Feast: From Both Sides Now and the Greatest Day

#FT24-07
Mark Schindler
Given 23-Oct-24; 66 minutes 2024-10-23

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After the Sabbath on a November evening in 1995, Nancy and I boarded a plane in Chicago for a trip to San Francisco and a belated 25^th wedding anniversary celebration in California.

That evening our flight was delayed because of an early winter snowstorm and although the snow continued to come down, we finally were able to take off close to 9 PM.

As the plane lifted through the snow and into the clouds that still were producing the snowstorm below, it was a bit of bumpy ride until we pierced the clouds and found ourselves above the clouds cruising in the beauty of a moonlit evening.

It was the beginning of a memorable week in some of the most beautiful places in California from San Francisco down to San Diego. And it began on the plane with a beautiful movie set in the Napa Valley called, “A Walk in the Clouds.” However, I only mention this as we tie this sermon into the last because there was what many consider a real walk in the clouds that has been considered by some to be the “artistic crime of the century.”

In the late 1960s an 18-year-old French teenager was waiting in a dental office in Paris to have a painful cavity attended to by the dentist. While in the waiting room the teen picked up a magazine that had a picture of the Eiffel Tower superimposed on what was going to be the tallest pair of buildings in the world: The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York.

Although that project had only begun, another project began. The teen tore the page out of the magazine and immediately left the dentist office without even having his cavity issue addressed. He went home and put the picture and article about the Twin Towers in a file folder marked projects. Over the next six years as the building project was underway and eventually opened to tenants, the teen worked on his project. His project was to one day take a walk in the clouds 1,368 feet in the air over the 126 feet between the two buildings.

However, the teen, Phillipe Petit, knew that the project he had imagined would never be sanctioned by authorities. So, over the next six years he put together and planned every detail of a project that would culminate, he hoped, with a successful walk on a tightrope from one building to the other.

Just getting a cable that would support him up to the top of the towers and installed surreptitiously was a monumental task and would require precise planning and trustworthy people to help him in his efforts to achieve his goal of a walk in the clouds.

His project began with the excitement to accomplish what no other human being would probably ever do again. But it needed to be driven by determination with the end in sight. It was also going to take an incredible measure of faith in oneself and in others.

Over the course of time, he laid out a detailed plan of the project. He then made trip after trip to the buildings. Although the buildings were dedicated in 1973 and actually opened for limited occupancy starting in 1970, there was still a great deal of construction going on through 1974.

Petit, now in his early 20s, was spending a great deal of time watching and learning the patterns of construction workers and occupants. He even took a helicopter ride over the top of the buildings to carefully survey the roofs.

In the late summer of 1974, he and his trusted allies—some in construction clothes, some in suits—made several trips into the building with carefully selected equipment: ropes, cables, and securing devices. There was even a group of them that brought projectiles to be shot with a crossbow type device from one building to the other with trailing ropes to pull the walking cable from one building to the other. The projectiles were carried in architect blueprint tubes.

Every detail had to be determined and carried out to make what happened in the early morning of August 7, 1974, a reality. It had to be done precisely and with faithful assurance of success by all, because it was not just Phillipe’s life that was at risk. It was all of theirs!

Most certainly the one with the most to lose in failure would be Phillipe, but all who had signed on for the project risked lives in prison if something went wrong. However, all believed Phillipe could do it and that they would each need to carry out their own jobs no matter how small to make this work. If any of them failed to follow the plan with diligence, disaster lay ahead.

On August 7, 1974, New Yorkers heading to work looked up and saw a man walking in the clouds.

The following quote encapsulates the event:

In 1974, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex stood as the highest buildings in the world. On the morning of August 7, Phillipe Petit, a 24-year-old Frenchman, stepped off the edge of the south tower to walk the wire he had rigged between them. This was not an official stunt. In fact, Petit referred to it as his, Le coup,’ the artistic crime of the century, and spent six years planning. It all led to roughly 45 minutes spent on the wire, where he made eight passes back and forth between the buildings, including kneeling and lying down on his back, before walking off the other side to the waiting handcuffs of police.

The entire story was captured by Petit and his crew and was later turned into a documentary called “Man on Wire,” in homage to the description from the original police report.

