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Opening Night Message for The Feast of Tabernacles
September 25, 2026

It is during this feast we celebrate the Kingdom of God. Everything that has been done on earth culminates in the events foreshadowed by the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. During the Kingdom of God to come, Jerusalem will be a safe place to live. There will be no more worries of war, invasions, or terrorism. Any who try to bring harm will quickly come to an untimely death. Unlike today, Jerusalem will be the wealthiest city on the planet and when people think of Jerusalem, Jerusalem will be thought of as a city of peace, safety, and plenty within a land flowing with milk and honey, and all will one day keep this Feast of Tabernacles. Those who do not keep the feast will live in a drought.

Zechariah 14:9-19
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Looking to the certainty of the Kingdom of God to come, we need to remember that God promised Abram that through him a great nation would come and that through him mankind would be blessed. Abram heeded God’s words to leave his country to begin his pilgrimage when he was seventy-five years old. Today at age seventy-five, most people would want to remain retired without a major disruption to their life. Abram packed up his family, extended family living with him, his household servants, and all possessions, and they left not knowing where they were going. Similarly, when we are told to seek first the Kingdom of God and read in Revelation about the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God, we know where God is taking us, but because we have never been to the Kingdom of God before, we see through a dark smokey glass in trying to understand what the Kingdom of God will be like, because we rely on prophecies of what it will be like, and those prophecies come with that dark smokey glass effect. Abram and his family traveled to Canaan, to the place of Shechem and to the plain of Moreh. It was here that God promised the land to Abram, and Abram built an altar to God there, even though he continued to journey.

Genesis 12:1-9
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

They believed God and lived their life by faith, and so must we. There were things they hoped for, but there was no evidence to support the hope they had. All who lived by faith believed God without evidence, and did what was expected of them. We cannot please God unless we live our life with faith. In his pilgrimage, Abraham traveled to a country he did not know, and he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. Abraham and Sarah as all the faithful died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off. They in faith sought a better country, a heavenly country that today we would know as the Kingdom of God to come, and they were all pilgrims. During the Feast of Tabernacles, it is especially fitting to think about our pilgrimage, and the journey of faith that is before us.

Hebrews 11:1-16
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Instead of conforming to this world, we have been called by God to be on a spiritual pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God, and it is important that we understand we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people. We who have been called from darkness to light need to live our lives reflecting the marvelous light of righteousness. Though we may live in the very same place we were born, we need to consider ourselves to be spiritual strangers and spiritual pilgrims, avoiding sinful practices and evil we may see around us. When those who are not of the household of faith think of us of as strange or even evil because we still think of righteousness as righteousness and evil as evil, we continue to do what God expects of us living an honest lifestyle so that when God finally calls them, they will remember what they thought of as strange and evil people, and understand how wrong they were and give the glory to God.

1 Peter 2:9-12
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

We celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles because we seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. While we are on our spiritual pilgrimage, we can see there are so many who call themselves Christians, who seem to act as if they can do whatever they want to do, with some seeming to openly mock forgiveness of sin that comes through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For those who will hear I offer that if God did not spare Israel for its willful disobedience why would those who call themselves Christians expect a different outcome for their willful disobedience? Christians cannot take God our Father or Jesus Christ for granted. A new covenant is promised to Israel and Judah, even after they broke the original covenant that they reaffirmed with God. God promised that this time the law of God would be written in their hearts affirming He would be their God and they would be His people, where their sins would be forgiven and forgotten.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Being on a spiritual pilgrimage, we naturally consider the life of Abraham, who was first called by God to leave his country to travel to a land he did not know with a covenant being made to him and his seed. As life would have it, Abraham had a son through Hagar, a bondwoman, and also had a son through Sarah, a freewoman. One son, Ishmael, was born of Hagar the bondwoman, and the other son, Isaac, was born of Sarah the freewoman. Of the two sons, it was Isaac who was born by a promise of God. There was no promise from God before the birth of Ishmael. In writing to the Galatians, Paul showed we can look to Hagar and Sarah as an allegory. In an allegory, the characters and events stand for hidden ideas, moral lessons, and in the case of something linked to faith, a spiritual lesson. Paul explained how Hagar represented the old covenant, which leads to bondage, and how Sarah represents the new covenant. Because Isaac was a child of promise, those called in the faith are also children of promise having this hope in the Kingdom of God to come and New Jerusalem, themes which we celebrate during the Feast of Tabernacles. Paul wanted the Galatians to know spiritually we are children of the freewoman and not the bondwoman, and that the children of the bondwoman cannot be heirs with the children of the freewoman.

