ONE NEW MAN

Copyright © 1991 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


The Christian Church, and the people and the land of Israel, are on a converging course. They will become one when Christ is crowned King on the throne of David in Jerusalem. The people of Israel are not to become Gentiles; rather, the Christians are to become members of Israel, not by naturalization procedures but in the Spirit of God.

Christianity is not a religion separate from Judaism. In the Lord Jesus Christ, eternal life and substance are given to the forms and hopes of Israel.


ONE NEW MAN

In 1985, we were privileged to participate in the annual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles as conducted by the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem. While we were there, we were interviewed by a radio station. According to our recollection, questions similar to the following were raised during the interview:

  • In what way are you (Christians) celebrating the feast of Tabernacles?
  • Will the way you celebrate the feast of Tabernacles replace the traditions of Judaism?
  • Will Christianity replace Judaism?

Some convictions that had been growing in our mind previously are as follows:

The Christian Church and the people and land of Israel are on a converging course. They will become one when Christ is crowned King on the Throne of David in Jerusalem.

The people of Israel are not to become Gentiles; rather, the Christians are to become members of Israel, not by naturalization procedures but in the Spirit of God.

Christianity is not a religion separate from Judaism. In the Lord Jesus Christ, eternal life and substance are given to the forms and hopes of Israel.

Because of these convictions we were able to give what may have been a more satisfactory answer to these difficult and significant questions than otherwise would have been the case.

As we continued to ponder the issues that had been raised, the three original questions increased to eight:

  1. In what manner did we Christians keep the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem during the 1985 celebration?
  2. Will the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles replace the Jewish traditions?
  3. Why can we say that Christianity is not a religion separate from Judaism but that in the Lord Jesus, eternal life and substance are given to the forms and hopes of Israel?
  4. In what way are the Christians to become members of Israel?
  5. At what point and in what manner will the Christian Church and the land and people of Israel converge?
  6. In what way will the nations of the earth come up to Jerusalem and keep the feast of Tabernacles? Will the Egyptians, the English, and the Chinese come up to Jerusalem each year and dwell in booths for a week, meditating on the God of Israel?
  7. What does the feast of Tabernacles have to do with establishing Christ on the Throne of David in Jerusalem?
  8. Precisely what is the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles? The feast of Tabernacles is one of the types and shadows of the Old Testament. What is the substance of this important symbolic observance?

The answer to these eight questions (and to every other question we can think of) lies in the one new Man.

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—
that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
having abolished in His flesh the enmity [between Jew and Gentile], that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two [Jews and Gentiles], thus making peace, (Ephesians 2:11-15)

“To create in Himself one new man from the two [Jews and Gentiles].”

The above statement was written by an Orthodox Jew!

The context of the one new Man includes the description of the eternal house of God:

having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:20-22)

The one new Man is the habitation of God through the Spirit, of which habitation the Lord Jesus is the chief Cornerstone.

Who is the one new Man?

The “two,” of Ephesians 2:15, refers to the saved “Gentiles in the flesh” and “the commonwealth of Israel.”

The one new Man is created in the Lord Jesus: “for to make in himself of two one new man.”

The one new Man is made in Christ and remains in Him as part of Him, being created in Him and not being in any sense outside of Him. If something is formed inside of a person and remains eternally in that person, and the person receives the addition as part of himself, then the new creation becomes an integral part of the individual.

The one new Man is Christ and all who are part of Him, whether a Jew or Gentile by natural birth.

The one new Man is Christ—Head and Body—who is to appear and remove ungodliness from Jacob, and also to bring justice to the nations of the earth. The one new Man is the eternal Servant of the Lord.

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles [nations].
He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.
He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.” (Isaiah 42:1-4)
For as the [human] body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (I Corinthians 12:12)

The Lord Jesus is the supreme Lord and Head of His Church. His Church is His Body, His fullness.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22,23)

The Body, the fullness, of Christ is being built through the ministries given to the Church by the ascended Christ.

till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of [maturity as measured by] the stature of the fullness of Christ; (Ephesians 4:13)

Perfect members of a perfect Body are being formed. A perfect Man is being created by the ministries imparted by the ascended Jesus. It is the one new Man.

As Adam and Eve were one, so are the Lamb and His Wife to be considered one new Man.

The one new Man is the eternal house, the eternal temple, the habitation, the dwelling place, the resting place, the tabernacle of God.

