`Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all

kindreds (the tribes) of the earth (land) shall wail because of Him' (Rev. 1:7).

`And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth (land)

mourn ... ' (Matt. 24:30).

Isaiah asks the question, `Shall a nation be born at once?' (66:8) and the answer is `yes', because it is no more

difficult for God to save a multitude than for Him to save one person.

The last two feasts gloriously set forth the kingdom set up (Tabernacles and Ingathering of the harvest) (Lev.

23:34-42). It pictures restored Israel in absolute safety and peace at last, none daring to make them afraid:

`... I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man

his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree' (Zech. 3:9,10).

`... they shall beat their swords into ploughshares ... neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit

every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of

hosts hath spoken it ... and the LORD shall reign over them in Mount Zion (Jerusalem) from henceforth, even for

ever' (Micah 4:3-7).

In Exodus 23:16 where we have another reference to the harvest or ingathering, `the feast of Ingathering, which is in

the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field', the Septuagint reads for ingathering,

sunteleia. The disciples evidently had this in mind when they asked the Lord concerning the end of the age (not

`world' as A.V.), `Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end

(sunteleia) of the age?' (Matt. 24:3).

It is significant that the feast of the Lord picked out for observation after Israel's return from the Babylonian

captivity was the feast of Tabernacles (Ezra 3:4; Neh. 8:14-17). Furthermore, as God's kingdom will finally extend

to all nations of the earth after the Second Advent, Tabernacles is ordained for the Gentile nations as well (Zech.

Thus we see that Jehovah's feasts, ordained for Israel in Leviticus 23, set forth in type and shadow the unfolding

purpose of God relating to the earth. Two of them have been fulfilled, Passover and Firstfruits. Pentecost has been

partly fulfilled and those of the seventh and last month, which we have been considering, await fulfilment in the

future at the Lord's Second Advent.

CHAPTER TWO

After the life and death of Moses, God appointed Joshua in his place and promised to aid and guide him as a leader

as He had done for Moses. `As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee' (Josh.

1:5). The leaders who followed Joshua were termed shophetim or judges. These were likewise raised up by God.

`The Lord raised up judges ... and when the Lord raised them up judges, the Lord was with the judge ...'

(Judg. 2:16-18). Their chief function was not only leadership, but restoration back to God when the nation departed

so frequently from the Lord. They restored the authority of law in a dark and dangerous time when `every man did

that which was right in his own eyes' (Judg. 17:6) bringing about declension and anarchy, such as we see around us

today, when God and the standards of His Word are being despised and ignored.

Israel's twelve judges were mediators for God like Moses and Joshua. Gideon's words make this clear:

`The men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: ... And

Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you'

(Judg. 8:22,23).

They were given a special enduement of the Spirit commencing with Othniel (Judg. 3:9,10). The same was true

of Gideon (6:34), of Jephthah (11:29) and Samson (13:24,25; 15:14) and this continued into the initial period of

Israel's kings (1 Sam. 10:1,6; 16:13). In spite of the darkness and difficulties of this period, the Lord, as Israel's

Ruler, protected the small nation of Israel and saw to it that the expression of His kingdom was not obliterated by

the powerful pagan nations around.