How many of you have already had your phone go off with alerts this morning? We are a society constantly bombarded by alerts.

This feast was marked by its many offerings, and it was designed to be an offering of praise. It came at the end of the harvest, unlike the Feast of Firstfruits, which came at the beginning.

They would reflect on the harvest and offer up these many offerings as token or praise and acknowledging that all they harvested came not from their hands, but by God's favor.

Child offering up his ice cream to his father out of a grateful heart.(I don't need the ice cream, but I delight in my child's heart)

It is hard to overstate the importance of this holy day to God's people. The holy of holies was only to be entered upon one time in the entire year, and it could only be entered by the high priest. He would have a rope and bells tied to him so that if he was struck dead, he could be pulled out.

Isaiah 59:6 I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

He did this through the sending of the Spirit which took place on this very holy festival, the day of Pentecost (50 weeks) in Acts 2. Look at v16.

All of the nations are blessed though Jesus, the offspring of Abraham. All nations and tribes will now give praise and thanks to God. This was of course promised in Joel 2 when he speaks of the Lord's Spirit being poured out and that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

It's the reversal of Babel. Instead of all people having their language confused and scattered, they are instead united together and able to understand one another. The tower of Babel was a people wanting to gain for themselves glory, Pentecost was when the various people coming together desired to give God glory.

Now forget all electronic technology and figure out how you are going to get a whole nation's attention? The blowing of trumpets served that purpose.

It was a Sabbath day on the (7)th month, so it was to be a day of rest.

This was known as Israel's new year in the civil calendar. The blowing of the shofar announced that someone was coming.

Up to this point, the shofar has only been recorded in use at one point; Exodus 19:16,19 and 20:18

The people would have associated the blowing of the shofar with the visitation of the Lord. (Exodus 19:9)

This festival served as a prelude to a greater festival, the day of Atonement 9 days later when God would come in the flame of fire to devour the sacrifice. This is why it is a solemn day of rest v24.

We can look back and see how God has visited his people through Christ's incarnation. He came to serve his people as the suffering servant.

The sound of that shofar will blow again, and it will be a day of judgement.

The Gospels tell us that they were looking for the day the Messiah would come.

This holy-day was like a coin. On one side, the holiness of God was being portrayed, on the other side, Israel's sinfulness. The sum total emphasis and point of this sacred day would be answering the question of how unholy people can stand before a holy God?

First, the priest's guilt had to be dealt with. For instance, they had to bathe and sacrifice a bull for himself and his household.

The people were in need of sacrifices as well. Two goats were involved. One was sacrificed as a sin offering, and the other had the sins of the people confessed upon it while the priest placed it's hand on the goats head, and then it was driven into the wilderness.

The high priest would sprinkle the blood of the bull on the ark seven times for himself and his household, then he took the blood of the goat, and sprinkled its blood on the ark seven times for the people.

They looked forward to the Messiah who could provide the ultimate atonement.

The DoA pointed to how sin contaminates all things. This is why everything had to be purified; the priests, the holy room, the Holy of Holies, all the way to the alter.

This pointed to the need for the messiah to take away sin completely and pay for it fully.

Related to the messiah, was the understanding that they were in need of a substitute just as the DoA demonstrated.

We also see the need for an atonement that provides both propitiation (satisfy the righteous anger of God) through expiation (the removal of guilt).

He was the great high priest who didn't need to make sacrifices on his behalf

Related, he didn't temporarily cover up our sin through an animal sacrifice, but actually removed our sin by offering himself up as the God-man.

Like the scapegoat, Christ was driven outside of the camp and he removed our sin as far as the east is from the west.

We can enter into the Holy of Holies because of our great high priest tearing the curtain that divides in two.

In this feast, the Israelites would dwell in makeshift booths for seven days. For seven days they were to constantly be reminded of how they were powerless to save themselves and totally dependent upon God for salvation. It was a week long reminder of redemption, mercy, grace, God's love, etc.

v40 shows us one important distinction that sets this feast apart from all of the others. It's the only feast where the Lord explicitly states (you shall rejoice)

He wants to the coming generations to know of their fathers exodus from Egypt and time in the wilderness. This holiday was to teach them redemptive history, an experiential catechism, and it was to remind them of their current situation, as beneficiaries of God's deliverance of their people.

This Feast of Booths was to remind them of their times as slaves in Egypt, and as pilgrims before they were brought home to the Promised Land. They were to have this intentional time of remembering what God had done for them, in order to combats man's bent towards thinking he can save himself.