Introduction
…and you shall dwell in booths. The Feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, reminds us of the past. Also, Zechariah foretells us of a time to come, when we shall celebrate this feast with the Messiah!
The Feast of Sukkot
The Feast of Sukkot is the final feast in the yearly cycle of feasts. In the
manner that Passover kicks off the cycle of feasts in the spring with an
important feast associated with the redemption of Saints through the sacrifice
of Yeshua as a servant, Sukkot caps off the year with a celebration of that
redemption associated with the reign of Messiah Yeshua as King. As we will
uncover, the Feast of Sukkot is rich in it’s holdings for the believer in
Messiah.
For starters, the word ‘Sukkot’ means tabernacles, booths or tents. Sukkah is
the singular form. The theme of tents, tabernacles and booths runs throughout
the Word, and plays a major part in daily living, idioms (words or phrases that
point to something else), and doctrines that begin in Genesis and run through
Revelation.
Again, remember that the Feast of Sukkot is a feast of the LORD, as
prescribed in Leviticus 23. This feast is a miqra qodesh (holy convocation), and
one of the mo’edim (set times). You can look into previous studies for more on
these terms. This feast is also one of the three pilgrimage feasts, where all
the men of Israel were commanded to come to Jerusalem to keep the feast.
Chag haSukkot
Leviticus 23:33-34
33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this
seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the
LORD.
The Feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, is last of the Fall Feasts. This feast
closes the annual cycle of celebrations that is established in God’s Word. This
feast also has a number of events tied to it that are of great import to
believers. The two greatest events are the birth of Messiah, and the wedding
feast of the Lamb. Another interesting historical connection with Sukkot is the
dedication of Solomon’s temple. As we explore these things, we will find amazing
truths, past, present and future.
Earlier you read that tents and tabernacles were an important theme in the
Scriptures. As ‘Sukkot’ means tabernacles or tents, we will briefly look at the
lifestyle of our early predecessors in faith. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all were
nomadic men who dwelled in tents. It is in the lives of these men, and those who
followed after them, that the Scriptures take form. It is through these men that
God is often identified: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In the times of the early Hebrews, the family tent was the home, and center
of all the family life. The father of the family was the ruler of the home.
These tents were oft times quite large, housing two and three generations. As
the nomadic family moved from place to place, the tents moved with them. An
idiom that shows up in Scripture that flows with the nomadic ways of the early
Hebrews is “pitching his tent.” When a person ‘pitched his tent’ near (or
toward) a city or person, he was dwelling with them, and showing them favor.
Genesis 13:12
12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and
Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
In this verse we see Lot showed favor to Sodom. As we learn in the rest of
that chapter, though, Lot put his favor in the wrong place.
Further in the Word, we see that the door of the tent was a place of
authority. The father sat in the door of the tent, as if guarding the house, and
ruled the house. Abraham is seen sitting in the door of his tent when the LORD
appeared announcing Isaac’s birth, just prior to the destruction of Sodom.
Genesis 18:1-2
1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the
plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he
lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw
them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the
ground.
As we begin to see the centrality of the tent in Hebrew life and culture, we
begin to understand why God chose to use the form of a tent for the Tabernacle.
This is the form in which the people would most be familiar with in that time.
The imagery of the authority of the tent is already established. The people
understood that they had God’s favor, for He chose to ‘pitch His tent’ toward
them.
For the Feast of Sukkot, it was commanded by God that the children of Israel
were to dwell in booths.
Leviticus 23:42-43
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days;
all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: 43 That your generations
may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought
them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
After leaving Egypt, the Israelites lived in huts, tents or booths, again: sukkot. These structures were portable homes that were quickly set up and taken down. The command to dwell in booths is in remembrance of the time in the wilderness. This is also a picture of our lives here on the earth, just as Peter says, our bodies are tabernacles, or temporary dwellings.
2 Peter 1:13-14
13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in
this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; 14 Knowing that
shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath
shewed me.
The Tabernacle in the wilderness gave way to the Temple built by Solomon. Our
physical bodies, as believers in Yeshua, will also someday be replaced with a
permanent ‘structure.’
1 Corinthians 15:51-53
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality.
Yeshua and Sukkot
Many times people do not understand what the feasts are about. What is their
purpose and meaning? This can be answered in one very simple word: Yeshua. What
does Sukkot point to? Yeshua. This goes for all the feasts. The feasts are given
to point to and teach us about our deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. This feast is
no exception. In fact, there are a number of fascinating things connecting
Messiah to Sukkot. The first of these is His actual birth!
Though history will tell us that the birth of Jesus, or Yeshua, is unknown,
they will tell us that is was not in December. However, history does not take
into account the Bible, and the truth placed in it. We will not go into much
detail here, as we have covered this in another study on the festival of
Christmas, in the section called “The Birth of Messiah.”
To make a long story short, we know from the Word that John the Baptist’s
father was of a specific priestly order, who served at specific times of the
year. It was during one of these times that the birth of John was announced. We
are also told that Miriam (Mary) was six months behind Elizabeth, John’s mother.
