Tiger Cubs. Sukkot. A Bountiful Harvest. A Festival of Peace! The Exodus Song. Yosemite

For “Mammal Monday”, which is also The Feast of Tabernacles.

“Welcome to the Wildlife Conservation Society's YouTube channel! Connect with your favorite creatures from WCS's five wildlife parks in New York City: the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and New York Aquarium.”

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Funny Talking Animals - Walk on the Wild Side

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“How great is this? This wildlife bridge provides a crossing for wildlife amidst the danger of highways. Like if you agree that we need more of these around the world!”

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John 7:2 "Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand."

This year the Feast began on the evening of Sept. 30 and end on Oct. 8.

The Feast of Tabernacles: A Bountiful Harvest

"The Feast of Tabernacles, during the fall harvest season,  pictures 1,000 years of God’s Kingdom on earth. This will be a bountiful spiritual harvest.

With Satan removed (pictured by Atonement) and Jesus Christ reigning as King of Kings (pictured by the Trumpets), the knowledge of God will spread around the world. Those who were faithful to God will serve with Jesus Christ in teaching and administering His way of life for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4).

Consider some of the prophecies of this time of peace and prosperity that will result from living God’s way of life:

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’

“For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:2-4).

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

These and many other Bible passages paint a beautiful picture of good news about this coming millennial reign of Jesus Christ that will inaugurate the eternal Kingdom of God.

Past and future celebrations of the Feast of Tabernacles

The Feast of Tabernacles was so important to Jesus Christ that He went to Jerusalem to celebrate it even though He knew His life would be in danger (John 7:1-26).  And the Feast of Tabernacles is destined to be a major international festival of the Kingdom of God, celebrated even by nations that resisted it at first (Zechariah 14:16-19).

Since Jesus Christ celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, and since He will force people to honor it in the future, it only makes sense for us to celebrate it today.

Significance of tabernacles

The name “Feast of Tabernacles” comes from the tabernacles or temporary dwellings that God commands His people to stay in during this seven-day festival. These temporary living quarters rehearsed the exodus from Egypt*, but also serve as a reminder of the temporary nature of our physical life (Leviticus 23:43; 2 Peter 1:13-15). This helps us realize this physical life is not all there is, which helps us focus on those things that are eternal (2 Peter 3:10-13).

As much as everyone will enjoy the time of peace and prosperity, the real accomplishment of this 1,000 years will be in the people who fully commit themselves to God, repent and seek first His Kingdom and righteousness. It seems a large harvest of future children of God will come from this time in history.

However large this harvest is, it seems it will not be as large as the harvest at the seventh step in God’s plan, pictured by the Eighth Day or Last Great Day.”  From: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/feast-of-tabernacles/

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Learn about What the Feast of Tabernacles is...

“Also, called The Feast Of Booths, or Sukkot in Hebrew. You'll understand the biblical foundation for keeping the feast of tabernacles, where to keep the feast of tabernacles, feast of tabernacles dates and more...” http://thefeastoftabernacles.com/

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Sukkot  (Leviticus 23:42-43).

“Significance: Remembers the wandering in the desert; also a harvest festival. Observances: Building and "dwelling" in a booth; waving branches and a fruit during services.   Length: 7 days

The Festival of Sukkot begins on Tishri 15, the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous. Sukkot is so unreservedly joyful that it is commonly referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as Z'man Simchateinu , the Season of our Rejoicing.

Many Americans, upon seeing a decorated sukkah for the first time, remark on how much the sukkah (and the holiday generally) reminds them of Thanksgiving. This may not be entirely coincidental: I was taught that our American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, borrowed the idea from Sukkot. The pilgrims were deeply religious people. When they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, they looked to the Bible for an appropriate way of celebrating and found Sukkot.” More at: http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday5.htm

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*The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine) by Pat Boone

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A Festival of Peace!

“Right around this time of the year, thousands of people will pack their bags and travel away from their homes for a celebration that foreshadows a time of real peace. That celebration is the biblical Festival of Tabernacles! This year the Feast will begin on the evening of Sept. 30 and end on Oct. 8. These folks—ordinary folks from all walks of life—will congregate at many sites around the world for eight wonderful days that look forward to a time of real peace that is sure to come. They will worship God, listen to biblical discourses about the peaceful Millennium and enjoy time spent with family and friends. It’s a time for rejoicing—not just for a religious vacation, but because of what it means and what it points to. Those who go to the Feast declare by their actions that they look forward to that time of God-given peace: the reign of God on earth, the Kingdom of God.

