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(FOT Day 4)
Fred R. Coulter—October 10, 2025
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Greetings everyone! Welcome to Day 4 of the Feast of Tabernacles! Here we are. We're going to, when we enter into the Kingdom as spirit beings, we're going to be kings, priests, rulers and so forth. There's a lot that God expects us to do to prepare for that, because now is the time to prepare.
We will see something very interesting here. We're told in Luke 12 that it is the Father's good pleasure to give the Kingdom to the saints! That's us! Think about what God is planning for us. It's going to be well above anything that we have ever imagined:
- in the flesh we're weak
- in the flesh we grow old
But in the spirit we will live forever, and we will be strong; we won't be weak! So that's an amazing thing indeed!
Matt, 25—let's look at the parable here. A couple of parables which then blend over into the ruling and the Kingdom of God. It shows us that:
- we have to be diligent
- we have to learn lessons from the past
- we have to understand what we're doing
- we need to be vigilant all the time
Matthew 25:1: "Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be compared to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom."
Now, that's a very interesting way to put it, and this means that we don't get mixed up in all the world's religions that are out there today. It's amazing how far off that the establishment Christianity and Catholicism is in this world!
The "…ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the Bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish" (vs 1-2).
It's always interesting that within any group of people, there are going to be:
- some divisions
- some differences in the knowledge
- some differences in understanding
- sometimes due to time
- sometimes due to understanding
- sometimes due to language
Verse 2: "And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. The ones who were foolish took their lamps… [that's the Word of God, which is a lamp and a light to our feet] …but they did not take oil with them" (vs 2-3)
Now they had these little, almost like a seashell for a lamp. They put a wick in it and the wick would hang over the edge. They would light the wick and draw the olive oil to it. So they had to have another container for extra olive oil. Now we have this:
- we have the lamp, which is the Word of God
- we have the oil, which is the Power of God or the Holy Spirit
- we need the Holy Spirit in order to understand the Word of God
Verse 4: "But the wise took oil in their vessels along with their lamps. Now, when the Bridegroom was gone a long time, they all became drowsy and slept" (vs 4-5).
- we all have our weaknesses
- we all have those times when we get where we're not able to do what we think we should do
Verse 6: "But in the middle of the night…" That's when everyone is sleeping!
And the middle of the night to the world is going to be a wonderful day, when the Beast and the False Prophet are doing magnificent things. But instead of light, that will be darkness, midnight!
Verse 6: "But in the middle of the night there was a cry: 'Look, the Bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet Him.'…. [that has to be the return of Christ at the resurrection] …Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps" (vs 6-7).
This shows that the sign of the Son of man is there and we know that it's getting close to the end. Here's where we are today: There are a lot of people out there who are foolish. Especially a lot of the Seventh-Day Adventists. The more we get into this, the more we understand the least that they understand about the Bible. They understand the Sabbath and the Ten Commandments, and that's it!
- they have virtually no understanding of prophecy correctly
- they have no understanding of the meaning of the Word of God
- they are being bombarded with the Trinity
which then brings darkness! So. we'll have to see where that goes.
Verse 8: "And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil…'"—give us some of your Holy Spirit!
Well, you can't get your Holy Spirit from another person. It must come from God!
"'…because our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there not be enough for us and for you. But instead, go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves'" (vs 8-9).
- What does that mean? We'll have to see how it goes!
- How many of them will get enough oil?
- Will they be part of the 144,000 or part of the great innumerable multitude? I do not know!
We'll just have to wait and see!.
Verse 10: "And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut."
Now, this is interesting, because in everything where it's difficult and we have problems, there's a time to solve it; there are times to correct it. But IF we don't there will be no time left to correct it, and "…the door will be shut."
Verse 11: "And afterwards the other virgins also came, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us." This is for being the Bride!
- How much of that's going to be the Bride?
- How many are going to be a great multitude?
- How many are going to be those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb?
- How many are going to be those who are part of the Bride?
They may not be totally cut off from eternal life, but they will be cut off from being part of the Bride.
Verse 11: "And afterwards the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But He answered and said, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you'" (vs 11-12).
We have to understand that their knowledge of God was so minuscule that:
- they didn't understand
- they didn't know God
- they didn't know Christ
the way that they should have! So, here's the warning for us:
- that we be prepared
- that we grow in grace
- that we grow in knowledge
- that we grow in understanding
- that we study
- that we pray
All of these things, as we will are in preparation for eternal life to rule and reign with Christ! That's an amazing thing to contemplate! Think about it!
Look at all of the difficulties in the world today. And it's evident more and more that only God can solve these problems! That human nature today is indeed exactly like it says in:
Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…"
IF you don't believe that, all you have to do is look at all the things on:
- TikTok
- YouTube
All of the different things that are out there: wickedness, evil! And in the society around us, crime and death!
Matthew 25:13: "Watch, therefore…"—Watch what?
- our own conduct
- what we say
- what we think
Let us come to the point—as it says in Philip. 2—that we have the mind of Christ! That's quite a goal for us to attain, don't you think?
