Course Content
The Feast of Tabernacles pictures the coming Kingdom. Jesus also gave a preview of the Kingdom to three of his disciples. We can use the Feast like they used the memory of the transfiguration as a tool to overcome in our lives.
Jesus told us to pray, “Thy kingdom come” (King James Version). This is the most important thing you can pray for because it’s asking God the Father to make His Kingdom a reality. And for three of our brethren, Christ gave a special vision of that Kingdom, which helped them through their entire lives.
Every one of Christ’s disciples has expected the Kingdom to come in their lifetimes. Take Paul for instance. He only realized the Kingdom wouldn’t come during his lifetime only a few years before his death.
If you had lived in Europe when a third of the population died of the black death, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Christ were about to come back right then. It’s both right and necessary to hold on to this hope; after all, it’s what we’re asking for when we pray, “Thy kingdom come!”
Previews of Coming Attractions
The transfiguration of Jesus was like a movie preview. Peter, James and John were given the awesome privilege of seeing a “sneak-peek” of the Kingdom when Jesus took them up the mountain and transfigured Himself before their eyes (Matthew 17:9; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28). They got to witness the glorious spiritual existence we’ve all been offered to be a part of.
These three were privileged to see this vision, but they didn’t know how seriously trying their lives would become. James, the brother of John, would be martyred early (Acts 12:2), and Peter would follow in his steps about 30 years later. John lived to see them and many of his other friends die gruesome deaths. He then watched as many brethren were taken in by false doctrines, falling away from the truth. At the end of his life, he lived imprisoned on an island, isolated from his brethren.
Jesus knew they would need special encouragement to endure these trials to the end of their lives. So He showed them a brilliant vision of the Kingdom He will bring when He returns. Whenever they hit on hard times, they could think back to that vivid scene to carry them forward.
Describing the Transfiguration
Mark’s account describes the image for us: “His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3). Maybe you remember the old detergent ads on TV that promised our clothes would be “whiter than white” if we use their product. The transfiguration really was whiter than white—purer than the driven snow, “as white as the light,” as Matthew’s parallel account adds (Matthew 17:2).
Matthew adds another important detail: “His face shone like the sun”(Matthew 17:2, emphasis added throughout). When John later had the incredible Revelation of Christ, He described His facial appearance as “like the sun shining in its strength” (Revelation 1:16).
Other biblical passages tell us that this is the ultimate potential of every Christian. The prophet Daniel said that “those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3; compare 1 Corinthians 15:41-43).Jesus said: “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:43).
Look at what the three disciples saw next: “And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus” (Mark 9:4). The significance of Moses and Elijah being there is that it showed James, Peter and John that God’s faithful people will share in His glory—and what they will look like in the Kingdom of God. Both Moses and Elijah appeared “in glory” just like Jesus did. Those two great prophets—and all the righteous saints who endure to the end—have a future of eternity.
The Significance of the Tabernacles
Pick up the story again in Mark’s account: “Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah’—because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid” (Mark 9:5). “Greatly afraid” may be an understatement. Every person in the Bible who ever came into contact with the spirit realm reacted the same way. After Ezekiel saw God’s awesome and powerful, magnificent throne in a vision, he was stunned for a week (Ezekiel 3:14-15). It’s a dimension completely alien to our normal experience as human beings. Go read the first three chapters of Ezekiel. Now think about facing the glory of Almighty God in its full splendor. It’s terrifying to even consider, but so inspiring to think that we have that power living in us in the form of God’s Holy Spirit.
Even though Peter didn’t realize what he was saying (Luke 9:33), perhaps in the back of his mind was the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast is a preview of the Kingdom, just like the vision he and James and John saw. The transfiguration was a vision that helped them endure enormous trials. Likewise, the Feast can help us look forward to God living with mankind (Revelation 5:10; 20:4-6;
21:1-3). When we’re sad, depressed or frustrated, thinking about the eternal, magnificent Kingdom of God can help boost our perspective to see things more like God sees them.
A Voice From Heaven
Mark continues his story: “And a cloud came and overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’” (Mark 9:7).
Peter never forgot this incredible experience: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we [Peter, James and John] made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son...’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed” (2 Peter 1:16-19).
We weren’t there to share in the experience with our three brothers in the faith. But their vivid memory of the vision and God’s inspiration led two of them to write about it for our benefit. We truly have a great cloud of witnesses in our Church family history, each child of God leaving a legacy of experience that we can learn from.
Partakers of the Divine Nature
Just like Peter, James and John we need to keep the vision of the Kingdom close to our hearts. When they fell on hard, painful times, they could think back to the vision Jesus gave them. They were strengthened by that promise and the clear picture they had of that awesome future. When we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, think about and soak in the meaning of every day. Make new friends and strengthen old relationships with all the brethren—the saints who we’ll live with forever.
Carry that feeling through the year. No matter what happens, we can think about the “times of refreshing” that God will bring to the earth when Jesus returns (Acts 3:19). Remember the power and splendor of God in His glory. Think about being partakers of that divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Look forward to the time when we can live in peace with our God and with our brethren, like Peter, James, John, Moses and Elijah.
Mitchell designs and contributes to Compass Check magazine, the Church's publication for teens searching after God's direction for their lives. He's also a content editor for Beyond Today media, managing online articles, designing print booklets, writing for web and print, contributing to scriptwriting for television and online video, and photographing events and portraits.
He and his wife Dana love traveling, particularly in Italy, where the tailoring is soft, the people are warm, and the gelato is cold and never-ending. He graduated from Ambassador Bible College in 2010, and the couple lives in Nashville with their two sons/future legends Stirling and Luca.
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
