Tabernacles—The Test of Our Trust – Episode 58

Sep 20, 2021

We are entering into the days of the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the biblical feasts which is significant for us as Christians because it is an appointed time when God moves to accomplish certain things in our lives. As we look back at this time when Israel dwelt in the wilderness after having been delivered by God out of the land of Egypt, we know that God was testing them. Would they be obedient to Him? Would they trust Him? God wanted to know what was in their hearts.

Listen Now:

Download Transcript

Show Notes:

God led the people of Israel out of Egypt, and brought them to Mount Sinai, and then to the edge of Canaan’s Land. This was a land that was blessed, a land of milk and honey and God was ready to give it to them immediately. Moses reminded the people of all the miraculous things that they had seen God do for them. “Why not trust that God will fight for you now? He will! He will give you this land!”

But there was a problem with their trust. Instead of believing God, they grumbled, murmured, and complained. So, God turned them away. If they had trusted God, they would not have spent the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness.

The lesson of the Feast of Tabernacles does not just begin and end with the story of Israel in the wilderness. We see God asking people to trust Him throughout the Scriptures. We find ourselves tested in this same way when we go through different situations and circumstances. Are we trusting God or something other?

Christ was also tested through the same Feast of Tabernacles experience that Israel was tested and by which we will be tested. Can we trust the Father? Yeshua passed the test of trust in the Father.

Key Verses:

Deuteronomy 8:2–6. “Testing you, to know what was in your heart.”
Deuteronomy 1:24–32. “But for all this, you did not trust the Lord your God.”
Numbers 14:11. “How long will this people spurn Me?”
Psalm 106:21. “They forgot God their Savior.”
Hebrews 3:17. “With whom was He angry for forty years?”
Hebrews 4:1–2. “The word they heard did not profit them.”
Jude 5. “The Lord … subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.”
Isaiah 31:1. “Woe to those who … do not look to the Holy One of Israel.”
1 Peter 5:7. “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
Psalm 125:1. “Those who trust in the Lord … cannot be moved.”
Proverbs 3:5–9. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”
Isaiah 26:3–4. “Trust in the Lord forever.”
Jeremiah 17:5–8. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.”
Matthew 6:24–34. “Do not be worried about your life.”
Hebrews 2:10–13. “I will put My trust in Him.”
Luke 23:46. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”

Quotes:

“The nation of Israel didn’t need to spend 40 years in the wilderness. God was ready to give them a land of milk and honey immediately. Yet there was a problem with their trust, and therefore they were turned back into the wilderness.”
“What do we need in the time of trial and testing? We need a rock. What do we need in the circumstances that we face in our daily life? We need a rock. What is that rock? It is our trust in Him.”
“You cannot trust in something besides God and pretend that you are trying to trust in God. That is idolatry. That’s why Christ says you can’t serve two masters.”

Resources:

Growing In God Podcast #7: The Feast of Tabernacles Introduction

Growing In God Podcast #8 Feast of Tabernacles 2020

A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels [2 Volumes]

Edited by James Hastings

Takeaways:

Today, as we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, we look back at the pillar of cloud and the fire—the presence of God—that dwelt with Israel in the wilderness.
But God’s purpose during the wilderness wanderings was to create a people that wholly trusted in Him to provide for every aspect of their life—the “test” of Tabernacles.
So let us celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles by finally passing that test—and becoming the people that God has waited for. Let us trust in the Lord with all our hearts, knowing that He will provide for us everything we need in life, and to bring forth godliness.
Memorize Philippians 4:19: “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”—and trust that He will supply ALL your needs!