[Steve Myers] Good evening everyone. Welcome to our Beyond Today Bible Study. Tonight, we're going to be finishing up our series on “Let Us Keep the Feasts.” This is going to be the last study that will feature the last festival of God that's mentioned in Leviticus 23, and so we're going to finish that one up and we've got a whole new series that's going to be starting after this. We'll keep you posted and tell you a little bit about that and give you a sneak peek at the end of the Bible study tonight. So as we begin, if you’ll bow your heads, we’ll ask God's blessing.

Great loving heavenly Father, God Almighty, thank you so much for your wonderful ways. We are so appreciative of your truth and your love and your mercy and Father for your plan. We are so thankful for the plan that you reveal through your Holy Days and we're thankful for that, Father. And as we study your word tonight, I pray and we all ask, God, that you would bless us and help us and guide us and help us to have a deeper understanding of your purpose, a deeper understanding of your way and have an understanding, Father, that can only come from you. So we pray for your guidance, we pray for your direction tonight and we just pray for your inspiration on everything that's said and done as we study your word tonight. So Father, we put it into your hands. We pray for your guidance and blessing on all of us and we just ask all of this now by the authority of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Of course, I'd also like to welcome those who are joining us on the web live on our webcast and even those who will watch later as the Bible study is archived. Now tonight, we're going to pick up with the very last of the Holy Days that are mentioned in Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23 is a significant portion of scripture because it gives an outline to all of the Holy Days of God. It starts with the Sabbath. It starts with the Sabbath and then goes through each of those Holy Days. If you missed any of those, I won't take time to review all of those, go back into the archives and check all of those out. We have separate Bible studies on each and every one of those days. We get to the one we're going to talk about tonight. It's the finale. It's the big ending to what God has given us through His festival days. It's the Eighth Day and in the book of Leviticus, it's discussed all the way down in Verse 36. Leviticus 23:36 is where the finale of the Eighth Day is mentioned.

Let's notice what it says in the Leviticus 23:36. It says, “For seven days, offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.” Now that's harkening back to verse 34 which is talking about the Feast of Tabernacles. If you peek back just to verse 34, it says, “The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.” All right, going back to verse 36 then, He says, “On the Eighth Day, you shall have a holy convocation.” It says, “You shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It's a sacred assembly, do no customary work on it.” And then it concludes by saying, “These are the Feasts of the Lord.” So an important aspect as we begin chapter 23, it also is reminding us again in verse 37, whose Feasts are these? They're God's Feast, they're the Feast of the Lord. They’re not the Israelite’s Feasts, they're not the Jew’s Feasts. They're the Feasts that God gave to all mankind, so that's a critical thing to remember.

It's also interesting as we look at this, this Eighth Day, the Eighth Day is separate from the Feast of Tabernacles. It's a separate Holy Day. It's a separate holy convocation. Holy convocation is a sacred assembly, a commanded meeting. It's a gathering of God's people who He commands to be together and don't do any work, you give an offering and you worship and honor God on this Eighth Day. And so as we look at what God commands, not a whole lot more given right here is, what exactly does it mean? What does it point to? What's the significance of this Eighth Day? Sometimes we call it the “Last Great Day.” There's a section in the book of John that seems at times to maybe refer to this, but as we look at this particular time, it points to some interesting aspects as we think about what does it mean, what's the significance? What is the purpose that God gave this Eighth Day?

What we're going to talk about is that very thing tonight. Let's think about this significance, just thinking about the number eight is something that's critical in understanding the concept of this particular Holy Day. He says you should have a worship service, a holy gathering, commanded assembly. He also tells us eight is the marker. It is on the Eighth Day that we come together and we worship God separate from the Feast of Tabernacles, separate from the other Holy Days. And when you begin to think about eight, the number eight is actually the first cubic number. The first cubic number two times two times two; length width, height all equal. Eight is the first cubic number. You look throughout the Bible, you'll find the Holy of Holies was like a cube. The New Jerusalem is given dimensions that would be like this length, width, height all equal. And as you look at the word itself for eighth, simple math, seven plus one equals eight. That's pretty easy, isn't it?

