When they do sacrifice and oblation thus, it will be at the yearly festival of Tabernacles; for "every one that is left of the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the I-shall-be of armies, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles." Now the feast of Tabernacles cannot be kept without sacrifice, as will appear by consulting the law by which the festival was decreed, which reads thus: "The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tabernacles, seven days unto Jehovah . On the first day shall be a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah, on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation; ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah; it is a solemn assembly, and ye shall do no servile work therein." For the Gentiles to keep this feast, they must observe it as the Israelites did before them, according to the law; and not as they "keep the Sabbath" now, observing the first or eighth instead of the seventh day, after a fashion of their own, and omitting those requirements which are inconvenient.

The Feast of Passover is also to be observed in the Age to Come; which, however, cannot be kept without sacrifice. Jesus said to his disciples, "I will not any more eat of the Passover, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God". This was equivalent to saying, "When the Passover is fulfilled in the kingdom of God I will eat of it". Hence we find its restoration testified by Ezekiel in these words: "On the fourteenth day of the first month ye shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the Prince prepare (by the priests who offer his burnt-offerings and his peace-offerings, Ezekiel 46:2) for himself and all the people of the land, a bullock for a sin-offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Jehovah, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish, daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily, for a sin-offering. And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil for an ephah." And in the next verse the feast of tabernacles is thus referred to: "In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin-offering, according to the burnt-offering, and according to the meat-offering, and according to the oil"

The reader will observe, however, that the Passover is a feast for Israel's observance, not for that of the nations. The Prince, or High Priest, is to prepare it, "for himself, and for all the people of the land," that is, of Palestine; because the passover is the memorial of the deliverance of the Twelve Tribes and their rulers from the power of all that hate them. In this deliverance, when it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God, the nations are punished after the manner of the Egyptians; become a sacrifice at the hand of the destroyer, while he passes over Israel whom he comes to save. The Passover is the Fourth of July for Israel— the anniversary of the independence of their nation; which can only be celebrated by those Gentiles in the Age to Come who acquire citizenship in their land. In respect of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Ingathering, the nations may well rejoice with Israel in the celebration thereof; for it will memorialize their ingathering into the Abrahamic fold when they shall all be blessed in Abraham and his Seed. But the possibility of national ingratitude for so great a benefit is implied in the following words of the prophet: "And it shall be, that whoso will not come up, of the families of the earth, unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the I-shall-be of armies, even upon them shall be no rain." But this would be no punishment to Egypt, because rain does not fall there: her fertility is maintained by the inundations of the Nile. It is therefore decreed that, "If the family of Egypt go not up and come not, that has no rain, there shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah shall smite the nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment, of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles."

This same witness concludes his testimony relative to the constitution of things in the Age to Come by declaring that sacrifice shall be offered in a temple in Jerusalem. His words, are: "The pots in the house of Jehovah shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of armies: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil therein; and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the I-shall-be of armies." This can only relate to the future; because the sacrificing is to be practised at a time when the Canaanite no more intrudes where it is unlawful for him to go. "The Canaanite" is a phrase put for the enemy of Israel— the enemy shall no more be in the house of Jehovah. But the enemy is now lord of Jerusalem, and has established a temple of his superstition upon the site chosen of Jehovah for the house of His name. The Ottoman is for the present the Canaanite of the Holy City— the desolating abomination of the glorious land. But better times are fast approaching, when the last of the Canaanites shall be ignominiously expelled. Hear what Zephaniah says upon this subject: "Sing, 0 daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Jehovah takes away thy judgments, he casts out thy enemy; the King of Israel, Jehovah, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more." Then shall the stone refused of the builders have become the head of the corner; and those of the city who behold him shall say, "Blessed be He that comes in the name of Jehovah! The mighty one is Jehovah who showeth us light: bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar . . . O give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; because his mercy is for the age!"

When the daily sacrifice was taken away by the Fifth Horn of the Grecian Goat in the days of Titus, it was only an interruption, not a final abolition, of sacrifice. It was a suppression of it for "many days", at the expiration of which it will be restored with other things suppressed. This is apparent from the testimony of Hosea, who saith, "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince (or High Priest), and without a sacrifice; afterward (after the "many days" have expired) shall the children of Israel return (to Palestine) and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king: and shall fear Jehovah and his goodness in the latter days". These "latter days", then, succeed the "many days" which have not yet expired. When they arrive, Israel will again have a king, a prince, and a sacrifice; and that king will be David II, who will be a prince, likewise, after the order of Melchizedec, for one thousand years. And to this agrees the testimony of Jeremiah, who, speaking of the perpetuity of David's throne from the commencement of the reign of the man whose name is The Branch, saith, "In those days shall Judah be saved (which cannot be affirmed of Judah yet) and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name which shall be proclaimed to her— Jehovah our Righteousness". And here is the reason given for Judah's salvation and Jerusalem's safety: "For", continues he, " David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house (or kingdom) of Israel: neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt-offerings, and to kindle meat- offerings, and to do sacrifice continually." Here is an offering of sacrifices by Levites contemporarily with the reign of a son of David upon the throne of Israel. It is evident, therefore, that the "never" in the text commences with a henceforth, which is yet in the future. The epoch of that henceforth is the salvation of Judah, and the placing of Jerusalem in such a position that she may be safely inhabited, which cannot be till her enemy is cast out. From that time David shall never be without a successor in the throne of Israel; and that successor shall be Messiah, during whose priestly reign Levites shall do sacrifice continually.

Reader! Canst thou break Jehovah's covenant of the day and of the night, that there should not be day and night in their season? If thou canst, "then also may my covenant, saith Jehovah, be broken that I have made with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne: and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers". This is equivalent to saying that no combination of powers on earth or in heaven can prevent the Messiah, who is David's son, reigning on Mount Zion where David reigned; or the Levites superseding the Mohammedans, Greeks, Latins, and Protestants in Jerusalem, and doing sacrifice there continually.