Thursdsay (3/12/20)

Read John 7

The scriptures are so powerful – they reveal God’s will. Many people say they desire to do God’s will, yet they don’t search the scriptures to find out His will.  

In verse 17, “what Christ means here is that if anyone truly wants to do the will of the Father, then he will choose to get to know the Lord’s doctrine so that he can figure out if it is really a teaching that comes from God or not.  This was true then, and it is still true today.  Many there are who claim to want to worship God, and yet they never take the time to get to know and to examine the words of Jesus Christ to see if they are from God or not.” – Nathan Johnson

In Hebrews 4, Keith spoke about Hebrews 4:12 – the word of God being sharp and penetrating. How have you seen God’s word speak to you in the recent weeks?

  • What is one way that you have discerned God’s will through His word?

Read John 7:37-38 and John 4:13-14

  • Where are you thirsty? Where are you dry?
  • Write out your one sentence summary.

THE FEASTS OF TABERNACLES
There were three primary feasts that the Jewish people celebrated yearly: Passover (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), Tabernacles (the Feast of Booths), and Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks). We read earlier about the Passover Feast and what it was meant to help them remember. Today we see Jesus heading to the Festival of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is prescribed in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. The festival is a week long feast that begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month Tishrei, roughly late-September to mid-October on our modern calendar. The feast begins with a collection of palm and willow branches to be used as a symbol of rejoicing before the LORD (Lev 23:40). All of Israel would camp out in tents for the entire week (23:42), offering all types of sacrifices as burnt offerings to the LORD (Lev 23:37-38). The prescription in Deuteronomy extends participation in the festival not only to male Israelite citizens but also to priests, orphans, widows, immigrants, and both male and female children and slaves (Deut. 16:14). The purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles was to remember the giving of the Law and to renew the covenant made between Israel and the LORD (Duet. 31:10-13).