[Rick Shabi] Good afternoon, everyone. Very good to see all of you here today. Welcome to our visitors, and certainly, those who are on the web, we're glad to have you with us as well. Let me thank Kourtney, a very fine song, very well performed. Amiel, thank you too for your accompaniment if you're listening in. Very nice to have all of that as we are beginning here this afternoon. Well, I think this may be called a Feast of Tabernacles Day because I'm going to follow in the same vein that Mr. Metzel introduced the services in.

You know, we're about a month, just a little bit over a month, away from the Feast of Tabernacles, a few weeks away from the Feast of Trumpets, and about, I think, four weeks from today is the Day of Atonement. And so as we are in this last month preparing to go to the feast, I know there probably is a lot of activity going on. Do we have our reservations in place? What are we going to take? Maybe what are we going to do? What we're at the feast? Who are we going to be with? Who will we have dinner with? All those things that come to mind. And that is part of the preparation for the feast.

But I want to begin with a question today. When we think about the feast, what are we thinking of? What are we thinking of? What is our focus? And what are we doing? Then we, maybe, can follow that question up with, what would God have us be thinking of as we think of the feast? Because there is the time for physical preparation. Even ancient Israel had to prepare to go to the feast because many of them didn't live in Jerusalem, but they lived far away and had to make plans to go there, and journey there, not only for the Feast of Tabernacles but the other feasts of the year as well. But there was also other things they had to think of and prepare, and we should as well.

So I want to begin today in Ezra. If we can turn to the Book of Ezra 7, we'll kind of use this as a kickoff verse and concept today as we talk about the feast and what we're thinking of and what we are focusing on and what we're planning as we go there. In Ezra 7, we find Ezra. You remember he goes back to Jerusalem to conduct the building of the temple.

Ezra 7:9-10 It says, "On the first day of the first month, he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him." Verse 10, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Eternal and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel."

So left on the first day of the first month, got there four months later, prepared his heart. What was he going to Jerusalem for? What was he going to do? He was there to see and look into the Bible, what is it that God wants me to do? What is His will for this thing that I'm going to be doing, this whole project that I'm going to be coordinating? He prepared his heart. A very important concept for us to remember as we do things ever in our lives, as we prepare for anything, so what is God's will? What does God want us to do? And as we're here just a little over a month away from the Feast of Tabernacles, let's follow that concept, and let's go back into the Bible and see God's instructions, and what He talks about the Feast of Tabernacles that will help us to spiritually prepare for the feast as well as all the other physical preparations and anticipation that we might have.

So let's go back to where God commands the feast, and that's in Leviticus, the Book of Leviticus, or where the holy days are mentioned. In Leviticus 23:39, it's where God commands the Feast of Tabernacles that we observe.

Leviticus 23:39 It says, "'Also, on the 15th day of the 7th month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Eternal for 7 days. On the first day, there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest.'"

And we know that. The first day of Feast of Tabernacles, we have a holy convocation. On the eighth day, it's a holy day, no work is done on those days. We come before God with an offering as we do on every holy day, and we're prepared for those times that we're there.

But notice what He says, "'On the 15th day of the 7th month, when you have gathered in the fruit of your land.'" So at this time in ancient Israel, when He was giving those commands, the harvest was done. They had reaped what God had given them. They recognized the blessings that He had given them, and they came to the feast with the tithe of their grain, the tithe of the produce that God had given them. And they could feel God's blessings. They saw what God had produced. Most of us today aren't in the agricultural business, but, you know, we do gather in the fruit of our efforts all through the year. All of us who work, go to work every day. We gather in a check every single day or every single week or whenever the payday is.

We pay our tithes all through the year, and when we go to the feast at the end of that 12-month period or whenever the feast comes around, we've gathered in the produce. We've gathered in the tithes. We've gathered in all the things, and God built in to the Feast of Tabernacles that year round attention that He wants us to have. So every time we have a paycheck, every time we pay our tithes and set aside our second tithes, we're thinking about the feast. Just like those people back in ancient times and who work in agriculture and their tithes come in the product of a harvest, ours comes throughout the year. Always a focus on that Feast of Tabernacles, what are we preparing to do? Because God wants that in our minds. It's the goal.

The heavens, God, Jesus Christ all look forward to the time when Christ returns to earth, and His kingdom is set up, and His way is taught on all the earth, and the earth learns God's way is best. It is the way that produces all the joy, happiness, and peace, health, and everything else that people have wanted or at least thought they wanted. So we have that opportunity all through the year to gather in that fruit. There's that year round focus on the feast that we should never, never forget. Keep that in our minds. If we go forward to Deuteronomy, Mr. Metzel mentioned that we're going through Deuteronomy, and I'll be in some of the scriptures in Deuteronomy, if you're keeping up with the reading program that you read just this week as we go through this sermon. But in Deuteronomy 16, which is slated for this coming Monday, let's read some fairly familiar verses, I think, as we talk about the Feast of Tabernacles.