I was reminded of Petit recently while watching a TED Talk he gave in March 2012. As he described what it was like to take that first step from the edge of the building at the top of the world, I couldn’t help but think of how his words applied to every endeavor, every project, every effort we make.

Those of us who work at desks are not often faced with being on the edge, but there are certainly events that push us beyond our comfort zone and raise the blood pressure. Expectations, either internal or external, exert tremendous forces that must be dealt with in order to succeed. Here is how Petit describes these moments and how he quiets the “inner howl” that assails him. The words are his:

On the top of the World Trade Center, my first step was terrifying. All of the sudden, the density of the air is no longer the same. Manhattan no longer spreads its infinity; the murmur of the city dissolves into a squall whose chill and power I no longer feel. I lift the balancing pole, I approach the edge, I step over the beam. I put my left foot on the cable. The weight of my body rests on my right leg, anchored to the flank of the building. I ever-so-slightly shift my weight to the left, my right leg will be unburdened, my foot will freely meet the wire. An inner howl assails me: The wild longing to flee. But it is too late. The wire is ready. Decisively, my other foot sets itself onto the cable. Faith is what replaces doubt in my dictionary.

When he puts one foot on the wire, he has the faith—the certitude—that he will perform the last step. ‘If not,’ he says, ‘he would run away and hide.’ You cannot have a project or goal if you don’t have faith. If not, it will be like ‘Oh, I hope one day, you know, that success will fall from the sky and I’ll be there to receive it. It doesn’t work like that. There is no recipe, there is no algorithm, parameter or algebraic formula that I could give to say, ‘If you need to concentrate in duress or in an amazing moment in your life, do this or do that.’ It all depends on who we are.

But I believe he has provided the formula: We have to know both where we’re starting and where we’re going, and we must have absolute faith that we’ll get there. If we do, taking that last step will be as certain as the first.

Brethren, we began this second sermon, “From Both Sides Now,” with this long introduction, because in the first sermon I tried to point us to the reality of God’s project (unlike the six-year project of Philippe Petit) has been in motion for thousands of years.

Our Great God has carefully, and I am sure excitedly, planned the project of expanding His Family that is going to be working together for eternity to accomplish things we cannot even begin to imagine.

As we gather here together on this last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, we should be able to reflect on all that God has given us this week that continues to point to the successful completion of His incredible project that He has graciously given us a small but vital part to play.

As I mentioned in that sermon on this past Sabbath, we have been given the privilege to be here, because unlike the world all around us (that only finds excuses for failure from looking at clouds from both sides, as the analogy expressed), we can see the project moving forward. Therefore, we not only understand, but we must be working diligently toward the last two verses of Ecclesiastes that all of mankind is to learn to do God’s will. This is ultimately why, with His project in mind, God has gathered His set-apart-people together here in Myrtle Beach, and at the various other sites where He has placed His name around the world. We have been here this week in reverential fear of God to learn to more faithfully do the works of the law so that we can faithfully and diligently have a very unique role in preparing for the work Christ is returning to do as King of kings! This is our preparation time for the incredible project God has in determined from the beginning and our very special part in it now!

As I noted in that first sermon, Joni Mitchell’s song, “From Both Sides Now,” is a clear reflection of this world’s frustration and confusion of life that is experienced from the point of view of all who have not been set apart by God to see things from His perspective.

To most men in the metaphorical lyrics, life is either an idyllic daydream without substance or a harsh storm. Both give seem to make a good excuse for a waste of time because there is no end in sight.

Without the vision that God has given to those who He has set apart life is an effort in futility. Without seeing things from God’s perspective, as He has graciously given to us to see with our focus on Him, life’s journey seems to be a disappointing illusion without substance.

While Satan’s world system drives men to blaming God and the things He has created from keeping away what is selfishly considered as self-satisfaction that gives any self-serving meaning to life.

Whether it is the illusions or the harsh realities of life the carnal minded will draw the conclusion that these things were the reason for the futility of life and the lack of accomplishing anything lasting.

But brethren, I hope, as God has given us the privilege to be here this week, we have been drawing sharper focus on God’s huge project and the privileged responsibilities that God has given to each one of us within it right now while keeping our eyes fixed above the clouds on our King of kings!