The number seven is the number of perfection. Seven throughout the Bible is known as a perfect number, the number seven. Number one, guess what many times throughout the Bible the number one points to? Well, you start counting with the number one. We have one, two, maybe you start with zero, but normally you don't. Normally you start with the number one. Number one is the beginning, so you have seven which is perfect and one which is a beginning. So the number eight then has the symbolism of new beginnings. Or maybe a little bit better would be a perfect beginning which would go over and above just seven, just something that’s perfection. But you could almost think of it in terms of perfect completion.

Perfect completion, the number eight, seven plus one, perfect completion. And just beginning with that concept that should help us to look into what is the significance behind God using the number eight as a representation of this final Holy Day. What's the spiritual significance? And so, what I'd like to do tonight is break down the number eight as it is connected to God’s Feast day to help us to get a deeper understanding of what this Last Great Day, what this Eighth Day is all about. And that will give us some insight into what the purpose of God is all about. So, as we think about this, let's begin by looking at the number eight and Abraham. I put Abe, not Abe Lincoln, but Abraham. The number eight and Abraham can give us some insight into God's way that He's using this particular number to teach us something significant spiritually.

If you go over to Genesis 19:9, so here we are at the first book of the Bible, Genesis 17, God is working with Abraham and in verse 9, God is speaking to Abraham. Verse 9, “God said to Abraham.” Well what is God telling him? Giving him some different instructions here. And as we jump down to verse 12, He talks about the sign of the covenant, the sign of the agreement that God made with Abraham. What does He say about that? Verse 12, He says, “He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations who was born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.” So He points to the fact circumcision is a sign of that covenant and when does it happen? On the eighth day, on the eighth day. In fact, it is so significant. Look at verse 14. It says, “The one who's not circumcised, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

So God makes a contract, He makes an agreement, He makes a promise and a pledge so this between God and Abraham. We could say a physical contract in a way between God and Abraham and his descendants that God would be their God, that would be number one, and ultimately the Promised Land would be their everlasting possession. And the sign of that agreement? Circumcision. Circumcision, and when did it occur? On the eighth day. And it signified the fact that now Abraham and his descendants were separated from the pagan world. They were to put away the influence of the rest of the world. In fact sometimes this covenant, this agreement with Abraham is called a covenant of circumcision. A covenant of circumcision, and so when did the individual enter into that covenant with God? It was on the eighth day. It was on the eighth day when this happened.

And so, it points to entering into a relationship with God—entering into a secure relationship with God, and the number eight, this number for not just new beginnings, but perfect completion, just the right relationship, the most important relationship comes back to the number eight. Number eight. And so that begins to give us, you know, some spiritual connections as God uses this in His purpose and His plan and especially this sign of the covenant that He made with Abraham. Now it doesn't stop there, we fast forward a little bit. The number eight pops up again. Well, it pops up before this, but if we fast forward to the time when God's people are enslaved in Egypt, this number eight becomes significant at this time as well. And these all connect to the Eighth Day, the Last Great Day as well.

And so in Exodus 12, God is giving Moses and the Israelites instructions about the Passover and then it seems like kind of out of the blue, a passage comes up about the firstborn. It's like, well, why is He talking about that? So if you turn with me over to Exodus 13, we'll find a reference here that connects the number eight. Let's notice it. It's right at the very beginning of chapter 13. Of course, here are the Israelites enslaved in Egypt, you probably remember the story of Moses, they wanted to kill all the babies. Did you know who the greatest financier in the Bible is? The greatest financier in the Bible was Pharaoh’s daughter. She went down to the Nile and pulled out a little prophet. Look at that. Okay, it's bad. Okay, it has nothing to do with eight. What was the other thing about whether you talk about the Nile, we're in Exodus and I might as well throw this one in there too.

