Topical Studies
Last Great Day
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Leviticus 23:34-36 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
This seventh holy day is observed immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles. Biblically, seven symbolizes perfection. It is also the eighth day of the Feast, and the Hebrew word for "eight" is related to another meaning "fatness," implying abundance, fertility—even resurrection and regeneration. According to Jewish tradition, on the Last Great Day, they finished reading what they started when Tabernacles began. Though intimately connected to the Feast of Tabernacles, it holds a distinct meaning of its own. It is part of it yet separate. The offerings required on this day in the Old Testament were the largest of all, typifying Israel's thankfulness to God for all He provided. Today, God's people keep this day with praise and thankfulness—spiritual sacrifices (Hebrews 13:15)—for His abundant spiritual gifts.
Martin G. Collins
Holy Days: Last Great Day
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Leviticus 23:39 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The last annual Sabbath or holy day is observed immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles. But because of its close proximity to this seven-day Feast, it was associated with the Feast of Tabernacles and was called the "eighth day." It came to be known among Christians as "the last day, that great day of the feast" (John 7:37). The Last Great Day is clearly a separate festival and holy day. The Last Great Day pictures the completion of God's Master Plan, which is the Great White Throne Judgment period after the Millennium. Revelation 20:5 shows that a second resurrection will occur after the Millennium, and verses 11-12 reveal that those in this resurrection to mortal life, who died never having been called to participate in God's plan of salvation, will then be given their opportunity to become members of God's divine ruling Family. These individuals will be given enough time to learn to obey God, just as Spirit-begotten Christians have opportunity to do today. Those who continue to live God's way of life, developing the character of God, will be changed from mortality to immortality at the end of this period of judgment, which apparently will last 100 years (Isaiah 65:20).
Why Christians Should Keep God's Holy Days
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Nehemiah 8:14-18 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
After God allowed the children of Israel to be taken into captivity for neglecting His Sabbaths and forgetting His holy days, some of the people were permitted to return to Judea. Under Ezra and Nehemiah, these people learned that God's holy days were not complete until the eighth day was observed. Note the words, "according unto the manner." The eighth day was kept according to the manner written in Leviticus 23:36.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Isaiah 65:20-25 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Isaiah envisioned the final days of the judgment period when the resurrected billions will receive their call to participate in God's plan. These resurrected multitudes will be counted among God's elect—made participants in His Master Plan, and given the opportunity to enter God's Family (verses 22-23). They will then have a close relationship with God the Father (verse 24). Imagine the astonishment of those resurrected at the beginning of this period of judgment. Each person will be in his first moment of consciousness since death. At first, some may think they are in heaven, hell, or purgatory. Most will simply be confused—bewildered. Nothing that many had been taught about an afterlife will turn out to be true. Faced with undeniable evidence that their old teachings and ways were false, they will be more willing to start over and be taught the truth. Untold millions who have not had any religious teaching whatsoever will start learning from scratch. Who will teach these thousands of millions? Millions of teachers who will have been born into God's Family in the first resurrection and during the Millennium! Those resurrected to mortal life will then undergo a process of conversion similar to that of Christians today. They will be taught God's laws and will learn they are guilty of sin and deserving of the death penalty. They will learn of God's mercy, and that Christ paid the penalty for them, if they will accept His payment. The vast majority will repent. Upon repentance and faith in Christ as their personal Savior, they will be forgiven, and God's Spirit will be given to them. Then they, as children of God, can begin growing spiritually—developing God's holy, righteous, and perfect character within them. Unlearning all the falsehoods learned in their first life and learning God's true ways will take time. And building character will take time, because character can be developed only through time and experience.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Daniel 7:10 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The Hebrew word translated "books" in Daniel 7:10 corresponds to the Greek word translated "books" in Revelation 20:12. This Greek word is biblia, and it is from this word that the English word "bible" is derived. The books that will be opened are the books of the Bible! They will be opened to the understanding of thousands of millions of people-everyone who was unable to know and understand God's purpose and plan for them during their previous lifetime because they had not been called by the Father and given His Spirit of understanding. Some, assuming that "judgment" means only the pronouncing of a sentence based on past behavior, have thought that these people, even if they repented, could do nothing to change their fate. Thankfully, God is merciful, always willing to forgive upon true repentance.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Matthew 11:21-24 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus spoke of a time of judgment when those ancient peoples would be given an opportunity to understand what He had been preaching to the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. They, too, will hear the good news! Christ mentioned the people of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom, Nineveh in Jonah's time, and the Queen of the South. All of these examples of people who lived in different generations are compared to those who lived in the cities and towns of Jesus' day, the vast majority of whom did not understand or believe His message. Jesus tells us that they will all be resurrected with the generation that lived during His time! Jesus gave enough examples of people living at widespread times to prove that most of humanity will be brought back to life at the same time on this earth. There will be pre-Flood men and women, all twelve tribes of Israel, those who lived during the Middle Ages and the vast majority living now. Even babies and children who died untimely deaths will be resurrected then. They will all rise in the second resurrection because they had not been called by God during their first lifetime. This group includes all people of all times except those who will have already been born of God, and those relatively few people who already had their opportunity to receive eternal life, but deliberately rejected it and sinned willfully. Those few will be resurrected in the third and final resurrection, and they will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:13-15).
