Jesus' secret entry to the Feast of Tabernacles
AN ALLUSION TO JESUS' SECRET RETURN FOR THE FAITHFUL

The prophecies concerning the END of Daniel's 70th week, and the defeat of the Antichrist, refer to a "sign of the coming of Jesus in the heavens". All eyes will see the sign before Jesus physically returns to the Mount of Olives. This physical coming of Jesus will not be a secret, or a surprise. The prophecies connected with the coming of Jesus as a "thief in the night" refer to the secret coming of Christ for his Church. The Bible account of Jesus' secret arrival at the Feast of Tabernacles alludes to the secret coming of Christ to gather His faithful.

Analysis suggests that the resurrection of the faithful will take place during the observance of Tabernacles in the Fall, in the Jewish month Tishri. The disciple John writes an account of what Jesus did on the Feast of Tabernacles during His life in Israel. Considering the mounting evidence that the resurrection of the saints fulfills the typology of Tabernacles, John's description is astounding.

When the Feast of Tabernacles drew close, Jesus' brothers "after the flesh" suggested that He do miracles in Judea (John 7: 2-5) :
 

It was time for the Tabernacle Ceremonies, one of the annual Jewish holidays... "Go where more people can see your miracles" they scoffed.. If you're so great, prove it to the world!" For even his brothers didn't believe him.

The description of Jesus's brothers as being "after the flesh" is important. They are symbolically like the Jews of modern time who do not believe that Jesus is the messiah. Jesus told his brothers that His time had not yet come, and He told them to go up to the feast by themselves. Jesus then waited to go up to the Feast of Tabernacles in Galilee, which means a "circuit or circle". In the midst of the feast, 3 and 1/2 days from its beginning, Jesus then went up to Jerusalem "not openly, but as it were in secret" (John 7:9). Jesus will again come to the Feast of Tabernacles secretly, "as a thief in the night". The midst of the Feast of Tabernacles is the 18th day of the seventh month.

The number "18" symbolizes the combination of the perfection of order,"10", plus "8" the number of resurrection. It is remarkable that the Bible contains 8 accounts of individual resurrections, (besides the Lord or the saints), 3 in the Old Testament, 3 in the New Testament and 2 in the book of Acts. There are 8 songs in the Old Testament, (besides the Psalms), the eighth song, last in order to the first seven, is Isaiah 26, which declares, ". . .My dead body shall rise, Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust.." Jesus, sometimes referred to in the Bible as "the first fruit of the resurrection", rose from the dead on the 18th of Nisan, by necessity the 8th day or first day of the new week.

The resurrection of Jesus was, significantly, on the Feast of First-fruit, (not currently observed in modern Judaism) . The resurrection of the dead in Christ will occur during the "harvest of the final fruit", the "Feast of Ingathering" (Exodus 23:16) all names for the Feast of Tabernacles. The apostle John saw this harvest in Rev14:13-16, calling it "the harvest of the righteous".

The description of the events occuring after the abomination of desolation adds to our theory that the rapture will take place at the "harvest of final fruits" : "Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the millstone; one will be taken, and one will be left."

The harvest of the wine and oil takes place in the Feast of Tabernacles. Wine is always symbolic in scripture for joy in the spirit of God, while oil typically signifies God's anointing or grace. Tabernacles foreshadows the "ingathering" of the saints, for there could be no more appropriate time for absolute joy among God's people, saved by grace, than the resurrection.

The Feast of Tabernacles reminds the believer in Christ that his earthly physical body is only a temporary tabernacle.
 

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle is taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven. For indeed in this we groan, greatly desiring to be clothed with our dwelling place out of heaven. ( 2 Corinthians 5:1)

The book of Job, the oldest book in the Bible also describes the change over to immortality, as Job himself declares a physical resurrection:
 

For I know that my redeemer is living, and He shall rise on the earth at last and even after they shall corrupt my skin, yet this: In my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not a stranger's: though my reins be exhausted in my bosom.

As Jesus was changed at the Transfiguration, so we all will one day change-over to immortality, (I Thess. 4:15-18). This feast day of the seventh month will be fulfilled at the rapture and the glorification of the saints of all the ages.