Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ,
Greetings from Charlotte! My wife and I just returned from a wonderful trip to three different areas—joining thousands of our brethren keeping one of the biblical Festivals commanded by God which Christ and the New Testament Church observed. It is called the "Feast of Tabernacles."
In the Gospel of John, we read that "when His brothers had gone up, then He [Jesus] also went up to keep the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret" (John 7:10). Verse fourteen states, "Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught." So Jesus’ inspired example was keeping the Festivals that God had commanded His people always to keep. Church historians recognize that these Festivals were kept by the Church of God for a number of generations after the cross—until they were slowly stamped out during the Dark Ages by the early Roman Catholic theologians who gradually brought in the pagan festivals—making it "easier" for the pagans to assimilate with this type of "Christianity."
In one of the last books of the Old Testament—a type of "bridge" book leading over into and obviously pointing toward many New Testament truths—Zechariah tells us that the Feast of Tabernacles will be observed in Tomorrow’s World. God’s Holy Days were not "done away" with at the cross or at any other time. Those of us now keeping them are "pioneering" what will soon be a worldwide practice!
Zechariah 14:1 describes how the "Day of the Lord" is coming and "all nations" will be gathered to battle against Jerusalem. "Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives" (Zech. 14:3-4). Verse nine tells us, "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—‘The Lord is one,’ and His name one" (v. 9). And then we read, "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles" (vv. 16-19).
So, my friends, the entire world will soon be keeping the biblically commanded Festivals which portray the great Plan that our Creator is working out here below. The Feast of Tabernacles—called the "Feast of Ingathering" in several places in the Bible—points toward the great fall harvest when all humanity will be gathered into God’s Kingdom and Christ Himself will rule this world as King of kings (Rev. 11:15). If any of you have not yet read our eye-opening booklet, The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan, be sure to write for your free copy today.
You and I have the opportunity to be "pioneers" in learning God’s true ways if we are willing. The magnificent world just ahead—"Tomorrow’s World"—is described again and again throughout the Bible. The inspired Apostle Peter described it as "the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21). Again, it will be the time when all humanity will learn God’s true ways and learn to submit to Christ and His leadership. He will be appointing leaders to rule the earth such as King David who will rule all twelve nations of Israel at that time (Ezek. 37:24-25). Under David, we find that the twelve apostles will each be ruling one of the individual nations of Israel. As Jesus told His faithful apostles, "And I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29-30).
Those faithful Christians who learn to practice and submit to God’s Government now—the true "overcomers"—will be given "authority over ten cities," or over "five cities" (Luke 19:15-19). This is describing a very real government which will be set up on this earth at Christ’s Second Coming!
People who get caught up in this world’s system of politicking, voting and "balloting," and fail to learn about and exercise real faith in Christ’s leadership, will be forfeiting a magnificent opportunity to serve in Christ’s soon-coming Government. So it is vital that all of us focus on the coming reality of God’s Government and learn to live and practice that way of life now. The Apostle Paul clearly indicated this when he wrote these inspired words, "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?" (I Cor. 6:1-7).
Does your church teach and practice the form of government indicated in these verses? Are you, personally, learning to look to Christ as your Leader? Are you and the people you are associated with learning to trust the living Christ to work through His faithful servants to solve disputes, make decisions and lead His Church and His Work in the way described in these verses?
I hope all of our brethren and co-workers will seriously consider this. For we are truly very near the end of this age and we need to genuinely "get with it" and learn to put our genuine faith in the living Christ to lead His Church, to lead our lives, and to lead the entire world in His soon-coming Government.
As my wife and I watched the final presidential debate last night, it inspired me to realize how empty this world’s form of government is. For the continuing horrendous problems in Iraq, Iran and the entire Middle East will not be solved by either President Bush, Senator Kerry or any other human leader! The gargantuan indebtedness run up by many presidential administrations of both parties in the United States will not be squarely addressed or "solved" by human leaders. The "fat is about to hit the fan" as far as our massive indebtedness is concerned. I will be writing about that a great deal more in Tomorrow’s World magazine and elsewhere in months to come. But it is time for all of us to get our houses in order—financially, spiritually, and in every other way.
Meanwhile, this Work of the living Christ is moving forward swiftly. We are at this moment beginning to greatly expand the impact of our use of the Internet. We are at this moment planning meetings with key individuals to help us get major television exposure in the British Isles! We are at this moment taking other steps to greatly increase the Work of Christ while there is time.
May God inspire all of you to zealously prepare for your part in the coming Kingdom of God. As the Apostle John tells us, the living Christ has "made us kings and priests to our God: and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:10). However, as we all know, this only applies to the "overcomers"! "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father" (Rev. 2:26-27).
Let us all do our part in getting out the message of the soon-coming Kingdom of God (Matt. 24:14). Our focus should be that of Jesus Christ who told us, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4). We deeply appreciate the prayers and support so many thousands of you have given. May God inspire you—and all of us—to increase our efforts to reach this dying world before the "night" comes "when no one can work."
With Christian love,
—Roderick C. Meredith