Feast of Tabernacles
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Feast of Tabernacles:
Commemorates the Forty- Year Wilderness Journey.
The feasts (lit. Appointed times, not banquets) concluded with the feast of tabernacles, also called the ingathering.
Sukkot (Soo- KOTE), also known as “Feast of Tabernacles,” is a week- long celebration of the fall harvest and a time to build booths (temporary shelters of branches) to remember how the Hebrew people lived under God’s care during their forty years in the wilderness.
Nehemiah 8:14-17
Nehemiah 8:14-17
And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.” Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.
The celebration is a reminder of God’s faithfulness and protection.
He had called them out of bondage, through the desert, and into the liberty of their own nation.
As we celebrate independence day, we should remember how God called those first settlers out of the bondage of religious persecution, across the ocean, into the liberty of a new land.
We should also remember how God called each of us out of the bondage of sin, into the liberty of His Salvation.
Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage feasts when all Jewish males were required to go to Jerusalem to “appear before the Lord”.
Deuteronomy 16:16
Deuteronomy 16:16
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
The Jewish people continue to celebrate Sukkot by building and dwelling in temporary booths for eight days.
The four special plants used to cover the booths are citron, myrtle, palm, and willow.
Leviticus 23:39-40
Leviticus 23:39-40
‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
Fascinating Facts:
Sukkot is a happy feast when people rejoice in God’s forgiveness and material blessings.
The sukkah, or booth, is a temporary structure built of wood or wood and canvas.
The roof is made of branches and leaves, with enough open spaces to see the stars. It is decorated with fall flowers, leaves, fruits, and vegetables.
Many Jewish people erect booths on their lawns or balconies and eat at least one meal a day in them.
A lulav, made up of willow, palm, and myrtle branches, is waved in all four directions (north, south, east, and west) and up and down to symbolize that God’s presence is everywhere.
JESUS:
JESUS:
Being the conclusion and fulfillment of the other feasts, at the end of the harvests, it is a foreshadowing of Christ, who was the fulfillment of the law.
Two ceremonies were part of the last day of Sukkot:
Lampstands indicated that the Messiah would be a light to the gentiles.
Lampstands indicated that the Messiah would be a light to the gentiles.
Giant golden lampstands were lit in the temple courtyard, and people carrying torches marched around the temple, then set these lights around the walls of the temple, indicating that Messiah would be a light to the Gentiles.
Isaiah 49:6
Isaiah 49:6
Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
Water indicated that the earth would know God as the waters cover the sea
Water indicated that the earth would know God as the waters cover the sea
(2) A priest carried water from the pool of Siloam to the temple, symbolizing that when Messiah comes the whole earth will know God “as the waters cover the sea”.
Isaiah 11:9
Isaiah 11:9
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
When Jesus attended the Feast of Tabernacles, on the last day of the feast, he said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him”.
Jesus provides living water
Jesus provides living water
John 7:37-38
John 7:37-38
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
The next morning while the torches were still burning, he said, “I am the light of the world”.
Jesus is the light of the world
Jesus is the light of the world
John 8:12
John 8:12
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Sukkot represents the final harvest when all nations will share in the joy and blessings of God’s kingdom.
During that time, all believers will celebrate this feast.
During the millennial reign, all will celebrate this feast
During the millennial reign, all will celebrate this feast
Zechariah 14:16-19
Zechariah 14:16-19
And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
This will be after the 7 year tribulation, during the Millennial reign of Christ.
The word tabernacle is also translated as “dwell”
The word tabernacle is also translated as “dwell”
John 1:14
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
In the Old Testament, the tabernacle was God’s way of dwelling with His people.
The millennial reign is a time when Christ will physically dwell with His people and rule with a “rod of iron”.
The millennial reign is a time when Christ will physically dwell with His people and rule with a “rod of iron”.
During this millennial reign, christ will dwell with His people, and He will rule the nations with a rod of iron.
Revelation 19:15
Revelation 19:15
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
This final feast forshadowed the culmination of Christ’s work of salvation, when He would physically dwell with His people.
This is the ultimate end that all believers look forward to, an eternity with Christ.
BONUS
CHRISTMAS CONNECTION:
The feast began on the 15th day of Tishri (toward the end of September), and lasted for 7 days.
Jesus became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us.
It is possible that He was born during the feast of tabernacles.
The feast lasts for one week, and there is one "week" of unfulfilled prophecy from Daniel's 70 weeks.
At the conclusion of this week, the harvest will be complete, as Israel will be redeemed.
It could likely be that Jesus came to dwell with us during the feast of tabernacles, and the conclusion of His work will be at the end of the final week (tribulation period), when He conquers and subdues the earth.
The eighth day would be symbolic of the millennial age.
It all works together, and the necessary beginning is with the incarnation of Christ.
Feast of Booths in the Hebrew Scriptures:
Num. 29:12- 40; Deut. 16:13- 15; Ezra 3:4
Feast of Booths in the New Testament:
John 7