Feast: Jesus in the Feasts (Part Five): Tabernacles
The Feast of Tabernacles
#FT25-01PM
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 07-Oct-25; 82 minutes
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We human beings feel nostalgic by nature, longing for "home," a place of warmth, belonging, and permanence which the world never allows us to have. Nostalgia reflects our spiritual homesickness for something we have lost in the past and can no longer retrieve. While we are in the habit of romanticizing history and memories, Scripture reveals that our true Golden Age lies not behind, but ahead-in God's Kingdom. At the Feast of Tabernacles, we learn that Almighty God alone provides true dwelling, identity, and presence during the wilderness journey. The Feast should not evoke a feeling of deprivation, but a joyful remembrance of a faithful God sheltering and sustaining His people. Spiritually, we should consider the temporary dwellings as a foreshadowing of Christ as our ultimate Tabernacle—the divine presence with and within His people. John 1:14 teaches us that the word "tabernacled" (Greek eskenosen) among us—or God pitching His tent with humanity in Christ. John 15:1-8 summons believers to abide in him, just as Israel once abided in God's presence by means of the Tabernacle. Throughout the Scriptures, Almighty God is depicted as our dwelling place, and in Christ, we now have intimate, personal fellowship, not distant worship from afar, but indwelling communion. The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates far more than temporary booths; it points us to the eternal reality that Christ Himself is our true home. Nostalgia forces us to look backward for comfort, but faith looks forward to fulfillment. Our true home is not a memory, but rather a Person, namely Jesus Christ, our everlasting Tabernacle and eternal dwelling with God.