Deuteronomy 16:13-14 It says, "'You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress.'" When the harvest has been done, gather in. "'And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.'"

Quite a lot going on there in those verses. In verse 15.

Deuteronomy 13:15 "'In seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Eternal chooses, because He will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you surely rejoice.'"

If you do that, He says in that last verse, and we'll come back to other concepts in those three verses in a little bit, He'll bless you. He'll bless you. Now, years ago, I heard a minister say at the feast in a Bible study... And he had been a minister for several years at that point. He made a comment that always that has stuck with me through the years. He said he's never known anyone who faithfully kept their second tithe that God didn't bless. He never knew anyone, and if there were problems, a lot of times if he would go back to, well, have you faithfully kept your second tithe? Have you never touched it during the year if you needed some money? Have you kept that aside for the feast? He said he never knew anyone that God didn't bless. So God does bless us when we do what His will is. There is this concept of doing what God said to do. To do what God said to do. And I want to spend a little bit of time just on that blessing concept.

Mr. Metzel talked about how many times in Deuteronomy it is, "To be well with you." Well, if you look through Deuteronomy and look into the concordances, you see that God will bless you. That phrase or something similar to it also appears in Deuteronomy more than any other book in the Bible. In Deuteronomy, when God asked for us to review that book and know what it's about, there are the things of God that He wants us to pay attention to. It will be well with you if... God will bless you if... And much of it has to do with how we keep His feasts and the Feast of Tabernacles. Let's go back to Exodus for a moment here. In Exodus 34...

You know, as ancient Israel went to the place that God chose for them to keep the feast, it was a journey. It wasn't a matter of booking an airline reservation or making sure the car was set to go for a trip or anything like that. It was quite an excursion. And they probably had some excuses along the way as they went there, and God took care of all those excuses. You know, we might sometimes have an excuse why we don't go to the feast, and I know there are legitimate excuses. Health and some other situations would indicate that we would stay at home, but if we're able, we go to the feast. And if we do it and don't have excuses like maybe some of the Israelites back then did, God will bless us.

Let's look at one of them here in Exodus 34. Maybe some of them said, "Well, it's so far. It's so far to go to the feast. I have to leave my land behind and everything behind. What if someone breaks in? What if someone takes my property? What if whatever, right?" We might have some of the same concerns about some of the things as well. And God answers that question in verse 22. He says in verse 22.

Exodus 34:22-24 "'You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. Three times, your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.'"

Don't worry about it. Do what I say. God says, "I'm more than capable." Whatever security system you have, He has better. I'll take care of it. Just do what I say. Just go to the feast and don't worry about it. I can take care of all those things for you. So the Israelites back then go to the feast. Put it in God's hands. Obey Him, and He'll take care of it. If we go forward to Deuteronomy 14. Deuteronomy 14:22.

Deuteronomy 14:22-25 "'You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year, and you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.'"

He'll bless you, and you do it, because as we discussed last year in more depth, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. What if the journey is too long for you? He says, "Turn it into money." Verse 25. Verse 25. Oh, no, verse 24, I do want. "'But if the journey is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you...'" Because He does bless. He will make...when He sees the intent of our heart, He will bless us with the opportunity and the ability to get to the feast. "'When your Lord your God has blessed you, exchange it for money and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.'" Go to the place where the Lord your God chooses.

So we see that God blesses us. We could turn to many other places to talk about that. But let's talk about where God chooses. You know, a few times this year, I've gotten emails about, well, who decides where God chooses the feast will be? How do we know that that's where God chooses to be? And I find that an interesting question when I get it, and I'm sure other pastors have gotten that as well. Because we just know. We know, and we trust God is in charge. This year, as I explained, we have had a number of new feast sites in the United States. And as Mr. Melear has been working on those, we watched sites that have been used for years, just couldn't go there this year. Wasn't going to work out this year. But then these new sites opened up. And it was as if God opened the door, this is the place where He chooses.

But from time to time, people choose not to go where God places His name or where the Church says the place for the feast is this year. They may want to go to a different place, to another feast site. Maybe want to do some things or maybe put more focus on where I'm going to be, as Mr. Metzel said. I thought it was very good the way he put that. We're not going to a place for the feast, we're going to an event, something that God puts on. That's the focus of where we go. You know, as Mr. Metzel was speaking... When my parents came into the Church and many of you who have been around for 50, 60, or more years, you remember back in the time of the feast back then, you had no choice where you were going to the feast. There were just a few places, right? And it's like this is where you're going.

