In the beginning of this chapter it is stated that this whole chapter (Gospel of John 7) took place at the Jewish Temple (the 2nd Temple or Herod's Temple which was an expanded version of Zerubbabel's Temple) on the Feast of Tabernacles. One of the ceremonies that traditionally was observed at the Feast of Tabernacles was "The Water Drawing Ceremony". In this ceremony water was brought by the Jewish priests from the Pool of Siloam near the Jewish Temple and Temple Mount to the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. This was done for each of the first seven days of the eight day Feast of Tabernacles but was not done on the last or eighth day. It was on the last or eighth day that the Lord Jesus Christ said that whoever thirsted (spiritually) out of his belly (heart) would flow rivers of living water. In this passage the scripture also says the living water the Lord Jesus the Messiah was talking about was the Holy Spirit or Spirit of God. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to indwell the heart of those who thirsted spiritually after Him and God the Father and God's Word the Holy Bible. By the Lord Jesus saying this on the last or eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, He was saying if the physical water of the first seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles hadn't satisfied their or one's spiritual or religious thirst then He could give true satisfaction to their spiritual thirst. Jesus would do this by enabling the Spirit of God to indwell their hearts and bring them into a relationship and indwelling Presence and life of God in their hearts. The scripture passage of the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) promising to satisfy the seekers' spiritual thirst by His Holy Spirit is found in Gospel of John 7 as follows:
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. ... In 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 hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this 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.) Gospel of John 7:1-2, 37-39 (raised from the dead and ascended to heaven after dying for our sins on the cross)
There was much controversy and difference of opinion among the Jews concerning the identify of Jesus of Nazareth (the Messiah). Some thought he was the Prophet meaning the prophet like and from the brethren of Moses from Deuteronomy 18:16-19. Some thought he was the Christ, Messiah or Annointed One. Others dismissed that Jesus could be the Christ by saying that Christ would not come out of Galilee. However there is at least one Old Testament prophecy about the Christ or Messiah that he would come out of Galilee in Isaiah 9:1-2. Some thought that Christ would come of the seed of David or from the town of Bethlehem where John was perhaps using scriptures like 2 Samuel 7 and Micah 5:2. Although some believed Jesus was or possibly was the Messiah, others thought he was a false Christ or imposter and wanted to then take him and perhaps kill him. This all occured at the Feast of Tabernacles in the 2nd Jewish Temple. If the Lord Jesus Christ had got a more overwhelmingly positive response to his claims to be the Jewish Messiah he could have brought about the Messianic Age prophesied by the Old Testament prophets at His first coming. This would have been possible since there is nothing about the present Church Age or Church entity in the Old Testament. Also people of the nations or Gentiles could have been saved by trusting in God by becoming Jews and offering animal sacrifices etc and believing Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus could still have died for the sins of mankind then. This description of the disputes about the opinions of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth when He was gathered with the Jews in the Jewish Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles is in the Gospel of John 7 as follows:
Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. Gospel of John 7:40-44
In the Gospel of Luke 9 there is the account of what is commonly called the Lord Jesus Christ's appearance on the Mount of Transfiguration. In one of the gospels it is called a great and high mountain and it was a mountain near the Galilee region where Jesus and His disciples were just beforehand. One mountain I heard that qualifies here is Mount Hermon the highest mountain of Israel that was near the Sea of Galilee and overlooks the whole land of Israel. Peter and James and John were the inner circle of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. The fashion of Jesus' clothing changing to be white and glistening (shining) means that the Lord Jesus here was taking away some of the vail of His glory as God come in the flesh. Moses had a significance with the kingdom of God in being God's instrument to give the law of God on which Israel which later became a kingdom was founded. Elijah was promised to come again to prepare and restore people to God before the restoration of His Kingdom on Earth as in Malachi 4. This chapter in Malachi also mentions Moses as perhaps appearing before the reestablishment of the Kingdom of God in Israel under the Messiah. The Feast of Tabernacles was also taught as being prominent in the Messianic Age in some Old Testament scriptures like Zechariah 14 which the apostles would be aware of. It is for these reasons the apostle Peter mentioned building three tabernacles one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. In the Gospel of Luke in this passage it says that what Elijah and Moses were talking about then with Jesus was his decease (his death on the cross). One thing Jesus might have told them then is that His Jesus death on the cross for our sins is what Moses and Elijah would especially preach. This will be when they are as the two witnesses of Revelation 11 in the first half of the Great Tribulation before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to set up His Messianic Kingdom. The voice that spoke to them out of the cloud was that of God the Father or the LORD(Jehovah). He tried to focus the attention of the disciples to the Lord Jesus as His beloved Son and He told them to hear Him (more than the Law under Moses and Elijah). Although it doesn't say it in this gospel, in other of the four gospels it says Jesus Christ told His disciples not to tell anyone of this experience until He rose from the dead. The apostle Peter mentions this event in 2 Peter 1. The account of Jesus appearing with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration and His interaction with His disciples there and its association with the Messianic Age and the Feast of Tabernacles is described in the Gospel of Luke 9 as follows:
And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias(Elijah): Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee (you), and one for Moses, and one for Elias(Elijah): not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. Gospel of Luke 9:28-36
There are two of the seven Feasts of the LORD that this scripture passage in Ezekiel 45 says specifically that Israel or the Jews will keep in the Millenial Kingdom or Messianic Age of God's Kingdom on Earth through the Lord Jesus Christ. They are Passover that is on the 14th day of the first month and the Feast of Tabernacles which is on the 15th day of the seventh month. Each lasts about seven days. In this passage it says that at the 4th or Messianic Age Temple, although Orthodox Jews like the Temple Mount Faithful think it will be the 3rd Temple, burnt offerings, a sin offering and a meat or meal offering will be offered at Passover. This scripture passage also says that these sacrifices (shall ye do the like) will also be offered on the Feast of Tabernacles at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The fact that the prince offers the sin offering for himself as well as the people means he couldn't be the the Messiah who I and other Christians think was Jesus or Nazareth since he was sinless. The prince is probably King David according to Ezekiel 37:24-28. The scripture passage about Israel or the Jews keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in the Messianic Age in the Jewish Temple then from Ezekiel 45 is as follows:
In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. And he shall prepare a meat (meal) offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat (meal) offering, and according to the oil. Ezekiel 45:21-25
In Zechariah 14 it says everyone of the nations that survived the Great Tribulation or 70th week of Daniel and the second coming in glory of the Lord Jesus the Messiah was to come up once a year to Jerusalem. This was to be at the time of Feast of Tabernacles to worship the King the LORD of hosts. This probably refers to both the Lord Jesus Christ who will visibly be King and God the Father who as the Skekinah glory presence of God will be then dwelling in the Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. God also promises a plague of drought or withholding rain on a country in a certain year if the people from that country don't come up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles that year. If the country disregard the lack of rain God will send a further plague on that country for not keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. The people of the nations keeping the Feast of Tabernacles will probably involve their also offering animal sacrifices to God at the Messianic Age Temple in Jerusalem. The scripture reference in Zechariah 14 to the nations keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in the Messianic Kingdom in Jerusalem is as follows:
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zechariah 14:16-19
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Feast of Trumpets and the Jews's Call to the Land
Battle of Armageddon
Prosperity and the Messianic Age
Dwelling Place of Messiah Jesus in the Messianic Age
Messianic Kingdom of the Lord Jesus and World Peace
Messianic Kingdom of the Lord Jesus and Removal of Curse on Creation(Nature)
Feast of Tabernacles Part 1