The eternal Temple of God is constructed from the Cornerstone, Christ and also from the additional stones being formed and cut to size.

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” (I Peter 2:3-6)

The Zion out of which the Deliverer will come and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, according to the Scriptures, consists of the chief Cornerstone, the Lord Jesus, and also the living stones who are being formed as an integral part of Himself.

The one new Man is the eternal house of God, the place of God’s rest forever. It is the holy city, the new Jerusalem. It is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom coming from Heaven, the kingdom of priests that will rule the nations of saved peoples of the earth forever.

There is no temple in the one new Man, in the new Jerusalem, for God and the Lamb are the Temple of it. The Throne of God and of the Lamb are in it and the nations of the saved will walk in the light of it.

Eventually the entire creation will become part of the one new Man so that every saved creature reveals in himself the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be no more “sea” of people who are not part of the one new Man.

that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. (Ephesians 1:10)

There is a place of rest in the one new Man for every person whom the Lord our God has called.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions [abodes; same word in v.23]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)

The house of the Father is the one new Man. Our Lord Jesus went to the cross, and then ascended to Heaven and sprinkled His blood upon and before the Mercy Seat of God so each of us may become an eternal part of the one new Man.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:3)

The context of John 14:3 suggests that the coming mentioned here is not the return of the Lord Jesus in the clouds of glory with His saints and holy angels. Rather, this is a personal coming of the Lord to His disciple in fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34). It is the King coming to wage war against His enemies (Psalms 24:8), to cleanse the living stones of Zion from the love of the world, the love of sin, and the love of self-will (Malachi 3:1-3), and then to dwell with the Father in us for eternity (John 14:23).

In this sense, the Lord is preparing a place for us in ourselves—that we might dwell in peace in our own personality with the Father and the Son.

The Lord is standing at each door, at the entrance to the personality of each member of the elect. He is knocking. If anyone hears His voice and opens the door the Lord will enter and dine with that person on the Lord’s own body and blood; for it is in sharing the body and blood of God’s Passover Lamb that we are married to the Lamb.

The Lord comes to one individual. He is building His Church. He is forming one living stone at a time.

Jesus is receiving us to Himself. He is opening the way into the Most Holy Place in Himself so we may be with Him where He is. The Lord Jesus always has been and always will be in the Bosom of the Father, in the Holiest of all. In order to be with Him where He is we must cooperate with Him as He cleanses us from all worldliness, all sin, and all self-seeking (II Corinthians 6:17).

Jesus Himself is the Way to the Father.

Until we have been cleansed from all sin and self-seeking we are unable to rest with Jesus in the Bosom of the Father. The King, Jesus, has come today to cleanse us from all that is not in harmony with God’s Nature. It is the marriage of the Lamb, the Day of Reconciliation, of Atonement that is taking place (Leviticus 23:27).

The judgment of the world has commenced. It has begun in the personalities of those who are close to God and will continue until the conclusion of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. When all the creation has been brought into subjection to Jesus, then will Jesus Himself be subject to God so God may be All in all of the creation (I Corinthians 15:28).

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. (John 14:18,19)

As our natural life is replaced by His eternal Life we become increasingly aware of the Presence of His Person.

“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 14:20)

“That day” is the Day of the Lord. It is the day in which every knee in us has bowed to Jesus and every tongue in us has confessed that Jesus is Lord. The Lord has knocked at every door of our personality, and we have opened every door so the King may establish His throne in every room of our being.

Complete union with Jesus brings us to the perfect knowledge that He indeed is in His Father, and we indeed are in Him and He in us. This is the manner in which the one new Man comes into existence.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

Much of the early part of our discipleship consists of attempting to do what the Lord has commanded us. This is how we demonstrate our love for Him. As we persevere in our efforts to please Him, studying His Word and seeking to be obedient, the Father looks on us with love. Then the Lord Jesus loves us and reveals Himself to us.

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” (John 14:22)

The coming of the Lord presented in John chapter 14 is not, as we mentioned previously, the Lord’s coming in the clouds of glory with the saints and holy angels. Rather it is a personal coming of the Lord, a revealing of Himself to the individual disciple who is seeking to please the Lord by keeping His commandments.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)

John 14:23 describes the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34). John 14:23 is the substance of which the feast of Tabernacles is a shadow, a type.

