In your weekly Update 112 for the Week ending October 11th, 2003, you discussed the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles.   Do you still feel that this is the 8th day as there are those in the Church of God who think that this applies to the seventh day of the Feast?
 
We are happy to discuss this further.   The Q & A that you refer to can be found at http://www.globalchurchofgod.co.uk/qa/3525 .   In this answer, the last paragraph states the following:
 
“It is important to note what Christ said. He pointed out that the time would arrive when EVERYONE who thirsts could come to Him to receive from Him the gift of living waters — the Holy Spirit. That promise will not be fulfilled until the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-12) — AFTER the Millennium (Revelation 20:4, 6). While the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the Millennium, the Great White Throne Judgment is pictured by the Last Great Day or the EIGHTH Day. When THAT time has arrived, all persons who had not been called before will be resurrected to physical life and will then be given their first real opportunity to accept God’s calling. Christ’s words in John 7:37-39 speak of a time when God’s Spirit will be offered to all, for at that time, all will be CALLED to salvation.”
 
This is an important paragraph because it clearly shows that in John 7:37-39 Christ spoke of the time when EVERYONE who thirsted and who could come to Him to receive the gift of living waters – the Holy Spirit.   It is worth reiterating and emphasising this point because that time won’t come until the Great White Throne Judgment when all who have ever lived and have not been called will have their first opportunity to accept God’s calling.   That is why the Last Great Day, or the eighth day, pictures the Great White Throne Judgment.
 
But there is more.   The 7th day of the Feast of Tabernacles is not even a Holy Day – it is the last of 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles and in that context, the symbolism if the 7th day was that “great day of the Feast” wouldn’t really make sense. When the Bible designates an annual Holy Day—as distinguished from a weekly Sabbath—it oftentimes makes this distinction very clear. For example, when referring to the First Day of Unleavened Bread, it states in John 19:31, that “that Sabbath was a high day.”  (For further explanation, compare our free booklet, “Jesus Christ—A Great Mystery.”).  Likewise, in John 7:37, the terminology, “that great day of the Feast,” does not just refer to a “normal” day, and not even to a weekly Sabbath, but to an annual Holy Day.

It has also been stated that if the Last Great Day is a one day Feast, which would indicate that there are other days, how could it be called the Great Day of the Feast?   It is an interesting question.
 
In Matthew 26:17 we read “Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”   This shows that the Jews spoke about the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread as one period of time.
 
Barnes notes on the Bible states that “The first day … – The feast continued “eight” days, including the day on which the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, Exodus 12:15.   That was the fourteenth day of the month Abib, answering to parts of our March and April.”
 
Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible has this to say: “Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread – As the feast of unleavened bread did not begin till the day after the Passover, the fifteenth day of the month, Leviticus 23:5, Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:16, Numbers 28:17, this could not have been, properly, the first day of that feast; but as the Jews began to eat unleavened bread on the fourteenth,Exodus 12:18, this day was often termed the first of unleavened bread. The evangelists use it in this sense, and call even the paschal day by this name. See Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7.”
 
We can see that the period which would encompass the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread was seen by the Jews as a time which they celebrated as one.
 
In Mark 14:1-2 we read “After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.”   Again we can see that there were two separate Feasts but for the Jews “Unleavened Bread” covered the whole period.
 
In Mark 14:12-16 we read – “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passoverlamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.”   Again, the Jews reckoned that the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread were one whole period and Feast.
 
Again, we read in Luke 22:1 we read this same terminology: “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.”
 
Having seen that the Jews lumped the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread together, we can better understand that, likewise the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day were also seen as one celebration.

In addition, if John 7:37-39 were to refer to the seventh day, and not the eighth day of the Tabernacles season, what then would the symbolic meaning be for the eighth day? Some say that it would refer to a time when God would colonize the universe or recreate the new heavens and the new earth. However, God’s annual Holy Days picture God’s plan for physical mankind, culminating in the final enlargement of God’s Family— the change of all of physical man into God beings or the extinction of those who maliciously refused to be part of the Kingdom of God. The eighth day pictures this final accomplishment for physical man. To now reduce this final step of God’s plan for physical man to the seventh day of the Feast and then add a totally new and unrelated thought to the symbolism of the eighth day—the colonization of the universe or the creation of new heavens and a new earth—makes little sense in consideration of the entire picture for mankind, as symbolized by God’s annual Holy Days.  
 
It seems clear, when reviewing all of the available information contained in the Word of God, that “… the last day, that great day of the Feast” (John 7:37) was the eighth day which pictures the Great White Throne Judgment.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale

We read in Isaiah 66:19: “I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.”

On the other hand, we read in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

Is there a contradiction?  Shouldn’t those who “who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory” have seen Christ in His glory at His return when “every eye will see Him”?

We know, of course, that the Bible does not contain any contradictions (John 10:35). Therefore, both passages must harmonize and complement each other.

