B i b l e   S t u d y

Lesson: The Last Great Day


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SCRIPTURE READING: Leviticus 23:33-44

GOLDEN TEXT: John 7:37-39
Did you know that God has Holy Days that reveal His plan of salvation? God’s redemptive plan is revealed in His seven annual festivals. Each one of God’s seven annual Holy Days are prophetic, Christological and has a specific meaning.

1. The Lord spoke to Moses and proclaimed holy convocations. Whose festivals are these? (Leviticus 23:1-2.)

2. Were the Israelites told to observe festivals at three times each year? (Exodus 23:14-16, 34:18, 22-23; Deut. 16:16; 2 Chronicles 8:13.) (Note: These three annual festival seasons were centered around the three harvests in Israel, the early spring harvest, the latter spring harvest and the fall harvest.)
In this Bible Study lesson we want to focus in on God’s festival called the Last Great Day.

3. Is the Feast of Tabernacles to be celebrated for seven days beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month? (Leviticus 23: 34-35). Is there a separate holy convocation on the eighth day immediately following the seven day Feast of Tabernacles? (Leviticus 23: 36- 39).
Note: The Last Great Day is the seventh festival of God’s seven annual festivals. Seven is the number of completeness.

4. Did Jesus keep the Last Great Day of the Feast? (John 7:37-39).

5. What follows in the prophetic scheme of things? (Revelation 20:1-12).
Note: In this chapter there is a strong correlation between the ceremony of the Day of Atonement and the binding of Satan for a thousand years. This was preceded by the return of Christ and the first resurrection. It is followed by the establishment of a government (note the wording in verse 4, “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them”), a government that lasts for 1,000 years. It would appear that this thousand-year period corresponds to the Feast of Tabernacles in the annual holy day sequence.

You will notice that John refers to the resurrection as the “first resurrection.” In doing so, he automatically implies that there is a second resurrection. This second resurrection follows immediately on the heels of the thousand-year reign of Christ just as the last day of the festival follows the Feast of Tabernacles. Notice that it is the eighth day and that the Feast of Tabernacles is continually referred to as a seven day festival. The eighth day is not a part of the Feast of Tabernacles. Following the parallel between the holy days and the scheme of prophecy, the Last Great Day of the festival foreshadows the second resurrection and the “Great White Throne” Judgment (Revelation 20:11).

All of the dead “in Christ” have already been raised a thousand years before (I Thessalonians 4:16). Notice that all those who are being judged are being judged according to their works (Revelation 20:12) - and yet “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

6. Did Jesus reserve a special message for the “Last Great Day”? (John 7:37-39). Did Jesus always offer that living water to any man? (John 6:44). 
Note: Clearly, unless the Father draws men to Jesus they cannot come!

7. Was it given to some to understand the truth and not given to others? (Matthew 13:10, 11). Was it the Father’s intent that all be converted by Christ’s ministry? (Mark 4:11, 12). Who was responsible for blinding most of Israel prior to that day? (Romans 11:7-10)

Note: It is obvious that it is God who is responsible for blinding those people; the truth is that they have not yet been allowed to understand the truth of God. It should become immediately apparent that if we accept the traditional Christian beliefs of heaven and hell - that a man goes to his reward immediately at death - then it would appear that Jesus and God the Father, by design, consigned a group of people to hell who had never had a chance to be saved. It doesn’t make sense, does it? There came a day when Jesus was struggling with some of the unbelieving Jews and He told them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. {36} "But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. {37} "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." (John 6:35-37). It is clear that if all those the Father gave Christ would come to Him, then those who were not believing had not been given to Him by the Father.

8. Is it possible for those who were cut off because of unbelief to be brought back to God? (Romans 11:22, 23). What proportion of Israel is eventually to be saved? (Romans 11:25, 26).

