On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “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.” (NIV)
Everyone loves a party. This fall
festival is really a celebrating time. It is to be observed with rejoicing. Deuteronomy 16:14-15
Imagine the Israelites wandering
in the desert for forty years, parched in the sun. God gave them the festival
of Sukkot, or Festival of Booths, to celebrate this third pilgrimage. The first
festival was the Passover, commemorating their leaving Egypt. The second
festival, Shavuot, was to celebrate the giving of the Ten Commandments and the
Torah at Mt. Sinai. In Leviticus 23:42-43, God directed the Israelites through
Moses to live in huts for seven during celebration of Sukkot. This third
festival also marks the time of harvest before winter. The workers would
typically live in huts or tents near the fields, so the “tabernacle booths”
associated with this celebration represent the tents of the wandering
Israelites and the harvest workers. In addition, this feast is in remembrance
of the deliverance of Noah. It is a celebration of joy reminding us of the
miracles of God in the past, present and future.
Eat, drink. It’s all part of the “banquet.” Jesus spoke the words in the scripture passage, John 7:37-38, on the last day of the great Feast of Tabernacles. During that festival water was an important part of the daily ceremony, except on the last day. It was on that day that Jesus offered Himself and the Holy Spirit. “Come to me and you will never thirst again.” Each of the first seven days during the festival it was the tradition during the second Temple Period for the priests to carry water from the Pool of Siloam to the silver basin by the altar of burnt offerings in the Temple. People would line the street to the gate of the Temple and sing the Hallel, Psalms 113-118 and wave palm or willow tree branches. At night huge menorahs were lit that could be seen from all over Jerusalem. At daybreak the priests would face the sun, and then turn and face the Temple, proclaiming the Lord as Light and declaring Him as the one true God. The Lord was the light and living water. Jesus, the Light of the World (John 9:5), was right there, but they were not illuminated by Him. Are we now?
This festival occurs at harvest time. In 2012 it will be from sunset September 30th through October 8th, so now is the time to observe this festival. Currently to celebrate the Sukkot, Jews create “tabernacle booths” in their backyards, eat their meals there, and maybe even sleep there, unless it is raining. Before the meal they recite or sing Psalm 113 and 114 and after the meal they’ll sing the four other Psalms of the Hallel (115-118). Picture families gathered into booths their backyards—joyfully celebrating and remembering the Hebrew people leaving Egypt with Moses and wandering in the desert.
Forty years of nomadic living, following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, a couple of million people moved about the desert with blowing sand. It took a lot of water to satisfy all those people. Imagine again how thirsty they must have been at times. Have you ever been truly thirsty? Did plain tap water quench your thirst? Have you ever been spiritually thirsty? Seek Jesus’ words, believe in Him, and you’ll never be thirsty again.
Lord, blessed be your name—from the rising of the sun
to its setting, your name is to be praised! Jesus, you are my Lord and Savior—the
light of the world and the source of living water.
2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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