In Matthew 24 Jesus prophesied the Jewish temple being “thrown down”.
Then his disciples asked…
3…when shall these things be? (temple thrown down) and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
It’s important to note “world” is from the Greek word αἰών aiṓn that can be translated Age.
Jesus went on to describe “great tribulation” and the “abomination of desolation.”
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 -- Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Luke 21 adds clarity to this…
20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21 Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains…
The “great tribulation” described in Matthew 24, was the destruction of the Jewish temple and the slaughter of over one million Jews by Roman soldiers in 70AD.
In Nisan of 70AD Jews gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Pesach, this is when the Roman siege began. They allowed pilgrims into the city but no one was allowed back out. The plan was to starve them all.
By the sixth month, Elul (September) Titus and his army had either slaughtered or taken prisoner those who’d not already died of starvation and utterly destroyed the city including the temple.
First century historian, Flavius Josephus witnessed these events and described them as follows…
But when they went in numbers into the lanes of the city, with their swords drawn, they slew those whom they overtook without mercy; and set fire to the houses whither the Jews were fled, and burnt every soul in them: and laid waste a great many of the rest: and when they were come to the houses to plunder them, they found in them entire families of dead men; and the upper rooms full of dead corpses: that is of such as died by the famine…they ran every one through whom they met with; and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies; and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed, that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with these mens blood. And truly so it happened, that though the slayers left off at the evening; yet did the fire greatly prevail in the night. And as all was burning, came that eighth day of the month Gorpieus [Elul] (The Wars of the Jews Book six chapter 8)
The destruction of the Jewish temple marked the end of the Jewish age.
Matthew 24
34…this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled
One biblical generation is 40 years (Numbers 32:13). Christ’s ministry began in about 30AD and 40 years later (70AD) the temple was “thrown down”.
When we recognise that the “great tribulation” is not a future but a past event that pertained to that generation, all other dispensational beliefs begin to unravel.
FULFILMENT OF THE SEVENTH FEAST
Matthew 24
29— Immediately after the tribulation of THOSE days (70AD)…
30…shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven…the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. --
Matthew 24 says that Jesus came in the clouds immediately after the tribulation of THOSE days. Hence he came (not at the end of the literal world but) at the “last day” of the Jewish age.
He came with the sound of a trumpet to gather his elect from the four winds, that he may tabernacle with them for eternity in heaven.
This was the “Resurrection at the last day” mentioned in the gospel of John and the “resurrection of the dead” described by apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.
1 Corinthians 15
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead…
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body…
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54…Death is swallowed up in victory.
Notice that Paul said “WE shall not all sleep”. Who was he addressing? Our generation? No, he was addressing the Corinthian church in about 53-54AD. Some of THOSE saints would be alive at the “resurrection of the dead”. Therefore they would not go to Sheol and “sleep in the dust of the earth” (Daniel 12:2) when they died, they would go straight to heaven.
1 Thessalonians 4 tells a similar story…
15…we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Who was Paul addressing here? Our generation? No, he was addressing the saints in Thessalonica in about 50-51AD. Some of THOSE saints would be alive at the coming of the Lord.
Back in 1 Corinthians 15:35&36 Paul was asked “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” He responded, “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.”
A person has to physically die before they can be resurrected.
When the saints in Thessalonica who were alive at the coming of the Lord DIED, they were “caught up” to heaven thus reunited with those who’d gone before.
In the last chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus informed Peter that he would eventually be martyred, indeed he was crucified under Emperor Nero around 64AD.
Peter, upon hearing this news, looked at John and said “…and what shall this man do?” Jesus replied “…If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me” (John 21:21&22).
This is a curious reply isn’t it? Jesus was hinting at the fact John may be physically alive at his coming.
John was one of the few apostles, if not the only apostle, still alive at the destruction of the temple in 70AD. Thus he witnessed the coming of the Lord.
John, the only person to record Christ’s words at the Feast of Tabernacles, also wrote the book of Revelation in which we see similar imagery.
The Gospel of John describes “living water’ flowing from the belly of those who come to Jesus, the source of everlasting life and rest.
Revelation 22 describes a "pure river of water of life” flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. This river is in the midst of a spiritual kingdom, called the New Jerusalem.
Is it possible that the book of Revelation is not at all futuristic? That it describes the “last day” of the Jewish age, not the end of the literal world? That all seven feasts, including the feast of tabernacles, have already been spiritually fulfilled?
NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH
Revelation 21
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem…
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
According to Josephus, the tabernacle of Moses and the second temple were an “imitation of the system of the world”.
The outer court represented the sea, the holy place, earth and the holy of holies “an heaven peculiar to God”. (Antiquities of the Jews book 3 chapter 6)
Thus the temple was “heaven and earth” to the Jews.
In his second epistle, Peter described heaven and earth melting with fervent heat and said…
2 Peter 3
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness
The old Jerusalem (heaven and earth) had to dissolve away before anyone could access the new, heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-3), the city “not made with hands” that Abraham, Peter and Paul groaned for (Hebrews 11:10, 2 Cor. 5:1).
From the beginning to the end of Christ’s ministry he preached a spiritual kingdom soon to be established. (Mat. 4:17, Acts 1:2&3). A kingdom that would replace the physical temple in Jerusalem.
Matthew 5
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
When the temple passed, every jot and tittle of the law was spiritually fulfilled, including the seven feasts instituted by God in Leviticus 23.
If this were not the case, we should still be observing the feasts, shouldn’t we? We should still be dwelling in tents once a year.
In conclusion…
The feast of tabernacles (Sukkot) was the seventh feast, celebrated in the seventh month for seven days and marked the end of the agricultural year, thus it was sometimes called the "feast of ingathering”
It was also the final Pilgrimage feast, the purpose of which (according to Leviticus 23) was to remember how Israel dwelt in tents while wandering in the wilderness.
From Acts 2 on, God has dwelt in his people by way of his Spirit “ye in me and I in you” (Jn. 14:20).
However our bodies, like tents, are temporal. God wants to tabernacle with us in a permanent sense, for eternity in heaven.
The heavenly Jerusalem became accessible after the first “heaven and earth” passed away, meaning the Jewish temple.
The destruction of the temple and the slaughter of over one million Jews by Roman soldiers in 70AD was the “great tribulation”.
It was after the tribulation of THOSE days that Jesus came with his angels to gather his elect from the four winds.
This was the “resurrection of the dead” that occurred on the “last day” of the Jewish age.
This was the spiritual “ingathering” that the seventh feast/final harvest pointed to.
If you want to tabernacle with God for eternity you must first tabernacle with him in this life.
Are you in covenant relationship with God now? Have you said “I will do” to his commandments?
Bibliography
https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Jewish-Revolt
https://www.learnreligions.com/feast-of-tabernacles-700181
https://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/leviticus/lev-23_33-44_feast-tabernacles.htm
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/war-6.html
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/josephussack.html
