This is Day 8 of the Ten Days of Awe.
Persecution will come, but He will not forsake us. He is the righteous judge.
Psalm 27:12 “Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.”
Believers around the world have experienced persecution to the point of death, while we here in America have had a pretty easy time. How many feel that things are going to change for the worse? Stay the course. Endure in faithfulness.
Psalm 103:20 “Bless YHWH, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His Word, obeying the voice of His Word!”
Romans 2:13 “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be justified.”
The Prophet Samuel told King Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice. (cf. 1 Samuel 15:22). Saul had taken the animals decreed for destruction and sacrificed them to God instead. The Kingdom was stripped from Saul because of his disobedience. When we offer our sacrifices to God but ignore what He commanded, He considers that an abomination. Blessed are those who obey His Word. It’s the doers of His Word who are justified. Are we doing what He said to do?
Psalm 145:17 “YHWH is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works.”
All of His Ways are righteous. Deuteronomy 6:25 (NLT) says, “For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands YHWH our God has given us.” Paul said in Romans 6:16-18, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”
This day coordinates with the eighth day of creation.
The creation account doesn’t mention anything about the eighth day. Nothing of note happened on this day. However, it is important from an eschatological point of view. Sukkot, or The Feast of Tabernacles, spans eight days, unlike The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasts seven days. Some might say that Sukkot is only seven days, and the eighth day is a holy convocation at the end of Sukkot. Either way is correct because Leviticus 23:34 says that Sukkot lasts for seven days, but verse 36 says, “On the eighth day….” Prophetically speaking, Sukkot is the last of the appointed times of God. All will be accomplished after Sukkot is fulfilled. The eighth day represents eternity.