The Nile…oh no, I can't think of what the dumb joke was. Oh yeah, that's it. What area of Egypt was especially wealthy? What area of Egypt was especially wealthy? Well, it's the area around the Nile because the banks were always overflowing. Fortunately that has nothing to do with the spiritual significance of eight, but it reminded me of that in Exodus 13. All right, Exodus 13:1. Here God is speaking to Moses. “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” So after going through instructions on Passover, this comes up at the beginning of chapter 13. Then He goes on, He gives some other instructions as He gets down to verse 14, for example. He says, “So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying ‘What is this?’ you shall say to him, ‘By the strength of the hand of the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

And so what we begin to see is God uses this, this concept of the firstborn, to make an impression on the people. But you know it wasn't just the firstborn, it was by God's hand that brought them out. He killed all the firstborn of Egypt, but did that mean that the firstborn of Israel were just totally exempt from that? Well, we know they had to put the blood on the doorpost. But what's interesting in this explanation of what's going on is that God's judgment was certainly on the firstborn of Egypt, they died. Here's a question then, was Israel exempted from that judgment? Okay, they put blood on their doors and they were spared in that sense. But the firstborn of Israel were not exempted from that death sentence just merely by the blood on their doorpost. Yeah, they were spared because of that, but it actually gives us a little bit more insight into another aspect that fits in with this together.

Yes, God didn't demand the Israelites firstborn as a sacrifice, but it's interesting what He says about that. If you look down to verse 16, it's the end of verse 15, end of verse 15, it says, “Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.” So there is in a sense a sacrifice of the firstborn that God required. Okay, with that in mind now, if we skip down a little bit farther, go to chapter 22 of Exodus. Exodus 22, look at verse 29. Now one of the things that He allowed them, as this little section that we just skipped away from, He said they could be redeemed, they could be brought back. Certainly the blood was one way by the Passover Lamb that was one way, but this dedication of the firstborn was supposed to be a sign as He said back there in Exodus 13. It was supposed to be a sign in their hand. It was supposed to be a symbol for them.

And so you consider this, they could buy back that sacrifice by this death of the Lamb, by that sacrifice. But we see when was this dedication done? When was this dedication done? Exodus 22, look at verse 29. Exodus 22:29 says, “You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce, your juices. The firstborn of your sons, you shall give to Me.” Verse 30, “Likewise you shall do it with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day, you shall give it to me.” So here we have a connection with those firstborns that they're given to God on the eighth day. And of course Israel could buy them back with the sacrifice of a lamb. You could be bought back and it begins to point us in the direction of something much more spiritually significant. You know, how are we redeemed? How are we bought out of the death penalty that we deserve? The firstborn of Egypt deserved to die.

Without a redeemer, they did. As these firstborn were dedicated to God, they could be redeemed, they could be bought back. And so spiritually speaking, we can be redeemed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Israelites on the eighth day would dedicate that firstborn to God. And when you look at this, we see pretty clearly, these firstborn babies on the eighth day were given to God that also coincided with the boy babies being circumcised as well. And so all of these connections begin to come together. This baby was presented to God, it could be bought back, they could be redeemed. God didn't want a physical sacrifice. He didn't want this babies slaughtered or anything like that. He wanted us to recognize that even though God made a claim and even though the parents might pay the price and redeem that baby, God still had a claim on the firstborn as something special.

Something important to Him, something that still belonged to Him even though they were purchased, even though they were redeemed. And so you begin to think about that as the firstfruits of God. So there's something special about those that are the firstborns, those that are born first in God's plan. Eight begins to point us in that direction as well that God has a purpose and a plan not only for His firstborn, but for all, for all. And this begins to kind of point us in that direction that God has an amazing plan. And the number eight points us in the direction to help fill in some of the significance of what God's purpose is all about. In fact, as you consider this redemption, they were redeemed by offering a sacrificial lamb or they could pay five shekels, would be another way that those babies could be redeemed.

But there was a price that needed to be paid and that price also coincided with this covenant that entered them into a relationship with God as covenant of circumcision as well. And so it's a significant event. It was the sign that they were God's people. A sign of being God's people, how critical is it to have a relationship with God? How critical is it for us especially? Think of it spiritually, that God's put a claim on us and we are dedicated to Him. We present ourselves before God and as we consider this, this is an amazing thing. So circumcision plays a big part in this presentation as well on the Eighth Day. In fact, I probably should just skip it. I can't resist. It reminded me of a couple little boys were sitting in the doctor's office. Little boy said to the other one, “What are you in here for?” He said, “I'm getting my tonsils out.” The little boy is like eight years old, he said, “Oh, that's nothing. I had my tonsils out when I was four. I woke up and they gave me ice cream and Jell-O, it was great.”

