The Church of God, International (CGI), is reporting a "highly successful" Feast of Tabernacles convention, recently concluded in Ocho Rios, St. Ann. Over 200 persons were in attendance and the feast ended with the baptism of eight persons, bringing to 16 the number baptised for the year.
The church, which keeps the seventh-day Sabbath, believes in keeping the feast days mentioned in Leviticus 23, including the eight-day east of tabernacles celebrated in September -October.
In the opening presentation at the Jamaica Grande Hotel, Jamaican CGI pastor, Ian Boyne, told his audience that the historic Christian church made a "fatal error" when it sought to dissociate itself from the Jewish roots of Christianity.
He quoted from a number of scholarly sources, which indicate that an increasing number of theologians were now calling attention to "the rich Jewish heritage of Christianity" and the ways in which the Old Testament illuminates the New Testament.
"You cannot understand much of the New Testament if you don't understand the symbols and motifs of the Old Testament," he said.
He quoted from the Journal of Biblical Studies and the Word Biblical Commentary on Leviticus 23 to show the positive things said about the Feast of Tabernacles. The Word Biblical Commentary says, "Amazingly, the church today has nothing like the Feast of tabernacles".
He praised Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of the movement, for restoring certain truths, which he said, had been lost to traditional Christianity.
Former Senator George Ramocan, a deacon in the church and voice of the church's radio programme, spoke on the Garden of Eden and the original tabernacle of God there, patterned off the heavenly tabernacle.
He told believers that that they stood in a great Biblical tradition and that long before the temple system and the inauguration of the old covenant, the concept of tabernacles had meaning.
He chastised modern Christians for rejecting the feast of tabernacles. The convention also heard from visiting ministers Bill Watson and Vance Stinson, who spoke on prophetic and doctrinal matters.
The church meets on Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. at the Life of Jamaica Auditorium in New Kingston and at 10:30 in Ocho Rios, upstairs the Simmons Plaza on Main Street.
