This lesson was taught on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Ingathering, at Israel Church of the Firstborn in Indianapolis. Brother Obadiah keeps the first day of Tabernacles to a shorter lesson every year, and this year he did something he says he had never done before: he left the spiritual side of the feast, the gathering of God's people, for the eighth day, and taught the physical side. That means agriculture. He shows how God used the seasons and the harvest to reveal his plan, starting with Adam sent out to till the ground and moving through the three yearly feasts, the tithe, the end of the barley and wheat harvest, threshing, winnowing, and the Lord's calendar in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29. Every passage is read in the King James Version.
Watch the full Feast of Ingathering, first day lesson on YouTube.
1.The Annual Sabbaths, and the Custom of Jesus
He opens the Sabbath script by reminding the congregation that a feast day is a Sabbath too.
"What a lot of people don't understand, not only does God have the weekly Sabbath, but God also has seven annual Sabbath days, and they are still Sabbaths that fall within his season. So it's still the Sabbath day."
"So if you going to be Christlike and do the things that Jesus did, if you going to walk the way Jesus walked, if you going to love the way that Jesus loved, that means that you got to follow every example that Jesus has left."
St. Luke 4:14-16 KJV14And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
"We know Jesus came to die for the sins of the people. We understand that. But Jesus was also a teacher. He was also a prophet."
He points back to Deuteronomy the 18th chapter, where Moses warned Israel about that prophet: one would rise from among their brethren, and everything that prophet told them to do, they were to follow. Then he comes back to verse 16.
"Nazareth was one of the few Israelite cities that was in the land of Galilee. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. So if you going to be like Jesus, you got to do the things that Jesus did."
2.God Shows His Plan Through Agriculture
Before the first scripture of the lesson, he lays out why this first day would be about crops and seasons.
"One thing that God does to show his plan and to show what he wants for man to do, he uses agriculture. When we were back in the land, Israel had all of these crops. When we got over and took over the land of Canaan, God wanted you to celebrate these days once you brought your harvest in, once you brought your tithes in. But we all know that this feast is talking about the gathering of God's people. So what did God do to show his plan? He used this agriculture."
"We feast for seven days, and on the eighth day we have a solemn assembly, but we'll cover that on the eighth day. So we going to deal with the physical part of what tabernacles mean today."
"The way we deal with the Lord's calendar, we deal with the dry and the wet seasons, and we also deal with God's agricultural seasons, and that will put you dead in line at what time the Lord's feast days is."
From his notes, he reads that agriculture in the Bible is foundational, a divine mandate that begins in Eden. Then he names the seven species, the seven core crops of the land: wheat, barley, vines (grapes), fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey. He walks through the harvest year the way he teaches it. The barley harvest falls around the time of Unleavened Bread. Then come the appointed weeks of the harvest, which is Pentecost. After that comes the seventh month and the Feast of Ingathering, when the last wheat harvest of the year is gathered. The farming calendar and the feast calendar move together: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles line up with the barley, the wheat, and the fruit harvest.
"If you go and look over what's going on in the land right now, they have already gotten up all of the crops mostly. And this wheat is reserved for people who are in trouble, reserved for the poor. Because you got to pull up the wheat at a certain time before it get hot, or else you will lose the value of the crop."
3.When Agriculture First Came to Man
He starts where he says agriculture itself starts: with Adam leaving the garden.
"When man was in the Garden of Eden, the only thing he had to do was throw his seed out and everything would grow. But then there was a punishment that came, to where they had to till the ground."
Genesis 3:23-24 KJV23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
"He didn't have to do that at first. The Lord had made the garden of Eden to put them in, and it was fully furnished. But at this time they had messed up, and the Lord kicked them out of the Garden of Eden, and they had to go till the ground. So this was the first time that agriculture was introduced to man. It was introduced to Adam."
"And we all know who the tree of life is. And we know that Jesus dwelt between the cherubs."
4.Seedtime and Harvest, Summer and Winter
Genesis 8:22 KJV22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
"So he going to give you seed time and he going to give you harvest. Pay attention to what you read. Just in a few weeks they going to start seed time in Jerusalem, right before the latter rains fall. So you got seed time and harvest, and now we have harvest."
"We came already out of the winter feast. The winter feast was none other than Passover, unleavened bread, and Pentecost. So now we dealing with the summer feast. During the summer feast, that's when you going to have the seventh month, and you going to have trumpets, you going to have atonement, and you going to have tabernacles. And when you have tabernacles, that's when you bringing in the harvest."
"And one thing you got to realize about these feast days, they all going to fall in this season. A lot of people think that the feast days are the seasons. The feast days are not the seasons. The feast days fall within the season."
5.Three Times Thou Shalt Keep a Feast
Next he goes to Exodus the 23rd chapter, to what God told Israel before they ever had land to farm.
"The only thing that the children of Israel was doing at this time, they was doing the burnt offerings and the sacrifices. They didn't have no land at this time. So God was preparing them before they went over into the land, because they start really keeping the feast and bringing in the harvest once they got the land to grow it on."