“So what are you in here for?” The other little boy, he's like eight years old said, “I'm in here for a circumcision.” The other boy said, “Oh, boy…” He said, “I had that when I was eight days old. I couldn't walk for a year.” Okay, that was bad. All right, let's think about number eight in that significance. It continues as we go as God works with Israel. We also have eight and Aaron. Eight is connected to the priesthood, the Aaronic priesthood who would eventually go through the Levitical priests. And God sets apart Aaron and his sons for the priesthood as he works with ancient Israel. You might just write down Numbers chapter 3, it talks about the fact how God took Aaron and then the Levites through him instead of the firstborn. Instead of the firstborn, so they were to be those that serve God. He says the Levites are mine and so when you consider that now, how were they presented before God? How were they dedicated before God? How were they consecrated as a priesthood for God?

Well, if we go back a little bit to Leviticus chapter 8, I think we see something interesting in this connection. Leviticus chapter 8, look at verse 33. Leviticus 8:33. Here the priesthood is being set apart and the method in which they're set apart has some interesting connections. God tells the Levites, He says, “You shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are ended. For seven days He shall consecrate you.” So God sets apart the Levites for His service, and how long does he do it for? Seven days. Seven days, they are consecrated, they are set apart. Verse 34 tells us, “As he has done this day, so the Lord commanded to do, to make atonement for you.” Now if you go down to chapter 9 verse 1, after they did all of these things, it came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull as a sin offering, a ram as a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.”

And so now on the eighth day, we see a beginning of the priesthood. We see a connection then to where God is going to work with them and this connection to the eight and the firstborn. Look at Leviticus 23. I'm sorry, 9:23. Just down just a little bit on the page here. Chapter 9 verse 23, so “Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came up of from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.” When did this happen? And you could read through the rest of the chapter, all happened on the eighth day. All happened on the eighth day after the priesthood was consecrated. Now not saying it's the same eighth day as in Leviticus 23, but eight days through this consecration period, seven days to be consecrated and then as things begin, we have this burnt offering.

And I think it's critical to see who's involved in this. I mean, is it only the priesthood? I mean, were the priests the only ones that saw these things happen? They're not, they're not. It says, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, all the people, and so this burnt offering symbolizes a complete sacrifice to God, a complete surrender to God and it was something for all the people, for everyone. So no one was left out. So we have this time of setting apart, this time of sanctification, this time of consecration for the priesthood. We have a time of dedication, we have a time of living separated as they separated themselves for God, and then we have everybody involved.

The whole camp involved in God appearing to them and that's significant. That's a significant circumstance as the priesthood begins. After a seven day period of consecration, all have an opportunity to participate and you think about that in terms of Leviticus 23, we have seven days during the Feast of Tabernacles. In a way, that seven day consecration occurs during Tabernacles. And then the Eighth Day, that Eighth Day, the Holy Day, can point to that very fact that God is giving an opportunity for all. That everyone will have an opportunity and we even get a glimpse of it, not only back in Revelation, but all the way when the priesthood began here in Leviticus. He points to that. And so is that now becoming something significant as we think about the symbolic spiritual meaning of the Eighth Day? I think absolutely. No doubt. No doubt about that. In fact, if we fast forward, we have another eight.

Let's look at the number eight and Jesus Christ for just a moment. We can fast forward into the New Testament, Luke chapter 22. Did I say chapter 22? Luke 2, in fact, let's start from verse 21. Luke 2:21, and you'll never guess what day this occurs. Surprise, surprise. It's the eighth day. So we look at Luke 2, let's notice verse 21. “And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” And so here's our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the Eighth Day of life, He was circumcised. You can almost picture this covenant of circumcision that in a way Christ was brought into in a sense as the Firstborn. He's dedicated to God's service. He's given a name on that eighth day. In fact, the eighth day was when they named the babies. They named the babies. If you remember about John the Baptist, remember Zechariah, his dad couldn't speak until that baby was named. Kind of an interesting circumstance there as well.

