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The Fall Festivals Of Israel
Sukkoth
The Feast of Tabernacles
by haRold Smith
from Jerusalem, Israel
Legend has it that our forefather Abraham sat in his tent, with the flaps of the tent folded up on all four sides, so he could welcome weary wayfarers from every direction. This lovely image of patriarchal generosity is evoked by the holiday of Sukkot.
"You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 23:42-43).
The Feast of Sukkoth is the most flamboyant of the seven feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23. It is the most public, and noisy and joyous. Celebrated on the fifteenth through the 22nd days of the seventh month (i.e., Tishri), it is also called the "Feast of Tabernacles," or the "Feast of Booths." "Booth" and "Tabernacle" are attempts to translate the Hebrew word sukkah (plural Succoth) which means a makeshift shelter, or a hut. The Hebrews were commanded by God through Moses to commemorate this festival by "living in booths" because HaShem protected them as they wandered in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. As Passover commemorates the coming out of Egypt, Succoth commemorates the journey itself, and God's watchful protection over his wandering people.
Every able-bodied male is required to "dwell" in the sukkah during the festival. In modern observance, dwelling in the sukkah involves at a minimum the taking of one meal there. Some actually sleep in their sukkahs, if they live where weather permits it. By living in the sukkah, an imperfect dwelling, the Jew recalls how the Israelites were completely vulnerable and totally dependent on God during their wanderings in the wilderness. The fact that the thatch of his sukkah is open enough to let in the rain also means it is open enough to allow a view of heaven. (How often in our lives, when we feel secure in the world we have built for ourselves, do we lose sight of God?) Wood often represents humanity in the Bible. Plant life is also a picture of impermanence.
In general, there is a two-fold meaning to this celebration in Israel and throughout the world. The first being the Fall Harvest found in Leviticus 23 that teaches it is a time of bringing in the harvest and thanksgiving. Many believe that the Puritan Colonists who landed in America were great students of the Hebrew Scriptures and based the first American Thanksgiving on Sukkoth.
The second meaning is found in the command to dwell in booths (as mentioned above) as a memory to Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Another translation of the word Sukkoth is "habitation". As we camp in booths in present time we need to remember that the same God is watching over us today and that He inhabits our lives with a care beyond our imagination. Sukkoth is known also as "Zman Simkhatenu" (The Time of Rejoicing) - the knowledge that God has provided His habitation and lives with us, is certainly a time for rejoicing.
There are blessings said over the "Lulav" (palm branch), "Etrog" (citron, a fruit from Israel that looks like a large lemon) also the "Hadas" (Myrtle) and "Arava" (the youngest branch of the willow before it opens). These are called the four spices. There is something very special here in Biblical teaching. First the Etrog, which tastes sweet and has a delightful aroma, represents a person with knowledge or Torah and good deeds. The Lulav which comes from a fruit called the Date Palm tastes sweet but has no fragrance - meaning that some people have knowledge but no good deeds. The Hadas is just opposite of the Date Palm - having a nice fragrance but no taste (good deeds without true knowledge). Arava has neither taste nor smell and speaks of persons without knowledge or good deeds. James 2:17 sums this up by saying "Faith without works is dead."
There are times when the Rauch HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) moves on a brother and reveals something to him. Scripture says when we see that happen that the first should keep silent to allow the other to speak (1Corinthians 14:30). The rest of this article is from Jerry Golden's, "The Golden Report" found on his website at www.thegoldenreport.com and is used with his permission. Jerry is a Jewish believer in the Way of Yeshua, has a heart for His People and has lived in the Land for several decades. I encourage you to visit his website. You will be blessed by what you find there. When I first read his commentary below, I immediately realized it came from the Lord and found no way I could improve on it.
| Sukkoth And The Birth of Messiah |
There are three times the Lord commanded the Jews to assemble in the Temple in Jerusalem. On these three Holidays they were to present offerings to the Lord. Those three are Passover, Shavu’ot, (Pentecost) and Sukkoth. Sukkoth is the third and last of the three. But in the month of Tishri, there are three major holidays of the Feast of the Tabernacle of the Lord, which is God’s perfect timetable. The month of Tishri falls in September or October on the Western Calendar and the three holidays contained therein are Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth. These three are often called the Second Advent. With the First Advent, we have the Feast of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. Yeshua died on Passover, He was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and He rose on First Fruits, 50 days later he sent the Holy Spirit on the following Feast of Shavu'ot (Pentecost). We can see that God is setting up a pattern. Let us then look at the remainder of the three Feasts to see if something as important as the Birth of the Messiah would surely fit into this pattern.