If the disciple serves the Lord faithfully, walking in the Spirit of God, bearing his cross patiently after the Master, the Father in Heaven will love Him. Then the Father and the Son will come to him through the Spirit and make Their home with him (in his tabernacle, his body). In this manner the disciple becomes an eternal member of the one new Man—the Man who is destined to fill Heaven and earth with the Presence of God in Christ.

It may be noted that the fourteenth and the seventeenth chapters of the Gospel of John contain passages emphasizing the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles, the creating of the Kingdom of God, the one new Man. Perhaps the most perfect expression of the one new Man is found in John 17:21-23:

“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them [His body], that they may be one just as We are one:
“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (John 17:21-23)

The depth of the above passage is not readily grasped. The only manner in which we will come to any understanding of it is to experience what it declares. Of note are the following concepts:

  • The oneness of the Father, the Son, and the saints.
  • The redemption that comes to the world as a result of the oneness of the Father, the Son, and the saints.
  • The giving of the Glory of Christ to the saints.
  • The fact that the Father loves the elect as He loves Christ.
  • The world will come to believe and know that the Father has sent Jesus, and has loved the members of Jesus’ Body as He loves Jesus, because of the oneness of the saints with the Father and the Son.

Here is the one new Man, the Kingdom of God, the glorified Church, the new Jerusalem. The world will be redeemed through the Glory of God in Christ in the saints. The nations will keep the feast of Tabernacles by coming up to Jerusalem and partaking of the spiritual Life that flows from God through Christ through the saints.

The nations willing to come up to Jerusalem and receive of the Life of Christ in the saints will enter eternal life. But the nations that are unwilling to come and receive of Christ in His saints, to keep the feast of Tabernacles, on them will be no rain of the Spirit of God—and perhaps no physical rain as well.

And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. (Zechariah 14:17)

In the light of what we have just discussed concerning the one new Man, let us return to our eight questions.

Question 1: In what manner did we Christians keep the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem during the 1985 celebration?

We kept the feast of Tabernacles, not by dwelling in booths for seven days, nor by offering an offering made by fire, nor by bringing the four species to the synagogue, but by coming up to Jerusalem and learning of the coming of the King to cleanse our temples and to make us the eternal dwelling place of the Father and Himself—the one new Man who Himself is the Kingdom of God and the Tabernacle of God.

We have “read in the book in the law of God distinctly.”

So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. (Nehemiah 8:8)

Nehemiah chapter eight tells how the Israelites wept when they heard the Law read. The reading of the Law occurred on the first day of the seventh month (the Blowing of Trumpets—Rosh Hashanah) and was followed by the observance of the feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:18).

The spiritual substance of Nehemiah, Chapter Eight is occurring today; except that now the Lawgiver Himself, Christ, has come, not only to remind us of the moral Law of God but also (and especially) to cast out of us the presence of sin and to fill us with His Life and Presence so we keep God’s laws by nature. It is time to put the laws of God into our mind and write them on our heart (Hebrews 8:10).

Also, we have rejoiced and praised the Lord in the Spirit. We have begun to enter the spiritual substance of which dwelling in booths and other ceremonies are shadows.

Question 2: Will the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles replace the Jewish traditions?

Yes. The reality of the indwelling of God in Christ ultimately will replace the traditions of the Jews—and of the Christians as well.

All our religious forms and structures are scaffolding. In the case of Judaism, a major part of the forms had their origin in Divine edict and direction, as is true of the lampstand with its seven lamps.

In the case of Christianity, however, the forms and structures did not originate by Divine direction. They are an attempt of the human mind to make a religion out of what is intended to be a fellowship with a Person, with the living Lord Jesus Christ. We are to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

The coming of Jesus in His Kingdom will result in the spiritual interpretation of the forms of Judaism and in the abolishing of the manmade forms and implements of Christianity.

Question 3: Why can we say that Christianity is not a religion separate from Judaism but that in the Lord Jesus, eternal life and substance are given to the forms and hopes of Israel?

The Lord Jesus is the living Reality, the Divine Life and Substance who is addressed by the forms and hopes of Israel. He is the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the Ten Commandments, the Lampstand, the Passover Lamb, and Christ who is to come.

“He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
“And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:32,33)

Jesus was born in a Jewish household and ministered to the people of His nation. The Holy Spirit fell first on Jews. The Apostles of the Lamb were Jews. The original Body of Christ consisted of Jewish saints.

The Law was given through the Jew, Moses. The explanation of the new covenant was given through the Jew, Paul.