Verse 13: "Watch, therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of man is coming."
We don't know; we have a general understanding, but:
- How many times down through history have different ones thought that Christ is coming?
- How many times have we experienced that in our lifetime; indeed by pronouncement of different people and different ministers?
Then it goes on with another parable, again showing what we are to do.
The first one is diligently study the Word of God. The second part of it is DO what the Word of God tells us to do and grow in grace and knowledge!
Verse 14: "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man leaving the country, who called his own servants and delivered to them his property."
That's what Christ, this is a type of Christ ascending to heaven, and He's going to be there until He returns.
Verse 15: "Now, to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one;he gave to each one according to his own ability, and immediately left the country."
God doesn't expect us to do more than we're able to with His Word and with His Spirit. But we need to grow and change and overcome!
Verse 16: "Then the one who had received five talents went and traded with them, and made an additional five talents…. [doubled his money] …In the same way also, the one who had received two talents gained two talents. But the one who had received the single talent went and dug in the earth and hid his Lord's money" (vs 16-18).
That's precisely like it is with the Protestants. 'Once saved, always saved.' You don't have to do anything. You don't have to increase anything. It's all set!
Verse 19: "Now, after a long time, the Lord of those servants came to take account with them. Then the one who had received five talents came to him and brought an additional five talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered five talents to me; I have gained five other talents besides them.' And His Lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! Because you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord'" (vs 19-21).
What is it going to be like to have the joy of God at the resurrection? That's going to be something that we can only read about, think about, but we won't know until we get there!
Verse 22. "And the one who had received two talents also came to him and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; I have gained two other talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! Because you were faithful over a few things…'" (vs 22-23).
That's why it's so important. We will see a little bit:
- What does God require?
- How do we prepare to become a king and priest?
- How do we prepare to rule people?
A lot of us will say, 'We've never done that.' Well, that is true, but when the Kingdom of God comes and we're spirit beings we have to be all prepared ahead of time. And then the resurrection will finish what God is doing as far as preparing us and making us ready to enter into the Kingdom of God.
"'…I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.' Then the one who had received the single talent also came to him and said, 'Lord, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. And because I was afraid, I went and hid your talent in the earth. Now look, you have your own.' His Lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant!....'." (vs 23-26).
In other words, he wasn't growing, wasn't overcoming. He was taking everything for granted. Now, this sounds an awful lot like what had been preached in establishment Christianity today.
Let's look at some of the other things that we need to look at here to be kings and priests.
Deuteronomy 17—this is interesting from this point of view. Remember when Moses was bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt and he was doing all of the judging. He sat there and the people came and he judged and he was wearing himself out.
His father-in-law Jethro came and said, 'Why are you doing this? Moses said, 'Well, because the people have questions and they want to know what to do.
So Jethro said, 'What you do is this: You get honest men, faithful men and put them in charge of thousands, hundreds and tens. Let them handle all of the things that come to them, and then you, Moses, handle the difficult things.
When we come to Deut. 17 and we learn some very interesting things here, because there's also judgment given in the first part of it—judge righteous judgment—which is another aspect of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Deuteronomy 17:14: "When you come to the land, which the LORD your God gives you, and shall possess it and shall live in it and shall say, 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me.'"
This is important. Now, we even learned this with the Presidents of the United States, and they're learning that in the UK today. If you don't set one of your own people as your ruler over you, then you're going to be in trouble!
Verse 15: "You shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God shall choose. You shall set a king over you from among your brethren. You may not set a stranger over you who is not your brother."
That's quite a lesson in everything when we understand it.
Verse16: "Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, so as to multiply horses because the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.'"
- We will see what happens when the king goes wrong?
- What happens to the people?
That's why we're being trained now, because the Kingdom of God is going to be run the way God wants it! We have to be in full accord with God! This also tells us spiritually, we all have to be converted now and then changed at the resurrection. Then we're all of the Family of God. It's going to be a glorious thing when that takes place. But here's what he said concerning a king:
Verse 17: "Nor shall he multiply wives to himself…[we'll see what happened to Solomon a little later] …so that his heart does not turn away. [Isn't that what it was said of Solomon?] …Nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold to himself."
Look at all of the corruption that is there in government today. Look at how it's been done right here just in the State of California. Two big things:
- For the homeless in California, they have raised $28 billion! Where did the money go? Where did it go?
- They raised a hundred million dollars for the big fire down in Southern California, and not one penny went to build one house. They're all corrupt!
That's why we're being tried and tested in growing and overcoming so that we will not be subject to any temptation of this sort.
- here's the thing
- here's how it's done
- here's what we do
- this is the instruction from God
Verse 18: "And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself… [this way he will learn the Word of God]: …a copy of this Law in a book from that which is in the custody of the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life…" (vs 18-19). Now, this is why:
- we study every day
- we pray every day
- we overcome every day
You see how important that this is, because as we will see when the leaders go bad, the people go bad! Some people try and live at least decent lives like we're trying to in America here. But:
- look at all the trouble
- look at all the shooting
- look at all of the graft
- look at all of the hatred
Because the people do not believe in law and order! They believe only in power and oppression! That's the battle going on here, which is a good thing for us to analyze so that we understand what we shouldn't do, as well.
