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).
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Traditional Jewish Observance
The Torah stipulates the fifteenth of the Jewish month Tishri
as the time when the Jewish people are to begin dwelling in the
sukkah (singular for "booth") and celebrating God's provision.
This holy day is so joyful, traditional Jews don't even wait for
the fifteenth of Tishri to construct their sukkot. Many
begin the construction five days early, immediately after the
close of Yom Kippur.
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New Testament Observance
Since Sukkot has so many rich spiritual lessons associated
with it, we would expect to find some important references to
it in the New Testament. Not far into the Gospel accounts of the
life of Yeshua, we find the first powerful reference to Tabernacles.
As the apostle John relates the special background of Messiah,
he openly declares the divine nature of Yeshua. The Word not
only was with God in the beginning, but this Word is the very
manifestation of God himself (John 1:1)! This "Word," as John calls
him, was manifested to the world in a very practical and tangible
way:
"The Word became a human being and lived
with us, and we saw his Sh'khinah, the Sh'khinah
of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
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The Prophetic Fulfillment
As we have seen, there are many striking lessons to be learned
from Sukkot. God's provision, his dwelling with his people, the
joy of the holy spirit, are all themes that draw attention to
the plan written in Scripture. Yet there is still a future element
remaining to be fulfilled by the Feast of Tabernacles. The apostle
John tells us in his vision of final things that the reality of
Sukkot will be obvious to all:
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven
and the old earth had passed away, and there was no longer any
sea. Also I saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down out
of heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed
for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne say, 'See!
God's Sh'khinah is with mankind, and he will live with them.
They will be his peoples, and he himself, God-with-them, will
be their God.'" (Revelation 21:1-3)
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A Practical Guide for Believers in Messiah
The central element for the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
is the booth we call the sukkah. While you may want to
use the rabbinic description as a guideline, you
should not forget the freedom to construct this booth as you see
fit. As with all biblical holy days and customs, the sukkah is
a "shadow" of the greater lessons of the coming Messiah (Colossians 2:17).
Building the sukkah can be an exciting and educational family
project. Whether it is a shack on the side of the house or a
free-standing structure, the hut can be constructed by anyone
who wants to help. The outer frame can be assembled from various
materials which, in turn, can be fortified with the traditional
palm branches or leaves. For this reason, Sukkot is a great time
to trim up the yard as well! Children will love to add their cut
out paper fruit, leaves, or Bible verses.
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