Leviticus 23:33-43 NIV
The LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work.
The Festival of Sukkot comes on the Hebrew calendar shortly after Yom Kippur. This year Sukkot begins at sundown on September 20th and ends on the 26th. It is important to the Jews because it reminds them of the forty years they wandered in the wilderness after God released them from Egypt.
Nehemiah 8:14-17 14They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month 15and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”-as it is written. 16So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. 17The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.
This is a happy feast! Everyone rejoices in God’s forgiveness and His provision for their families. Each family constructs a sukkah on the outside of their home. The sukkah, or booth, is a temporary structure that the Jewish people build on the outside of their homes. The roof is made a wooden frame covered with branches and leaves placed loosely on top, so the stars can be seen through it. Of course, this reminds them that God promised He would make their descendants as numerous as the stars. The sukkah is decorated with flowers and leaves, fruit and vegetables. Many families will eat at least one meal in the sukkuh during the seven day festival. Some families will even sleep outside under the stars! What a fun time for the children of the family!
A lulav, is then made up of willow, palm and myrtle tree branches and it is waved in all four directions; north, south, east and west, and up and down. This symbolizes the fact that God’s presence is everywhere!
There are two ceremonies that are a part of the last day of Sukkot: 1. Giant golden lampstands were lit in the temple courtyard and the people carrying the torches would walk around the Temple, then set these lights around the walls of the Temple. This displaying that the Messiah would be a light to the Gentiles.
Isaiah 49:6 NIV: he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
2. A priest carried water from the pool of Siloam to the Temple symbolizing that when the Messiah comes the whole earth will know God “as the waters cover the sea.” These meanings were revealed in the New Testament, the Jews performed this ceremony year after year, first waiting for Messiah, then after He came still unaware of who He is!
Isaiah 11:9 9They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
When Jesus attended the festival of Tabernacles (as it is often called) 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 said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
John 7:37-38 37On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
The next morning, while the torches were still burning He said, “I am the light of the world.”
John 8:12 ESV – I Am the Light of the World – Again – Bible Gateway I Am the Light of the World – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” I Am the Light of the World – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.
Why should we as believers join into this lovely feast of Sukkot? Because for us it 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!
The Jews have always seemed to have a way with their celebrations of ‘remembering’. We would be wise to follow their example! We are too quick to forget the ways God has come to our aid and defense every time we need Him. During this seven days of the Festival of Booths (Sukkot), I urge you to take some time to look up at the stars. Be reminded that He created them, and we have become as many as the stars-as He promised! Look at your own dwelling, large or small, it was provided for you by God. Enjoy your provisions, and be thankful for them. That’s all God wants us to do during this Holy Festival of Sulkkot. Blessings on your Sukkot!
Zechariah 14:16-19 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 17If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. 18If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.
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