Exodus 23:14-19 KJV14Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
15Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: ( thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
18Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
19The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
"He said in the time appointed. Notice he didn't say nothing about no moon right here. He said in the time appointed. That means that you can't appoint the time yourself."
"And the feast of harvest, those are the appointed weeks to the harvest. That's Pentecost. And then he said also the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field."
"The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. That was around Pentecost, but that was also around the time of tabernacles. So when they would gather in all of their fruit, they would have the tithe unto the priest, because this was the blessing that God gave the children of Israel once they got in the land."
He touches the last line of verse 19 only briefly and says it is for another time: God did not want Israel to take a newborn kid and boil it in its mother's milk.
6.Thou Shalt Surely Rejoice
He says he had plenty of scripture on the harvest and only had room for a few, so the next stop is Deuteronomy the 16th chapter.
Deuteronomy 16:13-17 KJV13Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
14And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
15Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
16Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
17Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.
"He said, Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days. Observe means to count. After that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine. That means that the crops are already gathered up."
"That's what he called us together for, is to have a good time today. Whatever problems that we have, we got to put it to the side, because this day represents the gathering of your people and the gathering of all people. Because he is not just gonna gather the physical seed, he is going to also gather the spiritual seed as well."
"Not only was they storing up food for the nation, but this is how they made their money in the eastern agriculture in the Middle East."
"Just in case you didn't get it in Exodus, God repeated himself again. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose. And we know that that place that he chose was none other than Jerusalem."
"In the feast of unleavened bread, we know that was the barley harvest. In the feast of weeks, that's the first wheat harvest. And in the feast of tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the Lord empty. So when you show up to these feasts, if you a man, he didn't want you to show up empty-handed. So everybody did what they could to make these feasts work."
7.That Thou Mayest Learn to Fear the Lord
Deuteronomy the 14th chapter, on the tithe of the increase.
Deuteronomy 14:22-27 KJV22Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
23And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
24And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
25Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:
26And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
27And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
"That's what God told you to do. So tithe is something that you are supposed to do for the Lord. Once the Lord took care of you and you got all that you needed, you had to tithe."
"That thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. That's the main reason why God wanted you to tithe, that you may fear God. If I give you something, and you might be down on your last leg, but if you willing to give it to the Lord, that's when God going to bless you. And he does that to make you fear him."
"People was coming from all over. So maybe they weren't able to bring all this food or all this cattle down with them. So they had to do something else once they got to the feast days. Then shalt thou turn it into money."
"A lot of people take this and be a little bit wrong with this. They say you can do whatever thy soul lusteth after. You still got to operate in the lines of God."
"So on this day, the Lord don't mind you having a good time. He don't mind if you get a little loose with a little strong drink or with a little beer, because you celebrated on this day."
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 KJV28At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
29And the Levite, ( because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.
"The people had to deal with giving to the Levites, because they didn't have no lands nor inheritance with the people. So when the people had tithed, they gave their tithes to the Levite. That the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand. That's what he do when you tithe to the Lord. This is what the people did."
8.Unto the End of Barley Harvest and of Wheat Harvest
To give a time frame for the harvest, he goes to the book of Ruth.
"We dealing with the summer feast now. So we dealing with the end of the harvest, which is in the seventh month."
Ruth 2:20-23 KJV20And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
21And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
22And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
23So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
"So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest. The end of the barley harvest is also in the seventh month. Because you get the first barley harvest at the beginning of the year, but they still gathering in crops all year long until the seventh month."
"And of wheat harvest. So what's the end of the wheat harvest? You looking at it now. That's the feast of tabernacles."
"She didn't only get a husband, she got all of that land and everything that was pertaining to it. So the Lord had blessed her."
9.Lo, the Winter Is Past
Because Genesis 8 promised summer and winter, he shows from scripture how you know which one you are in.
Song of Solomon 2:11-13 KJV11For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
13The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
"So pay attention to what he telling you now. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. This is how you separate the summer and the winter. This is how you separate the dry seasons from the wet seasons."
"The flowers appear on the earth. And if you go and read behind me, you will know that summer in Jerusalem starts in May."
Then Jesus himself, in the parable of the fig tree.
St. Matthew 24:32 KJV32Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
"Then you know that summer is nigh. See, this is how we keep it. You can't go wrong like this. He's showing you when the summer months are."
10.Reaping and the Threshing Floor
Moving from the seasons to the work itself, he shows how the grain was brought in, starting with one verse in Amos.
Amos 2:13 KJV13Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
From his notes: the wheat was reaped with the sickle or pulled up by the roots, then bound in sheaves. The sheaves were loaded on carts and taken to the threshing floor, a circular spot of hard ground that could run from about 50 up to 100 feet across, where the grain was threshed out. To show what a threshing floor was and how much it mattered, he turns to David and the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2 Samuel 24:16-19 KJV16And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
17And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.
18And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.
"A threshing place is a place where they thresh the wheat."
"If you go read the whole story, the only sin that David did was in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. But the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord, and he wanted to deal with them."
2 Samuel 24:20-25 KJV20And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
21And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
22And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
23All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.
