Further to my last article titled “Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men”, a brother shared on our prayer platform his dealings overnight concerning the Feast of Tabernacles, which I found very encouraging and asked him to put it in writing for readers of this platform. Brother Damilola writes from South Africa. Enjoy.
“In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem” Isaiah 2:2-3 (NLT).
Elohim Adonai is building a people for himself. These people will constitute the house- the dwelling place of His glory. And it is these kinds of people that the scriptures refer to as the mountain of the Lord’s house or Zion. Zion is therefore not a place primarily, but a kind of people built as an eternal dwelling place of His glory. As a group in the body of Christ, this is what we believe to be the end goal of God’s eternal purpose, and it’s been and is still our pursuit and journey. Based on the recent dealings of the Lord with us and the witness of the heavens, it’s our perception and understanding at this time and season that the work of building Zion and filling her with the eternal glory has progressed to another measurable level.
SINAI VERSUS ZION
“You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.” No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering”. Hebrews 12:18-22 (NLT)
The scriptures above compare and contrast Mount Sinai with Mount Zion. We could see clearly that Sinai is a physical or natural mountain, while Zion is a spiritual mountain. Sinai is a prophetic picture of Israel; the natural people of YAHUHA. We know they built a physical house/dwelling place for God under the leadership of Papa Moses as well as David and Solomon. So also, Zion is a prophetic picture of a spiritual people; Jews and gentiles from all nations who are deliberately being built as an eternal habitation of glory by the authentic ministry of Holy Apostles and Prophets who have the revelation of Christ encoded into their DNA. Another important issue worthy of note is that Sinai experiences and manifestations are very dramatic, loud, and external, which shows by contrast that the work of Zion is that of internal quietness, inner spiritual dealings, inward experiences and realities that birth enduring external impact and result. The law of sin and death was given at Sinai, it is then the design and destiny of Zion to receive, live by, and then teach the nations the law of the Spirit of life in Christ.
THE RISE OF ZION AND THE FALL OF BABYLON
Babylon is the summation and culmination of all that man has ever thought, done, and built outside and in opposition to God and His eternal purpose in Christ. These include human philosophies, political and economic ideologies, belief systems, religions, and human organizations that are anti-God and His purpose, and by which Satan and his angels have held the nations in bondage and veiled them. But the rise of Zion is the answer to Babylon. As Zion rises, Babylon will keep falling and falling!! The rise of Zion is tied to the hearing of God’s voice. Zion must hear and keep hearing from heaven (the Spirit of YAHUAH), and from the heavens (the knowledge, movement, and alignment of the planetary bodies). It is part of the design and destiny of Zion to be given teachers who are hearing from heaven and hearing the heavens; these teachers are called and equipped to feed Zion with knowledge and understanding.
Ultimately, the destiny of Zion is not just to hear the voice of and from heaven(s) but to become the voice that will shake the earth, the heavens, and the seas to reinforce the fall of Babylon over these three realms of creation and bring redemption to them. The scripture in Hebrews 12 warns those called to become Zion of the danger of refusing this voice of heaven and from the heavens because those who refuse this voice (knowledge, understanding, and teaching of the heavens) will be shaken and moved in these last days.
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
“So that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God…For the next seven days Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south”. 2 Chronicles 5:14 (NLT), 7:8 (KJV).
“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life”. Revelation 22:22-27 (KJV).
Solomon celebrated the feast of tabernacles with the dedication of the temple/ house of God when it was completed. The house was filled with glory because it was built according to heaven’s pattern. There are two key issues to consider in the above scriptures;
- The feast of tabernacles
- The glory of YAHUA
The feast of tabernacles is the last of the seven feasts, and it’s basically the feast of in-gathering of the processed fruits. The natural Israel celebrates it by dwelling in booths, that’s why it is referred to spiritually as the feast of indwelling, prophetically speaking of the indwelling life of Christ in the matured sons of God-( Zion) which typifies the processed fruits. Celebrating this feast spiritually means that Zion- a people built as a dwelling place of YAHUA have become one with Christ. This is the height of Zion, the culmination of history and the ultimate end of God’s eternal purpose; the temple and the Lamb merging into one without any traces of discrepancy or difference between both. This is the glory! Our complete union with the indwelling Christ is the eternal glory!
One of the practical ways to measure this glory for those on the journey to Zion and who are celebrating this feast is the level of the mind of Christ that they have acquired and that is being revealed and manifested in and through them. This mind of Christ is also what is known as the super conscious mind- it is a higher state of mind and consciousness that transcends natural and materialistic drives and pursuits. Another way to know or measure this glory or mind of Christ is the depth and height of inner quietness and peace we have attained, especially in the face and midst of contrary winds and storms. This is where the practice of meditation, solitude becomes very helpful and profitable in the attainment of this glory.
This glory is what the nations and their kings are yearning and seeking for, weather they know it or not. It is what will draw all the nations to Zion- the mountain of the Lord’s house, where they will be taught the word, the ways, the paths of the Lord and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ.
The nations will come, the kings and nobles of the earth will come, with their glory, honour into this house of His glory- the heavenly Jerusalem, just as they did in the days of Solomon to celebrate the feast of tabernacles in the physical Jerusalem and to behold the beauty of the house that was filled with his glory.
Amen!