Let us focus first on Revelation 1:7 which says that every eye will see Christ when He returns. In what way will they see Him? Will all human beings see Him in His glorified state—as He really is? No, because no man can see God in His true glory and live. We can only see Christ in His full glorious state when we ourselves are spirit beings.

1 John 3:2 says: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see Him AS HE IS.”

We state the following in our free booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God”: “No human being can look at God in His glorified state, as He is, and live. But when we are changed, we can look at God and His Son Jesus Christ in their glorified state and live. Why? Because we will be like them, Jesus Christ being the image of God the Father. And what does it mean to be like Christ? To bear His image? It means that we will look like He looks. And how does He look in His glorified state? Let’s read Revelation 1:14-16, which gives us a glimpse of what Christ looks like today: ‘His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters…and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.’ That’s exactly how we will look too, when we are changed and are in the Kingdom of God.”

How are we then to understand the statement that every eye will see Christ when He returns? Will every eye see Christ in His full glory?

Continuing with our booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God”:

“If we can’t see the Kingdom of God, or the two present members of that Family, how do we explain passages like [Revelation] 1:7? Here we read about the return of Jesus Christ, bringing to the earth the government or rulership of the Kingdom of God. It says: ‘Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.’

“Jesus Christ Himself describes His return in Matthew 24:30: ‘Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes [nations] of the earth will mourn, and they will SEE the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.’…

“Also, consider John 3:3 where Christ told Nicodemus: ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’… Unless we are born again, we CAN’T SEE the Kingdom of God. If we are born again, we are born of the Spirit—we will BE spirit. As a matter of fact, we will be God beings. And when we are spirit beings and full-fledged members of the God Family, we can SEE the Kingdom of God in its power—we CAN see the other members of the God Family—we CAN see God the Father, Jesus Christ, and other Christians made immortal.

“The word for ‘see’ here is the Greek word, ‘eidon.’ It is the same word as used in Luke 9:27, where Christ said that some of the disciples would SEE the Kingdom of God in power and glory, before they died. And they DID see it—but in a vision… They were still flesh and blood, but they SAW the glorified Christ. They could only do that IN A VISION.

“We DO read that Moses SAW the form of the Lord in His glorified state—but he was only allowed to see God’s back. Read it in Numbers 12:8: ‘I speak with him face to face [but not in His glorified state], even plainly and not in dark sayings, and he SEES the form of the Lord.’ Now read [Exodus] 33: 18-23: ‘And he said, “Please, show me Your glory….” (20) But He said, “You cannot see My face [in its glorified state]; for no MAN shall see Me and live…. ( 22) So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen!”’

“… those outside the Kingdom of God will SEE those inside the Kingdom of God [including Jesus Christ]. But how can that be, if flesh and blood cannot see the Kingdom of God? For instance, we read in [Revelation] 1:7, that those who mourn over Christ’s return will SEE Him. Now, those people who are mourning that Christ comes back won’t be in the Kingdom—at least not at that time. But it says that they SEE Him. We also read, in Matthew 24:30, that all the tribes of the earth will mourn, when they SEE Christ return. Again, the tribes won’t be in the Kingdom of God, but they still see Him, the King of the Kingdom. And remember, Christ comes back in glory.

“Also, we read in Luke 13:28 that those who weep because they have not been allowed to enter the Kingdom, SEE Abraham and others in the Kingdom. And finally, we read in Luke 16:23 that the rich man who is in torment because of his impending death, SEES Abraham afar off.

“It is interesting that in all those passages, except in the ones in John 3:3 and Luke 9:27, the Greek word, translated ‘see,’ is NOT ‘eidon,’ but ‘horao.’ This word ‘horao’ CAN have, and many times does have, the meaning of seeing in a literal sense. For instance, we read in Matthew 5:8 that the pure in spirit will SEE God. The Greek word is ‘horao’ and has the literal meaning. Also, we read in 1 John 3:2 that we, when we are glorified, will SEE the returning Christ AS HE IS. The Greek word here is ‘horao’ as well. This passage is interesting, as it implies that others who are not glorified, who are not in the Kingdom, will see Christ, too, but NOT AS HE IS.

“That explains HOW the world will SEE the returning Christ. They will see Him, even in glory, but not to the degree of glory that would kill them immediately. We [those who are resurrected at His return] will SEE Him as He is, but the world will not see Him in His fullest glory.

“In addition—this Greek word ‘horao’ can ALSO have a figurative meaning. That is, it can also mean, ‘acknowledge, understand, comprehend, experience, discern, take heed behold, perceive’… So the people of this world and the rich man who SEE Abraham in the Kingdom, see him in the sense that they recognize and discern and understand the fact that he is in the Kingdom, while they are not.”