To claim that Christianity is a “Gentile religion” is to ignore the facts. Both the Jews and the Gentiles refer to Christianity as a “Gentile religion.” Both are incorrect.

The coming of Christ in His Kingdom includes bringing the Spirit of God into the people and land of Israel so that what Israel is and does is directed into truth. Israel is destined to be glorified, eternal, and incorruptible. The nation of Israel shall become the leading Christian nation of the world, not “Christian” as we would think of today, like the Catholic Church, but Christian in the sense that the power and glory of Christ will be enthroned there.

Because men have turned the Presence of Christ into a religion, the receiving of Jesus by the Jew is perceived as a change from one religion (Judaism) to another (Christianity). But the truth is that which we have presented above. The receiving of Jesus is the receiving of the Hope of Israel so that the worshiper enters incorruptible eternal life.

Would you like to see a picture of the enthroned Jesus so that you do not misunderstand our meaning when we say Jerusalem will become the Throne of the Lord?

And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.
Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.
Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. (Ezekiel 1:26-28)

We understand that to present Jesus of Nazareth as God is offensive to our Jewish brothers and sisters. Nevertheless He is God. He is Christ, the Lord, the Glory of Israel. Let the seraphim cover their face and feet! Let all the creation cry Holy! Holy! Holy!

This is the carpenter’s Son who died on the cross to make an atonement for our sins. This Personage is the One who will be crowned King on the throne of David in Jerusalem.

It is not a case of man becoming God but of God becoming Man.

To receive the Lord Jesus is not a change of religion. It is the receiving of eternal life and was presented as such by the Lord Jesus from the beginning. But men have constructed the “booths” of religion, thereby obscuring the eternal life the Lord came to give, and setting the rulers of Judaism against the rulers of Christianity.

The Kingdom of God always is to the Jew first. It is the “children’s bread.”

Judaism and Christianity will remain as competing religions until the end of the present age. But in the sincere worshiper, both Jew and Gentile, the Lord Jesus Christ will fulfill all that religion attempts to provide but cannot possibly provide.

The goal of every human being, whether known or unknown to him, is rest in the bosom of the Father. The way to the Father is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Question 4: In what way are the Christians to become members of Israel?

The Christians are to become members of Israel by recognizing that the new covenant is made only with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not with the Gentile nations (Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:8).

In order to partake of Christ we must become part of Israel, part of the one Seed of Abraham. There only is the one Olive Tree, Christ. The two olive trees of Revelation, Chapter 11, do not represent a Jewish Church and a Gentile Church but rather a double portion of the Spirit of God poured on Christ and His Body, His Church.

There is no such thing as a “Gentile Church.” The Gentile Church is the creation of Gentile religionists.

In Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. There only is the one new Man. This is so obviously scriptural that it appears to be a waste of time to discuss it further.

Question 5: At what point and in what manner will the Christian Church and the land and people of Israel converge?

It is our point of view that the pressures of the future will result in the convergence of a devout remnant of Christians and a devout remnant of Jews, in fulfillment of the type of Jacob being reconciled to his son and Gentile daughter-in-law during the worldwide famine of those days.

The greatest convergence will occur when Christ and His warrior-saints (Jewish and Gentile) appear, descend to the Mount of Olives, and bring the spiritual Life of God to the people and land of Israel.

The nation of Israel will behold Him whom they pierced and will mourn for Him as a man mourns over the mistreatment or loss of his firstborn son (Zechariah 12:10).

Question 6: In what way will the nations of the earth come up to Jerusalem and keep the feast of Tabernacles? Will the Egyptians, the English, and the Chinese come up to Jerusalem each year and dwell in booths for a week, meditating on the God of Israel?

No, the nations will not dwell in booths; for the dwelling in booths is a shadow of the spiritual reality in Christ. Rather the nations of the saved will receive of the Life of Christ that then will be abiding eternally in the saints so the nations also may have a portion of the Father and the Son in themselves.

Many nations will be saved from destruction and will have the opportunity to enter the worship of God through Christ.

“Many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. (Zechariah 2:11)

The nations of the saved will keep the feast of Tabernacles by coming up to Jerusalem and receiving into themselves the Presence of God. God in Christ will make the nations of the saved part of His Tabernacle, although not to the same extent as is true of the elect, the firstborn, the Israel of God. The Israel of God, consisting of the elect Jews and Gentiles, is God’s firstborn—the firstfruits to God of the nations of the earth.