And so here we see Jesus given the name, Savior. Jesus, Savior, Yahweh is salvation. Destined to be Savior of all mankind and if you could imagine, you know, the scene, bringing this little baby to what the Jews would call a mohel for circumcision. What happened? Well, they performed that circumcision. Was it significant of anything else that would come down the line? I think so. I think it was. When a mohel would do his job, there would be a little bit of blood that would be shed. Not much, just a drop, a drop of blood on the eighth day. Was that a precursor to the crucifixion? Would that be a precursor to what He would do to submit Himself in obedience to shed His blood, not just a drop later on, but to that blood being poured out for us? Was this eighth day significant in pointing to the salvation of all mankind?

I think it's hard to deny that connection there. In fact, if you look down, verse 22 says, “Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.” So this is much later. So it says, “As it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord,’ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’” Now what's interesting here, this is later. This isn't the eighth day. This isn't a redemption like it was mentioned way back, it wasn't any redeeming done here. Here, Luke is recording 40 days later, there was a burnt offering, a sin offering that was presented, but that was not the redeeming sacrifice. That's not what that was all about. In fact, there's no mention in the Bible of Mary and Joseph redeeming Jesus Christ. No mention of it whatsoever.

Now, why would that be left out? If they didn't leave him to serve at the temple, they took Him home. Well, if they took Him home, well, why would that be? If you remember the story of Samuel, that baby was dedicated to the Lord and he stayed there. He stayed at the tabernacle, he served with the priesthood. They didn't redeem him back. So why would that not be the case with Jesus Christ? Why wasn't He redeemed? He's the Redeemer. He's the redeeming sacrifice. He's the sacrifice for...He is what all the sacrifices were pointing to. They were all pointing to Him. Would it be possible for Him to be redeemed? I mean, there would be no way, His physical life at this point completely totally belongs to God the Father. Was completely in the Father's hands, completely and fully dedicated to God, and so He couldn't be redeemed from a life of total service to God.

It was impossible because He would give his life as the ultimate sacrifice, as the ultimate redemption. And so no wonder He wasn't redeemed, because ultimately, His life would pay the penalty for all sin. In fact, this corrupt Levitical priesthood was going to be set aside fairly soon. His own priesthood of Melchizedek would be reinstated. That's what was coming through His sacrifice, and so when you put together, you know, the past, looking back to the time of Abraham and the Exodus and Levitical priesthood, you look to this time of Christ. It becomes amazingly significant on what God's plan and His purpose are all about. And by this covenant, by this covenant of circumcision, I think it kind of fulfills what it says there in the book of Hebrews that He's like us. He's like us.

Of course He's not like us because He's perfect, but in this way through the eighth day, if you look to Hebrews 2:17, I think this is part of what's being fulfilled here. Look at Hebrews 2:17. In fact, if we go back just a little bit, verse 14 just caught my eye. That looks like an interesting place to start. It says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same.” He shared in the same “that through death, He might destroy him with the power of death, that is the devil.” And so verse 17, “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” To make an atoning sacrifice. And it's interesting that on the eighth day of Jesus' life, it was a precursor to the ultimate sacrifice that He would give.

There's also some interesting connections and I'll just mention them as a quick side light. If you do some research on when was Christ born, but we know He wasn't born in December 25th. Right? No way. We've got shepherds out in the field. We know John the Baptist was born in the spring, born about six months before. Luke talks about that very fact. We know he was born around the spring Holy Days. What happens about six months after the spring? But we have Tabernacles and we have the Eighth Day that follows. Some interesting things to consider when you think about Jesus Christ and His consecration, His circumcision on the Eighth Day. In fact, as we see this dedication of Jesus Christ, it's not just a better covenant. It's not just the new covenant. It's not just a new beginning, but I think what begins to become more evident in Christ’s example is that we have the perfect beginning.

We have the perfect beginning to our part, how we can be a part of what God's purpose and plan is all about, which is a tremendously significant thing that ties in as well to the number eight. So let's think about that for just a minute. Think about the number eight and me. Maybe I should have put eight and you. Eight and all of us, for each one of us as we consider the number eight. You see, understanding God's plan of salvation.