And most of the time, at least in those early years, you didn't even get to choose where you were staying. They told you where you were staying. This is the hotel you're at. So all the choice was that. But you know what? No one complained. Everyone just went. They had a good time. It was what the Church said. We were going there for the Feast of Tabernacles. And if the place was not as nice as we might want it to be, that was okay. We weren't there for that. We were there because God said to be there and to learn what He had to do. But as time has gone on, more and more place has trumped what we should be thinking about at the feast. Where does God choose?

And yes, we have feast sites all over the world. And God has blessed us richly so that we have ample second tithes to go to these places. And that's a blessing. But sometimes the place becomes more important than the feast. And that's where all the focus is. And that's not so healthy. It's a blessing to be able to do that. But it's the place. So I know sometimes I've heard said and experienced some people never go to their own assigned feast site. They never go with their home congregation. Or they may never serve. And there's a lot you learn at the feast when you serve and do what God said to do and go to the place where He chooses just like at ancient time and just like years ago when people just went because it was the feast, and you didn't have that choice. So go where God wants us to go.

You know, the Feast of Tabernacles should remind us that we're in training. We're in training for what God wants us to do and what we will be doing during that time of the millennium. Christ will have returned. There will be people living over into the millennium that need to be taught God's way. And that will be you and me. That will be you and me if we're learning that way now. If God looks and says, "Yes, it's in their heart. I trust them to teach others what it is that they have learned." It's a big job that God has called us to. He has amply trained us in all sorts of different ways, not just through sermons, not just through Bible study but what we do. How do we do what we're doing? And the Feast of Tabernacles is an opportunity each year to just submit. Just submit to God. Just submit to Him. If He says do it, do it. If He says go, go. It's an important concept in our lives to just do what God said and says and trust that He knows what's best for us.

Now, today, we have many choices, and I'm not saying anything about that we shouldn't be making choices. God has blessed us with all these sites, and that is perfectly fine to do. But what are we thinking about when we're doing these things? You know there will come a time when we will be doing exactly what God tells us to do. He is in charge. He will be the one to determine when Christ returns to earth. He'll determine when all those things will be. He is in charge of our training now. And there will be a time when He may say, "Go." And we might question if we haven't prepped ourselves for just submitting to Him and doing what He says with the right attitude. And if we delay in that going, it could be pretty devastating.

Let's look at Matthew 24, speaking of the end time, 24:15. He says this about the end time through the early verses here. He talks about how those times will be, the time of tribulation, the gospel being preached. And He says in verse 15.

Matthew 24:15-17 "'Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place,' (whoever reads, let him understand), 'then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.'" Go. When you see this happen, go. Verse 17, "'Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house, and let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.'"

When he says, "Go," go. And part of that training we have is now. When God says do something, just do it. We did say when we were baptized wherever you lead, I will follow. I will go wherever you want me to go. I will do whatever you want me to do. Whatever you command, that I will do. And so part of the feast is being submissive to God, doing what His will is, focusing on what it is He wants us to learn, and doing what it is that He wants us to do. Everything we do in this life is training, preparing us, preparing us for that time. So the question for us would be as we let God prepare our hearts for the feast, for the rest of our lives, for whatever He has called us to do, do we take those opportunities to learn, to build that character, to do what it is that He wants us to do? You know, there's an interesting verse back in Deuteronomy, again, in Deuteronomy 12. Deuteronomy 12:5, I think. Yeah, verse 5, speaking of this place where God chooses.

Deuteronomy 12:5-7 He says, "'But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place, and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offering, sacrifices, tithes, heave offerings of your hand, vowed offerings, free will offerings of the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. You shall not do at all,'"

He says, "'you shall not at all do as we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes.'" Isn't that an interesting verse in Deuteronomy, even for the Israelites back then, who had questions, didn't really want to obey God, didn't really want to follow what He had to say?

