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Keeping the feast for seven days after gathering in the produce signifies that the millennium will come after the harvest of what God desires to obtain on earth (v. 39a):
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In His eternal plan God has a purpose with man, and this purpose is to produce a people for His expression, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Eph. 3:11; 1:20-23; Rev. 21:2).
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For this reason God uses four dispensations to do His work of the new creation on man in the old creation—the dispensations of the fathers, the law, the church, and the millennial kingdom:
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In the fourth dispensation, the dispensation of the millennial kingdom, there will be a full harvest of what God has been doing in the first three dispensations; hence, the millennial kingdom will be a feast both to God and to His redeemed (Lev. 23:34).
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In the millennium God's redeemed people—including the church and the kingdom of Israel—will enjoy the feast.
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The Feast of Tabernacles was the Feast of Ingathering, the feast when the full harvest was brought in; this feast signifies the rich, full, and ultimate enjoyment of all that Christ is (vv. 33-44; Exo. 23:16):
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We begin the enjoyment of Christ from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we continue by enjoying the riches of the resurrected Christ in the Feast of Firstfruits, and eventually, we come to the ultimate enjoyment of Christ as the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:6-14, 33-44).
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After the full harvest of their crops, the Jewish people observed the Feast of Tabernacles to worship God and enjoy what they had reaped (Deut. 16:13-15):
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The Feast of Tabernacles was held at the time of the reaping of the harvest of the good land given by God (Exo. 23:16).
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For us today, the reality of this good land is the Spirit (Gal. 3:14; Phil. 1:19).
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Since Christ is eventually realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, the Spirit as the realization of Christ in our experience is the good land as the source of God's bountiful supply for us to enjoy (1 Cor. 15:45b; Gal. 3:14):
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The Feast of Tabernacles was a feast for God's people to enjoy and be satisfied before God (Lev. 23:40b. Rom. 14:17b).
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As the last feast of all the feasts ordained by God for His people, the Feast of Tabernacles is for their enjoyment of the rich produce of the good land at its harvest time for their satisfaction (Lev. 23:34, 39-43).
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Christ as the reality of the Feast of Tabernacles is such a feast for our experience and enjoyment today (Gal. 3:14; Eph. 3:8).
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.Phil. 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the feast of Jehovah seven days" (Lev. 23:39a). This signifies that the millennium will come after the harvest of what God desires to obtain on earth.
After the creation of the earth, God will go through four main dispensations. The first is the dispensation of the fathers, also called the dispensation before law or without law, from Adam to Moses. The second is the dispensation of law, from Moses to Christ's first coming. The third is the dispensation of the church, from Pentecost to Christ's second coming. The fourth is the dispensation of the millennium, the kingdom of the thousand years. In these four dispensations, God has been doing much for His new creation. In His old creation God created the universe. The center of this old creation is the man created by God. In His eternal plan God has a purpose with man, and this purpose is to produce a people for His expression, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 489-490)
Today's Reading
During the four dispensations, God is working with man in the old creation. God is dispensing Himself into man to make him a new creation. Eventually, after the four dispensations, this new creation will consummate in the New Jerusalem, which will be the totality of the result of God's work of the new creation among the old creation. Today, we are in the third dispensation, the dispensation of the church. In the coming age we shall be in the fourth dispensation, the dispensation of the kingdom, either as the overcomers or as those being disciplined.The millennial kingdom will be a full harvest of what God has been doing in the last three dispensations. Hence, the millennial kingdom will be a feast both to God and to His re- deemed....In the millennium God's redeemed will include two peoples—the church and the kingdom of Israel. Both peoples will enjoy this feast. (Life-study of Leviticus, p. 490)
The last of the feasts in Exodus 34 is the Feast of Ingathering, which is also the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was the time when the full harvest was brought in. This feast signifies the rich, full, and ultimate enjoyment of all that Christ is. We begin the enjoyment of Christ from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we continue by enjoying the riches of the resurrected Christ, and eventually we come to the ultimate enjoyment of Christ as the Feast of Tabernacles. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 1928)
After the full harvest of their crops, the Jewish people observed the Feast of Tabernacles to worship God and enjoy what they had reaped (Deut. 16:13-15). The Feast of Tabernacles, therefore, was held at the time of the reaping of the harvest of the good land given by God. For us today, the reality of this good land is the Spirit (Gal. 3:14; Phil. 1:19). The physical aspect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3-4), which was a type of the all-inclusive Christ. Since Christ is eventually realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17), the blessing of the promised Spirit corresponds to the blessing of the land promised to Abraham. Actually, the Spirit as the realization of Christ in our experience is the good land as the source of God's bountiful supply for us to enjoy.
As the last feast of all the feasts ordained by God for His people (Lev. 23:34, 39-43), the Feast of Tabernacles is for their enjoyment of the rich produce of the good land at its harvest time for their satisfaction. Christ as the reality of the Feast of Tabernacles is such a feast for our experience and enjoyment today. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2880)
Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 54