With this background, let us now analyze the statement in Isaiah 66:19 which says that after His return, Christ will send His servants to some who had not seen His glory. Apart from the fact that no human being did see His full glory at the time of His return, these people did not recognize or discern or comprehend who and what Jesus was and is. Many will die in their futile attempt to fight the living Christ (Zechariah 14:3-4, 12-14). Others, living in distant lands, were not present at Jerusalem and part of the armies of the beast power and the kings from the east to fight against Christ (Revelation 16:12-15; 19:11-21). They did not die then, but they did not comprehend either that Jesus Christ is the Messiah; the KING of kings and the LORD of lords—the immortal Son of God—the second member in the Family of God. So, Christ will send His servants to them to “declare [His] glory among the Gentiles.”

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary understands the passage of Isaiah 66:19 in this light, saying: “… they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles… they shall declare publicly, plainly, and clearly, that Christ is the brightness of the divine Glory; shall declare the glory of his deity; of his rich grace and love to sinners, in suffering and dying for them; of his salvation…”

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible adds: “Neither have seen my glory – The glory which he had manifested to the Hebrews in giving his law, and in the various exhibitions of his character and perfections among them.”

Malachi 1:11 says the same thing in different words: “‘For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles… My Name shall be great among the nations,’ Says the LORD of hosts.”

Ultimately, all nations will comprehend the glory of God—both the Father and the Son—and they will learn that they, too, can become glorious God beings in the Family of God—and then, they will be able to see God AS HE IS.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

In our last Q&A, we stated that the rich ruler in Luke 18:18-23 (and in the parallel passage in Mark 10:17-22), who was unwilling to sell all he had, “turned down an opportunity to become a minister.” But is this conclusion correct, as the Bible only says specifically that Jesus asked him to “follow Him,” without expressly stating that He wanted to ordain him to the ministry?

It is true that Jesus made some very general statements about following Him, requiring of all His disciples to follow Him. He said in Matthew 16:24: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” He also said in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

We also read about a general statement about His apostles, in Matthew 19:28, when answering Peter’s question what the apostles would receive who had left everything: “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration (Luther translates: “when you are born again”), when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

It is true, of course, that all of His disciples will have rulership positions in the Kingdom of God, but here, He was specifically addressing the apostles.

We should note, however, that when Christ speaks directly TO a disciple and commands him to follow Him, it appears that He does so exclusively for the purpose of calling that disciple into the ministry.

Some commentaries agree that Christ offered the rich ruler a ministerial position. They point out that Christ’s command to the rich ruler to sell everything that he had  was specifically given to that ruler because Christ saw that one thing was lacking in his qualification to become a minister, and that one thing was his love for money and his trust in riches (compare Mark 10:24). Note the following statements concluding that Christ was indeed calling the ruler into the ministry.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible writes: “Follow me – To follow Jesus then meant to be a personal attendant on his ministry; to go about with him from place to place, as well as to imitate and obey him.”

Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible is even clearer, stating:  “…come and follow me – be my disciple, and I will appoint thee to preach the kingdom of God to others. This was the usual call which Christ gave to his disciples… and it is pretty evident, from this, that he intended to make him a preacher of his salvation.”

In support of this conclusion, Clarke refers to certain passages, which show that on each of those occasions, Christ’s “invitation” to “follow” Him refers to a call to the ministry and to the obligations of a minister.

For instance, we read in Matthew 4:19 that Christ spoke to Peter and Andrew: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” In Matthew 8:21-22, He said to one of His disciples: “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” As this was already a disciple of Christ, His remark to follow Him included obviously more than just “mere” discipleship. The parallel passage in Luke 9:59-60 makes this point even more compelling, as He is quoted as telling the man: “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and PREACH the kingdom of God.” Christ was offering him a ministerial position at that point in time, and He was telling him not to wait several years until after his parents had died.

In Matthew 9:9, Christ used the same expression (“Follow Me”) when He addressed Matthew, the tax collector, and called him to become an apostle: “As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ And he arose and followed Him.” Clarke also quotes the parallel passage in Mark 2:14, where Matthew is identified as “Levi the son of Alphaeus.”

Another example where Christ’s statement to an individual disciple to “follow” Him clearly referred to a calling to the ministry and apostleship can be seen in John 1:43, where Christ found Philip and told him: “Follow Me.” 

It is interesting that all of these named disciples (Peter and Andrew; Matthew or Levi; and Philip who did follow Christ’s “invitation,” were later numbered among the twelve apostles (Matthew 10:1-4), and they were ordered to preach the kingdom of God (Luke 9:1-2).

In John 21:19, 22, Christ reiterates the great and ongoing ministerial responsibility to Peter when He tells Him twice after His resurrection: “Follow Me” and “You follow Me” (John 21:19, 22). He had just told Peter three times to “Feed My lambs”; “Tend My sheep”; and “Feed My sheep” (John 21:15, 16, 17).

Returning to Christ’s statement to the rich ruler to follow Him, it appears that He was indeed willing to call him into the ministry, but sadly, the ruler loved money more than God and he rejected this unique opportunity to follow Christ as a minister and to perhaps later become even one of His apostles. In refusing to accept his ministerial calling, Christ pointed out that it will be very difficult for a rich person to even enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18:25-26; Mark 10:23-25).

Lead Writers: Norbert Link and Brian Gale