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Restoration at the City of David - near the Pool of Soloam
Jerusalem
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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
Feast of Tabernacles occurs at harvest time. In 2017 it began sunset October 5th
and goes through October 12th, 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.
Prayer
~ 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.
(Adapted from October 1, 2012)
Daily
Bible Reading: Matthew 5-7
Happy Birthday, Mary!
May God Continue to Bless You, Dear Friend.
©
2017 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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