And maybe we fall into that category as well. Just doing what's right in our own eyes. It's okay if we do this. It's okay if we do there. God knows we're keeping the feast even if it's not at a place that He would designate for us to be. We can make our own decisions on that. No God is pretty clear. God is pretty clear of what He wants us to do. And as we keep the Feast of Tabernacles, as we go through all of our lives, just bear in mind God is looking to see how are we doing things today? Are we learning? Are we growing? Because He will have people in His kingdom that learn to do things His way. He's not going to be teaching that when Jesus Christ returns. He's not going to be teaching that in whatever place it talks about in Revelation 12 where His people are nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

It's the time now to be doing those things. It's the time now to be doing what's right in God's eyes and disciplining ourselves to do that and now, allowing ourselves to have the latitude of, "It's okay. As long as I do that, it's okay." And it extends to every single one of God's commands. We are here to learn His way, do His way, see the benefit of it, and follow His principles all along the way. Well, so we can look at a few of those concepts. We go where God chooses, and we choose the place that He would want us to go. Not ourselves first, but Him first. It's His feast. He wants us to be where He wants us to be. Just as He has placed, as it says in 1 Corinthians 12:18, every member has his or her place in the body. He has placed us here, and He knows where He wants us to be.

Let's follow what He has to say and not make those decisions for ourselves because He is the master trainer. He is the master teacher. He's very patient, but He's also watching to see what we are doing and how we are doing it. So we're in Deuteronomy 12 here. Let's go forward, and let's look at another aspect of the feast. God will bless you if you gather in during the year the fruits of your labor, the harvest, and you're ready to go to the feast. You have faithfully done that, kept your tithe, and you're ready to go to the feast. He will bless you. We go to the place where God chooses, and today, there are a variety of places. You know where they are. You hear where they are. And one of those places is where we should go.

In verse 14...or Chapter 14 in verse 27... We were in Deuteronomy 14 before, where we were talking about God blessing, taking the tithe that we have gathered, and go to the place where He chooses us to go.

Deuteronomy 14:27-29 He says, "'You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. At the end of every third year,'" He goes on, "'you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, nor the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.'"

Here's another thing that we do that God says, if we do it, He'll bless us. So if we go over to Deuteronomy 16:14, there He says, basically, the same thing.

Deuteronomy 16:14 "'You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.'"

Who has He left out? No one. So He says there's a responsibility to the feast. Yes, gather up your tithes. Yes, God has blessed you. Yes, you're able to go to these places. But we have a responsibility to look out for others as well. There is a concept that God says don't just look out for yourself. It's not about you and what you have and what you're going to do, but you need to be looking out for the welfare of others because others may not have been as blessed as you.

And so the Church handles some of this for us with feast assistance, and people can make applications if they need some second tithe to go to the feast because we are committed that everyone should go to the feast that is able if they've really put the effort during the year to being ready for the feast. But, you know, we have a personal responsibility for that as well. If we know someone in the congregation who just doesn't have the tithe, and we have plenty, we can work on that. We're family. We should know each other. We shouldn't be looking down on each other and letting someone else do it. There's part of that that God has put into the concept of the Feast of Tabernacles. Watch out for others. Be cognizant of them.

You go and rejoice at the feast, but make sure others have an opportunity to go to rejoice at the feast too if they need help. And maybe we do too much for people when we do the feast assistance thing. You notice He says here, "'...within your gates,'" all those who are within your gates. That would be everyone in Cincinnati, right? They're all within our gates here in Cincinnati. So as we know each other and we are aware of what others might have need of, we can help. We can offer. Or maybe as we did back in the congregation that I pastored back for years, we did things where people could contribute in their local areas and be distributed as there was needs. It made people think, makes us think, where are the needs? Looking out for the brethren.

You know, at the feast, now, we have family helping family funds so that if we have access, you know, and there are times where there are prices or costs that are involved in some of these activities that are there, you can contribute to that so that everyone at the feast can do every activity that the Church schedules or has developed so that no one is left behind because of money. Because we all have plenty of tithes. God has given us all that concept of what to do. So when we look at even that aspect of it, look what God has built in to the feast. Something very important.

We go over to Deuteronomy one chapter over or one chapter back from chapter 16. Let's look at a few verses in chapter 15 that lead into chapter 16 where that concept is actually quite well spelled out. Deuteronomy 15. Let's pick it up in verse 4. We shall break into the middle of the sentence.

Deuteronomy 15:4-11 He says, "'...except when there may be no poor among you...'" So you know what the subject of this section is. "'...except when there may be no poor among you, for the Eternal will greatly bless you in the land which He is giving you to possess as an inheritance only,'" you can circle that word, "'only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you. You will lend to many nations but you will not borrow. You will reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you. If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother. But you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.'"

He says, "'Beware, lest there be a wicked thought in your heart saying, 'The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,' and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Eternal against you, and it becomes sin among you. You shall surely give to him and your heart...'"

God is always looking to see what is in our heart. Not just rote obedience, not feeling that we're forced to do it, but what is in our heart as God's Spirit leads us and guides us. That we want to do these things because it just becomes us. Because we have the character and the desire...same desire that Christ had. The same desire that God has toward us.

