What are the Feast of Passover & the Feast of Tabernacle Really About in John 6 & 7?

     There is no other book like the Bible!  It's the only book that I've ever read that never gets boring when you reread it.  I enjoy it when I see new things or get a different perspective on a passage.  Last week I read the John Life Studies on John 6 and 7 which are on the Lord revealing that He's food for the hungry and water for the thirsty.  

     Did you ever wonder about the two different feasts mentioned in these two chapters and their connection to the words the Lord's spoke?  I know I didn't get it, but this time when I read these messages, I saw it more clearly. 

   In John 7 the people are celebrating the Passover Feast, and in John 7 they are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles.   Here's the excerpt from the Life Study on page 208 that helped me get the connection: 

"The feast of the Passover occurred early in the year, when the people were working and laboring hard.  The case of the feeding of the 5,000 finds the people working to fill their hunger, but failing to be satisfied.  They labored, they worked, they sought something to satisfy, but they failed.  The Feast of the Tabernacles, on the contrary, occurred at a time when the harvest was over. The people had reaped the corn and wine (Deut. 16:13-14).  Everything of the harvest had been reaped, and the people were to come together at the Feast of Tabernacles and enjoy everything with their families and even with their servants.   ... That was the time to rejoice in their enjoyment--but they were still thirsty" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of John. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1975, Print).

     What spoke to me from this message was that these two feasts are saying the same thing from two different ends of human life.  It's like the Lord is telling us in John 6 and 7 it doesn't matter on what end of your life you're at--at the sunrise or at the sunset, you're either hungry or thirsty.  In the beginning of your life you think education and a career will satisfy you, then as you get older you think family and material possessions will satisfy you, but actually you weren't made for them to satisfy you.  

   As I was reading these messages, I was thinking about a video clip produced by Bibles for America that I saw last week called the God-Shaped Vacuum.  We showed this to some college students at our Bible study because some of the students there weren't saved yet.  It's great because it shows that even Solomon who had more wealth than any man on earth realized it was vanity.  Only Christ satisfies the hungry and thirsty heart.


Blog Update 10-4-13:  If you go on to Living Stream Ministry's radio website, you will find Programs 21-24  cover these chapters.  I've really enjoyed tuning in to these broadcasts.  You will get to hear live experts of Witness Lee's speaking plus some great commentary.

Other posts on the Life Studies of John:

You can listen to the message excerpts from the Life-Study of John put out by Living Stream Ministry on the radio program called  Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee, 

What is the Focus of the Gospel of John?
What are the Feast of Passover & the Feast of Tabernacles Really About in John 6 & 7?
The Watermelon Gospel - What the Gospel of John Shows Us

Other related posts from other Life Studies:

From the Life-Study of Luke:
A Great Gospel Illustration - How is Man Like a Glove?

From the Life-Study of Romans:
What Was Man Created For in Romans 9:21?

From Bible Studies with College Students:
Reading the Mystery of Human Life with College Students

If you click on the God Seeking & Life Study tab at the top of the blog window, you will find a list of other Life Study posts that I have done so far!