GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—Kentwood Baptist Church celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles Oct. 12. The event concluded the church’s observance of all seven appointed festivals of Israel, beginning with Passover in April of this year. Pastor Rich Liverance planned the series of feasts as a means of bringing the Biblical account to life for his congregation. His desire was to demonstrate how all seven of the Biblical feasts of Israel point to some aspect of redemptive work of Christ.
The four spring feasts—Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Weeks—point to the work of Christ at His first coming: respectively, sacrificial death, sinless perfection, resurrection, and the birth of the church. The three fall feasts—Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles—point to the work of Christ at His second coming: respectively, Rapture, Tribulation, and the millennial Kingdom.
The celebration of Tabernacles included a worship service that incorporated some elements of ancient Jewish worship, followed by a Middle Eastern/kosher buffet under the sukkah, a makeshift hut built to represent the Lord’s provision for His people in the coming Kingdom of God.