As I noted last Sabbath, no matter what the topic of the sermonettes and sermons during our time here this week, God inspired those who spoke to us what He wanted each of us to get to keep our focus above the sun, so we can and will produce without excuse what He expects from each of us. The light that ruled over Judah before they were sent into the Babylonian captivity is clearly ruling again from His throne, but for a period of time only those who have been given the privilege of citizenship in the Kingdom of God through the gift of the Holy Spirit have the vision to see what, in a sense, is already eternal life!

I would like to quote a section from John Ritenbaugh’s comments on eternal life, as cited from his “Elements of Motivation” series that appeared in the Berean on October 14of this year. His comment on that day was regarding Paul’s words in Romans 2:

Romans 2:5-7 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.

John said:

Notice that Paul separates "immortality" from "eternal life" as though they are different. The words assuredly share a common idea, that is, both indicate a long, enduring period. Immortality simply means "unending existence" because the being does not corrupt, decay, and die.

However, "eternal life," as used by the Bible's writers, includes something "immortality" does not, introducing a shade of difference between the two words. Unfortunately, in many minds, "immortality" corresponds exactly with "eternal life." They are not the same.

Perhaps a good way to illustrate this is to refer to the Greek myths with their pantheon of gods. In these myths, the gods had immortality but—by biblical definition—not eternal life. This is because immortality speaks only of endless life, not its quality. The Greek gods acted, reacted, and had passions and attitudes just like human beings, mere mortals, whereas eternal life in the biblical sense is life lived the way the true God lives it. It indicates the totality of life, which, as we will see, we already possess in principle. To put it into a more human setting, eternal life is to live life endlessly according to the will of God.

John 5:24 helps us to begin to understand when Jesus says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

Notice that he who believes has already passed from death to everlasting life. We can connect this to Ephesians 2:1: "And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.”

Before repentance and conversion, God views us as dead even though we are physically alive. Though we possess animal life, before God's calling we are totally unaware of the spiritual life of God, even as those who are physically dead are unaware of the pleasures, cares, and amusements of the living.

Brethren, please hold on to this because, hopefully by the end of this sermon we are going to see, with this in mind, why today is the greatest day of the seven-day Feast of tabernacles. David Grabbe gave more than a fine analysis of this day in his sermon on the second day. But I hope this is going to add another incredibly encouraging aspect to this as the greatest day of the Feast.

John Ritenbaugh continued:

The dead hear no music, enjoy no food, can see neither beauty nor ugliness—they are unaware even of people trampling on their graves!

Before conversion, we are likewise unaware of the spiritual life of God, the beauty of holiness, and the joy, power, abundance, peace, honor, and glory of that life. Conversion is a life slowly expanding into a new dimension that we never knew existed before—everlasting or eternal life.

Brethren, this is why we have been here this week in the process of conversion under the perfect government of Jesus Christ, something that He expects to be our reality today.

What He will be doing from Jerusalem in fully ruling according to the letter of the law and the spirit of the law of outgoing concern that will bring peace to the whole world, has already begun within those who have the vision to see the glory of His rule now from His Father’s throne in heaven.

We have eternal life, now, as we submit to every word of God through the indwelling of the very light that sat on the mercy seat before the Babylonian captivity! This is not eternal security, but it is the very real beginning of eternal life guaranteed by God if we continue through Jesus Christ to learn and live as He lives!

This is what He declared within all the God-inspired ceremonies that were being carried out on this the greatest day of the Feast that ultimately pointed to Christ and His work in progress toward completion of the perfect project.

I was going to go into all the ceremonies the Jews performed in carrying water from Siloam, along with some of the other rituals of this day that God certainly inspired, but David did a much better job than I could, including the flutist that led the processions, using the pierced reed. So, I will not go there except to say, please keep in mind the water proceeding from His throne is only the beginning, after His return. But as far as we are concerned, He is already occupying His throne, and the living waters are already our reality.

Please turn with me to John 7 and we are going to consider this overview of the Feast of Tabernacles that was probably the last one He kept before He fulfilled the first part of His work as Messiah six months later with His sacrificial death and resurrection to His radiant glory.