"'You shall surely give it to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him. Because for this thing, the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and all to which you put your hand. For the poor will never cease from the land. Therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and needy, in your land.''"

There's a reason. God gives us the opportunity...and those verses are a really good definition of agape. This is a love that God wants us to have that's even built into the Feast of Tabernacles. Watch out for others. Be aware of what's going. Don't be so focused on what I'm doing or where you're going and what I plan to do there that you forget that we have a responsibility. If you hear something that someone is saying or that has a need, fill it. It's a New Testament principle, probably. I hope maybe that as we're reading those verses in Deuteronomy, you thought of what the Apostle John wrote back in 1 John 3:16 because it's the same concept. It's the same agape.

1 John 3:16-17 "By this we know love," that's agape, "By this we know agape because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Well, that's a lot more than just giving someone some of our second tithe, isn't it? That we would even lay down our lives for the brethren just as Christ did for us. "But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the agape of God abide in him?"

How does it abide in him? If you just, well, okay, I'll just walk on by like the Levite and the priest did for the good Samaritan. Someone else will take care of it. The Church will take care of it. You know, God gives us the opportunities to build agape. It's even built into the Feast of Tabernacles. We watch out. We watch out what's going on with other people.

1 John 3:16-17 "My little children," he says in verse 18, "let us not agape in word or in tongue." It's great to talk about it. We can all talk about it. He says let's not just do that, "But do it indeed and in truth."

All those things that we can do when we are letting God direct us. You know, we can talk about money. And tithe is important in this day and age and money to go to the feast. We know that. So we can help out in that way. But there's another way at the feast that we can agape our brothers and sisters.

Many times we go to the feast, and it's absolutely natural, and I'm not saying don't do it, we spend our whole time with family or with our friends and maybe see someone who's standing alone at the feast who has no one to talk to. And we could spend our time, we could go over, and we could talk to that person and show agape to that person so that they feel part of the body as well. I think we've all been in that position sometimes when we're in a room, and it's like no one is talking to us, and you're just going to stand there, and you don't really know what to do and whatever. That's the case with some new people who go to the feast, who go there, and they're expecting one thing, and they've heard all these things about the love of brethren and everything. And then it doesn't turn out the way that they thought it should be.

I'll give you an example, and it's a painful example even after all these years. We had someone new begin to come to the Church in one of the churches I pastored in Florida. And she came, and then her husband began coming, and they went to the feast. And I kind of wanted them to go to one place where they would be at the congregation, but they wanted to go to another, and so they went to another. When they came home, they were different people. And they said, you know, "We were there, and not one person on any one of those days ever came up to talk to us, not one." And the husband never was the same again. And eventually, left the Church so did she. What we do and how we serve each other, not just in service, is very important. So when we see someone like that, make them part of it.

I know singles in the Church sometimes have trouble, you know, with that or feel left out of things. Include them. We are all brothers and sisters. The feast is not a time to say, "We don't want to be with you or whatever." This is a time for us to love each other and to learn to love each other as we should be doing all the time all of our lives. Don't let someone feel alone. Take the time. Sacrifice what you were going to do. Give the time to them. Make everyone feel part of the family because we are part of the family of God. And it is our responsibility to look out for each other in everything, not just the physical needs but, you know, being lonely or feeling left out or feeling unnoticed is a very difficult thing and every single one of us can take care of that and make a difference in people's lives if we care enough to do it. So when we are at the feast it is more than just doing the things that we want to do but watching when we are at services. What is it that we can do? Where can we help? Jesus Christ would have done that.

Jesus Christ made everyone feel included. Isn't our job? Isn't what our calling is? Is to become like Him? And that's a key part of it. What do we do? And as we go there can we be preparing our hearts that, yeah, when we go there we are going to make sure we look out at services for other opportunities to serve people, to show love, and not just do what we want to do but remember we are there to grow, to be there for God. It's His feast. It's His time where He gathers us all together to teach of His way, to hone the vision of the kingdom and what it will be like when we are out of the world and the world is behind and how life will be like. It's the time that what we are living now that He wants us to be paying attention to those things. So we can put that, and as we prepare our hearts, be thinking, yeah, those services each morning are important part. Those afternoons and dinners are important in all sorts of ways. In all sorts of ways that God built into the feast of Tabernacles to give us the opportunity to grow and become like Him.

