Meditate on this festival that the Lord proclaimed.
And the LORD said to Moses, "Give the
following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival
of Shelters on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day
of Atonement. This festival to the LORD will last for seven days. On the first
day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when
you do no ordinary work. For seven days you must present special gifts to the
LORD. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special
gifts to the LORD. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be
done that day. (These are the LORD's appointed festivals. Celebrate them each
year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the LORD—burnt
offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper
day. These festivals must be observed in addition to the LORD's regular Sabbath
days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings
you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the
LORD.) 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
23:33-43
The Feast of Tabernacles. This festival is
from the 15 to the 22 of Tishri or October 3-9 this year.
The Feast of Tabernacles or Booths is one
of the true God ordained Festivals for the Jews. Its main activity seems to be
to build a shelter to commemorate those forty years in the wilderness on their
way to the Promised Land and the shelters that the Hebrew people lived in as
they traveled. The Jews have done this ever since Moses gave God’s instruction
for this as recorded in Leviticus. The “shelter” or sukkah has been built by
each family. It is here in the above
passage of Leviticus that the tradition and Festival of the Booths is
initiated. Originally it was a Pilgrimage Festival which required the
Israelites to travel to the Temple—just as with Passover and Pentecost. Jews
today still celebrate this festival. It is a week of rejoicing—a harvest
festival to commemorate the successful harvest and to remember the Israelites
wandering and living in temporary shelters in the desert after their exodus from
Egypt. There is a tradition of using local branches or things like cornstalks
for part of their sukkah providing an agricultural element to the shelter. It
is important that the structure not be permanent, but that it be sturdy enough
for the family to enter and enjoy spending some time there eating, studying and
visiting. Sometimes families even sleep out in their shelters and enjoy looking
up through the roof at the stars. Using the sukkah for the first night of the
Festival of Tabernacles for the family meal is an important element of the
tradition. It is a meal often shared with extended family and friends and is a
time of rejoicing and hospitality. At this first dinner of the festival they
recite a traditional blessing…
Praised are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the
universe, who has sanctified us through His commandments, commanding us to live
in the sukkah. (From The Jewish Holidays by Michael Strassfeld.)
 |
Gather branches from the lemon tree.
Lemon tree at ConCafé in Portugal. |
Branches
from four species of “goodly” trees: the palm, myrtle, willow and citron or
lemon used during the week of celebration are lifted up and shaken during the
blessing, after reading specific scripture passages. The ritual that
involves four species of plants which reminds the Jews of the bounty that God
provides. The branches are the palm trees, willows, myrtle and citron. This
Feast of Booths is joyous compared to the time of repentance that the Jews have
just completed. The important thing is to be hospitable to the poor and
homeless, as well as friends, extended family and neighbors that may visit. In
modern times a nice custom has been established to invite honorary guests, like
Sarah, Rachel, Rebecca, Leah, Miriam, Abigail and Esther, women of the Old
Testament, and create an ornate chair for them. Unlike other holidays there is
not a specific food that is associated with the meals served in the Sukkot
shelter although wine and cake would be served to guests as the people within
the neighborhood visited each other’s Sukkot shelters.
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 as the Living
Water. “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?
Few
Christians seem to celebrate or even recognize this festival. Prophetically it
is seen as when Christ has His Millennium Reign. The time for that is known
only by the Father. So we can just celebrate along with the Jewish people—a
time of thanksgiving and remembrance for what the Lord has done for us.
This
is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24.
This
week of the Feast of Tabernacles is a week that the Lord has declared for
rejoicing. Are you feeling His love, provision and protection?
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. I rejoice in Your love and care. Jesus, may our shelters stand firm
and may You continue to provide protection from the storms of life…hurricanes,
tornados and showers of bullets.
Verse
of Salvation ~ The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes
nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. John 6:63
Jesus spoke these words while teaching at
the synagogue at Capernaum.
© 2020 Text,
photos and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of
Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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