Gather Four Kinds

Prayer – Lord, in preparation for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, I’m searching for the four kinds of branches that You directed Moses to have the Israelites gather. This is a festival of joy—and I want to share this time with family and friends—joyfully celebrating all that You provide for us. 

"Remember that this seven-day festival to the LORD—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month, after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the LORD your God for seven days. You must observe this festival to the LORD for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month from generation to generation. For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 23:39-43

 

Meditate. Consider God’s guidance for His Feast Days.

 

Have you ever felt like you were wandering in the wilderness like the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt? A longing for the homeland…that you just don’t know where it is…but you want to go there? Celebrate Sukkot!

 

Sukkot—also known as Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles—is a joyous actually eight-day celebration that God established to meet with His people and for them to remember how they lived in temporary dwellings in the wilderness and how God provided for them there. This year Sukkot begins at sundown on September 29^th and continues until sundown on October 7^th. It is a time to gather with friends and family and remember what God has done in your lives this past year…and what you’re looking forward to in the year to come.

 

So, gather a lemon; a palm leaf; a branch from a leafy tree, like a myrtle tree; and a branch from a willow tree. These are the traditional plants as initially listed by Moses in his instructions to the Hebrew people and as still used by Jews and others celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles today. Sometimes they use sheets, tapestries, a tent, or actual wooden structure for their initial construction and then add the plants. Traditionally, the plants are also bound together and used in a waving ceremony like an offering to God.  It is interesting that this Feast Day follows soon after an earlier fall festival in which Jews repented of their sins—Yom Kippur. Now is a time of joyous observance. I like their idea of looking at the how God has worked in your life and sharing—testifying to that with the people closest to you. How do you see God working in your life? Additionally, having a hope for the future—goals for the coming weeks, months and year—is important to everyone, young and older. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail, as so aptly stated by Benjamin Franklin.

 

What are your spiritual goals for the coming year? What will you do in the months, weeks, and days ahead of you to reach those goals? Who will you lead to Christ? Who will you disciple or mentor…and who will mentor you? Just as Moses directed the Israelites to choose four types of foliage for their sukkot—who are the four people that influence your life…or that you want to encourage? Think about that as you gather the four plants for your home or sukkot.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ Those who heard Jesus use this illustration (of the gatekeeper) didn't understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” John 10:6-11

 

Friday’s Feast at the King’s Table

It is time to celebrate during this Feast of Tabernacles. Jewish people for centuries have built little shelters using three, four or more natural and fresh branches. Then they eat at least one meal a day under their “shelter” serving foods they prepare in their kitchen. What foods are usually served in sukkahs?

 

According to sites on the internet, people celebrating Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, serve harvest foods like butternut squash soup, tossed green salad, apple salad, stuffed veggies like peppers, zucchini, or cabbage, challah bread, and strudel for dessert. I'll be serving those along with naan and hummus instead of the challah bread. Of course, we'll have apple strudel, too. One of my favorite fall soups is butternut apple soup. Whatever you serve during this holiday do it with joy in your heart. God has richly blessed us all… spiritually and physically.

 

This soup is a combination of two butternut soup recipes good for fighting off the flu or just combatting a chill on a cool fall evening.

 

Apple Butternut Squash Soup    6-8 servings

1 tablespoon unsalted butter or olive oil

2 medium leeks, white part only, diced

1 red onion, chopped finely

1 green chili chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, grated

2 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and chopped

4 golden or Jonathan apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 cup of sliced or chopped mushrooms

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock

2 ½ cups water, plus more if needed

Toasted pecans, for garnish (optional)

Sour cream, for garnish (optional)

 

Melt butter or heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks, onion, garlic, ginger, and chili; cook, stirring occasionally, until it becomes soft, about 4 minutes. Add squash, and mushrooms cooking, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add apples, salt, cumin, coriander, cayenne, black pepper, stock, and water, just enough to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook about 30 minutes, until squash and apples are very soft.

 

Puree in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth, and return to saucepan. Heat over low, thinning with more water if necessary. To serve, ladle into shallow bowls; garnish with sliced apples, toasted pecans, and sour cream if desired.

 

Are you building a sukkot…and eating and sleeping in it? I think I’ll make a little corner of the pergola on my deck into a sukkah…and maybe even take a nap out there…if it doesn’t rain! Not sure I’d sleep overnight…camping in my yard?! Blessings on you as you remember the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, the provisions that God gave them…and now how He provides for us. Celebrate Sukkot!

 

© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

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