The Good News in Sukkot
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Shalom…and L’shana Tovah for the Year 5786. We will begin today by reading about the Appointed Times (Moedim) of Adonai Leviticus 23:1–2
Then Adonai spoke to Moses saying: “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael, and tell them: These are the appointed moadim of Adonai, which you are to proclaim to be holy convocations—My moadim.
These Festivals are God’s Appointed Times, and because they belong to God and are not the possession of Israel, they belong to all of God’s children, both Jew and Gentile, who have been joined together through faith in Israel’s Messiah. The Apostle Paul said about the Gentiles in Eph. 2:19–20
So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household. You have been built on the foundation made up of the emissaries and prophets, with Messiah Yeshua Himself being the cornerstone.
Gentiles, as fellow citizens together with Israel, have now been grafted into the Olive Tree (Rom. 11:7-14), now share in the nourishing sap that comes from the Olive Root, being God’s covenants and promises to Israel. According to Eph.3:6, Gentiles are now heirs together with Israel, members together in one body and sharers together in the promise of Yeshua the Messiah! So, although Gentiles are not obligated to keep these feasts since they are not stipulated in the New Covenant, all people are invited by God to share in their blessings, teaching and fulfilment in Yeshua our Messiah.
Earlier this month we spoke about two of God’s Appointed Times: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: We learnt that…
The Feast of Trumpets teaches us about repentance… (The sound of the shofar was a call to repentance…)
The Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:26-32) teaches us about redemption… (Sacrifices were made on the Day of Atonement to make atonement, to bring about forgiveness of sin. These sacrifices all foreshadowed the final sacrifice that was to come… Yeshua our Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world…)
And today, we will see that the Feast of Tabernacles teaches us about rejoicing.
Each one of us must repent of our sin before we can be forgiven. And once we have been forgiven, once our slates have been wiped clean by God through faith in Yeshua our Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, then we have reason to rejoice. And that is what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about, rejoicing in God’s forgiveness.
THE FEAST OF TEABERNACLES
THE FEAST OF TEABERNACLES
Let us have a look at what the Word of God says about Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles in Lev. 23:39–43
“So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you are to keep the Feast of Adonai for seven days. The first day is to be a Shabbat rest, and the eighth day will also be a Shabbat rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit of trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and rejoice before Adonai your God for seven days. You are to celebrate it as a festival to Adonai for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations—you are to celebrate it in the seventh month. You are to live in sukkot for seven days. All the native-born in Israel are to live in sukkot, so that your generations may know that I had Bnei-Yisrael to dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Adonai your God.”
The Feast of Sukkot is also called the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. God commanded this feast as a reminder to the Israelites of the fact that He provided shelter and food for them for 40 years in the wilderness. God looked after His people in that hostile and desolate wilderness. Today, devout Jews build little, temporary shelters outside their homes, to remind them of the temporary shelters that were set up in the wilderness. The whole family eats their meals in the tabernacle and it is a joyous occasion.
This feast also reminds us of how Adonai’s Presence guided the Israelites in the wilderness – by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. His Shekinah, His glorious presence, guided them through the wilderness. God’s glory is one of the central themes of this feast. And this feast is most beautifully fulfilled by Yeshua, who is the very glory of God, in the flesh. John, the beloved talmid of Yeshua writes in John 1:1, 14
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The author of Hebrews puts it this way Heb. 1:3
This Son is the radiance of His glory and the imprint of His being, upholding all things by His powerful word. When He had made purification for our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
In a most remarkable way, Yeshua is the glory of God in the flesh. He came to dwell or tabernacle among us for a while, and before He left He promised to send the Ruach HaKodesh who would come to dwell in our hearts. And so we too, as believers in Yeshua, are also tabernacles of Adonai as Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 3:16
Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that the Ruach Elohim dwells among you?
In the Gospel of John, Ch 7, we see Yeshua on the scene in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles. I want to point out 2 outstanding religious ceremonies at this feast that will give you insight and a greater understanding of Yeshua’s Words at this feast. These are: the pouring of water on the altar, and the illumination of the temple.
The Water Drawing Ceremony
The Water Drawing Ceremony
One of the most outstanding ceremonies at the Feast of Tabernacles during the time of Yeshua was what is called the nissuch ha mayim, the ceremony of the water drawing. Since rain is essential to the growing of crops, and Israel, an arid land, prized rain greatly as a blessing from God, this ceremony was a prayer for God to provide the needed rain for the harvest.
The water drawing ceremony was a joyous occasion. On the first 6 days of the feast, a Levitical priest would draw water from the pool of Siloam with a golden pitcher, followed by hundreds of worshippers singing, and dancing and playing music. The Levite would carry the golden pitcher of water up to the temple, entering through the water gate. As he arrived, ram's horns were sounded as the water was poured out into a silver basin on the south west side of the great altar in the temple.
But on the seventh and greatest day of the feast known as the hoshana rabbah, the great hosanna, the priest would circle the altar seven times, before he poured the water into the basin. As he circled the altar, music and blasts from rams horns were sounded, people sang repetitively “hoshiana, hoshiana, baruch haba bashem Adonai” which means “O Lord, do save we beseech you, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
This was the most ecstatic part of the ceremony. This crying out to God was not only a prayer for rain, but a pray for the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit during the time of Messiah in accordance with Isaiah 12:2–3
Behold, God is my salvation! I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord Adonai is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
“Hineh El Yeshuati, evtach velo efchad ki oozi vezimrat Yah Adonai vayhili liyeshua. Ushavtem Maim Be’sasson Mimaneh Ha Yeshuah!”