Please hold on to the fact that this is all in accord with God’s carefully determined project, especially as seen through the first part of Christ’s work as the Messiah and the next incredible step Christ is accomplishing. A much greater plan than any mere man like Phillipe Petite could ever design and execute.

On Friday David Grabbe gave a number of lessons God wants us to learn from the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles and Eighth Day, with one as a possible view of our short lives in these physical earthly tabernacles—our short three score years and ten or at the best four score, which I am certain is one of the significant lessons.

But right now, I would like us to consider the days with a bit more focus on the expansive work of the Messiah that most men seem to consider complete with His sacrificial death and resurrection.

We are going to pick it up first in John 6 following the feeding of the 5,000 and several verses to give us a sense of how little seemed to be accomplished three years after Jesus’ bold proclamation to all whose focus is under the sun. However, please keep in mind: God’s plan is exactly on track!

I want to read a series of verses in John 6 to set up what is in John 7:

John 6:14-21 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

John 6:24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

John 6:28-31 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent." Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

John 6:35-38 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 6:41-48 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.”

John 6:51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

John 6:53-56 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

John 6:60-63 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

John 6:66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

Brethren, I just wanted to set up the way that all saw Him under the sun, even after three years of the most incredible righteous works, miracles, and teaching of God done right in their midst! But all was right on schedule in God’s plan, even though everyone who heard those words from Christ could not get them, and so they walked away. But all was right on schedule in God’s plan, as we come into that last Feast of Tabernacles and some of the most important things He had to say to us, all the while keeping with the Father’s timing.

Remember this is three years into God’s very carefully executed project.

Even his brothers—His siblings that He probably had a part in raising, if Joseph had died early on—either were mocking Him or looking to be associated with His celebrity status by going up with Him to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

We will pick it up in verse 6:

John 7:6-10 Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come." When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

Always mindful of the project and accomplishing exactly in accord with the Father’s will, He made a perfect judgment that would keep things right on track.

Verses 11-13, with what we read in John 6, give us a clear picture of what He faced within the confusion, anger, and self-centered response to the truth of God’s Word from minds that are focused under the sun. We should consider these things, as we try to stay with our focus above the sun and living the perfect will and timing of God’s plan. The same reaction will happen!

John 7:14-18 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?" Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.”

It is here, in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles, three years after the simple but bold beginning declaring the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2, that Jesus actually begins to not only wrap up the first part of His 3½ year ministry as Messiah, but also, if we carefully consider verses 19 through 36, we see a warning of what we too are to expect from the world around us.

They only see clouds from both sides as impediments to life, rather than the very representation of the power and might of God Himself.

I would suggest you go back later and read for yourselves verses 19 through 36 and put yourself into the shoes of those who faithfully continue to stay close to Him in this world, because the truth of God’s Word is going to cause the same problems. I sincerely believe this is why God made these points in this last Feast of Tabernacles Jesus Christ would keep as a man. He wanted to emphasize what we will face with Him.

Now we will be picking it up in John 7:37:

John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”

I would like us to look at that word ‘great,’ as it stands within “The last day, that great day.” That is actually a comparative word as in something being greater than something else. It is megas (meg'-as) in the Greek: exceedingly; greatest; highest. Or it can mean great, greater, but it is exceedingly.

Let us see this word translated in a couple of other places. While holding your finger in John 7, please turn with me to a place we noted in the last sermon.

Matthew 2:9-11 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh [to the king].

In verse 10 we see their joy as modified by this word, translated as “great” in John 7:37, but is “exceedingly great” here in Matthew 2:10. Their joy was exceedingly great!

We will see that word again in Hebrews 8 where we will see this comparative word more distinctly:

Hebrews 8:11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”

I am trying to show you that this is a comparative word. He is talking about the least to the greatest. It is the same word used here.

Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

It is obvious that this should be the greatest High Priest compared to any other!

Please turn back now to John 7:37 and a few other translations that better express this word.

First from the Amplified:

John 7:37 (AMP) Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!

John 7:37 (NIV) On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."

John 7:37 (NLV) On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!"

John 7:37 (GNT) On the last and most important day of the festival Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, "Whoever is thirsty should come to me."

John 7:37 (NET) On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me."

