purified from falsities, then the truths of faith are implanted with him in the good of charity, and lastly this good itself is implanted, and this being done the man is regenerated, and is then in heaven with the Lord. Wherefore by the three feasts in the year was also signified the worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of regeneration. Inasmuch as these feasts were instituted for the perpetual remembrance of those things, therefore it is said worship and rendering of thanks permanent, for the chief things of worship are to remain in continuance. The things which remain in continuance are those which are not only inscribed on the memory, but are also inscribed on the life itself, and they are then said to reign universally with the man" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 9286.1-2)

So to sum up, these three feasts describe three steps of spiritual regeneration that we should all follow:

1. Repentance, or purification from falsehoods and evils;
2. Living by the truth, by learning and then living by it;
3. Doing good out of love
   

So spiritual regeneration is not a one time conversion, it is in fact a life long process.  The first and second stages are represented in Christianity by baptism, and the final stage is represented by communion or the Eucharist. For it is in communion that we acknowledge that all good and truth are from the Lord, which is represented by us partaking in the bread as His body and the wine as His blood. And that is how true salvation takes place, it is a process that we can all immediately apply to our lives, at the end of which God dwells within us, we become a Tabernacle for the Holy Spirit in love and truth.

Who is the Son of God?

What is the definition of the "Son of God" in Christianity? There is one Lord, Jehovah, who became incarnate in human form, Jesus Christ.  However instead of acknowledging one personal being, among Christians many have falsely divided God into three persons, based on a false assumption that there was a "Son of God" always existing from eternity based on the Nicene Creed that developed 300 years after Jesus Christ. However scripture defines the "Son of God" differently:

THE "SON OF GOD" WAS BORN IN TIME

The phrase "Son of God" is not mentioned until the virgin birth of Jesus, and until that time the term "sons of God" was only occasionally used in reference to angels.  The first mention of the Son of God occurred when the angel Gabriel told the virgin Mary that she would conceive and bear a child. Mary asks how this would happen since she was a virgin, and the angel responded as follows:

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)

This passage is significant: Jesus is the Son of God simply from the fact that He was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, and this is why Jesus prays to God as "Father."  Luke 1:35 shows that there is no such thing as a Son of God who was born from eternity as stated in creeds of the 4th century A.D.  To be born, not made, from eternity, is a logical oxymoron, which the Nicene Creed invented since the Arian heresy had stated that Jesus Christ was a created being. The Nicene Creed had added those words by modifying the earlier Apostle's Creed, which simply said Jesus was the Son of God by having been born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:35 also contains a hidden reference to the Trinity. Note the following three phrases in that verse:

1. The "power of the Most High" 
2. The "holy child" who is the "Son of God"
3. The "Holy Spirit"
   

The reference to the Son of God and Holy Spirit are clear. Right before this passage the angel also makes it clear that the "Most High" is a reference to the Father:

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:31-32) 

The title "Most High" as a reference to the Father is again later mentioned in the gospel of Luke:

And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons... Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” (Luke 8:27-28, see also Mark 5:2-7)

From this, it can be seen that after the virgin birth, the Most High God essentially became a father to the human form and is thus addressed as "Father" by Jesus Christ.  The event of the virgin birth was foreseen in prophecies, as can be seen in this passage:

I will recount the statute, Jehovah has said to me, You are My Son, today I have begotten You (Ps. 2:7)

The Son of God was begotten in time from the virgin Mary, not existing from eternity. And not only was the Son of God new, but also for Him to personally call God His Father was new. This was also foreseen in the following passage:

I have found David My servant, with the oil of My holiness I have anointed him... He himself shall call to Me, You are my Father (Ps. 89:20, 26)

"David" is a common reference to the Messiah in the Old Testament prophecies, thus Jesus descended from the line of David. The terms "father" and "son" are not two personal beings existing from eternity. Rather, once God descended and became incarnate in human form, in His visible incarnate human form He referenced the invisible Divine as His Father.

JESUS BEFORE THE INCARNATION

The "Son of God" was born in time to the virgin Mary, and contrary to how most Christians have been taught before that time the Lord incarnate, the Son of God did not exist.  However before that time Jesus existed as Jehovah, and appeared as the angel of Jehovah. This Jesus explicitly stated in the following passage:

...the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:58-59)

The reason why the Jews wanted to stone Jesus is that according to their view Jesus committed blasphemy: He was essentially stating that before He was born, He was simply known as Jehovah, who called Himself I AM when He first revealed Himself to Moses:

And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM: and He said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. (Ex. 3:13-14)

There are two aspects to the Divine: Divine Love and Divine Truth. In the Trinity, the former is called the "Father" and the latter is the "Son."  Another name for Divine Truth is the Word as used in the gospel of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:1-3)

That the Word means Divine Truth is declared later in the gospel of John:

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth (John 17:17)

And in the process of time, the Word of God descended and became incarnate:

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:18)

Here the "Word" (Greek logos) is the Divine Truth, for there are two aspects of the Divine: Divine Love and Divine Truth. Thus it is said here Jesus was "full of grace and truth" - where the word "grace" means not only favor but the affection for truth.

It is for this reason that Jesus calls Himself the "light of the world" (John 8:12, 9:5). And He also says that He is Truth itself:

I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6)

And as Jesus is Divine Truth incarnate, and all are judged by the truth, it is said in scripture that all judgment has been entrusted to Him:

For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22)

The Divine itself is infinite, invisible and unknowable, who reveals Himself to us in human form by which He is known to us, as declared in the gospel of John:

No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.  (John 1:18)

Here, the "only begotten Son" is the son Jesus born in time to the virgin Mary. John also declares that the only begotten Son was the "Word made flesh" (John 1:14), and before the virgin birth there was no physical human form of God.