Verse 19: "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God…"
Now that's so important. That's why the Word of God is the most important thing for us:
- to study
- to understand
- to live by
"…ALL the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep ALL the words of this Law and these statutes, to do them" (v 19).
- that's why we go through what we go through
- that's why God has the Sabbath every week
- that's why there's:
- the Passover
- Unleavened Bread
- Pentecost
- Trumpets
- Atonement
- Tabernacles
- the Last Great Day
All of it together! An amazing thing! Because all of these things:
- teach us God's way
- prepares us to be spirit beings to rule and reign with Christ
Now notice why he is to do this:
Verse 20: "So that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and that he does not turn aside from the Commandment, to the right or the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel."
Now look at what happened to the Churches when the leaders and ministers did not do this, That's quite a lesson for us, and we need to understand that.
Let's see where it transits over to Joshua. And let's see what Moses declared to him. Here's the end of the rule of Moses. They're getting ready to go into the ''promised land'.'
Deuteronomy 34:1: "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah that is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the furthest sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, to Zoar. And the LORD said to him, 'This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, "I will give it to your seed." I have caused you to see it with your eyes,.' but you shall not go over there" (vs 1-4).
He didn't go in because of one thing! Here's a great lesson for every one of us, especially all who are ministers and teachers.
Now listen carefully why we have to be faithful and honest with the Truth of God and rely on the Truth of Godand not on the interpretations of men. Let Scripture interpret Scripture!
Why wasn't Moses able to go in? There came a time when the children of Israel needed water! So, they came to Moses and said, Give us water. He prayed to God and God said, 'Strike the rock and water will come forth.' And it came forth like a gushing river. They all have plenty of water. They didn't need any more. It just kept coming and coming and coming.
Now then, another time they said, 'We need water.' And they came and they were really vicious to Moses, and he got all upset. God told him, 'Speak to the rock and it will bring forth water.'
But Moses was so upset, he took his rod and beat the rock, when God said, 'Speak to it' The water came. But God said, 'Because you didn't listen to Me and you struck the rock with your rod, you shall not go into the ''promised land''!
Now, that's a great lesson for all of us! We can't go along and be faithful, and all of a sudden at the end be unfaithful and then expect everything to go well! It didn't! Moses is going to receive eternal life, but he wasn't able to enter into the ''promised land'.'
Verse 5: "And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor. But no man knows of his grave to this day" (vs 5-6).
No one has ever found it. Satan wanted it; he was arguing with Gabriel over the body of Moses. Just think what the Catholic Church could have done with the body of Moses preserved in honey in a glass coffin! What idolatry!
Verse 7: "And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor any of his natural strength abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days…." (vs 7-8).
Joshua—new leader, bringing the children of Israel into the ''promised land,' and notice what we have. We have the same instructions that God gave to the one who would be set up as king. This is very instructive for us that we understand it. God wants us to really realize:
- what's going on
- what our lives are like
- how we need to overcome
Joshua 1:1 "And it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, 'My servant Moses is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people to the land, which I give to them, to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I have given that unto you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you" (vs 1-5).
Now, here's a good lesson for us today in what we need to do:
Verse 6: "Be strong and of good courage, for you shall divide for an inheritance to this people the land, which I swore to their fathers to give it to them. Only be strong and very courageous so that you may observe to do according to all the Law, which My servant Moses commanded you…." (vs 6-7). This is important!
- think about it for us today
- think about everything that Jesus taught
- think about everything that the apostles have written
Are we not also to inculcate all of that into our lives, over a period of time as we grow in grace and knowledge? Yes! Because we're not preparing to enter in to just the area right there in the Middle East. We're preparing to take over the world and the Kingdom of God! So, that's something really very important that we keep in mind. Let's learn the lesson right here.
Verse 7: "Only be strong and very courageous so that you may observe to do according to all the Law, which My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go."
Now, let's read this next verse because it becomes just as important as it was in Deut. 17 and for us today. Think of it this way: We have:
- all the Laws of God
- all the Prophets of God
- all the writings
- all the history and everything coming down to Christ the four Gospels.
- the Acts
- all of the Epistles of the apostles
All of it! God expects us to use that so we can grow and change and overcome! So, we need to have this attitude right here so that we can accomplish what God wants us to do.
Verse 8: "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night, so that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it…"
That's what we need to do here. That's how we started out with the Parable of the Ten Virgins:
- five were wise/five were foolish
- five did what they should do/five did not
"…so that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for THEN…" (v 8).
All the effort that is put into it. Sometimes it'll take quite a while to develop those things. Sometimes we'll have trials and difficulties and overcoming. Yes, indeed! But:
- IF we keep at it
- IF we are faithful
- IF we apply ourselves
- IF we use the Holy Spirit of God
THEN we are all preparing and growing and grace and knowledge so that we can rule the world with Christ!
