Cees and Anneke Noordzij — Soteriology
b7 — The Feast of Tabernacles
Entering God’s Rest
“Let us be on our guard, lest any of us, while a promise remains of entering His rest, should appear to have fallen short. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard” (Hebr. 4:1-2, cited in Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“There remains therefore a ‘Sabbath rest for the people of God’ (Hebr. 4:9). The seventh day of creation is an image of the ‘Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God’ (Gen. 2:2-3, Hebr. 4:9-10)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“That perfect rest God’s people will know on the seventh feast in the seventh month. And as the Israelites rested at the end of the week, on the seventh day, so the Feast of Tabernacles is the ultimate full rest after the ‘working’ of God’s people” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“We too may ‘enter into God’s rest’ and find a resting place there now (Hebr. 4:1,6-7,10-11). If this is our desire, God asks of us an exact walk in the Spirit, full of faith, perseverance and patience” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Without carefully listening to His voice we absolutely fall into the same mistakes as the natural people of Israel. Therefore Hebr. 4:1-2 says: ‘Let us be on our guard…‘” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts (Ps. 95:8-11, Hebr. 4:7). There is much opposition, that is true. But God promises: ‘I will never leave you. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I will give you’ (Josh. 1:3,5,6,9). Let us believe that! Let us enter the land of His rest” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
Interpretation: Entering rest = eschatological fulfillment of salvation, applied in faith already now (“find a resting place there now”).
Faith and Entering In
“Time and again God enables His children to enter His rest. Many let themselves be led out of the formal and the traditional. They desire more than life in that wilderness. They look out toward the land of promise. And the Lord is good! He gives ‘clusters of Eshcol, figs and pomegranates’ to everyone who believes as a Joshua, as a Caleb” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Even now many refuse to believe that they can receive the power and the authority for this. Even now the ‘ten’ spies tell the people that the ‘land’ cannot be taken (Num. 13:3,31). They ‘even spread a bad report about the land’ (Num. 13:32). They view everything with human eyes (Num. 13:33). Therefore most must return, into the ‘wilderness’” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“In those years the Lord remained good to them. Daily He gave manna and provided water from the Rock, and much more. The question is therefore: what will we do? Will we stay where we are? Or will we rise up out of the ‘dust’ of the ‘wilderness’, to follow our ‘Joshua’, through the ‘Jordan’ into the ‘promised land’ in spirit and truth? God calls us to enter into His rest” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“At the same time the Lord has a new generation in mind, who will listen to the ‘two’ (Joshua and Caleb), who say: ‘Let us go up at once’ (Num. 13:30). ‘Let us not rebel. The Lord is with us. We have nothing to fear’ (Num. 14:6-9)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
Conversion (metanoia)
“The Greek word translated as conversion is metanoia. It means a change of mind. The ‘old’ thinking ‘from below’ produces dead, religious, traditional, formal practices and drag, empty and vain words. ‘Already the axe lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not produce good fruit in answer to metanoia, is cut down’ (Matt. 3:8-10)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Therefore Jesus says to all the churches: ‘I know your works’ and that He must say to five of the seven churches: ‘Repent’ (Rev. 2 and 3). ‘Go think anew.’ ‘Set your mind on the things above’ (Col. 3:2). ‘Be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Rom. 12:2)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
Interpretation: Conversion = metanoia = change of mind, directed toward “the things above” (Col. 3:2).
Sanctification and Fruit of the Spirit
“Good fruit can only be produced after a biblical conversion. […] Good fruit can only be produced after a biblical conversion” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“What a harvest! To be filled with ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Gal. 5:22)! What a harvest!” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“A glorious Feast of Tabernacles awaits us, for there comes a full harvest of good fruit. ‘Behold, I will send you grain, new wine and oil, so that you may be filled with them’ (Joel 2:19). That is what!” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“It was always God’s intention that His Church would bear fruit through a continuous growth in the Spirit. Until now the Farmer came to His field to sow, to prune and to water, expecting nothing in return. Now the harvest time approaches, He comes with but one goal: to harvest the fruits of the Spirit in His people” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“You are God’s field (1Cor. 3:9). We know that ‘the Father is the farmer’ (Joh. 15:1). If we are His field, then He will do everything to bring us to great fruitfulness” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
Royal Priesthood and Glory
“Then it will be evident who are ‘made priests to reign as kings on the earth’ (Rev. 5:10). Mature, royal priests! Washed, clothed in linen garments, anointed, sanctified (Ex. 40:12-16). They are the true servants of God, who stand before Him to serve Him and to bless in His name (Deut. 10:8). Yes, God’s glory will be seen upon them (Isa. 60:2)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Those are ‘royal priests’ of another order, of the ‘order of Melchizedek’ (Hebr. 6:20). That ‘new’ priesthood is imperishable, ‘according to the power of an indestructible life’ (Hebr. 7:16). Everything of the temporal has no use here. Natural advantages, human capabilities and attainments, earthly differences in race, education or church success, all this has no value here” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“He has become for us as forerunner and has become our eternal High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebr. 6:20). He is the ‘new and living way, which He inaugurated for us’ (Hebr. 10:20). For us! For everyone who accepts that the ‘new’ order is ‘from above’” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“That glory will ultimately fill the entire Church (Rev. 19:10-11). That glory will even be a light for the salvation of the nations and will shine to the ends of the earth, yes, even to the entire creation (Isa. 49:6, Acts 13:47, Rom. 8:19-21)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Jesus… comes together with those who are both called, and chosen, and faithful (Rev. 17:14). They will appear with Christ in glory! (Col. 3:4)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
Deliverance from Babylon
“Go out, My people. You also have drunk of her wine (Rev. 18:3). Flee from all that is not genuine. ‘Arise, depart, for this is not the place of rest’ (Micah 2:10). ‘Do not touch the unclean’ (2Cor. 6:17)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Immediately after arrival they began the restoration work. First an altar was built (Ezra 3:1-7). One year later the foundation of the temple was ready (Ezra 3:8-13). […] Similar restoration work has also taken place now. In many the foundation of Hebrews 6:1-2 has been more or less restored. Some converted from dead, formalistic works. Many were baptized with water and with the Holy Spirit. A few completed the foundation fully by laying the last pillars: the laying on of hands, the ‘rising up’ from the ‘dead’ now, believing in God’s ‘aeonian judgment’ (Hebr. 6:1-2)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
“Many thought they had obeyed. They left their churches, broke many bonds, while they had not completely cleansed ‘the inside of the cup’ (Matt. 23:26). Coming out of Babylon is first and foremost a spiritual matter. It makes no sense to turn one’s back on an institute in which we are disappointed, to bind ourselves to another. The going out must be a going up to ‘Zion, the city of the living God’, ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
Election
“Jesus… comes together with those who are both called, and chosen, and faithful (Rev. 17:14)” (Noordzij, The Feast of Tabernacles).
Interpretation: Election here in connection with the parousia and the royal priesthood; not in a Calvinistic predestination sense, but as ethical choice (testimony) within God’s salvation plan.