So the surprising answer is this: Jesus is called the Son of God based on one fact only: He was born of a virgin.  Before that, the Son of God did not exist, and that is why the Son of God is never mentioned in scripture until the virgin birth.  As Jesus was born of a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit, so He calls God His Father.  Before that time, there was the Divine itself which is unknowable, which reveals Himself by a lower emanation of the Divine manifesting in human form.  Before the incarnation, this was often called the angel of Jehovah, and after the incarnation, this is now called the Son of God. And Jesus declares that He is not a separate being from the Father:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. (John 14:6-11)

Jesus always was, and always is, Jehovah.  And that is the true reason why Christians call Him Lord, as He Himself reveals:

You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I AM (John 13:13)

So who is the Son of God? Jehovah, in human form.

 

 

 

Does Salvation come by Faith Alone?

It is Easter Sunday, and after hearing a sermon I felt obligated to correct a major error that certain churches repeat, ad naseum. Despite what churches teach, we are obligated to double check what they say by referencing scripture, and not take things out of context.

There are many churches who have made Christianity one of belief only, where only a verbal statement is needed to be made in order to receive salvation.  For this they quote the apostle Paul out of context, and completely ignore not just the Old Testament, but the words of Jesus Himself.  For this, there are typical proof texts to support such a false teaching, all taken from the writings of Paul. Observe this typical statement from a church web site, "What We Believe":

So lets go through these quotes one by one:

IS SALVATION A "FREE" GIFT WITH NO OBLIGATION ON OUR PART?

The first passage is in Rom. 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23, NASB)

Here, there is slight mistranslation of the verse. Several translations have "free gift" here.  The Greek word is charizomai, and it simply means "gift" as originally translated in the KJV:

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23, KJV).

The implied doctrine here is a verbal acceptance, without regard to one's life, is all that is needed to receive the gift of eternal life. So what did Jesus say on this?  That particular Greek word translated as "gift" or "free gift" is nowhere found in the Gospels, but there are similar passages to the same effect. There is one similar to Paul's statement, where indeed salvation is a gift available to those who wish to receive it:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? (Luke 11:13)

But to receive the Holy Spirit, one should live by the Holy Spirit. Jesus always couples salvation with how you live, and always emphasizes a life of charity or giving to others according to their need:

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 11:32-34)

Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return. (Luke 6:38)

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. (Matt. 10:8)

And finally, Paul quotes a saying of Jesus that is not mentioned in the Gospels, which may just cover in a general sense what was quoted in the passages above:

In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Acts 20:35)

IS SALVATION INDEPENDENT OF HOW WE LIVE?

The next passage is in the letter of Ephesians, and it happens to be the most often quoted passage from those who support the idea of salvation from faith alone:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)

Paul here uses the word "works" which he uses in three different contexts:

1. Works of the Jewish rituals, which were representative rituals fulfilled by the coming of Jesus, and,
2. Works done for the sake of self credit to glorify one's own self, and, 
3. Works done out of a spiritual faithful life for the sake of others and God.

Paul here is talking about works done for sake of appearance to give one pride in one's ego. But unfortunately Protestant churches lump works of faith in this quote, which clearly goes against what Jesus taught. And even in Paul's day his own letters began to be used inproperly, which prompted James to respond in his letters against faith alone:

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? (James 2:14)

But will thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20)

These, among numerous other passages, are simply ignored as "blinders" are put on for those who wish to support the doctrine of faith alone.  The other excuse Protestants use: the will of man is passive, without any active participation on our part.  But one important point the passage of Ephesians is taken out of context. Paul continues about works in the very next verse:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)

In other words, faith does include a life of good works according to Paul.  To "walk" is to live by the truth.  And this verse was conveniently excluded from a prominent church web site, and the ordinary man off the street would not know any better.  Paul himself even recognized how his writings could be perverted in his day when he wrote this:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.  (Rom. 6:15-19)

And salvation is dependent on "sanctification" - which is the process whereby the Holy Spirit enters our life as we turn away from sin and commit our ways to righteousness. And Paul repeats this again, salvation is dependent on how we live our lives by following Jesus Christ:

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. (Rom. 6:22)

GOD CAME WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS

It is in this context, that we can now quote Titus 3:5, which at first glance seems to contradict what was just said and support the idea of faith alone:

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-5)

Here, again, Paul is talking about works of self-righteousness as explained in Eph. 2:8-9, not about works done through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. When good is done, it must be acknowledged that the one source of Good is God Himself; we are simply active conduits participating in a relationship of the holy covenant made available to us in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this passage alone can be twisted to support the idea of faith alone, but one must ignore many, many other passages to the contrary. That this is the case, Paul himself states all will be judged according to their works:

Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath (Rom. 2:6-8)

AND WHAT EXACTLY DID JESUS SAY?

So, in the case of any doubt, what exactly did Jesus say on the subject of salvation and eternal life?  He was quite clear: one must follow the 10 commandments:

And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matt. 19:16-19)

So this is very clear, no ands, ifs or buts.  And believe it or not, when I quoted this to a group that followed the idea of faith alone, without any effort to live a life of obedience to turn away from sin, they simply said that this was all abrogated and had no effect after the crucifixion(!!!!). In other words, everything Jesus said had to be ignored and what Paul said has priority.  The coming of Jesus simply abrogated the Jewish rituals, not the 10 commandments. But even then they ignored statements from Paul.  For after the crucifixion, Paul said this:

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom. 13:8-10)

It is for this reason, that the apostle Peter warned the church against those who distort the writings of Paul:

And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:15-16)

So with this, follow the simple rule: follow Jesus, and what He says, above what other people say or believe. Jesus has priority over everything in your life. Loving God and loving one's neighbour is what is central to a spiritual life; faith is just the understanding which leads to that way of life.