“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had passed away, and the sea was no longer there” (Revelation 21:1).
In the beginning, Adonai created the Sabbath. The seventh day completed His work of creation and He rested. Without a beginning or an ending –– an evening and a morning –– the seventh day was an eternal ‘day.’ When sin entered the world, Adam and Eve were removed from eternity and chronological time became the realm in which we live.
“Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to Adonai. On the first day there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work. For seven days you are to bring an offering made by fire to Adonai; on the eighth day you are to have a holy convocation and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai ; it is a day of public assembly; do not do any kind of ordinary work” (Leviticus 23:33-36).
The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day ‘appointed time’ with an eighth day holy convocation or mikrah meaning ‘rehearsal.’ This hidden mo’ed is known as Shimini Atzeret.
In Scripture, numbers have prophetic value and the number 8 means ‘new beginnings.’ With the eighth-day celebration, there is vision for something ‘new’ to begin. Within Jewish and Messianic congregations, this is the day that the Torah scroll is rolled up and unrolled in order to begin a ‘new’ yearly cycle of reading first five books of the Bible.
However, there is a hidden gem within the Shimini Atzeret –– the promise of new beginnings. Yochanan was given a vision of the ‘eighth day’ new heavens and a new earth when all things will be restored to as they were ‘in the beginning’ and should have remained. This is truly the good news of salvation: the restoration of all things.
What will this ‘eighth day’ look like? First, it will be a completely restored eternal Sabbath –– a Sabbath without end. However, it will have some order of time according to the prophet Isaiah. There will be delineations for weeks with the Shabbat and months with the Rosh Chodesh. These delineations will be put in place for worshiping the yod-hey-vav-hey.
“For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will continue in my presence,” says Adonai, “so will your descendants and your name continue. Every month on Rosh-Hodesh and every week on Shabbat, everyone living will come to worship in my presence,” says Adonai” (Isaiah 66:22-23).
There we will be a New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven prepared as a Bride. This vision is the culmination of Bride of Messiah becoming resplendent not just before her King as in the Messianic Era, but having an eternal place next to her Bridegroom reigning with him forever.
“Also I saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).
Even more wonderful will be God, Elohim, Ha Shem, El Shaddai, El Gibbor, El Elyon, the Creator making His dwelling with His people. Everyone will see His face, His glory without fear of death because there will be no more death. The ‘old order’ of things will pass away bringing the Kingdom of God to us.
“I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “See! God’s Sh’khinah is with mankind, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and he himself, God-with-them, will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).
“The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will no longer exist, so they will need neither the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because Adonai, God, will shine upon them. And they will reign as kings forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-4).
There will be no Temple in the New Jerusalem for Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh and Yeshua will be its Temple. There will be no sun or moon in the New Jerusalem because the Glory of yod-hey-vav-hey and Yeshua will be its light.
“I saw no Temple in the city, for Adonai, God of heaven’s armies, is its Temple, as is the Lamb. The city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s Sh’khinah gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. Its gates will never close, they stay open all day because night will not exist there, and the honor and splendor of the nations will be brought into it” (Revelation 21:22-26).
The nations will walk by this light, earthly kings will bring their splendor into it, the gates of the city will never close because there will be no day or night in the city.
“Next the angel showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Between the main street and the river was the Tree of Life producing twelve kinds of fruit, a different kind every month; and the leaves of the tree were for healing the nations” (Revelation 22:1-3).
The River of Life, sparkling like crystal, will flow through the New Jerusalem pouring out from the Throne of I AM and Yeshua. The Tree of Life will produce a unique fruit each month and its leaves will heal the nations. The Torah is known as the ‘Tree of Life’ because of its life-giving teachings and instructions from Adonai to His people. This ‘Tree of Life’ was in the center of Gan Eden, but Adam and Eve chose not to eat its fruit. With the restoration of everything, the ‘Tree of Life’ will be available to everyone. The fruit it produces heals the nations; the Torah will no longer be in force in the new heavens and earth (Matthew 5:17-18).
It is with hope for the new heaven and new earth that the ‘appointed time’ of Shimini Atzeret is celebrated. The eighth day will restore Eternity and the nations will walk by the light of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem. Shimini Atzeret is the ‘new beginning’ when yod-hey-vav-hey will live with His people and they will see His glory ‘face to face.’
“For now we see obscurely in a mirror, but then it will be face to face. Now I know partly; then I will know fully, just as God has fully known me” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
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