If you’ve never heard of the Feast of Tabernacles, you should. It’s mentioned in both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures of the Word of God. Ancient Israel kept it, as did Jesus Christ, His disciples and the early New Testament Church. It’s still kept today, by people who know that only the Creator Himself can bring true peace—and that this He will do—and soon!”

Part of a video commentary by Ralph Levy, which can be seen here:  http://lifehopeandtruth.com/speaking-of/a-festival-of-peace/

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Broadcasts and archives of some of the Feast of Tabernacles programs at: http://feast.ucg.org/jekyll

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On This Day:

Congress creates Yosemite National Park, Oct 1, 1890:

“On this day in 1890, the United States Congress decrees that about 1,500 square miles of public land in the California Sierra Nevada will be preserved forever as Yosemite National Park.

Once the home to Indians whose battle cry Yo-che-ma-te ("some among them are killers") gave the park its name, Anglo-Americans began to settle in Yosemite Valley as early as the 1850s, eventually driving out the native inhabitants. Early settlers quickly recognized the unique beauty of the narrow Yosemite Valley with the sheer-faced Half Dome Mountain looming nearly a mile above the valley floor and three stunning waterfalls. At that time other awe-inspiring natural wonders like Niagara Falls were already becoming popular American tourist destinations, and a few early settlers tried to profit from the wonders of the Yosemite Valley by charging tourists hefty fees. But thanks to the popular paintings of Albert Bierstadt and the photographs of Carlton Watkins, Americans who would never see the magnificent valley in person began to call for its preservation from crass commercial development. In June 1864, President Abraham Lincoln agreed, signing a bill that ceded the small Yosemite Valley area, along with the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees, to the state of California with the requirement that it be held as a national public trust "for all time."

But in subsequent years, the state of California proved a less than vigilant caretaker of the Yosemite, inspiring the famous naturalist John Muir to publish several widely read articles exposing the destruction of the valley by large herds of sheep that Muir called "hoofed locusts." In 1890, Muir's efforts, as well as those of the newly founded Sierra Club, convinced Congress that Yosemite would be better protected as one part of a 1,500-square-mile national park. Though later reduced in size to 540 square miles, Yosemite National Park has ever since been one of the most popular nature preserves in the world.

Yosemite's natural beauty is immortalized in the black-and-white landscape photographs of Ansel Adams (1902-1984), who at one point lived in the park and spent years photographing it. Today, four million people get back to nature annually at Yosemite and check out such stunning landmarks as the 2,425-foot-high Yosemite Falls, one of the world's tallest waterfalls; rock formations Half Dome and El Capitan, the largest granite monolith in the U.S.; and the three groves of giant sequoias, the world's biggest trees.”

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Yesterday:

Misty and I went to get Jay, as he said he would help me get the workshop cabinets back in place.  Ray couldn’t do it, because of his bad back.  So we did that, so maybe I can get some laundry done.  Jay dug out some cabinet plywood that he had stored here and we took it to a man that was going to make Jay’s upper kitchen cabinets. Then we fixed a plumbing drip.

This morning, Jay called me at 6.30AM, and I could hardly understand him, he was so messed up.  Claudia, his mother, called to tell me that he had kept her awake all night banging on her windows until she thought that they would break. Also Jay had called his sister in Houston, in the middle of the night, and she could hardly understand him.  Then a little while later he shows up here on his ATV, and starts banging on Ray’s door, wanting Ray to help him pick up some boards he had dropped along the street. Ray thought there must be a big stack, but it was only 4 fence boards. 

Apparently, Jay wanted Ray to help him with his upper kitchen cabinets, as he had had a row with the cabinet maker.  Ray told him, no, not right now as he hadn’t even had his breakfast, and for Jay to go home and sober up first.  Jay come over here and wanted me to unlock the workshop, so that he could rip the boards on my table saw. I told him no, as he wasn’t in any shape to be operating power tools and told him to go home to sleep it off.  He wouldn’t, he just hung around here, and broke one of my outside chairs.  Then he stood in front of Ray’s front door, hollering, until Ray got tired of it, called 911, and had him hauled off.  Maybe the squeaky wheel will get some attention, and someone will do something to help Jay soon. Then I helped Claudia’s get Jay’s house locked up, and fed his fish.

So that is the start of this day!