I want to keep that here that we can always remember when we're going through these things. We're not just doing it for the physical life. We are doing this to develop the character of God, as we will see.
"…for THEN you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage…." (vs 8-9).
- Don't give in to your weaknesses
- Don't let anyone come along and take you away from the Word of God with clever sounding arguments
That's why in the New Testament we were told:
Prove all things. Hold fast to that which is good. Stir up the spirit that is within you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound mindedness.
That's what it's for. We are being educated and trained to be leaders and rulers in the Kingdom of God!That comes with
- the Word of God
- the Laws of God
- the teachings of Christ
- the teachings of the Apostles
Everything that is there!
So, what we're reading here, we can add to it everything that we have in the New Testament in addition to it!
"…Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you in all places where you go" (v 9).
That's what they did! They went in, they conquered the land, they had their problems. We won't go through them, but let's come here to the next book, the Book of Judges! Quite interesting here. It took them seven years to conquer the land. They thought, and we'll see that a little later again, that they could get along with the inhabitants of the land. 'We'll make them be our slaves, we'll make them do our work.' But God said, 'Get rid of them all:
- you don't have any of them
- you don't do anything with any of their gods
That's the same way that we see with Christianity today. They come along and take the Word of God and they take a little here and they take a little there and they take a little in another place and they say, this is all you need to do. And you can just live any way you want to because 'once saved, always saved.'
What happened to the children of Israel when they didn't follow what God said? Let's read it:
Judges 2:1: "And the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, 'I made you go up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I swore to your fathers. And I said, "I will never break My covenant with you."'" God always keeps His word:
- whether it is for blessing
- whether it is for correction
- whether it is for a curse
Now, here we have this same thing we have today:
- they were half-hearted
- they really didn't believe God
Don't we have that with a lot of people today? This is what God told them at first.
Verse 2: "'And you shall make no treaty with those who live in this land. You shall throw down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. What is this that you have done?"
What did Jesus say when He was tempted? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!
What is the one of the most important things in the Bible? Obey the voice of God! When we get our own ideas and we get our own ways and we supplant the way of God with that, look what happens here.
"…What is this that you have done? And I also said, 'I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you'" (vs 2-3).
Now, they didn't like that. Just like today, Protestants don't like it that you've got to stop sinning and you've got to keep the Laws of God.
Verse 4: "And it came to pass when the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. And they called the name of that place The Place of Weeping. And they sacrificed there to the LORD. And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel left, each man to his inheritance, to possess the land. And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD that He did for Israel" (vs 4-7). Then he died! Let's see what happened!
Verse 10: "And also all that generation was gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor even the works which He had done for Israel."
Oh, well, that's all in the past. That's all past history. We don't need to worry about that. We're here and we're going to do what we're going to do.
Just like today, exactly like today, this is just a repeat and a repeat and a repeat down through history with the 12 tribes of Israel, and the people of God.
- look at what we studied in the seven churches in Rev. 2 & 3
- look at the difficulties that they had
- look at what they had to repent of
- look at what God said
'I know your works!'
Well, let's see what they did here. You can't compromise with the world, because then you're compromising with Satan!
Verse 11: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim. And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they followed other gods, even the gods of the people who were around them, and bowed themselves to them, and provoked the LORD to anger" (vs 11-12). What happens when you provoke the Lord?
Verse 13: "And they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth"—Nimrod and Semiramis! That's precisely what the Catholics have today!
- God delivered them over to correction
- God delivered them over to the enemies
- God delivered them over to afflict them
Because when they're afflicted, then they come back to God for a while!
That's why in the New Testament, in the New Covenant, there is baptism and Covenant promises, so that we understand this is not just the physical reaction. It is:
- a spiritual education
- a spiritual Plan of God
So that He can have us rule under Christ and rule the world!
(break@44:04)
Now we know that after this, there were 400 years of judges, and we have a chart in the back of the Bible, right where the section of chronologies are, which covers all the time of the judges. You will see that that's quite enlightening, indeed! We won't go through all the judges.
We come to the time of Samuel, and the way that he became a servant and prophet of God.
Then we come to the time of Saul who was really quite a thing. Here's another lesson for us:. Saul thought he could do it on his own. Saul listened to the words of the people. So, let's look at what happened here with Saul, and how important it is to obey the voice of the LORD!
Think about that in relationship to what Jesus Christ has said and what we have recorded in the Gospels. Now then, here's what Saul was supposed to do:
1-Sam. 15—He was supposed to go down there. Now this sounds a little bit like what's going on in Hamas today.
1-Samuel 15:1: "And Samuel said to Saul, 'The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over Israel. And now listen to the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, "I will punish Amalek for that which he did to Israel, how he set against him in the way when he came up from Egypt. Now, go and strike Amalek, and completely destroy all that they have…"'" (vs 1-3).
Now that's an interesting phrase there, isn't it? Look at what's happening in Hamas. Look at what's happening in Gaza. It's a terrible thing!