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Matthew 26:17 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Hidden in the Greek of Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:1, 12; and Luke 22:7 is a reference to Passover as "the first of the unleaveneds." This is because unleavened bread is indeed used on the 14th as part of the Passover service. A comparison with the Old Testament, however, discloses this to be only the popular usage of some during New Testament times. In the Old Testament, something akin to this is found in Deuteronomy 16, where the first day of Unleavened Bread is called "Passover," while the context clearly describes the first day of Unleavened Bread. People popularly used Passover and Unleavened Bread interchangeably, and the Bible notes this practice, though "Passover" was the term most generally used for the whole period. Doing things like this is not uncommon. Today, we commonly refer to the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day as either the "Feast" or "Tabernacles," even though we clearly understand that the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day are separate festivals. So it was with Passover in the time of Christ and the apostles. Neither our use of "Tabernacles" nor the Jews use of "Passover" alters the authority of God's intent in the Scriptures.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Countdown to Pentecost 2001
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John 7:37 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
As the God of the Old Testament (John 1:1-3, 14), Jesus personally instituted the Last Great Day to symbolize the Great White Throne Judgment. As Judge of mankind, Christ is great in all His attributes; He is the perfect Judge of all (John 5:22, 24-30). We can also see the greatness of this period in the huge number of people who will be mercifully and lovingly judged and granted eternal life.
Martin G. Collins
Holy Days: Last Great Day
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John 7:37-39 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Giving meat in due season (II Timothy 4:2), Jesus preached about the meaning of the Last Great Day, and His subject was the Holy Spirit. Why? There is no doubt that some understood the meaning of the day because His audience had just witnessed the conclusion of a ceremony that involved water. God never commanded them to keep this ceremony, but nonetheless it contained a measure of true symbolism. Each day during the Feast of Tabernacles, a priest drew an urn of water from the pool of Siloam and carried it through the Water Gate while the people recited Isaiah 12:3: "Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." Once inside the city, they paraded the urn of water to the altar accompanied by a choir singing Psalms 113—118. To conclude the ritual, the priest poured the water on the altar as an offering to God. However, on the last day, the great day of the Feast, they marched seven times around the altar before pouring the water. What does pouring water upon an altar have to do with salvation? How many understood the symbolism that day when Jesus spoke concerning the Holy Spirit? Had the symbolism become obscured in people's minds by the passage of time? Jesus' comment should have revitalized their understanding of this wonderful truth. Psalm 118:19-29 is a part of what the choir was singing as the procession approached and circled the altar. This psalm exalts the theme of the Last Great Day. It depicts the time when the whole world will go through the gates of righteousness, recognizing Christ as Savior, rejoicing in those God sends to teach them and praising God for His mercy in giving them salvation. Though not directly stated in these verses, the only reason mankind will respond like this is because God will pour out His Holy Spirit on all of humanity!