9. Is it possible to be resurrected and then be given a chance at salvation? Read Ezekiel 37:1-28 and answer the following questions. Who are these dry bones? (verse 11). Is this prophesying a resurrection? (verse 12). Is it a resurrection to physical life? (verses 5, 6). Were these people taken to heaven at their resurrection ? (verse 12). Will they have a chance at conversion, a chance to receive God’s Spirit? (verse 14). Will they live out their lives on this earth? Will they be under a government with a governor and laws? (verses 20-25). Is this their time of judgment? (I Peter 4:17, Revelation 20:12).

Note: These people are going to come to know God and receive His Spirit; they will then be converted and receive mercy.

10. Will the men of Nineveh and the queen of the South rise up in this White Throne judgment? (Matthew 12:41-42). In Conclusion: Millions of people have lived and died and have never heard the name of Jesus Christ! Without that name no one can be saved (Acts 4:12). What about little infants that die? Are they lost forever because they didn’t hear the gospel that Jesus preached regarding the Kingdom of God? Would God be fair to condemn them because they did not hear the truth? What about all of the people who have died before they could learn about God’s plan of salvation? Perhaps some of your relatives and friends who never grasped the importance of God’s plan in their lives. Are they doomed forever?

The answer is an emphatic NO! Thanks be to the Great God of love and mercy who has revealed His plan of salvation through His seven annual Holy Day Festivals and especially in the Last Great Day in which God shows His mercy and loving kindness.

The Last Great Day pictures the time when the vast majority of humanity will be resurrected to mortal life and be given their opportunity for salvation.

For more information, request our free audio sermon tapes by 
Ronald L. Dart: “The Hope of Mankind” and “Reunion” 
Write to: Independent Church of God P.O. Box 22 Portsmouth, Ohio 45662-0022
or drop us an Email: bbratt@zoomnet.net

Scriptures

Scripture Reading: Leviticus 23:33-44 "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, {34} "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. {35} 'On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. {36} 'For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. {37} 'These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day; {38} 'besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD. {39} 'Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. {40} 'And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. {41} 'You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. {42} 'You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, {43} 'that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.'" {44} So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD."

Golden Text:

(John 7:37-39 NKJV) "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. {38} "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." {39} But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

1. (Leviticus 23:1-2 NKJV) "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, {2} "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts."

2. (Exodus 23:14-16 NKJV) "Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: {15} "You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); {16} "and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field."

(Exodus 34:18 NKJV) "The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt."

(Exodus 34:22-23 NKJV) "And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. {23} "Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel."

(Deuteronomy 16:16 NKJV) "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed."

(2 Chronicles 8:13 NKJV) "according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts; the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles."

3. See Scriptural Reading

4. See Golden Text.

5.

Satan Bound 1000 Years

(Revelation 20:1-4 NKJV) "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. {2} He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; {3} and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

The Saints Reign with Christ 1000 Years

{4} And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

(1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV) "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

6. See Golden Text.

(John 6:44 NKJV) ""No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day."

7.

The Purpose of Parables

(Matthew 13:10-11 NKJV) "And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" {11} He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given."

(Mark 4:11-12 NKJV) "And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, {12} "so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.'""

(Romans 11:7-10 NKJV) "What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. {8} Just as it is written: "God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day." {9} And David says: "Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them. {10} Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.""

 

(John 6:35-37 NKJV) "And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. {36} "But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. {37} "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."

8. (Romans 11:22-26 NKJV) "Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. {23} And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. {24} For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? {25} For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. {26} And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;"

9.

The Dry Bones Live

(Ezekiel 37 NKJV) "The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. {2} Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. {3} And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." {4} Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! {5} 'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. {6} "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."' " {7} So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. {8} Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. {9} Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."' " {10} So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. {11} Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' {12} "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. {13} "Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. {14} "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.'"

One Kingdom, One King

{15} Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, {16} "As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.' {17} "Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. {18} "And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'; {19} "say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' {20} "And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. {21} "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; {22} "and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. {23} "They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. {24} "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. {25} "Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. {26} "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. {27} "My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. {28} "The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."' ""

(1 Peter 4:17 NKJV) "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?"

(Revelation 20:12 NKJV) "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."

10. (Matthew 12:41-42 NKJV) ""The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. {42} "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

(Acts 4:12 NKJV) ""Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.""