I’ve been putting together a series of videos on the Jewish High Holy Days as laid out in our Bible in Leviticus 23. If you haven’t seen the video on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, you may want to check those videos out first.
As described in previous videos, there are 7 mandated feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles is the last festival of the fall feasts. As discussed previously, these fall feasts have a mystery to them and many believe they are a foreshadow of Jesus’ return.
What is the Feast of Tabernacles?
The Feast of Tabernacles is a week long celebration of the fall harvest. This is also a time of remembrance when the Jewish people were rescued from Egypt around 1400 B.C. During this time the people lived in tabernacles (or booths, also known as sukkahs) in the wilderness for about 40 years. That is why it is called the Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Booths or the Hebrew word, Sukkot (meaning temporary dwelling). It is also simply known as – The Feast.
For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. Leviticus 23:36
The Feast of Tabernacles begins and ends with a Sabbath. The seven days, in the middle are sandwiched between these days of rest. The 8th day is called the Holy Convocation, when a food offering is offered to the Lord, concluding the festival. The 1st and 8th day were solemn assemblies of rest and the people were to do NO WORK – just rest, relax and pray. This was a joyous occasion for the people. Prayers were often about how thankful the people were for the fruitfulness of the land and for the rain for the harvest.
To live in a tabernacle for a week, helped remind the people that they are not of this world and are completely vulnerable, needing God’s mercy and protection. The make-shift booths were only to be made of organic material, such as palm leaves or branches, and the roof was to allow for the sky to be seen.The Jewish people still make these booths to this day in much the same manner.
Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. Isaiah 33:20
Build Your Own
Building the booth, is a joyous time for the family, kind of like camping out for the week. My family and I have been doing this as a tradition the last couple of years so that I can teach the children about these festivals. The kids really love helping to put together a makeshift sukkah. We try to eat a couple of dinners outside and enjoy the decorations that the kids put together. Because building the Sukkah would not be complete without decorations.
It is tradition to decorate these temporary dwellings with hanging fruit and fragrant smelling plants. This reminds me of the spiritual fruit laid out in Galatians 5:22-23. As Christians, we are to demonstrate fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Interestingly, we are known as the aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15).
This tradition is really fun, it gets the whole family involved. I highly recommend trying it out with your family this season as you learn about the festivals.
The Lulav
Another interesting ritual during Sukkot was the shaking of the lulav. The lulav is a closed frond of palm tree along with a branch of the myrtle tree, willow tree and citron fruit. The citron fruit, known as etrog in Hebrew, is similar to a lemon with a thick, pleasant smelling, rind. The lulav frond is held in the hands and shaken in all directions as a way of thanking God. Many also ask for rain for the future harvest during this event.
And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. Leviticus 23:40
Isn’t it interesting that, in the book of John, Jesus rode toward the temple and the people were waving branches of palm trees?
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” John 12:13
Are the palm branches some kind of foreshadow of the Feast of Tabernacles shaking of the lulav? We also see another shaking of the palm branches in the end times in the book of Revelation.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9
The Water
During the Feast of Tabernacles, there are two ancient traditions that happened during this Feast. These ceremonies had to do with water and light. The water ceremony tradition is when the priest gathered a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam and poured it over the alter inside the temple. The pool of Siloam was fed by natural flowing spring water from the Gihon Spring, outside of Jerusalem. This same pool of Siloam is where Jesus anointed a blind man’s eyes, so he could see (John 9:11). Ancient tradition taught that this pouring out of water was Israel’s hope for the future rain and an abundant harvest for the coming year. It is believed that the pool of Siloam may have been used for mikvah during the time of Jesus. The mikvah ceremony was discussed in the last video – Yom Kippur.
Additionally, the Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as water in the scriptures.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants. Isaiah 44:3
At the time of the water ceremony, toward the end of the festival, Jesus proclaimed an important message to the people.
On the last day of the Feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39
The Light
The other tradition on the Feast of Tabernacles, was the illumination ceremony of the temple. Isn’t it interesting that the Holy Spirit is also referred to as fire? Large, oil-burning lamp stands were lit around the temple at night during this ceremony. These bright lamps reminded the people of the pillar of fire that led God’s people in the wilderness. It also symbolized the glory of God and the light that is to come, who we know to be Jesus.
Jesus made this proclamation during the time of the temple illumination at the Feast:
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.” John 8:12
This, of course, upset many of the religious leaders because they knew exactly what He was saying – that He was the Messiah. This is around the time when Jesus made the famous statement – “Before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58. So Jesus shows up to the Feast, at the temple, and declares that He offers living water and He is the light of the world. Jesus had to avoid getting stoned at the Feast because the Jewish people did not like Him claiming to be equal with God. Jesus is the light of the world. As we know, in darkness, we cannot see the truth.
Good for Evil?
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20
Some believe that Jesus will return during the time of the Feast to gather His people, also known as the bride of Christ, who have been anxiously waiting for Him to return in the flesh. If we backtrack a little, we see an interesting statement Jesus made before going to the Feast.
“You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” John 7:8
That is the ESV version, which I normally use, however, many translations include the word yet. If we look at Young’s Literal Translation, for example, it says:
“Ye – go ye up to this feast; I do not yet go up to this feast, because My time hath not yet been fulfilled” John 7:8
Many have wondered why Jesus would say He was not going to the Feast of Tabernacles and then go ahead and go. Is it possible, He was talking about something completely different, like His return?
During the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish people would prepare to go home on the 8th day. The book of John, chapters 7 and 8, really stood out to me during this study because there was A LOT of division among the people. Much like we see today, there were everyday people arguing over whether or not Jesus was good or leading the people astray (John 7:12) and later they were debating if Christ was a prophet and arguing over the divinity of His birth place (John 7:43). Not only was disagreement in the masses but also strongly among the religious leaders. Many of the Jewish leaders challenged Jesus because they didn’t understand who He was. They accused Him of being demon possessed and spoke against the good works that Jesus was doing.
This is similar to what we are seeing today. Well-meaning people misunderstand who Jesus is and many are arguing over what is right and wrong. Even though many of these questions can be answered by reading the Word of God and spending time with Him. Evil does not become good just because a religious leader says it’s okay. We are warned not to do this as stated in Isaiah 5:20, calling good evil. God hasn’t changed. Let us celebrate holiness as we wait upon the Lord’s return.
Jesus offers us living water and reminds us that He is the light of the world during this festival. Let us rejoice in that fact and celebrate this festival with joy! Because Jesus brings truth and can set all things right.
“Surely I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Revelation 22:20
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