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Final Harvest
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John 7:37-39 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus spoke this on the eve of the Last Great Day, after the traditional water-pouring ceremony, which occurred on the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus was not talking about physical thirst. He was revealing that if any man have spiritual thirst, and believes on Him, he can come to the Christ and drink in the Holy Spirit. But, as Jesus made clear in John 6:44, no one can come to or believe on Him unless the Father draws or calls that person. The few whom God calls in this age have access to God's Spirit now. But for the vast majority, the fulfillment of Jesus' words must wait until the spiritual fulfillment of the Last Great Day.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Galatians 6:12-16 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
In Galatians 6:12-16; Ephesians 2:10-18; and Colossians 3:9-11, Paul broaches the subject of circumcision. He often connects the new man with circumcision because he understands the symbolism behind circumcision, and so should we. When practiced according to God's law, the ritual of circumcision pertains to men, that is, males, taking place on the eighth day after parturition. Eight is the number of "new beginnings," the idea being that seven is the number of perfection, and seven plus one—eight—restarts the cycle. Thus, the eighth day of the week is Sunday, in reality the beginning of the new week. The Last Great Day, which occurs eight days after the Feast of Tabernacles begins, looks forward to the day when God will make all things new. This is the important symbolic message behind physical circumcision: The boy—the man—circumcised on the eighth day is a "new man." However, the new man of whom Paul speaks is not new because of physical circumcision. He is new because he has obeyed God's command to "circumcise the foreskin of [his] heart, and be stiff-necked no longer" (Deuteronomy 10:16, see Jeremiah 4:4). Paul, understanding this, claims that "circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit." "Heart," of course, refers to mind. The new man is new because he is "renewed in the spirit of [his] mind" (Ephesians 4:23). By definition, the new man is spiritually circumcised—circumcised in his mind.
Charles Whitaker
Choosing the New Man (Part Two)
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Ephesians 2:11-12 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
What a depressing status! If these verses stood alone, these "aliens" and "strangers" would indeed live their lives in vain. Without a future opportunity for salvation, they would truly be lost forever. Are millions lost because they never heard the name of Christ? What about infants who died? What about the billions enslaved under the dreadful yoke of atheistic communism? They did not choose to be born in a godless society. Are the doors forever shut on those born in a nation dominated by Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, or Islam? Most calling themselves Christian think so. Could we call God merciful if He consigned people to hopelessness merely because of an accident of birth? Would He be fair to condemn those who never heard? God can do anything He wants. It is, after all, His creation. In verse 13, though, there is a slight crack in the door of hope: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Everyone has stood in the Gentile's position of being far off from salvation. We have all had to be brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Could the only difference between us and them be a matter of timing? Imagine the multiple billions who have lived through childhood unloved, uneducated, and unhealthy in body and spirit. They may have endured miserable marriages, reared and lost children to disease, war, and natural disaster. Others may have spent seemingly pointless lives growing old, neglected, and disrespected as fodder for the next disaster. The heaven and hell doctrines of this world's Christianity may make for interesting reading, but they render the judgments and resurrections of God as superfluous. They diminish the creative power of the great, merciful God in these areas as finished and past, not as ongoing and future. In contrast, the Last Great Day has a very special meaning to those who understand. It answers perplexing questions about the great masses of humanity who are living or have died without knowledge of God's way or a true understanding of Jesus Christ, the only "name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). In my thirty years as a minister, I have yet to talk with anyone from another church who knows the fate of these "lost" people.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Final Harvest
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Hebrews 10:26-29 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Those whom God has called to receive the knowledge of salvation will not be given a second chance if they sin willfully. Hebrews 10:26-29; 6:4-6. To receive this punishment, though, it was first necessary for them to have known God's truth (Hebrews 10:26). God will forgive any sin that is repented of—even if, through weakness, temptation, or habit, the sin is repeated. As long as a person's intention, attitude, and desire is to obey God, he will repent, and God will forgive him (I John 1:9). Jesus said we ought to forgive 70 times seven times (Matthew 18:21-22). God is even more willing to forgive than that! So what is a willful or an unforgivable sin? If a person has been given spiritual understanding of God's way and has experienced the blessings of that way, but decides he no longer wants it, changes his attitude, deliberately chooses a life of rebellion, despising God's laws, then his sin is unforgivable because he will not repent of it! God will not give eternal life to anyone who insists on living Satan's way. Such people have been specially called by God and given His Spirit, yet at some point in time they purposely, knowingly rejected it! Perhaps through bitterness, refusal to forgive others, or neglect of prayer and Bible study, they stopped allowing God to build His character in them. Like the servant who did nothing with his talent (Matthew 25:24-30), some failed in God's purpose for them. They became so calloused to their negligence and their sins that no matter what God could do to try to correct them, they will never want to repent. God gives everyone all the help, encouragement, and opportunity for success they need to inherit eternal life. God will never quit helping anyone! But these people have quit on God! They show by their actions that they do not really want eternal life in God's Family—and so God, in love, will not give it to them. To guarantee peace, prosperity, happiness, and success throughout all eternity, God cannot allow these selfish people to make life miserable for others around them. Although God certainly has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:31-32), these sinful people must be put out of the way.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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1 Peter 4:17 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
