Sukkot
The Historical
Background
The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites:
'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord's Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it
lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven
days present offerings made to the Lord by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred
assembly and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. It is the closing assembly; do
no regular work.
("'These are the Lord's appointed feasts, which
you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies, for bringing offerings made to the Lord by
fire-the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for
each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord's Sabbaths and in addition
to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the
Lord.)
"'So beginning with the fifteenth day of the
seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to
the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day
of rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds,
leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate
this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance
for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven
days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that
I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your
God.'" So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the Lord
(Leviticus 23:33-44).
Perhaps by now you are beginning to understand why
the fall season is considered the time of the high holy days for the Jewish community.
Three major holy days occur in the first nineteen days of the biblical month of Tishri
(September-October). They are Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and this holy day season ends with
the eight days of Sukkot (Tabernacles).
As with the other days, the name of this holy day
tells its purpose. Essentially it is two-fold, the first being related to the fall
harvest. As Leviticus 23 teaches, Sukkot was to be a time of bringing in the latter
harvest. It is, in other words, the Jewish "Thanksgiving." In fact, it is widely
believed that the Puritan colonists, who were great students of the Hebrew Scriptures,
based the first American Thanksgiving on Sukkot.
A secondary meaning of this holy day is found in the
command to dwell in booths as a memorial of Israel's wilderness experience. To expand the
theme of this specific historical event, we might best summarize Sukkot with the word
"habitation." We know from the Torah that God dwelt with his people in their
forty-year wilderness camping trip. Yet, as we camp in booths today, we should be reminded
that this same faithful God watches over our lives.
With such meaningful themes, no wonder Sukkot is
known as Zman Simkhatenu (The Time of Our Rejoicing). The fact that God provided for us
and built his habitation with us is something to celebrate!
The materials here were taken directly from
God's Appointed Times with the publisher's
permission.
Return to Sukkot
|