"…and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey"' (v 3).
But, they didn't do that. Saul did not obey the words of the Lord! So, here's what happened.
Verse 7: "And Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah, as you come to Shur, which is over across from Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive…. [didn't kill him] … And he completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag…" (vs 7-9).
Listen, thinking: 'we're going to do something good for God. If it's not according to the Word of God, is it good to God?
Verse 9: "But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not completely destroy them. But everything that was vile and feeble they completely destroyed. And the Word of the LORD came to Samuel saying, 'It repents Me that I have set up Saul to be king…'" (vs 9-11).
Because when God gives free moral agency, he expects us to use it to obey Him, not do what we think! Not do as we like! But what does God say? Now, this is very important because we're not coming to rule a small little country. At the resurrection and we come back off the Sea of Glass with Jesus Christ, we're going to rule the world!
Think how important that is! It's so important that God is not going to let us do it UNTIL we are spirit beings.
So, let's learn the lesson right here. We can't come to eternal life our way! We come God's way! Let's read the lesson here.
God says: "'…for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commandments.' And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night. And when Samuel rose up early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told to Samuel, saying, 'Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a place for himself, and has gone around and passed on and gone down to Gilgal.' And Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, 'You are blessed of the LORD. I have performed the Commandment of the LORD'" (vs 11-13).
See what happens when you go part way with God and say that you've done everything that God has said! Just think on that for a little bit.
Verse 14: "And Samuel said, 'What then is this bleating of the flock in my ears? And what is the sound of the herd which I hear?'"
Notice what happens every time when someone does something that's not right and it fails, you blame someone else!
- Isn't that true today?
- Hasn't that been true since the time of Adam and Eve?
- Yes, indeed!
Verse 15: "And Saul said, 'They… the people] … have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God. And the rest we have completely destroyed.'"
Quite a lesson! See how people think? 'If it's a good idea to me, it must be a good idea to God! Let's offer these to God.' God didn't need the sheep and the oxen of the Amalekites as sacrifices. No!
Verse 16: "And Samuel said to Saul, 'Stay and I will tell you what the LORD has said to me tonight.' And he said to him, 'Speak on.' And Samuel said, 'When you were little in your own sight, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel. And the LORD sent you on the way and said, "Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until you destroy them." Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD?'"'" (vs 16-19).
Again, and again, and again, and again in the Bible is obey the voice of the Lord! Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord? After all, God is God, is He not? Yes, He is! And IF He tells us to do what we need to do, THEN He knows what needs to be done! Same way when we become spirit beings. We're going to carry out the will of God in every way, in everything! That's the only way to bring peace to the world.
So all of these lessons and what looks right and what looks good and what people would do and we have good intentions. Well, good intentions in the eyes and sight of human beings is not good and right with God!
Do we understand that? That's why in the New Testament, God has given us repentance, repentance every day! Because in order to develop the character of God and the mind of Christ and the ability to rule with Christ, we have to be actively doing this every single day!
- we can't go along and make a lot of mistakes
- we've seen that in the Church
- we've seen that in individuals lives
and
- expect everything to go well
- expect God to accept this because we were well-intentioned and those who advised us were well-intended
Verse 19: "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you fly upon the spoil and do evil in the sight of the LORD?'…. [notice, Saul still didn't get it] …And Saul said to Samuel, 'Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. And Saul said to Samuel, 'Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. But the people … [Don't blame me!] …took from the spoil, of the flock and herd, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.' And Samuel said, 'Does the LORD have as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD?'" (vs 19-22).
Now think of that for a minute. You can give God everything that you have. But IFyou don't do what he says, it's not worth anything! That's what we need to understand. We can't live in sin over here and expect to come to church on the Sabbath and Holy Days and say 'we're righteous' when we're living a double life.
- Did we not see that with the leaders in Worldwide COG?
- Where is it today?
Very good lesson right here!
Samuel continues: "…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To hearken is better than the fat of rams, for rebellion…" (vs 22-23)—going against what God has said!
- think about everybody who keeps Sunday, that's rebellion
- think about everybody who keeps the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist:
- every Sunday
- every Saturday night
- Sunday morning
Think about the SDAs in your rebellion against God. You take the communion the first Sabbath of every quarter. Show me in the Bible where it says that! It doesn't!
Those things are not obeying the voice of God, and IFyou don't obey the voice of God, and IF you don't obey the words of Christ, remember what He said in:
Luke 6:46: "And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' but you do not practice what I say?" Sound a lot like Samuel here? Yes, indeed!
1-Samuel 15:23: for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king!'
Sound a lot like where we started with the Ten Virgins; five wise/five foolish? Yes, indeed!
Verse 24: "And Saul said to Samuel, 'I have sinned, for I have disobeyed the commandment of the LORD and your word because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. And now please pardon my sin and turn again with me so that I may worship the LORD'" (vs 24-25).
He didn't do it; finally did, but Samuel had to kill Agag himself.
