The Last Great Day: The Final Harvest

The Last Great Day: The Final Harvest

by Mike Bennett

The Millennium, pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles, comes another time of spiritual harvest pictured by the Eighth Day or Last Great Day.

The Eighth Day in the Scriptures

The Eighth Day (called Shemini Atzeret in Hebrew) is first mentioned in connection to the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) in Leviticus 23:36:

“For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahuah. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahuah. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.”

The Eighth Day is also mentioned in verse 39; Numbers 29:35; 2 Chronicles 7:9; and Nehemiah 8:18.

Yahusha The Messiah also observed the Eighth Day or Last Great Day in John chapters 7 through 9. (For a detailed look at this passage and the likely timing of Yahusha’ actions and words on this day.

Last Great Day meaning

The seven-day-long Feast of Tabernacles is associated with the 1,000 years of Yahusha’s rule on the earth. So continuing in Revelation 20, we come to the Great White Throne Judgment, which corresponds with the Eighth Day or Last Great Day. Verse 5 points out that “the rest of the dead” wouldn’t be resurrected until after the thousand years, which would make this the second resurrection.

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before Yahuah, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:11-12).

Another view of the second resurrection

This same resurrection is described in other passages that help us to understand it more fully.

Ezekiel 37 describes a valley full of bones that Yahuah resurrects to physical life. In this passage Yahuah addresses the children of Yisrael being resurrected: “Then you shall know that I am Yahuah, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Ruach (Spirit) in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land” (verses 13-14).

During this time, pictured by the Last Great Day, Yahuah raises these Yisraelites as living, breathing human beings, and He offers them His Ruach HaHodesh (Set-Apart Spirit), which is the same as offering them the chance for salvation and eternal life. Yahuah is completely fair and merciful, so these are people who did not have a chance for salvation in their previous lives in this world.

That is why He opens the Book of Life to them—to give them the chance to be written in it! The other books mentioned in Revelation 20:12 would be the books of the Scripture, opened to their understanding for the first time.

But will only descendants of Yisrael have this chance? 

No, Yahusha makes plain that gentiles (Lost Sheep and anyone that joins Yisrael in Covenant) from all ages will have their opportunity during this Day of Judgment as well (Matthew 10:15; 11:21-24; 12:41-42). And so Yahuah’s stated desire will be fulfilled: “Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4; see also 2 Peter 3:9.

What an amazing, merciful plan of salvation is pictured by this Last Great Day and all seven of Yahuah’s festivals! What a wonderful future Yahuah has in store for us and everyone who will respond to Him!

When is the Eighth Day or Last Great Day?

This is the day which YAHUAH has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 118:24 

On the 8th day (Oct 12th Zadok Calendar) which is called Shemini Atzeret or the “last great day” and is also a Sabbath in which no servile work is to be done.

The Rabbis interpret from the word Atzaret, the meaning to tarry one more day. From this, the Rabbis added an additional festival after Shemini Atzaret and called it Simchat Torah (rejoicing in the Torah). 

They deem this also to be a Sabbath, but Simchat Torah is not an observance found in scripture. It is only from the imagination of the Rabbis. Therefore, we can ignore it.

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The next Feast day established by YAHUAH to be observed is Passover, beginning the cycle all over again in the Spring. 

Hanukkah is not a festival we are required to celebrate. 

This has been a very simplified overview of the Feasts of YAHUAH to help those who are just beginning to explore the Hebraic Aweakening of their faith. 

These Feasts are to be understood as rehearsals in YAHUAH’s plan of salvation for mankind. They are types and shadows of things to come for the body of Messiah (Col 2:17). 

Halleluyah! All praise to YAHUAH!