We talked about the Feast of Tabernacles last time. Temporary dwellings. Temporary dwellings, we talked about shelters. Tabernacle is a tent, it's a shelter, it's a temporary dwelling. Who is our eternal dwelling place? Well, we know God is our true shelter, He is our true tabernacle. In fact, in Revelation it says, “We're going to tabernacle with Him for all eternity,” so you can imagine what that might look like, you know, physically. He had a canopy over us. He had a tent over us, because right now that tent that we live in is just temporary. So it’s a temporary dwelling like tabernacles represents a temporary dwelling. Life is transitory, life is fragile, life is temporary. It is physical. It is fleeting.

Pointing to the fact that tabernacles, we need to ultimately rely on God for safety, rely on Him for protection, rely on Him for survival. I mean, there is no security without God. Feast of Tabernacles points us in that direction, goes that way. And so we have this Feast of Tabernacles picturing that, picturing the time of the Millennium, the thousand years of God's reign on earth, and of course then what happens next? Well next, we've got eight. We've got the Eighth Day. Once spiritual blindness was a part of all of mankind's perspective, God started working with people and took those blinders off. We recognize God is our shelter, He is our security, He is our life.

Now think about circumcision and of course when we talked about Abraham, we talked about the Israelites. If you weren't circumcised, you were cut off from the people. What about the nations then? What about all? What about all of those that we talked about when the Levitical priesthood came out and they all witnessed these great things that were happening? You see, the Eighth Day points to that, it points to the fact that spiritual blindness will be removed from all nations. Their eyesight will be healed. They'll be able to see spiritually. They'll be able to see spiritually. In fact, Isaiah 25 points to this concept in the Eighth Day. And we can see how this impacts all people. Isaiah 25, if you'll turn there with me. Let's notice what is recorded in verse 6 of Isaiah 25. Kind of an interesting aspect here as we look at what is recorded in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 25:6, it says, “And in this mountain the Lord of Hosts will make for all people.”

What's gonna happen for everyone? Well, some of the significance of the Eighth Day. He says, “A feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees, He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over…” Just the Jews, just the Israelites? No, it says, “He'll destroy the covering cast over all people.” Over all people. He's going to destroy that covering. It says, “And that veil that is spread over all nations.” And so there's a time coming when God will remove all the blindness of everyone who ever lived. Everyone who ever lived will have that opportunity and they will have an opportunity to enter in to a spiritual covenant of circumcision. You see, it's not just a physical circumcision, but a spiritual circumcision that God points all to. In fact if we skip down just a little bit.

Look at verse 8, “He will swallow up death forever. The Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord God has spoken.” In fact, He goes on, “And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us. This is the Lord; we've waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’” And so, here we see these are the people that are saying that, it's all people. It will be said in that day of all the nations, of all the people. And it harkens to the book of Revelation when He wipes away tears. He wipes away sorrow. He wipes away death. In fact, if we turn to the book of Revelation, look at Revelation 20. We see this play out in what's going to be happening in the future after the Millennium, after the spiritual significance of the Feast of Tabernacles, we see the Eighth Day represented in what Isaiah was talking about in the book of Revelation.

If you go to Revelation 20, we see what happens after the thousand years. This is verse 7 of Revelation 20, “When the thousand years have expired, Satan would be released from his prison.” But something happens after this time. Verse 5 harkens to that. Verse 5 says, “The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.” The thousand years were finished. So we have a resurrection of the firstborn, that's the first resurrection that verse 6 talks about. But then there's everybody else. There's all the nations, all those who ever lived. In fact, we see a little bit more detail given in verse 11. Verse 11, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whom whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things that were written in the books.”

In fact, it says, “The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.” And so here we see all who ever lived and died, who never knew God, who never had an understanding for the truth, who never had their minds open to the truth, who had never entered into a covenant with God are now resurrected. They're fulfilling what Isaiah 25 was talking about here that everyone will have that opportunity. No one is lost because they didn't know God. So everyone who ever lived will have this opportunity, and so whoever desires to take of the waters of life can take of it freely. God's going to open their minds. It says here, He's going to open the books, “the books were opened.” The Biblia, it's a Greek word, the Biblia, the Bible, is going to be open to their understanding. They'll be able to see what God's purpose and what His plan is all about. They'll be able to understand what the sacrifice of Christ was all about.