Let's look at another thing: Who succeeded Saul? David did! He was a man after God's heart. He pleased God, he did all the things. He wrote all the songs. He did all of these wonderful things. And then he decided in his own vanity and being king, even after God said, you can build a house for me, but not you, your son, because you're a bloody man. So, then one night he's walking on the roof of his house and he looks down and he sees Bathsheba. So, he sent a servant to get Bathsheba.
Now here's the choices of both of them. He chose to do this and he knew better. She chose to do this and she knew better. She came and he had relations with her and she got pregnant. Now what does he do? Well, he tries to patch it up by having Uriah the Hittite come back on furlough to be with his wife, but he was smarter than that, and he didn't come back to be with his wife, and he slept outside. So, David was stuck.
Now one sin leads to another sin! Then he said to Joab, 'Now when the battle comes, you put Uriah up in the thick of the battle and when it's the thick of the battle, you draw back so he is killed. That's what happened! And David thought everything was all right. Then Nathan the prophet came and said:
David, there was this rich man who took one of the ewes from the poor man's flock and used it for his son. The poor man's flock and used it for his sacrifice. What do you think should be done to that man?
Well, he should be taken and judged! Nathan looked at him and pointed the finger right at him and said:
You, David, are the man, because you took Bathsheba and you killed Uriah the Hittite.
BANG! Punishment of God came. Finally, the child was born and died. Rebellion was throughout the land, and for a good number of years David had it really, really, really, really bad.
Now then, let's come to 1-Chron. 28. David recovered from it, and now is the time for David to die. Now is the time that he had everything prepared for the temple, all the plans, all the gold, all the silver, all the iron, all the brass and everything ready to go.
Solomon—who was another son of Bathsheba by the way—was then appointed and accepted to succeed David, his father!
Now, Solomon started out really, really good. Let's see here in 1-Chron. 28, what David and all of Israel in the company of everyone, so this was a big deal. Now, it's very similar with us:
- to be given eternal life
- to have the Divine nature
is what God wants! So, here's a parallel of it here:
David told everyone, he said, I had it in my heart to build a house for God, but He said, 'Your son would do it.'
1-Chronicles 28:4: "However, the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever…. [because that's the promise that the resurrection] …For He has chosen Judah to be the ruler, and of the house of Judah the house of my father. And among the sons of my father's house He was pleased to make me king over all Israel. And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), He has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel" (vs 4-5).
Verse 6: "And He said to me, 'Solomon your son shall build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish his kingdom forever IF…'" (vs 6-7).
Notice there are always conditions, not only for them, but for us:
- IFwe will love God
- IFwe will obey God
- IF we keep at it
"…IFhe continues resolute in keeping My Commandments and My ordinances, as he is today" (v 7).
Now, here's what He charged. Let's look at this and take this as a charge from God for all of us for the coming resurrection to prepare to rule the world. This was to prepare to rule Israel, but all of us are going to be given jobs during the Millennium:
- over cities
- over areas
- over countries
and so forth.
Christ is going to be King, the patriarchs will be there. So, it's kind of like this great gathering here is what the Sea of Glass will be on Pentecost—Pentecost to Trumpets when we receive all of our rewards; our new names, and everything that takes place there the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place and comes down to the earth and takes over the earth!
First thing to do is remove Satan and then set up the Kingdom of God. Let's put what is said here in light of what we're going to do.
Verse 8: "And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek for all the Commandments of the LORD your God, so that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever."
And that's what it's going to be in Millennium for a thousand years!
Verse 9: "And you, Solomon, my son…"
Now you put your name there, and think about it! God's Word to each one of us individually in the same way, because we are to be faithful! Remember where we started? 'Well done, good and faithful servant!'
Solomon was given this charge to start, but we know he didn't do it the way that he should have all the way through his life. Started out well, but didn't end up well!
Verse 9: "And you, Solomon, my son, acknowledge the God of your father and serve Him with a perfect heart…"
- not double-mindedness
- not part for myself
- a part for God
- a perfect heart and with a willing mind
"…and with a willing mind… [Yes, Lord, Your will be done! That's something!] …for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts…." (v 9).
Now think about that for a minute. Can anyone fool God? No! God knows everything! He can know our thoughts at any time He wants to. What does it say there in Heb. 4 about the Word of God? It's like a two-edged sword that cuts asunder, that divides the soul and spirit, the bones and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart!
Look at how this is the same thing back here as it is in Heb. 4. There we go.
Now here's what it is for us always. Look at the IFs, free choice.
"…IFyou seek Him, He will be found by you. But IFyou forsake Him, He will cast you off forever" (v 9).
That is true for the people who are converted today! Exactly the same thing.
Verse 10: "Take heed now… [that's what we need to do, wake up and listen] …for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it."
That's what it has to be for us. Exactly the same thing, that we do it exactly as he did.
Now then, this is quite a thing! You know how Solomon started out? Started out well, he made a great judgment, everyone was flabbergasted by it. God appeared to him and asked him, Solomon, what do you want? Ask anything you want and I will do it.