Well, let's go back and look at another aspect of the feast that God gives us. It's also in Deuteronomy. Go back to Deuteronomy 14. You probably picked up...and as you read through that this week, you may have come upon all these points. But in Deuteronomy 14, it talks about the tithe we saved to go to the feast, and so He gives many things in that chapter there. In Deuteronomy 14:25, we read about, well, I'm going to read verse 24 as well, where the people say they have an excuse, right? Well, it's too much. It's too much for me to carry my tithe, my grain tithe to the feast, and God says, "No, no, no."

Deuteronomy 14:24-26 "'If the journey is too long for you so that you aren't able to carry the tithe or if the place where He chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.'" Verse 26, "'And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires.'" Whatever your heart desires. What does He mean by that? Well, following in the verse right there in verse 26, He says, "'For oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice you and your household.'"

So as He talks here He says whatever your heart desires. This is a time of bounty. The feast pictures a time when there will be bounty on the earth. It won't take...well, you know let's take the time. Keep your fingers there or your place there in Deuteronomy. Let's look at Amos, the Book of Amos. It reminds us of some of the vision of the feast that we're there and why God builds tithe into it that we have 10% of our income from the year available for that 8-day period because the feast does picture a time of bounty on the earth.

Unlike those of us in America, most people around the earth have an issue with how much food there is to eat. You know, as we traveled around to the international areas and heard how they keep the feast, it is a time where they have meat, and they have things that they don't have normally throughout the year like you and I do. So when they come to the feast, it's an exciting time for them. They're all together, and that's where the joy is. They're together. They're where God wants them to be. They have meals together. They're able to have much more than they normally have in their everyday lives. And that's the way it will be in the kingdom for all of mankind not just certain nations of the world that God has blessed greatly, like us.

Amos 9:13 He says, "'Behold, the days are coming, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes, him who sows seed. The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.'"

And then He talks about bringing the people back. It will be a bountiful place for all people because God will bless. There will be ample crops for everyone. There will be abundant food when everyone is living God's way of life. When they are keeping the agricultural laws, doing all those things that God said and living His way. He always intended to bless mankind. He wanted to bless mankind. It's because we don't do things God's way when we feel that lack of blessings, or if we live in a country like we live in today, that God has richly blessed, but we forget, the nation forgets, and they move back and further and further away from God and think it's all about them. No, no, no. It was all about God blessing us.

And as we go forward and we see those blessings decrease in this land and we begin to experience what food shortages are and the famines and the pestilences that God talks about will come, we will know why, the nation will learn why when they see the results of everything that they are doing. But that's down that's down the road. So when we go to the feast, we have this bounty, and God says you got all this money eat whatever want. Enjoy it. Go out to find restaurants, take people out to restaurants, eat it. And it is okay to buy some gifts along the way. But what is in our minds when we hear whatever your heart desires? I can buy this big gift because I have a lot of tithes. I can buy this thing that I've always wanted with that. Is that what God designed? What is it, whatever your heart desires?

Matthew 6:21 It says, "Where your treasure is there your heart is also."

God sees what's in our hearts by whatever your heart desires. Is it in accordance with what His wishes are or in a way are we turning it into a mini Christmas? I can have a gift on every day of the week or a mini Hanukkah or whatever those things are out there. Is that in our hearts? I mean, it's okay to buy gifts but what are we thinking and what are we doing? Enjoy the feast. Do the things that God said to do. But do it the way that He said to do it. Whatever our heart desires. What are we telling God about what our heart desires when we go to the feast? I'm not going to answer that question. I have to think about it. We all need to think about it. What are we showing God about what our heart desires? Let's leave that one. Let's go back to Leviticus 23. See another aspect of the feast.

Leviticus 23:34 "'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'The 15th day of the 7th month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for 7 days to the Lord. On the first day, there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do customary work on it.''"

And then He also says the same thing about the eighth day. It's a holy convocation. Holy convocations are meetings that God calls. No more important meeting in our lives. So when God says, "I want you to be there," that we should be there. And the feast begins on the 15th of the 7th month at sunset. As Mr. Metzel said that's Wednesday evening October 16th. And at most feasts sites, around the world, there is an opening night service, a holy convocation on that night. It's what God has put in place for us. The Church does that.

As we prepare for the feast as we prepare our travel arrangements and we do all those other things, you know, I think it's really important that we are where God wants us to be when that feast starts. That we are prepared, and we need to be in the place that God wants us to be in that holy convocation at that time. I know some feasts sites don't have one because of rental complications in those feasts sites, most sites have one. What does God think? What are we showing Him if we've decided I can just forget that one? A little tired after getting here or maybe didn't even arrive at the feast site until after sunset. What are we telling God? It's just not that important to me. Is that the message we want to give to God? It's just not that important to me to be there on time.