With the celebration of Sukkoth having so many wonderful teachings in it for the Church today, you would think that the New Testament would have reference in it of Sukkoth - well, it does.
John 1:1
says, the Word not only was with God, but the Word was the very manifestation of God Himself. Then in
John 1:14
we read that the Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw His Sh’kinah, the Sh’kinah glory of the Father’s only Son full of Grace and Glory. But did you notice the word John used to describe this event? He said "dwelt" among His people. This word dwelt comes from the Greek word "skene" and the Greeks translated that from the Hebrew word "tabernacle". John was describing the Holy Day of Sukkoth - the Holy Day that celebrates the indwelling of God Himself. A more correct translation of that scripture would read: "And the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us."
The celebration of December 25th as the birth of the Messiah is pagan, and comes from the Roman Empire. The early Church often "christianized" pagan days of celebration to accommodate new converts. This date in December was an ancient feast that celebrated the return of the sun after the winter solstice. It has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of Yeshua. Believers began to say there was no real proof of the Messiah’s birth date so this would do. What they didn’t consider was John’s description using the term "Tabernacle" or "Booth's" or "Sukkoth"
If the first Advent showed Yeshua’s death on the cross on the Day of Unleavened Bread, buried on Passover, resurrected at First Fruits and the pouring out of His Holy Spirit on Shavu'ot (Pentecost), do you think that God would let such an important event as the birth of His only begotten Son go unheralded? Sukkoth shows that God would dwell ("Tabernacle") in the midst of His people through the presence of the Messiah, Yeshua. Since we know that Yeshua died on Passover and we also know His ministry lasted 3½ years, this is ample evidence for us to backtrack 6 months to put us right at Sukkoth, the date of His Birth 33 years earlier.
One of the ceremonies of Sukkoth is the pouring of water, a time of prayer for water and rain in Israel. During the second Temple period a Priest would take a water pitcher down to the pool of shiloach (today called Siloam in the city of David) he would bring it back to the Temple. Crowds of people would follow him dancing and singing the Hellel
(Psalms 113-118).
The highlight of this event was when the Priest would pour this water at the altar of the Temple. It became known as "Simcha Bet-Ha-sho-evah" (the rejoicing of the House of Drawing Water). The question to be asked is: why would there be so much rejoicing at the pouring of water? It has to be more than rejoicing of the future rain on Israel, as important as that might be. Because we read in Isaiah 12:3 "Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Salvation in Hebrew is Yeshua, the name of the Messiah). GLORY TO GOD. It was much more than the pouring out of water at the Temple, or even for the rain. The Simcha Bet Ha-sho-evah pointed directly to the coming of the Messiah and the days of redemption when the water of the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all Israel.
Now we can appreciate the Scripture that was recorded on one day in the Messiah’s life during a Sukkoth. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried, saying, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.' But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given: because Yeshua was not yet glorified." (John 7:37-39)
Think for a moment of the time and place of these words being proclaimed by Yeshua. It was Sukkoth and it was the time of the pouring of the water. The crowds were filled with those who had expectation of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit He would bring. At the moment of the time of the pouring of the water the Messiah stood and made this bold proclamation. He was saying, "I am the Messiah, do you truly want the living water of the spirit of God? If you truly want the Bet Ha-sho-evah, believe in me. I am the Messiah who will pour out the Holy Spirit on all Israel."
After eight days of Sukkoth we end this celebration, and on the 8th day our Messiah was circumcised - from here volumes can be written over that event. www.thegoldenreport.com
| For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." Romans 11:24-27 |