John 7:37 (GW) On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus was standing in the temple courtyard. He said loudly, "Whoever is thirsty must come to me to drink."

Brethren, why was this the most important day of God’s Feast of Tabernacles?

Let us continue starting again in John 7, verse 37-39 and I will be reading it from the Amplified.

John 7:37-39 (AMP) Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, ‘from his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.’” But He was speaking here of the Spirit, whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

At the end of the sermon last Sabbath I quoted from Richard’s series on the Glory of God, where he wrote:

All descriptions of the Shekinah say that it was a most brilliant and glorious light enveloped in a cloud. So, when the Bible describes it as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire it is splitting into two what was actually one. It was always a pillar of fire, and it was always a pillar of cloud.

The Lord rides on a dark cloud. "Dark clouds surround Him, and fire burns his foes," is the image that we have here. When God is around, there is usually a cloud. And there is usually a brightness coming out of the cloud.

Now, I have mentioned before, that it is especially the visible presence of God, and it came to be over time that visible presence that hovered over the tabernacle. Or, that filled Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.

Nothing is said of this presence of God—the Shekinah—in regard to the Second Temple. If you go to Ezra 6:13 and on to the end of the chapter, you will find that when they dedicated the second temple there is no mention of God's presence.

There might be a couple of reasons for this. They probably did not have the ark. They may not have. I don't know. The location of the ark is one of those questions and mysteries of history.

This is why this is the greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles: because Jesus Christ promised that within a short period of time—seven months down the road—He would be glorified again and the His glory of His presence would once again be not only present over them, as it was with Israel before the Babylonian captivity, but present within those who are the called according to His purpose within His project and go forward walking in faith.

Please turn with me to Ezra 3. We are going back here because I had originally intended to stay in Ezra and Nehemiah because they both have a lot to do with the Feast of Tabernacles, and the work of a few men with faith, courage, and an absolute trust in God to make courageous judgments to keep and pull God’s remnant back in from the world and keep them there.

There were some great examples of tough calls and righteous judgments we can use as examples of faithful courage.

But as Richard said earlier this week he called an [unclear] and I think so did God with me.But I still would like to start in Ezra 3:

Ezra 3:8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD.

Ezra 3:10-13 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel." Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.

I would like to read part of one of the commentaries I recently saw on verse 12:

The first temple had been destroyed 50 years earlier. The old men who would have been at least 60 years old and older, knew that the second temple did not begin to match the splendor of Solomon’s temple NOR did the presence of God reside within it.

The nation was small and weak, the temple was smaller and less beautiful by far . . . But most disappointing was the absence of God’s Shekinah Glory, thus the weeping.

Brethren, this is the greatest day of the Feast because on this day Jesus Christ declared He was about to make sure that when He was once again glorified that light of His glory was about to be given to those who have been called to walk by faith.

I had to change what I had intended to give because our personal circumstances this week changed it. I wanted to give us something to take home with us in making proper judgments from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

I think we all can probably see important Feast of Tabernacles takeaway lessons for us within these books and even in the book of Esther that follows them because Esther was queen during this same period and had to courageously live faithfully in this hostile world.

But have you ever considered Job, in combination with these three books leading to Psalms, as a place where we can take some vital lessons home with us from this last and greatest day of the Feast? I am not just talking about Job either.

As we go through this life there is not only going to be pain and isolation, but others suffer perhaps alongside! Both are coming to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ within their circumstances as God sees to do it in line with His perfect plan.

Brethren, this has been one of the most physically difficult Feasts for Nancy and me. But I am convinced God was blessing us with something we could never have seen otherwise, learning to see God more clearly, and empathize with others in their difficult circumstances. My isolation from you folks, and the bit of pain I have had, is nothing compared to others. But I think Nancy, who has stood by me, knowing the pain and literally doing everything for us, has probably been in a more difficult position.

With this in mind. please turn with me to Job for what I think is a fine lesson we can take home from this Feast remembering the very incredible work of God with each of us. There is something I want to add that I want you to see to set this up:

Job 1:4-5 And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did regularly.

Keep that in mind as we go through this. We will pick it up after Job and his wife had lost wealth and family, and now Job’s wife had to endure watching Job’s physical misery.

