As the Feast of Tabernacles draws closer, we can feel our anticipation rising, can’t we? We look forward to enjoying eight days of fellowship and activities, spending time with loved ones, and making new friends in God’s earthly family. Our imaginations and conversations anticipate our spending time in tomorrow’s world—where the Savior reigns with His glorified brethren to bring peace, joy, and fulfillment to a needy world and to shepherd all its people toward the purpose of their very existence.
We’ll hear of the healings, happiness, and hope that will grow to fill that beautified world over the course of a thousand years, and of how it will be followed by the resurrection of all who have died before their opportunity for salvation. That beautiful reminder—that our loved ones who have gone before us in sorrowful ignorance will stand before our eyes once again, finally ready to learn the truth that has been concealed from them—will close out our experience on the Last Great Day. And, as the days of the Feast come to an end, we will be further reminded that the “conclusion” of God’s plan is really the beginning of an eternity of joy, vitality, and renewed life on a plane of existence we can hardly understand today.
Yet none of the joy, none of the accomplishment, and none of the transformation of humanity pictured by those two Festivals would be possible were it not for the momentous event pictured by the day that precedes them: the Day of Atonement.
While the Feast naturally earns our focus with the brightness and attractiveness of its promises, the Day of Atonement—with its fasting and attendant hunger pains—can sometimes seem like a day to be endured rather than an exciting part of the broader picture of future joys. Nevertheless, the putting away of Satan the Devil for the duration of the Millennium (Revelation 20:1–3) provides an essential foundation for those future joys. “At-one-ment” with God is the greatest need mankind possesses, yet it would not be achievable if the corrupter, liar, and murderer who has reigned over the kingdoms of the world were allowed to remain on his throne. The rift between humanity and its Creator must be healed before the beautiful world of the Millennium can proceed.
In short, the Fast must precede the Feast. So, let’s take some time to remind ourselves of why it is so crucial that the Devil be removed from this world before the beginning of Christ’s reign—and of the difference his absence will make.
“The Wicked One”
Eight times in the New Testament, Satan the Devil is called “the wicked one” (e.g., 1 John 5:18–19). The word “wicked” refers to what is evil, vile, harmful, or diseased, and it is a fitting word to attach to the Devil.
Jesus Christ calls Satan “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30) and the Apostle Paul describes him as “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4). In such a position of influence from the beginning of mankind because of the choices made by our forefather Adam—and, frankly, our individual choices ever since then—the Devil has ensured that our world is a place of corruption and degradation.
Satan’s touch corrupts, and nothing of this age has escaped that corrupting touch. Our educational institutions and philosophies, our forms of government, our sciences, our entertainment, our religions, our approaches to health and healing—even our approaches to life and love—all bear his fingerprint and the stain of his corruption. “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).
Yet that world is doomed to pass into the proverbial dustbin of history—and to take its corruption with it (v. 17). It will be replaced in tomorrow’s world, under the reign of Christ, by the things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, virtue, and praiseworthiness (Philippians 4:8)—the focus of true Christians’ lives today.
No, the Millennium cannot proceed if the wicked one is free to corrupt all he touches.
“A Liar and the Father of It”
Even something as basic as information is corrupted under the wicked one’s influence. Jesus says that the Devil “is a liar and the father of it,” noting that Satan “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44). The Devil has lied from the very beginning of mankind’s existence, sometimes blatantly, but often with great subtlety. Indeed, Scripture’s first description of him, in his guise as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is that “the serpent was more cunning”—or, in the old King James Version of the Bible, more subtle—“than any beast of the field” (Genesis 3:1).
By contrast, the Eternal is a “God of truth” (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 31:5; Isaiah 65:16). One of the Ten Commandments, revealing His very nature, is a command not to bear false witness—a command to represent reality as it truly is (Exodus 20:16).
Today’s world reflects its demonic director. It is filled with lies and disinformation. Even those who believe they have discovered their foes’ disinformation tend only to trade the lies they once believed for new lies that seem more convincing. The “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) continues to broadcast, and there are few channels not grievously corrupted by his transmission.
Jesus Christ will not establish the new world to come on a foundation of lies, nor will He allow the confusing winds of deception to sweep through the streets of the new cities He will build. He says that, once He has returned and taken up occupancy in Jerusalem as His world capital, “Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth” (Zechariah 8:3).
The Millennium cannot take place in an atmosphere that subjects the people of the world to disinformation and lies. The father of lies must be removed.
“A Murderer from the Beginning”
When Jesus said that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), He was being plain about the Devil’s “hopes and dreams” for mankind. There is only malice in Satan’s intent. Satan hates the very purpose of God’s plan—to glorify mankind in the Family of God. Mankind’s destruction is the Devil’s goal, and he has pursued it at every opportunity for six millennia.
Man thinks he is at the top of the food chain as an apex predator. But he is not. The Apostle Peter warns us that the Devil is “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Under the coming reign of the Kingdom of God, mankind will be governed at every level by powers and authorities that have only its good at heart. The world was created specifically to be a habitation for man (Isaiah 45:18), and the Garden of Eden reflected the Creator’s loving intent. With the Son of Man ruling in power from His throne in Jerusalem, alongside His glorified brethren who spent their lives before His return learning to live according to the “way of give,” the very gears of Creation will be configured to benefit humanity. Under Christ’s benevolent rule, human beings will not be mere passive recipients of divine care, like pets. Rather, they will learn to practice what they are experiencing—the way of “give” and self-sacrifice.
Even the nature of the animal kingdom will be changed to reflect this shift, as carnivores will learn to eat grass (Isaiah 11:7) and the people of the world will experience such a profound peace that they will call their Ruler the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
The Millennium cannot commence with the world’s most ancient predator running loose. So, Jesus Christ will ensure that this predator is chained and caged, removed to a place where not a soul will be within reach of his claws.
No Feast Without the Fast
As we approach the very doorstep of the Fall Holy Days, we find ourselves filled with anticipation. Even apart from the profound meaning of those days, the season is exciting. The Feast of Tabernacles promises for many of us an opportunity to fellowship with people we’ve not seen in a long time, to meet people we’ve never seen before, perhaps to travel to places we’ve never been, and to enjoy activities and experiences that are not only fun and uplifting, but also designed to edify us and contribute to God’s purpose for us. Our anticipation of such days ahead is thrilling—and rightly so.
The Day of Atonement—with its 24 hours of fasting—rarely inspires such anticipation. Yet, when we consider the meaning of God’s ancient and sacred Festivals, we can see how the incredible future pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles would be impossible without the event pictured by the Day of Atonement.
Were the Devil allowed to continue as the ruler of this world, there would be no Millennial experience on earth. There would be no worldwide peace. There would be no transformation of nature. There would simply be carnal competition, envy, and strife. In essence, tomorrow’s world would be an echo of today’s.
Instead, once the world on a global scale knows the joy that we as Christians have been able to experience individually—the joy of seeing the Devil removed from his throne and replaced by the Son of God—a great door will suddenly swing open, and a vast world of possibilities will become accessible in a way it never was before.
The joys that will flourish in God’s Kingdom are real. They will be realized on the earth beneath our feet. And all human beings will finally know what it means to experience their loving Savior and Creator ruling for the good of all—and building a world with them in mind. But that time will not come until the current ruler of this world is removed. As we have seen, it would not even be possible otherwise.
There is no Feast without the Fast.