Who are you God to tell me I need to be there by sunset on the 15th on the 7th month, to picture the time of your millennium which I say I want to be part of. That I say I'm in training for. That I say I will let you do whatever you need to do to mold me into who you need me to be so that I can be part of that. But that one no just cross it off the list, not that important. Make no mistake, that is the message we give to God when we just decide, it's okay, we don't have to be there. Same concept applies on the last day or the last service, the last holy convocation on the eighth day or last great day whatever you want to call it. Got to get home. Had enough of this. Spent my morning here. Not going to spend the afternoon there. Even though the holy day goes on until the sunset at the end of that eighth day. Got to get back home. Can't wait to get back into the world. So I won't be there either.

And historically, through the Church in recent years, well, many recent years, I guess, the lowest attended holy convocations at the feast are the opening night and the second service of the eighth day. I don't think it was that way when I was growing up. I don't think it was that way. I think there were as many people there on the opening night, and, again, I understand you can have travel concerns or interruptions and stuff like that. But if you can be there, you plan to be there. Otherwise God would look at us and say, "What are you thinking? If it's not that important for you to be there where I want you to be, why would I think that in the millennium you will do what I want you to do or what I'm training you to do?" We have to stop sometimes and remember we are in training for what God wants us to do. And we show Him where our heart is. We show Him what our intent is. And He may sit there, and He's very patient, He's very kind with us, but what are we doing to ourselves when we allow ourselves to think that's okay, we don't need to be there at that time?

We need to be where God wants us to be and come out of the world that He has called us to come out of. And you know that applies to every service during the Feast of Tabernacles as well. I've heard some people say, "Well, it's not a commanded assembly the other six days of the feast. So if I need to go out touring someplace, we'll go ahead and do that." Is that okay? The argument sometimes is, well, you know, God didn't command the holy day or holy convocation every day. But, you know, the Israelites, they did sacrifice, and they came to God every day of the feast. If you look back at Numbers 12, I won't take the time to turn to Numbers 12, but you might go ahead and read it. It talks about the Feast of Tabernacles. And you know what? Every single day of the feast, they had all these offerings and sacrifices that they had to offer. Thirteen bulls, all these goats, all these lambs and whatever. Every single day they were there before God, and every single day they made a sacrifice.

We're not willing to sacrifice our time for one service to be before God in His presence on that day? If not, what are we thinking when we think of the feast? Where's our mindset? What is it really about? Is it really about pleasing God, going to learn what He wants us to learn, to feel the unity, to feel the zeal, to hone the vision that He has for us, or is it about us? Because the feast isn't about us. It's about Him. And it's about others. You know, there's a verse in Zephaniah... Zephaniah, the fourth book from the end of the Old Testament. Zephaniah is a book for the future as you read through it. It talks about the day of the Lord, talks about the coming of Jesus Christ, talks about what will be when Christ returns. And in Zephaniah 1:12, God talks about what may be one of the chief maladies of our time because we do live in a time that God has blessed us richly.

In Deuteronomy 8, as you've read through that, God said, "I'll bless you, but, you know, when your bellies are full and you have all these nice things and nice houses, don't forget me. Don't forget what I called you to do. Have the same zeal."

Zephaniah 1:12 It says, "It will come to pass at that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, 'The Lord won't do good, nor will He do evil.'"

Doesn't really matter. God doesn't really care if I'm not there as long as I say things. No, I think He cares. I think complacency is one thing that you and I need to guard against and be sure that that's not becoming part of our lives, which can be reflected in these decisions we make on whether or not to be where God wants us to be at that time or not. We might want to think of it, might want to consider, might want to prepare our hearts, might want to prepare our plans to be where God wants us to be when, He says to be there and every day during that feast, to be there.

And at the activities, and at the Bible studies, we are there, not for tours, nice that we can have them, nothing wrong with them. God first. The reason for being at the feast first. Be at the activities. God called us to be together. He calls us out of the world to go to the feast. Why? Just because He wanted us to have an eight-day vacation? No. That's the reason we come out of the world, so that we are with other people, so that we are learning what God says. So, you know, we divorce ourselves from the world. We leave our jobs behind. We leave our lives behind. We trust God to take care of those things. You know, we might even decide sometime to just leave our cell phones behind. And leave our cell phones behind during services. So our focus is on what God wants us to do. Be at those Bible studies, be at those activities, those group activities. And there's plenty of other free time to do all those other things you want to do. No one is saying don't do them, but don't choose them first, choose God first. Choose what He wants first. That's what we are learning in this place.

