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The Last Great Day

The Gospel of John records that Jesus observed the Feast of Tabernacles, and on the eighth day, Jesus announced the soon-to-be outpouring to the Holy Spirit.

John 7:37-39
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus knew that those who would be given the Holy Spirit would not be able to contain the spirit within themselves, much in the same way that the headwaters of a river cannot hold the river back. Like water, the faith of Christians flows away from the Christian using the path of least resistance. This is one of the reasons why Jesus provided this bit of advice.

Matthew 7:6
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

We have been given the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit, and the advice given to us is not to waste this gift on those who will trample the gift. To fully understand what Jesus meant by verse six, we need to understand the context of the surrounding verses.

Matthew 7:1-12
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

For those of us who are apostolic first century Christians, we have had verse six drilled into our heads much more than the surrounding verses. Could it be that the swine and dogs we must consider first are our own attitudes? Could it be if we judge others without judging ourselves first, that we disregard the gift of the Holy Spirit and trample it under foot? As we seek to have the river of living water, the Holy Spirit, flow away from us, we need to seek this gift from God rather than seeking this gift through the belittling of others. And when we understand this, we come to a place where we begin to understand the purpose for what we know as the law and the prophets. We begin to consider that we should treat others as we wish to be treated.

The final book of the Bible, The Book of Revelation, provides a glimpse of the river of living water that is part of the New Jerusalem. It is during this time that the Holy Spirit will flow from the throne of God in a most visible way as the pure river of water of life. It is the Holy Spirit that feeds the tree of life that grows with unlimited fruit throughout each and every month.

Revelation 22:1-5
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

In the Garden of Eden, the tree of life was nourished by the Holy Spirit and rejected by Adam and Eve. When God’s throne is established for all to see, as symbolized by the Last Great Day, the final Holy Day of God, the rejection of the Holy Spirit by Adam and Eve is undone, for the Last Great Day gives us hope of a future time when all who want the Holy Spirit will be able to have the Holy Spirit. And at that time, on a day symbolized by the Last Great Day, the Law and Prophets will have served their purpose as all mankind will treat each other with the love and compassion that is summarized by the ideal of treating others as each wishes to be treated. At that time, we will live in a world that knows peace, because peace begins with the inner happiness of individuals. We will live in a world where there is no more pain and suffering. We will live in a world that will regard the world we know today as the former world, and at that time, we will live in a world where the former things are no more.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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