It was amongst this frenzy of messianic expectancy, on the last and greatest day of the feast, the Hoshana Rabbah, that a young, itinerant rabbi from Nazareth proclaimed John 7:37–38
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yeshua stood up and cried out loudly, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, ‘out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Yeshua was inviting the worshippers to come and drink from him, the living water and if they did so, streams of living water would flow from within them. Yeshua was saying I am the fulfilment of all that you have been praying for. Believe in me and you will receive the promised Holy Spirit. Yeshua was inviting them to come to him if they were thirsty. He is the source of mayim chayim, living water. The water he gives us will quench our thirst for eternity.
What is Living Water? It is the Ruach HaChodesh, the Holy Spirit, that is poured out during the time of Messiah. You can only receive Mayim Chayim (Living Water) from Elohim Chayim (the Living God). That is why Messiah has come so that we might be filled with the Holy Spirit to quench our spiritual thirst forever!
The Temple Illumination
The Temple Illumination
The other outstanding feature during the Feast of Tabernacles was that the Temple was brightly illuminated by hundreds of candelabras, specifically 4 huge torches from the Temple Mount. These torches lit up the whole Judean country side. And so it was that at the end of the Feast, Yeshua stood up and called out John 8:12
Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows Me will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Yeshua fulfilled every expectation of the Feast of Sukkot. He is the Glory of God that has tabernacle among us and He is the light of the world!
RELEVANCE TO TODAY
RELEVANCE TO TODAY
There is a future fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles that I would like to conclude with. The Biblical festivals, God’s appointed times, not only speak about what God has done and is doing, but also about what God will do. I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, and I work for a non-profit organization…but the calendar God gave Israel is a prophetic calendar, and I believe it is significant that Sukkot is the festival of last fruits. It commemorates the final ingathering of the harvest. Could it be that the many Jewish people coming to faith in Messiah today are the first fruits of that final harvest of souls? I believe that may be what we are seeing.
Do you remember when Yeshua called his three closest disciples, Peter, James and John, to go up onto the mountain with Him? There they witnessed His Transfiguration in Matt. 17:1-8
After six days, Yeshua takes with Him Peter and Jacob and John his brother, and brings them up a high mountain by themselves. Now He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Yeshua. Peter responded to Yeshua, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! If You wish, I will make three sukkot here—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While He was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice from out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down, terrified. But Yeshua came and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Stop being afraid.” And lifting their eyes, they saw no one except Yeshua alone.
When Peter saw the glorified Messiah, when he caught a glimpse of the Lord of glory who had come to dwell in their midst, he expressed his anticipation of the coming kingdom – and he did it in the most natural imagery for a Jewish person of his day; “Let’s build booths.” You see, Peter associated Sukkot with the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. Why would Peter do this? I imagine he knew the promise of the prophet Zechariah, that when the wars cease and God’s Kingdom is established, there will be a joyous celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. As it is written Zech. 14:16
Then all the survivors from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Adonai-Tzva’ot, and to celebrate Sukkot.
In fact, there is also a Jewish Tradition of hosting “holy guests” known in Hebrew as Ushpizim during the time of Sukkot. Peter recognized that these holy guests, Moses and Elijah, could be signifying that the Kingdom of God had fully come.
In our day, we see that the time has come where so many nations are coming against Israel and Jerusalem. These nations do not realize that when they come against Israel, they are touching the “Apple of God’s eye” as it says in Zech. 2:5-17
I lifted up my eyes—and behold, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked, ‘Where are you going?’ He answered me, ‘To measure Jerusalem to see how wide and how long it is.’ Then behold, the angel speaking with me left and another angel went out to meet him, saying to him, ‘Run, speak to this young man saying: “Jerusalem will be inhabited as a village without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. For I”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“will be a wall of fire around it and I will be the glory inside it. Oy, oy! Flee from the land of the north”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“because I scattered you like the four winds of heaven”—it is a declaration of Adonai. “Oy, Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.” “For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, He has sent me after glory to the nations that plundered you—because whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye— ‘For behold, I will shake My hand against them and they will be plunder to their servants.’ Then you will know that Adonai-Tzva’ot has sent me. “ ‘Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will live among you’—it is a declaration of Adonai. ‘In that day many nations will join themselves to Adonai and they will be My people and I will dwell among you.’ Then you will know that Adonai-Tzva’ot has sent me to you. Adonai will inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land and will once again choose Jerusalem. Be silent before Adonai, all flesh, for He has aroused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
That is why we should prayer more than ever for the “Peace of Jerusalem.” And when we are praying for the peace of Jerusalem, we are praying that Jews and Arabs would come to know Yeshua, the Prince of Peace. So great is the significance of this festival, the Feast of Tabernacles, that God commands all the nations of the world, to come up to Jerusalem to celebrate and rejoice before Him during the millennial rule of the Messiah Rev. 21:2–4
I also saw the holy city—the New Jerusalem—coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I also heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is among men, and He shall tabernacle among them. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them and be their God. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away.”
There will come a day, upon the return of Yeshua the Messiah, when the whole world will become God’s gigantic booth. He will dwell among us. He shall be our God and we shall be his people. I am looking forward to that day when He will wipe away every tear and there will be no more pain, death and suffering. That apostle Paul tells us that we will all be transformed at the last great trumpet blast – the Tekiah Gedolah. He wrote to the believers in Corinth 1 Cor. 15:51–52
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
What a moment … when the perishable is clothed with the imperishable! In the meantime God has given us a job to do, to share this good news with everyone on the face of the Earth – and also to the lost sheep of the house of Israel!
