Permission is granted to the purchaser of this book to photocopy
this appendix for use in a family or group celebration activity.
This material ©2010 Josh McDowell Ministry and Sean McDowell.
The Restoration Celebration is designed as a Judeo-Christian family event that includes a meal. You will engage your children and teenagers in a fun and rewarding time that celebrates the richness of our relationship with God through Christ here on earth, as well as illustrating that, while living here on earth is temporal, there is coming a day when a new and perfect heaven and earth will be our home for all eternity. The focus is on Jesus returning to give us our inheritance of newly restored bodies that last forever and a perfect world to live in.
This celebration is based on the Jewish holiday called the Feast of Tabernacles or Shelters (Booths). God commanded the children of Israel to live in makeshift shelters for seven days every year. “This will remind each new generation of Israelites that their ancestors had to live in shelters when I rescued them out of the land of Egypt. I, the Lord, am your God” (Leviticus 23:43).
For centuries, during the fall of the year, Jewish families have celebrated Sukkot (Hebrew, meaning “booth” or “hut”). For seven days they are to eat in their huts and “rejoice before the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:40). As the seventh festival, it marks the completion of both the harvest season and the festival cycle. It therefore serves as a special time of celebrating the fullness of God’s creative and redemptive work and, furthermore, the rest of God. It is to be a time to remember and reflect upon all God has done for us and give him glory. Yet the key significance of this festival is that it serves as a rehearsal and celebration of the future glory of God.
God gave the prophet Zechariah a vision of the coming Messiah, the restoration of Israel, and the restoration of all things. The prophet saw a time when “the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshipped” (Zechariah 14:9). The apostle Paul spoke of a time in human history “that at the name of Jesus [the Messiah] every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
It is in this restoration context that Zechariah declares that “the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16 NIV). God had told his people “be joyful at your Feast…for the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete” (Deuteronomy 16:14-15 NIV). But what Zechariah was no doubt pointing to was the ultimate joy made complete when all things would be restored to God’s original design and “the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them” (Revelation 21:2 NASB).
At the final restoration of all things there will be no more struggling with this sincursed world or living in shabby huts. The prophet Isaiah declared this restoration promise of the Lord:
I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages (Isaiah 49 NKJV).
“As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the LORD, “so will your name and descendants endure” (Isaiah 66:22 NIV).
In that day he [God] will remove the gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mocking against his land and people (Isaiah 25:7-8).
Your Restoration Celebration is a time to thank God not only for what he has done, but also for what he is going to do in the future: give you and your families new bodies that will never wear out and a perfect world to enjoy with him for all eternity. And, of course, Christ conquering sin and death on our behalf could not have happened without him both dying for us and rising from the dead. So your Restoration Celebration will include praising God for the bodily resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.
If you would like to learn more about the Feast of Tabernacles as well as other biblical feasts of the Lord and understand how they directly relate to your Christian faith, we encourage you to visit www.ariseinglory.org, the Web site of Harvey Diamond, a Jewish believer in Christ the Messiah. He has done a great job of unpacking the biblical festivals and relating them in the form of an interactive devotional, called “Pathways to Glory Relational Devotional.” It provides various ways of relating with God in a manner that makes them especially relevant to the Christian life.
The Restoration Celebration is best done together with two or more families. Children from three years of age and up will enjoy and get something out of this mealtime event. Meet with the adults you are planning this with ahead of time to go over the details and assign responsibilities.
This celebration consists of five elements. Walk through each of these elements to practice and plan for your meal and the different readings. If your group is too large to fit into one home, plan to split up and conduct more than one celebration.
The five elements of your meal celebration do not include music. Your group may want to insert the singing of hymns or worship music at various times throughout the Celebration event.
1. “Celebrating the God of Restoration.” Identify someone in your group who is willing to read this presentation, which explains what the Restoration Celebration is all about. The reading is found on pages 478–479, and you have permission to photocopy those pages and all the pages related to this celebration. You might ask the person to read the material aloud to the planning group for practice, using the photocopied pages. We encourage you to read these readings at the celebration meal, rather than casually relating the content. And in your planning you will want to discuss how elaborate you want your sukkah (temporary shelter) to be.
2. “Death Had to Be Conquered.” Identify someone in your group willing to read this presentation and conduct the illustration (for which they will need to make preparations). Ask him or her to read the presentation aloud to your adults group now for practice, using a photocopy of pages 480–482 that you provide.
3. The meal. Identify someone willing to take the lead to coordinate the location of the Restoration Celebration (preferably someone’s home), determine the time, decide what to eat, and so on. This person is not to do all the work. He or she is to work with the members of your family group to coordinate the logistical details of the celebration, listed on page 483. Photocopy that page and provide it to the meal coordinator.
4. “What We Treasure.” Identify someone within the group who is willing to read the presentation and facilitate discussion with your mealtime group. Photocopy pages 484–485 of this reading and provide them to the person willing to do this and ask him or her to do the reading now before your planning group for practice.
5. “Why Say Hallelujah?” Identify someone in your group who is willing to conclude the Restoration Celebration by facilitating discussion and directing those they will choose (preferably young people) to read what eternity will be like and then closing in prayer. The designated person can practice by reading the photocopies of pages 486–489.