He asked for wisdom! And because he asked for wisdom, God said, 'I grant you wisdom. And because you didn't ask for riches and wealth, I give you riches and wealth. And because you didn't ask for fame and all of this, I'm going to give it to you. Now you go build the house with the plans that David, your father gave you, and build it according to those instructions.
Then we see after 20 years, it was completed, magnificent and wonderful and a great ceremony, which happened then beginning with the seventh day of the first month and the Spirit of the Lord came and all the house was filled with the smoke, which came from the presence of God, and all the Levites were singing and the music was going and God came into the temple and it was a great and magnificent thing.
Now what happened? It became all ho hum; 'well, there's the Temple of the Lord.' And they began to turn their back on God. And so, you know the rest of the story.
Now let's come to King Hezekiah, who was a king who sought the Lord to bring Israel out of all of their disobedience with the other gods. He started out by cleansing the temple because Israel went away from God so much that all the priests of Baal and all of the wrong things happened right at the house of God. Think about that! That's how corrupt people get!
Just like we have today, the government is so corrupt that it's almost impossible to understand how did it get this bad? Well, it was that back then. So they cleaned the temple out. They had the Book of the Law and then they couldn't keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the first month, so they kept it in the second month.
It was so good and it was so wonderful. They believed God, they obeyed God, God blessed them. They had plenty of everything. They all decided, this is so good. Let's go ahead and continue another seven days. And so that was an amazing thing that they did. Then what happened later on?
The king of Assyria after conquering Egypt came back and he was going to conquer Jerusalem and Judea! Isaiah and Hezekiah went into the Temple of God, laid the letter of the king of Assyria before God and said, 'Yes, Lord, he has conquered all of these other lands. Would You please fight for us?'
Well, king of Assyria said, don't ask your God to fight for you, because He won't do it. Well, God says, 'This Assyrian is not going to mock Me.'
So, they prayed, Hezekiah cried out to God and God sent the angels and destroyed the whole army of 180,000 warriors. Now then, this was a wonderful thing that God did!
Then right after that in Isa. 38, Hezekiah was sick. And he sent Isaiah the prophet saying:
Isaiah 38:1: "In those days Hezekiah was sick to death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live."' Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, and said, 'Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in Your sight.' And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping" (vs 1-3).
So, God changed His mind. God accepted the repentance! Wonderful thing! God said, I'm going to add 15 years to you (v 5).
Now you would think that that experience would have stayed with Hezekiah. That he would have remembered it so well that he wouldn't do anything stupid and foolish.
So a little later, here come the ambassadors from Babylon because they heard of the destruction of the Assyrian army. They came to Hezekiah and they said, 'What is this that happened? So he told them! 'Well, what did you get?
Now think about this. Hezekiah was given all of the wealth and the booty that the Assyrians took in their conquest and were on their way to bringing it back to Assyria. But God destroyed the army. The children of Israel took days and days and days and days bringing all the wealth and all the gold and silver and all the things that they had. And they put it in the storehouse.
So the ambassadors from Babylon said, 'My, that's interesting.' So, Hezekiah in his vanity got all lifted up and showed them everything that they had received and the booty from the Assyrians, when he shouldn't have done it!
So, Isaiah came to Hezekiah and said, 'Who were these men?' Oh, ambassadors from Babylon! 'What did they see?' They saw everything!
God didn't want that; so what was the verdict against Hezekiah? Now think of all the good that he did. Just like you can think of:
- the good that David did
- the good that Solomon did
- the good that the other kings did
- the evil that the kings did
All of these are lessons for us!
So, Isaiah came to Hezekiah and said, 'Because you have done this and showed everything to the ambassadors of Babylon, it's all going to Babylon! But not in your day!
Now, think about that! He got lifted up in vanity even right at the end said, 'Well, not in my day.'
So what happened because he did that? His son Manasseh became king for 55 years and one is the most evil and corrupt kings of all. (you can read that in 1-Chron. 35.
He did everything pagan. He went after demon spirits, went after other gods, even had tents for homosexuals right in the temple area! Remember, 55 years! Look at it this way. We could barely in America stand four years of Biden! What if we had Biden for 55 years? That's what it was like!
Along came Josiah; he straightened things out. He cleaned things up. He cleaned up the temple. They had a great Passover and Unleavened Bread. God said that he would not send them off into captivity as long as he lived.
Now then, Josiah was a good king. He couldn't get rid of all of the evil in the land, but he did good enough that God blessed him. So, after 12 years of being king, there was a fight with the Egyptians, but it wasn't between Judah and the Egyptians, but he wanted to go fight. He was told, 'Don't do it. Don't go.'
So what did he do? He disguised himself and he went out to fight! BANG! He got hit with an arrow; they took him back to Jerusalem and he died. And that sealed the fate of the Jews that they would be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and taken in to captivity. Again, look at what happens when the rulers do not do what God says!
Now then, let's look at what we need to do! Let's see how we can qualify:
- we have to believe God
- we have to love God
- we have to keep all of His Commandments
- we have to do what is right
- we have to do it in such a way that it is according to the will of God
2-Peter 1—let's see what is set before us, and see what we need to do to enter into that Feast of Tabernacles when Christ comes back so that we can rule the world.