24And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
"He wanted to buy this threshing floor, because he wanted to make some sacrifices to keep this evil angel from destroying Israel. And we going to read about some of these threshing instruments. He said they also had threshing instruments."
"Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So you ain't just going to give God anything for free. No, he wanted to pay for it. Abraham had did the same thing once he had killed all of the kings with Chedorlaomer. They wanted to give him something, but he paid his own way."
11.Winnowed With the Shovel and the Fan
Isaiah the 30th chapter, for the instruments of the threshing floor.
Isaiah 30:23-24 KJV23Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
24The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
"Once they had got all of the crops, they would take the shovel, and they would throw the crops up into the air. And what the air would do, it would divide the chaff from the rest of the wheat. That's what the shovel and the fan had represented."
"So keep in mind they are gathering their harvest in the summertime. But then at night time, it got real cool."
Ruth 3:2 KJV2And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
"In the threshing floor. That's when they did it. They did it at night. So at night they would take the shovel, and it would be a cool night. They would throw all of the crops into the air, and the air would separate the wheat from all of the chaff."
He adds from his notes that winnowing was done when there was most likely to be a breeze, that the fan was probably a broad shovel used to throw the grain up against the wind, and that the last step was shaking the grain in a sieve to separate out the dirt.
12.The Drought of Summer
"There's a lot of these little scriptures that we tend to overlook a lot of times, but they in the Bible for a reason, because this is how we had tilled the land when we was back in. Let's show you that it don't rain over on the African continent during the time of summer. That's why they had the shovel and the fan at night."
Psalm 32:4 KJV4For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
"My moisture is turned into what? Into the drought of summer. So we're showing you it don't rain over there at that time. So when you understand the cold and the dry seasons, the feast day is going to fall right in your lap."
13.Proclaimed in Their Seasons
Then Leviticus the 23rd chapter, with the note that everything in the feasts is built on seven.
"We going to show you that everything is centered around seven. And when you get to eight, eight represents infinity."
Leviticus 23:1-4 KJV1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
3Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
"These holy convocations got to be proclaimed in their seasons. They're not the seasons. That's where a lot of people get it mixed up."
Leviticus 23:33-39 KJV33And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
34Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
35On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
37These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
38Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.
39Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
"Notice what you doing. You ain't doing nothing but counting. Like we say all the time, the Lord's calendar is scriptural, and it is also numerical, because the only thing you got to do is count."
"God don't want you doing no work at your job on these days. He wants you to celebrate these days. It is a solemn assembly. That means it's a serious matter."
"When ye have gathered in the fruit of the land. That means they already got to be done gathered."
"The new month, the eighth month for us, is going to start September the 20th. So if you taking it after what they call the autumn equinox, you going to be in the eighth month. You got to realize what got the children of Israel in trouble. The great sin that Jeroboam did was he devised the feast just like tabernacles in the eighth month. So if you are keeping tabernacles on the 26th, then you are going into the eighth month, and it is after the autumn equinox."
14.Blow Up the Trumpet in the New Moon
The last spot is Numbers the 29th chapter. At the first verse he has the congregation hold their place and turn to Psalm 81, to show what a new moon means.
Numbers 29:1 KJV1And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.
"We want to show you that new moon just means new month. The evening come before the morning. That's why it was called new moon. But you got to realize it also means new month."
Psalm 81:3-4 KJV3Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
"He didn't say nothing about the crescent moon, or some people say that the full moon is the beginning of the month, but he didn't say nothing about that here. He said blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed. What's the time appointed? You got to count 30 days for it to be a full month. It can't be 29 or 28. It has to line up with prophecy."
Back in Numbers 29, he skips down to the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
Numbers 29:12 KJV12And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days:
"We know tabernacles is for eight days, right? But you got to understand these days represent the 7,000 years. So you going to be in this tabernacle for 7,000 years, and you going to be in another tabernacle once you get to the eighth day. People try to take the eighth day and try to separate it from the feast of tabernacles, but they're one and the same."
Numbers 29:35 KJV35On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
"Because on the eighth day, you wrapping it up. When you get to the eighth day, it ain't going to be no flesh and blood around at all. That's the spiritual side we going to deal with."
Numbers 29:39-40 KJV39These things ye shall do unto the LORD in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.
40And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.
Closing Word
"So that is the feast of ingathering, the first day. And we hope you got some understanding in Jesus name."
"If you want to know about sowing, if you want to know about what threshing wheat is, we got all of the scriptures pertaining to this, because you need to know this. This is what's going to help you keep the feast days in line. You got to go with what's going on in Jerusalem."
Brother Obadiah's point on this first day was that God wrote his plan into the harvest. Adam was sent out to till the ground. God promised seedtime and harvest, summer and winter. He commanded three feasts a year, each one tied to a harvest, and the last of them, Ingathering, comes after the corn and the wine are already gathered in. The feasts fall within their seasons, and the only thing you have to do to find them is count. He left the gathering of God's people, the spiritual side of the feast, for the eighth day.
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This lesson was taught on the first day of our Feast of Tabernacles at Israel Church of the Firstborn in Indianapolis, IN. Join us every Saturday at 12PM, or watch the Sabbath live online.