Chapter 8 continued
The following day there was another gathering, composed of "the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites"; these came "unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law." v. 13. It is beautiful to notice this increasing desire for the knowledge of the Word of God—a sure sign that God was working in their hearts, inasmuch as obedience to it is a necessary expression of the divine life. When thus assembled, they "found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written." vv. 14, 15. Then we are told that "the people went forth," etc.
But it will be seen from Lev. 23 that the day appointed for this feast of tabernacles was the fifteenth day of the seventh month, so that a 13 days' interval must be placed between verses 15 and 16, as it was on the second day of the month that they found the precept as to the feast (vv. 13, 14). This interval would be occupied with the proclamation of the coming observance of the festival (v. 15), to give the people "in all their cities" the time required to gather themselves together at Jerusalem. When assembled, they proceed to keep the feast as enjoined in the law; they fetched the branches from the mount "and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim" (v. 16); and in the next verse we read, that "since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so"; that is, not that they had not kept the feast of tabernacles, for they had done this on their return from captivity (Ezra 3), but that they had not complied with the injunction to dwell in booths during the days of the feast. It was the first time since Joshua that they had made themselves, in this manner, booths of pine, myrtle, and palm branches. This is another proof of the energetic action of the Spirit of God at this moment, leading the people to exact obedience to the Word of their God. It is thereon added, "And there was very great gladness." Joy indeed was also the significance of this feast, millennial joy; for, after the directions concerning the booths, it is written, "And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days." And during this period they were to dwell in booths, "that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." Lev. 23:40-43.
If the reader will consult Lev. 23, he will see that the feast of tabernacles completes the cycle of feasts, and therefore sets forth the end and result of all the ways of God with His earthly people, which will be to set them in His grace, now that they have forfeited all under responsibility, in virtue of the work of Christ, in perfect blessing in their own land, after the harvest and the vintage. Joy throughout the perfect period (seven days) will be therefore the appropriate expression of their sense of Jehovah's goodness and grace. But while "gladness" was to characterize the festival, they were to remember the past—their deliverance from Egypt and their pilgrim wanderings in the desert—and thus that redemption through the blood of the passover lamb (for that was the foundation of all God's subsequent actings on behalf of His people) and the relationship to God into which they were consequently brought (I am Jehovah your God) was the source of all the blessing and joy on which they had entered. In the case before us the gladness was but transient, for, in truth, the festival was as yet only prophetic; but, as prophetic, it might have taught them the unchangeable verity of God as to all His promises on their behalf; and wherever it did so, it would enable them to rejoice in anticipation of this joyful time of blessing which was secured to them by the infallible word of their God.
The whole time of the feast seems to have been devoted—"from the first day unto the last day"—to reading "in the book of the law of God." That was the present felt need; "and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner." (See Lev. 23:36.) In the early days of Ezra (chap. 3) restoration of the sacrifices marked the observance of this feast, but here, the re-establishment of the law. Both observances were defective, though according to God as far as they went; for in Ezra there were no booths, and in Nehemiah, as it would seem, no sacrifices. This teaches us one of God's ways in all revivals. One forgotten truth is restored and pressed with power upon the hearts and consciences of His people, a truth necessary for their restoration and preservation in the special circumstances of the moment. Thus the efficacy of the sacrifices was brought into prominence in Ezra 3; here, the authority of the Word of God. The same thing has been seen again and again in the history of the Church. In the remarkable work of the Spirit of God through Luther and others, the truth of justification by faith alone occupied the foremost place; and in another movement, almost within our own days, it was the presence of the Holy Ghost on earth and the second advent of Christ. God has wrought in such ways, in every age, for His own glory and for the welfare of His people. But such is the feebleness and folly of the hearts of His people, that they have often turned His mercy toward them into an occasion for self-exaltation. As if unable to retain the truth in its completeness, and missing His mind in the recovery of certain truths, they have often formed themselves into sects for their preservation. There have been but few Epaphrases in the Church who could labor fervently in prayers for the saints that they might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God (see Col. 4:12).
The seven days of the feast having been completed, there was "a solemn assembly, according unto the manner." It was on this day, "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 bath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this," says John, "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.)" John 7:37-39. The time had not come for Jesus to show Himself to the world as He will do when the feast of tabernacles is fulfilled; but, meanwhile, having taken His place on high, He would quench the thirst of every thirsty soul that came to Him, and moreover cause, through the indwelling Spirit, to flow forth from such rivers of living water for the refreshment of those round about them. Another has said, "Observe here that Israel drank water in the wilderness before they could keep the feast of tabernacles. But they only drank. There was no well in them. The water flowed from rock." The Lord thus would teach the Jews that their feast of tabernacles (see v. 2) was but an empty rite as long as their Messiah had not come, or rather so long as He was rejected (John 1:11).
For the details of the observance of this day, as indeed for the whole feast, see Numb. 29:2-39.