And so God is going to open their minds and show them and they'll have an opportunity to repent and change. So that is for all who ever lived or died. In fact, Ezekiel also talks about this in Ezekiel 37. There’s an interesting chapter there we won't have time to go there tonight. But it talks about all those dry bones of all those who lived and died and there's so...it's so long ago that they lived their life that their bones are brittle and they're old bones and Ezekiel has an interesting conversation with God and what happens to those bones? Well, they're brought back to physical life. They're brought back to physical life, so if you read through Ezekiel 37, it points to this time that will happen after the Millennium. After that spiritual completion of the Feast of Tabernacles, we move to the Eighth Day and we move to that time when everyone will have an opportunity, all the nations will have their eyes opened and have an opportunity to choose God's way.

And so that's a significant aspect of what's going to occur. Now for us, I think it brings reminders for all of us. Because we're not like those people. We've had the veil lifted from our eyes. We've had the books open to our understanding. We understand what's God's purpose. We understand what His plan is about. And so this Eighth Day reminds us that everyone will have an opportunity, but for us, we know, we understand that. Because of God's mercy and His grace, He's called us and opened our minds to His truth. So for us, eight, shouldn't it remind us that we don't have a veil covering our eyes? That we've witnessed God's love in action firsthand and shouldn't it remind us that we need a circumcision?

We need a circumcision of heart, not a physical circumcision. We need a spiritual circumcision, circumcision of the heart and the mind. Colossians chapter 2 points us in that direction. Because I think if we simply recognize the fact that, well, everyone's going to have an opportunity to come to the understanding of God, I mean that is a fantastic amazing fact of the plan of God. And as we've seen through this entire plan, God doesn't leave anybody out. He made a way through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Passover. He gives us the means to come out of sin through that sacrifice. He gives us the days of Unleavened Bread to show that it is possible to come out of sin. He gives us Pentecost because we have a spirit. His Spirit was poured out on mankind, poured out on us as we entered this contract, this covenant with God. So we have the means to overcome sin in our lives through God's Holy Spirit.

Of course, we know He's going to return. Feast of Trumpets talks about His return to earth to establish the government of God right here. Satan's got to be put away. Atonement certainly points to that very fact that we need an atoning sacrifice and we need Satan removed. He is an evil spirit who influences all mankind. And once that takes place, we have the perfect seven, completion of a thousand years where God's government will be set up on this earth. But what about those who lived before this time who never knew God, who never understood His way? Well, God is a God of love. He's a God of mercy. Just because they didn't know, He doesn't hold them responsible. He's going to bring them back to physical life, put meat and bones back together and they'll live and they'll have the Bible open to their understanding and they can then choose life.

They can choose...so God's plan doesn't leave anybody out which is the awesome nature of who God is. I think a proof that God does exist, that God is love, that God cares about all people, His plan points to that very fact. And as we consider that plan, I think we have to consider what our perspective is as well because these day should continue to point us to the fact that we need Jesus Christ living in us and through us. And through each of these Holy Days, we see His vital part in all of it. And even the Eighth Day should remind us of the covenant that we made with God. Colossians 2:11 points to that agreement that we made, it says, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” So it points to this covenant of circumcision, a spiritual covenant. In fact, if you read this particular verse in the New Living, it says it just a little bit differently.

New Living says this in verse 11, “You were ‘circumcised,’ but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.” That's what it is all about. In fact, that was God's purpose all along. That was what all people were supposed to be considering, all people were supposed to be thinking of that. In fact, if you turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 30, it says that very thing. Let's notice the consistency of God in His word here, Deuteronomy chapter 30:6. Here in this giving of the law before the people came into the Promised Land, ancient Israel was given instructions and here in Deuteronomy, it points to this very thing. Notice, this was not unknown to God's people even way back then. Deuteronomy 30:6. Well, look at verse 5, “The Lord is going to bring them into the land which was promised to Abraham.”

Then verse 6. “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, that you may live.” That you may live. And so even all the way back here in Deuteronomy, it's pointing to something more significant than just the physical promises of the Old Covenant. It's pointing to so much more than just the physical Promised Land. This is pointing to what Hebrews talks about, this is pointing to the ultimate Promised Land. It's talking about the Kingdom of God. It's pointing to that very thing. It's pointing to the fact that there is a spiritual aspect of it that we can possess eternal life and be in the Kingdom of God and that's what God wants. He wants a circumcised heart. He wants us to go on to establish the character of Christ in our lives, to go on to perfection. In fact, He tells us we do need to go forward. In Hebrews 6, He intimates this very thing.