Job 2:6-10 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job’s wife is hardly mentioned throughout this book except here. But not really. Although his response is harsh, consider that when Eve came to Adam and suggested something that was not in line with God’s truth, Adam did not do his job, he followed her. When Job’s wife was in incredible mental pain and suffering, was looking for any way out as she watched her husband go through what he was going through, she said, “Curse God and die!” Get relief. He saw it as a foolish judgment. And he called it that, even though we all do the same thing. We make suggestions[?] we would have never done, but they are so hard.

We may have always drawn a very poor picture of Job’s wife as faithless. But brethren, how many times have we considered doing something because we are at our wit’s end and do not know what else to do and end up doing or saying something foolish? Who was the one who had lost all except her dear husband, and who was the one who was now even scraping those painful boils off of Job’s back, which he could not do himself, while helplessly watching him suffer? She was looking for the answers just like Job. How many times have one of us made a foolish statement? I am going to show you this is not the overall measure of this woman.

We all are familiar with Job’s reasonings with his friends and God, finally recognizing the awesome expanse of His perfect plan and execution of that plan over every person, place, and thing in His creation. But did you know there is evidence that Job’s wife was most probably right there with him, learning this same lesson from where she stood?

Please hold your finger in Job and turn with me back to Exodus because we need to establish something from Exodus 15 and just after Israel had crossed the Red Sea.

Exodus 15:1-3 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: "I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name.”

Exodus 15:6-7 "Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble.”

Exodus 15:11-13 "Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.”

Exodus 15:18 "The LORD shall reign forever and ever."

Moses and all Israel sang this song. Then down in verse 20, God gives us something to consider from Miriam’s example:

Exodus 15:20-21 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: "Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!"

God very clearly points to Miriam’s leadership role of the women in His plan under Moses.

Now let us take this thought back to Job. We are going to the end of the book, chapter 42.

Here, Job answers God after He had taken him through all the trial and suffering and finally showed him that God’s project, His plan, was absolutely certain in His mind. And Job finally came to see that he was part of the project, where he did not have the big picture that belongs to God before. He was grateful for it.

Job 42:1-6 Then Job answered the LORD and said: "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Was Job alone in this incredible revelation that God worked him through this trial? I do not think so.

Job 42:12-16 Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.

Two things of note: 1) Job lived 140 years after this! It is very likely he and his wife were young adults toward middle age when all this suffering took place. 2) Verse 15 tells us, contrary to what was typical according to Numbers 27:8 that only gave daughters an inheritance when there were no sons, Job gave inheritances to his daughters as well, because he knew they would handle it wisely. Why? Because they had been led by their mother who taught and led them with her eyes focused on God and carefully maintaining His blessings.

Both of them together raised seven sons and three daughters that were godly and worthy of an inheritance that the earlier children did not because they did not raise them properly.

But by the time they had raised these children (second family) together, they had their eyes focused on God. And together through their suffering and trials they went through, they raised 10 more children that were worthy of the inheritance that God had given Job that he entrusted to them.

There are two lessons we can take away with us from this: 1) Be careful how we judge one another as we are going through the trials of life. Because we all have times when we seem to have reached the end of our rope and may make foolish judgments. 2) Each of us are going through trials from different angles. But God’s plan is perfect and we will all come out seeing God, if we keep His awesome and perfect plan in mind and our vision above the sun.

As we wrap up this greatest day message please turn with me back to Hebrews 4 once again.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great High [highest] Priest [the exceedingly High great Priest] who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore [you and I] come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Brethren, as we examine the cloud of God’s glory from both sides, with our eyes above the sun on this greatest day of the Feast, His glory was proclaimed to all, called and faithful, through His Holy Spirit that was declared on that day, the greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles!

I would like to end with that man quoted when he talked about Philippe Petite’s Walk in the Clouds, considering it in terms of God’s great project for us all. He wrote:

We have to know both where we are starting and where we are going. And we must have absolute faith that we will get there. If we do, taking that first step will be as certain as the last!

And if I may add, with our eyes focused on the cloud of God’s glory, Jesus Christ, that He had declared to share with us on this last and greatest day of the Feast!

MS/rwu/drm