God judges His children today by evaluating how well they live by His written Word. Their rewards in God's Kingdom will depend on their character development during their mortal life. It is a process requiring time and opportunity for learning and growth. Those resurrected after the Millennium will be judged the same way. They, like Spirit-begotten Christians today, will be given enough time to prove they are willing to live God's way through a life of overcoming and obedience to God. In this period of judgment after the 1,000 years, not only will the Bible be opened, but the Book of Life will also be opened. These people will be given an opportunity to receive eternal life! God, in perfect fairness, will give them an opportunity for salvation, just as He gives to those He calls now. But, in this last great judgment, people will not be subject to Satan's influence as we are today, because Satan will have been put away (Revelation 20:10). With God's Spirit freely available, and freed from Satan's spiritual influences, they will be given their one and only opportunity for salvation through repentance, baptism, receiving God's Spirit, and growing in godly character during a second mortal life. They, like Christians today, will be required to act on the knowledge God will give them, to choose righteousness as defined by God's spiritual law, to quit breaking that law. Those who continue to live God's way of life will be changed from mortality to immortality at the end of this period of judgment. Those people who were born to physical life first—many before the First Coming of Jesus Christ and even those born before the Flood—have not yet had the opportunity to participate in God's plan. Their chance is coming, but they will be called last—in the Last Great Judgment. Those now being called into God's church, although born later, are being given their opportunity as God's firstfruits (James 1:18). Even people born during the Millennium will be called to participate in God's plan before the vast majority of mankind, who have lived in this first 6,000 years of human experience. Referring to this age, Jesus said: "The last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen" (Matthew 20:16). The Last Great Day pictures the completion of God's Master Plan—the Great White Throne Judgment period after the Millennium. Revelation 20:5 shows that a second resurrection will occur after the Millennium, and verses 11-12 reveal that those in this resurrection, who died not having been called to participate in God's plan of salvation, will then be given their opportunity to become members of God's divine Family.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Revelation 20:4-5 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The Bible speaks of a "first" resurrection, implying that there will be more than one resurrection. The second resurrection will contain those who are not "the dead in Christ," but simply the dead—those millions who are not Christ's—who have not been converted, who have not heard the Gospel or understood it. The sentence, "This is the first resurrection," refers to the resurrection to immortal life of the firstfruits of God's plan, which will occur at Christ's return, just before the 1,000-year period begins (verses 4, 6). But notice the first sentence in verse 5: "But the rest of the dead [those who have not yet had an opportunity to understand God's truth] lived not again [would not come up in a resurrection] until the thousand years were finished." This resurrection, which will occur after the 1,000 years, is the second resurrection. It will be a resurrection to mortal life.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Revelation 20:11-12 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The apostle John saw people rising from the dead and experiencing the same kind of judgment we do now. For the first time, they are called of God, granted repentance, given His Holy Spirit, and gain access to Him. They, too, must then overcome and grow into the image of God that they might be prepared to live and reign in God's Kingdom. Like us, God judges them against the things written in His Word. He also opens the Book of Life so new names can be entered. All these things do not happen instantly but over a period of time deemed sufficient by God to prepare them for His Kingdom.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Final Harvest
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Revelation 20:11-12 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The dead who stand before God could not include true Christians today, because they will appear before Christ and receive their rewards at the first resurrection, when Christ returns. Nor are the dead referred to in the above verses those converted during the Millennium, because they will have already inherited God's Kingdom during the 1,000 years, after living a normal life span. Revelation 20:11-12 refers to the second resurrection—a resurrection to mortal life for all those who died in spiritual ignorance in past ages. Their time of salvation will then occur!
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Revelation 21:1-4 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Following this time of judgment, God will create "a new heaven and a new earth"—a clean, pure world fit for God the Father Himself. For all eternity, "there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." All those who have accepted God's way will have been glorified as members of the God Family, and they will live forever. Like God, they will create, beautify, and spread God's rule over the entire universe! With this wonderful potential ahead of us, we can eagerly echo the apostle John's words in Revelation 22:20: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
Martin G. Collins
Holy Days: Last Great Day
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