The very last Jewish festival or feast day is the Last Great Day, so what does that have to do with Christians?

The Last Day

The very last Jewish festival or feast day is the Last Great Day, so what does that have to do with Christians? So what is the feast day all about? If falls on the last day or Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles or Festival of Booths, which it is sometimes called. This reflects Israel’s wandering in the Wilderness for forty years after their refusal to believe God and enter into the Promised Land. The “bad report” from the 10 spies sent into Canaan discouraged the Israelites and caused them to not enter in. That was willful disobedience, because they didn’t believe God. The next day, Israel decided to try to enter into the Promised Land on their own, but since God did not go with them, or “before them,” they were crushed. For the next forty years that generation would live in booths or tents, and eventually, that generation would die off. One by one, they died until none of those who refused to enter into the Promised Land were alive. Only Joshua and Caleb lived on as they gave good reports about the land and believed they should enter in immediately. Joshua and Caleb believed God and knew God would go before them, sending the “hornet’ ahead of them (meaning a fear or dread of the God of Israel). Sadly, they were in the minority and Israel refused to listen to them. Biblical Hereneutics

Intended Meaning

The Last Great Day is the final holy day of the year for the Jewish nation, and it depicts the final steps in God’s redemptive plan. This Day refers to the final resurrection of the dead and the judgment that follows. We hear from Jesus about this Day, where it says, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39). What our Lord is saying is that whoever believes in Him, receives eternal life, therefore the Christian need not fear death or even the second death or the final judgement that comes after Christ returns. And the Father and Jesus are both in agreement that “this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:39). Remember, those who died in the faith are not really dead because the believer knows that “he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him” (Luke 20:38). Those dearly departed saints we love, we can really tell them, “See you later” and not “Goodbye forever.” That is the hope we all have in the resurrection through Christ (1 Cor 15).

God’s Judgment

We have already read “that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40), but are there references to this in the Old Testament. By all means, yes! There are several places but we’ll focus on Daniel 12, where the Prophet says there will come “a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book” (Dan 12:1), so what is this book and who’s in it? It’s the Book of Life which has every saint’s name recorded in it that has ever been saved by God (Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12-15, 21:27), so Daniel says that at this time, “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2). That’s what the Last Great Day of the Feast is all about. For those who have trusted in Christ, they are described as “those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:4).

Come to Christ

If you’ve never trusted in Christ, then the Last Great Day will not be great at all, except in reference to God’s wrath. That’s why today is the very best day to make your day of salvation sure (2 Cor 6:2). If not, you will be among those who, after death, “shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2). The Lord our God offers salvation to all who believe, and for those that do, Jesus promises, “I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). Perhaps referring to Communion or the Lord’s Supper, Jesus says that “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:54). This is the very reason Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, where “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Martha had enough understanding about the Last Great Day or “Last Day” that if her brother Lazarus was not raised from the dead, she at least understood that “he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11:24), however, in a sobering warning, Jesus says dogmatically, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48).

Conclusion

When we read about the Great White Throne Judgment in the Book of Revelation (Rev 20:11), we understand that Christians have already had their judgment that was due upon them. Their sins were judged at the cross, so for Christians, there will be an entirely different judgment. There will be some that receive great and some few rewards, and some will receive none at all (1 Cor 3), but unbelievers will face a different judgment…and their in big trouble if they don’t have Christ in them. They have no Advocate in the Heavenly Court. Their best 10 minutes of good works can’t even buy them one second in heaven. Without the righteousness of Christ, they cannot enter the Kingdom, but will instead face an eternal judgment, from which there is no escape or appeal to a higher court. God is Supreme over all courts. He is sovereign over all the earth. If they fail to believe in the Son of God, the only means by which they could be saved (Acts 4:12; 16:30-31), there is only a fearful expectation of the coming wrath of God in His righteous and most perfect judgment (Heb 10:27), so please, take heed and remember, “if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15).

Here is some related reading for you: What Did the High Priest Do On the Day of Atonement?

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: Feast of Tabernacles, Holy days, Last Day, Last Great Day