James, a Jew, the brother of the Lord, exclaims:

Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. (James 1:18)

“A kind of firstfruits of His creatures”!

Question 7: What does the feast of Tabernacles have to do with establishing Christ on the Throne of David in Jerusalem?

The establishing of Christ on the Throne of David in Jerusalem is the outer aspect of the Kingdom of God. This will take place when the Lord returns in the clouds of glory.

Of greater importance by far is the inner kingdom, the establishing of Christ on the throne of the hearts of men, especially on the throne of the hearts of the Israel of God.

Establishing Christ on the throne of the hearts of men is the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles. It is God in Christ dwelling eternally in His tabernacle. God’s tabernacle is the new born-again creation in the personalities of the saints, and ultimately in the new born-again creation in the personalities of all the saved of mankind.

It is important for us to understand that the Father dwells only in Christ. Christ (with the Father) never dwells in our adamic nature but only in the new born-again creation in our personality. The new creation is of the Substance and virtue of Christ, having been born of God (John 1:13; I John 3:9).

If the inner aspect of the Kingdom of God were not of supreme importance, Christ would have established the outer aspect of His Kingdom in the first century. The reason for the tribulation-filled two thousand years of the Christian Era is that the inner aspect of the Kingdom may be developed in God’s royal priesthood.

When the inner aspect has been perfected in the priesthood, Christ and His priesthood will appear and establish the outer aspect of the Kingdom on the Throne of David in Jerusalem. Then the Law will go forth from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Dwelling in booths for seven days (during the feast of Tabernacles) portrays the Kingdom of God, which is God in Christ in the saints entering the earth and bringing eternal Life to all who are saved until there is one new Man.

The Kingdom of God has both an inner realm and an outer realm. As we have said, the inner realm is of supreme importance.

The Lord God of Heaven could, if He so desired, set up His throne on the earth and rule people by His power, using the army of angels to put down all resistance to His will.

Instead, God has chosen to place the Life of His Son in each member of the Kingdom so that the rule of God will come from within the personalities of those who are of the nobility of the Kingdom, and ultimately from within every member of the nations of saved peoples of the earth.

It is obvious that only those people who themselves have come under total obedience to the Life of God in them are fit to rule in the Divine Kingdom, a Kingdom that in its ultimate form operates by the power of love.

There will be smashings and upheavals from now until the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age (Psalms 2:9). Such catastrophes and tragedies are necessary because of the ingrained lustful, rebellious, self-centeredness of mankind.

When all has been brought into subjection to Christ, then Jesus Himself will be subject to the Father so that God may be All in all of His creation. Then there will be rest and blessing throughout the universe. The eternal age of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit will have arrived.

By portraying the dwelling of God with the believer in the believer’s tabernacle, his body, the feast of Tabernacles points toward the inner realm of the Kingdom—the rule of God’s love in Christ from within His subjects.

When the inner rule has been established in the priesthood to God’s satisfaction, then Emmanuel (God with us) will have come to the earth. The tabernacle of God, having been perfected in the priesthood, will now be with men (Revelation 21:3).

Question 8: Precisely what is the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles? The feast of Tabernacles is one of the types and shadows of the Old Testament. What is the substance of this symbol?

The spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles is presented in John 14:23:

… If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

The Apostle John witnessed the one new Man coming down from the new heaven and being established forever on the new earth.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God [the Church] is with men [the saved nations], and He will dwell with them, and they [the nations] shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:2,3)

God is building a house for Himself. That house is constructed from Christ and from all who are one with Christ.

First came the Cornerstone. After that the living stones created from the Cornerstone.

Finally, every saved creature will partake of the Life of God who has settled down to rest forever in His eternal home.

Now the house, the Tabernacle of God, is on the earth, and from within His Tabernacle God can rule, guide, bless, comfort, and strengthen the nations of people whom God has created. God Himself in His house will dwell with mankind, and all nations will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God.

One day many years ago, Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews and of all who believe, looked up to God, having been obedient and faithful. The greatest burden of his life had just been lifted from his shoulders.

The faithful Abraham heard these words:

“blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:17,18)

As Abraham looks down from Heaven today he lifts up his hands in worship to his faithful God, who is about to bring forth blessing to the nations of the earth through the one new Man, the eternal Seed of Abraham.

(“One New Man”, 3101-1)

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