Galatians 4:21-31
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Eventually, both Abraham and Sarah died, and the blessings passed through Isaac. Isaac did not shy away from the blessings that were on his shoulders, and today there is no excuse for any person, including a younger person, to shy away from the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can look to the prophet Jeremiah who must have been young when called by God to serve as a prophet. God specifically told Jeremiah that he could not opt out of his calling by claiming to be too young. God told Jeremiah he was to do everything that God told him without fear, even coming face to face with the powerful people of his time to deliver God’s message.

Jeremiah 1:1-10
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

The pilgrimage we are on is a spiritual pilgrimage, a pilgrimage that will take us to eternity and beyond, to a country called the Kingdom of God with its capital city of New Jerusalem whose maker and builder is God. Throughout time, prophets of God have seen visions of the Kingdom of God, including Daniel who saw one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven to God, Who was given an eternal dominion by God over all people, nations, and languages.

Daniel 7:13-14
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

When God gives us new heavens and a new Earth, the capital city of the Kingdom of God will be New Jerusalem. In the middle of New Jerusalem will be the thrones of God our Father and Jesus Christ with the river of the water of life flowing from the thrones. Flowing, living water was mentioned by Jesus Christ. It was on the last and great day of the Feast that Jesus stood and proclaimed that if any person thirst, that person could come to Jesus and drink and in so doing out of that person’s belly would flow living water. Though virtually all of the people wouldn’t understand what Jesus was referencing when he spoke these words, Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was proclaiming that through his death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit would become available to people.

John 7:37-39
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

The living waters that Jesus spoke of were also mentioned by the prophet Zechariah, who spoke of the world’s armies gathering against Jerusalem to battle and that the people who remain will be treated very badly by the soldiers of those armies. It is at this point that God will once again fight for Jerusalem through the return of Jesus Christ Who when He descends from heaven, which will be as easy to see as the sun in the sky, will descend and His feet will touch the Mount of Olives, splitting the Mount of Olives in two through the force of a huge earthquake. When this happens when evening hours come the evening will be as bright as the day.

Zechariah 14:1-7
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

During the next eight days, we celebrate The Feast of Tabernacles, a yearly celebration of the Kingdom of God and all of the many blessings that will come to people through the Kingdom of God. We also celebrate the arrival of the new heavens and new Earth along with New Jerusalem when the tabernacle of God will be with mankind and when mankind will be the people of God. It is during this time when all things are made new, that we also celebrate a time when all tears will be wiped away, when there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, or pain, because the former things will have passed away. This is the end of our pilgrimage we celebrate, and during this Feast of Tabernacles, we will not only review the Kingdom of God to come, and the new heavens, new Earth and New Jerusalem, but we will consider the spiritual pilgrimage we are on, and how when God called Abraham to leave his county, Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness and went to a country he did not know, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. We also seek that very same city whose builder and maker is God, and like Abraham, when we were called, we had no idea where our journey of faith would take us, but we all know our destination, the Kingdom of God. The very best of the life we have today will not even come close to measuring up to what awaits us in eternal life and the Kingdom of God, so during the next eight days, let us remember to seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and let us also remember to celebrate the righteous abundance that we will be blessed with during the Kingdom of God.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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