Leviticus 23:42 Talking about dwelling in booths, right? "'You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.'"

Booths, temporary dwellings. We're all in temporary dwellings at the feast. Should be in temporary dwellings at the feast. It is important to be out of your house and leave your house and be in a temporary dwelling during that time. Some of our temporary dwellings are really, really, really nice. Nothing wrong with that. But they are temporary dwellings. And that temporary teaches us part of what we're there for. We are in temporary bodies. This body that we're in, it doesn't last forever. God's working with us. He wants us to last forever. He wants to give eternal life. But this temporary body is going to die. And we will trust God to resurrect us if we have followed Him exactly the way that He wants us to, and learn through our lives to more and more be submissive and surrender to Him, and let Him do in us what He wants us to do, and get ourselves out of the way and let God teach us in all these activities and events that we have.

It's a temporary world, too. We learned that at the Feast of Tabernacles. We're reminded of it. This physical earth will pass away right at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. We have the eighth day. We have the second resurrection. We have the earth burning up. We have new heavens and new earth that we talk about because it is going to pass away. God will replace it with the permanent heavens and earth. We are in there. And that's an important part of the feast. We go there not just to enjoy the finest hotel in the history of man wherever we're going, but also to remember He's calling us out of this world. And these are temporary bodies on a temporary earth that we live in. Thank God He has opened our minds to the truth and given us the opportunity to learn what He wants us to learn. So much involved in the Feast of Tabernacles. All these things we can be thinking about, all these things we can be preparing our hearts for that as we go to the feast, they're in our minds so that we don't lose the meaning of it.

One more thing God says to do. Rejoice. Rejoice at the feast. Rejoice at the feast. And absolutely, that was what He wants us to do. Christ has returned. The world now is living the life that God has given us and taught us, we are there working with the people. They are learning abundance. They are learning love. They are learning unity. They are learning to watch out for each other. They are learning agape. They are learning all the things that you and I are supposed to be learning as part of the congregations that we're in today, and as we do things that God wants us to do in our individual lives, as well as in our collective lives and our churches and the Church around the world. Learning all those things that He wants us to do. Now, rejoicing is one of them. And the feast is a time for rejoicing. Don't let anything I do today say it. But you know what? If we do, if we prepare our hearts, if we go to the feast with these things in mind and see that, we will truly rejoice in a way that all the physical things on earth couldn't bring us.

Let's turn over to 1 Chronicles 29. When you read about King David, you can see why God called him a man after His own heart, because he exhibited the things of God. And he knew what these things meant. And he learned those things, and he records them for us in the book. Here in 1 Chronicles 29, God has told David, "You're not going to be the one to build a house for me." David desperately wanted to build that temple for God. God said, "No, no." It'll be Solomon that did it. How did David respond? David didn't mope. David didn't complain. David didn't say, "I'm going to go to another church. I'm going to follow someone else because you just said something I didn't want to hear." He praised God, and he dealt with it, and he went on a couple of times. Major times in David's life, he was told, no, but he never turned against God, never complained. When that baby was born, of Bathsheba and his in the aftermath of the adultery and the murder of Uriah, he immediately repented and turned to God. He never lost faith. Lessons for us.

But here in 1 Chronicles 29, David, instead of moping, instead of saying, "Woe is me, it's not fair, da da da," what did he do? In this chapter, he went out, and he had all of Israel... Okay, fine. God said Solomon's going to be the one to build the house. But let's gather up the materials. Let's gather up the material so Solomon has them. And he goes and he talks to people, and then all of them give willingly of all these things for the building of the temple. And notice what it says. Let's read down.

1 Chronicles 29:6-8 "The leaders of the father's houses, leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and hundreds, with the officers over the king's work, offered willingly." And they gave all these things you read about in verse 7, the precious stones in verse 8. And then let's note what it says. "Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to God. And King David also rejoiced greatly. And David blessed God before the entire assembly."

The greatest rejoicing you will ever have is when we do things God's way, when we follow His will implicitly, when we do things His way. When we sacrifice self and ourselves and put God first, the rejoicing is beyond anything we've ever experienced. Just like the joy that we have when we're following God is beyond anything the world can ever talk about joy. Because we know what it's like to walk with God, to be in concert with Him, to have His Spirit in us. So when we go to the feast and we do the things that God wants us to do, serving in all those ways we can serve, becoming like Him, oh, we will rejoice. Oh, we will rejoice in ways we don't even understand now. But now is the time to prepare for it. Too late when we get to the feast. Prepare now. So let me leave you with that question, again, something you might think about over the next month. When we think about the feast, what are we thinking about?