Now, one of the great things that is going to happen is that we will be spirit being. Now that's going to be quite a thing. Peter speaks of this in 2-Peter 1. So. let's see what Peter wrote and how we understand what we need to do, because it's going to be quite a thing. Kings, priests, rulers, helpers and everything:
- bringing the Kingdom of God
- bringing the Commandments of God
- bringing the love of God
- no more war
- no more of these attacks and killing
- no more bad government
- no more bad religion
So, that's what the Feast of Tabernacles pictures! But:
- we must not make mistakes like the kings of old
- we must not be like the foolish virgins of Matt. 25.
Peter had to learn some pretty difficult lessons himself, didn't he? Yes, he did!
2-Peter1:1: "Simon Peter a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained the same precious faith as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ."
First thing: everything that you have that you're able to do, God has given! Same thing with repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit from God:
- growing
- overcoming
- developing the character of God
- learning to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and being
- learning to love the brethren
- learning to love what God wants us to do
- learning from every lesson, trial and difficulty we go through
Same faith!
Verse 2: "Grace and peace be multiplied to you…" This is what God wants!
Not just increased, but multiplied! That's what it's going to be at the resurrection!
"…in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (v 2).
That's the very reason we study every day. We need the knowledge of God!
- this is eternal
- this is forever
Verse 3: "According as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and virtue."
Now think about that! God has called you and you and everyone that He has called has direct access to God the Father in heaven above. Never such a thing is that until Christ came!
That's a magnificent thing. And remember the prayer starts out, our Father who is in heaven. And we have that available every day, all the time. Why has He done it?
Verse 4: "Through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises, that through these…"
Notice the rest of this. This is what God wants! That's why we keep the Sabbath and Holy Days of God. Because we're not doing it in this life for this life now!
- we're doing it because God is going to save the world
- we're doing it because Christ is returning
- we're doing it because Christ wants us to be kings and priests and to rule with Him
But we must develop:
- the character
- the faith
- the love
We must keep the hope always there!
"…that by these: you may become partakers of the Divine nature…" (v 4)—the very nature of God as a son or daughter of God to rule this world under Christ!
- that's why we're here
- that's why we do what we do
"…having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (v 4).
Now notice, what are we to do between now and then?
Verse 5: "And for this very reason also, having applied all diligence besides…"
- being diligent every day
- being faithful every day
- loving every day
- repenting every day
"…add to your faith, virtue… [good behavior] …and to virtue, knowledge" (v 5)—grow in grace and knowledge continually in the things of God!
That's why we have the Bible. That's why we have it all today. And down through history, it hasn't all been available all the time. So think about what it is for us today.
"…and to virtue, knowledge" (v 5
- the knowledge of God
- the knowledge of Truth
- the knowledge of love
- the knowledge of forgiveness
- the knowledge of doing the will of God
Verse 6: "And to knowledge, self-control..." That's what God wants! Self-control motivated by the Spirit of God, and as we have seen, to cast down vain imaginations and all the thoughts of the carnal mind and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ!
"…and to self-control, endurance…" (v 6). Knowing that you have to be faithful unto the end, whatever the endurance time is going to be!
"…and to endurance, Godliness" (v 6).
- you think the way God wants you to think
- you act the way that God wants you to act
- you overcome the sin that is in your life through repentance
Verse 7: "And to Godliness, brotherly love; and to brotherly love, the love of God."
- we preach it
- we read it
- we think about it
- we apply it the best we can
What is the love of God going to be like:
- When we're resurrected?
- When we're spirit beings?
- When we take over the world to bring peace, love, joy and end all wars?
Think about that! Think about the love of God:
- that He has for us
- that He has for the world
- that He has for His Plan
- that He's called us so that we can tabernacle with God!
- we can live with God
- we can carry out His will in the world
We can see His Plan unfolding at that time in such a way that we couldn't even imagine what it's going to be like. That's why we're here!
Verse 8: "For IFthese things exist and abound in you, they will cause you to be neither lacking effort nor lacking fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
That's what it is. This is how important the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacle is:
- for the world
- for us
- for God
All of God's Plan
Think of what the world and the churches in this world are missing without this knowledge. That's why God's Plan is Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days. So that we can understand what God is doing, and we are a part of it! So we'll see you tomorrow for day number five.
Scriptural References:
- Matthew 25:1-12
- Jeremiah 17:9
- Matthew 25:13-26
- Deuteronomy 17:14-20
- Deuteronomy 34:1-8
- Joshua 1:1-9
- Judges 2:1-8, 10
- 1-Samuel 15:1-3, 7-23
- Luke 6:46
- 1-Samuel 15:23-25
- 1-Chronicles 28:4-10
- Isaiah 38:1-3
- 2-Peter 1:1-8
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Luke 12
- Philippians 2
- Hebrews 4
- Isaiah 39:5
- 1-Chronicles 35
FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 8/20/25
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