Hebrews 6:1, when we think of eight and we think of this number in the connection to God's plan, it shouldn't just remind us of all the nations and all the people who never knew God having an opportunity. I mean, that's a great start. But it should also remind us of our responsibilities, of our covenant that we made with God that we are in a spiritual covenant with God. And Hebrews 6:1 reminds us of that. The number eight should remind me that we leave the “discussion of elementary principles of Christ, and go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, faith toward God, of doctrines of baptisms, laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, of eternal judgment.” He says we need to go on from there. We need to continue on and so He says in verse 9, “Beloved, we're confident of better things concerning you.”

Verse 11, “We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.” So there, He is talking about fulfilling this covenant, the spiritual covenant of circumcision with God. Not just like a baby who is dedicated to God on the eighth day, but as sons and daughters of God that we are dedicated every day of our lives, our entire life is given to God. And so the Eighth Day should remind us to honor this spiritual covenant that we’ve made, that we should excel in it, that we should put on the character of Christ, that we should do more, progress even more, be dedicated even more, abound in the ways of God. Work even harder. Pray harder, pray more, love more, persevere more, complete the process and strive to put on the mind of Christ. That's what we've been called to so we've got to, well, think about some of those connections that were made through the number eight.

We've got to cut off the ways of this world. We've got to cut off the ways of this world and its thinking. We've got to be separate from the blindness and the veil that covers mankind today. We can't allow that to infect us. We've got to separate from their attitudes, from their perspective, from their apathetic ways, from their wicked sinful ways. Of course, that means we've got a job to do and we've got to cut the works of the flesh. We've got to put on the fruit of the Spirit. We've got to emulate that and so we've got to separate ourselves from the sin. Paul talked about that sin that so easily ensnares us. And we can do this. In fact, the number eight as we consider the spiritual significance is so remarkable that it points to the completion of God's plan, the ultimate fulfillment of God's plan. Of course then what happens? Then what happens as you consider the number eight?

If you go all the way to the end of the book, go all the way to the end of the book, there are some amazing things that are mentioned here. In chapter 21, we have the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God and then ultimately we have amazing things take place that are pictured as connected, I think, to this Eighth Day as well. And so as we look down, we can see some significant things. He says in 21:23, “The city had no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.” There we have a full dedication to the ways of God. And in fact, he even says, look at verse 5 chapter 21. Verse 5, he says, “He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” I make all things new. And so here we have the ultimate completion.

In fact, verse 7 says, “He who overcomes shall inherit all things. I'll be his God and he shall be My son.” And so we see the ultimate fulfillment for all mankind who accept Jesus Christ, who accept the ways of God. And who ultimately are a part of His Kingdom for eternity. And of course when that New Jerusalem comes down, that's just not a good thing, that's just not a nice thing, that's not just the beginning, not just a new beginning. I think we see the culmination of eight, the culmination of eight when we get to that point in the plan of God, it's not the end, it's the perfect beginning, isn't it? It's the perfect beginning, and so the number eight has tremendous significance and we just get to touch on it just a little bit tonight. I hope you'll look into it even further. There are so many connections to the number eight and the plan of God, and much for us to think about as we're striving to be more like our heavenly Father.

All right, that will do it for our study for this evening. Thanks for joining us and through this whole series of “Let Us Keep the Feasts.” After the Feast of Tabernacles and The Last Great Day, we're going to come back in November to start a new series. We're gonna start a series on the Minor Prophets and the message of the Minor Prophets. So we're gonna be going through those and we're going to break them down a little bit and put them in bunches, probably address them six at a time. And so we'll do that, beginning our next series on the Minor Prophets, and I think we'll be pretty amazed to recognize their message for ancient Judah was very similar to the message that our world needs to hear today. And so we'll see some of those prophetic significance as we look at the Minor Prophets, so we hope you'll join us after the Holy Day season for our next series. All right, have a good evening.

Thanks for coming tonight, be safe and we all pray that you have a wonderful Holy Day season and we'll look forward to getting together afterwards.