By investigating the priestly order, their terms of service and the wording of
the encounter between the angel and Zacharias, we can determine that John was
born at the feast of Passover. Six months later puts us at Sukkot as the birth
of Messiah. Again, we cover this in more detail in the a-fore mentioned study.
So, we have the birth of Messiah during the Feast of Sukkot. This rings true
with a verse in John:
John 1:14
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
[from the Greek 'skenoo' meaning 'to set ones tabernacle'] among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
The first coming of Yeshua was a temporary dwelling. He came to us as an
earthly man, died as an earthly man, and was resurrected into eternal life, and
went to the right hand of the Father. We now anticipate His second coming, when
He will dwell with us eternally. Once more, this is the pattern established by
the Tabernacle in the wilderness. First the temporary, then the permanent.
During the ministry of Yeshua, we have record of Him attending the Feast of
Sukkot in Jerusalem.
John 7:2,10
2 Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at
hand.
10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the
feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
The Feast of Sukkot has many symbolisms associated with it. During the Temple
services every day, except the first day of the feast, there was a ceremony
called the “rejoicing at the house of water drawing”. In this ceremony the
priests would collect water from the pool of Siloam, and return to the temple in
a grand parade. Once returned to the temple, the priests would pour out one vase
of the water, and one of wine over the alter. This pouring out flooded over the
alter and ran down the sides. The water was understood to be ‘mayim chayim’, or
‘living waters.’ The wine represents blood.
It is very likely that following this ceremony is when Yeshua stood to make
an announcement.
John 7:37-38
37 In the last day, that great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me,
and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water.
We later read that during the crucifixion, a soldier spears Yeshua in the side. The same imagery shows up, only on a slightly different alter, the tree.
John 19:34
34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced
his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
The imagery practiced in the temple is the same image that was portrayed during Yeshua’s death on the tree.
In one of our previous studies, on the Feast of Shavuot, we described the
ancient Hebrew wedding. In the whole process of the wedding, there are several
steps. First comes the selection of the bride and the betrothal, then the actual
wedding when the bride-groom returns for the bride, and then comes a wedding
supper. This supper actually is a week long feast. In the Feast of Yom Teruah we
see the return of the Bride-Groom to get His bride. This is what many call the
‘rapture’. The Feast of Sukkot is that wedding feast.
In Zechariah we are told that all the nations of the world will come to
celebrate Sukkot:
Zechariah 14:16-17
16 And it shall come to pass, that every
one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go
up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the
feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all
the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of
hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
This prophesy comes on the heals of Yeshua’s return (on Yom Kippur) to rule
and reign, and after the destruction of those who came against Jerusalem. In
other words, this is the beginning of the millenium.
Sukkot and the Fall Harvest
The Feast of Sukkot is also called the Feast of Ingathering.
Exodus 23:16b
[You shall keep]… the feast of ingathering,
which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of
the field.
In other studies we have mentioned the fact that the harvest is a common
theme in the Scriptures. This feast is set at the end of the harvest. It is the
harvest that sustains the people through the winter and into the next planting
season. The Temple was built on land that was a threshing floor (a place that
harvested grain is processed). Yeshua spoke of harvest on several occasions.
Matthew 9:36-38
36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was
moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered
abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The
harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore
the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his
harvest.
Yeshua speaks here of people being the harvest. In Matthew 13, He tells a
parable of the wheat and the tares. In this story, the seeds planted both spring
up and are left until the harvest. But the tares are destroyed by fire, and the
wheat is gathered into the Masters house. This parable speaks of the end of
times, the harvest.
Scripture makes it clear that the end of times is a time of harvesting
believers who sprang up because of the Seed, the Word of God (Luke 8:11). We see
this quite well in Revelation.
Revelation 14:14-15
14 And I looked, and behold a white
cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head
a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out
of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust
in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the
harvest of the earth is ripe.
It is following this “reaping” of believers that the Kingdom is totally
restored to Israel (See Acts 1:6-7. The language in these verses points to Yom
Teruah. See that study for more detail.) It is following the ingathering of the
harvest that the workmen may rejoice. This is the feast celebrating the end of
their work.
Conclusions
The Feast of Sukkot is a celebration that looks both forward and backward,
back to the history of the Patriarchs, to Moses leaving Egypt, and to the
Tabernacle in the wilderness. It looks forward to the final harvest of men and
the wedding feast of the Lamb. Yeshua interpreted the feast for us in John, as
pointing to Him, and His provision for us to be with Him. We know that Yeshua is
the Word, and the Word is the Seed (John 1:1, Luke 8:11). According to Genesis
1:11, seed is designed to bring about “like kind” of what the seed is from. This
Seed comes from the Father. If we have this seed in us, we will reflect the
source of that seed, we will reflect the Father.
As we enter the fall of the year, let us acknowledge Him is all our ways. Let
His praise be continually on our lips, and when He does come to harvest His
people, may you be found not among the tares, but among the wheat.
