In this message we will consider the aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ revealed in chapters seven and eight of the Gospel of John.
In John 7 we have Christ as the Feast of Tabernacles and as the Spirit.
Verse 2 says, “Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was near.” The Feast of the Passover is the first of the Jewish annual feasts, and the Feast of Tabernacles is the last (Lev. 23:5, 34). The Feast of the Passover, being the first feast of the year, implies the beginning of man’s life (cf. Exo. 12:2-3, 6), which involves man’s seeking for satisfaction and results in man’s hunger. The Feast of Tabernacles, being the last feast of the year, implies the completion and success of man’s life (cf. 23:16), which will end and will result in man’s thirst. In the scene of the Feast of the Passover in John 6, the Lord Jesus presented Himself as the bread of life, which satisfies man’s hunger. In the scene of the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7, the Lord Jesus promised that He would flow forth the living water, which quenches man’s thirst.
God ordained the Feast of Tabernacles so that the children of Israel would remember how their fathers, while wandering in the wilderness, had lived in tents (Lev. 23:39-43), expecting to enter into the rest of the good land. Hence, this feast is a reminder that today people are still in the wilderness and need to enter into the rest of the New Jerusalem, which is the eternal tabernacle (Rev. 21:2-3). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob also lived in tents and looked forward to this eternal tabernacle (Heb. 11:9-10), in which there will be a river of water of life proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to quench man’s thirst (Rev. 22:1, 17). At the end of such a feast, which had such a background, Christ cried out the promise of the rivers of living water, which will satisfy man’s expectation for eternity (John 7:37-39).
After the full harvest of their crops, the Jewish people observed the Feast of Tabernacles to worship God and enjoy what they had reaped (Deut. 16:13-15). The Feast of Tabernacles, therefore, was held at the time of the reaping of the harvest of the good land given by God. For us today, the reality of this good land is the Spirit (Gal. 3:14; Phil. 1:19). The physical aspect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3-4), which was a type of the all-inclusive Christ. Since Christ is eventually realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17), the blessing of the promised Spirit corresponds to the blessing of the land promised to Abraham. Actually, the Spirit as the realization of Christ in our experience is the good land as the source of God’s bountiful supply for us to enjoy.
The Feast of Tabernacles was a feast for God’s people to enjoy and be satisfied before God (Lev. 23:40b; Rom. 14:17b). As the last feast of all the feasts ordained by God for His people (Lev. 23:34, 39-43), the Feast of Tabernacles is for their enjoyment of the rich produce of the good land at its harvest time for their satisfaction. Christ as the reality of the Feast of Tabernacles is such a feast for our experience and enjoyment today.