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The Feast Of Tabernacles The Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites: On
the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Feast of Leviticus 23:33·36 THE MOST JOYFUL of Israel's festivals was the Feast
of Tabernacles.
It came at the end of the harvest when the hearts of the people were
naturally gladdened,
The crops had been reaped.
As they looked around them, they remembered that six months before, at
Passover time they had dedicated the entire harvest to the Lord by the
offering of firstfruits,
and now not only were their barns full, their heats were overflowing with joy and thanksgiving. But that was not all. As they looked around on the goodly land, the fruits of which
had just enriched the they remembered that by interposition the Lord their
God had brought them to this land and had given it to them, and that He ever
claimed it as peculiarly His own.
For the land was strictly connected with the history of the people;
and both the land and the history were linked with the mission of Israel. If the beginning of the harvest had pointed back to the
birth of Israel in their Exodus from Egypt, and forward to the true Passover· sacrifice in the future; if the
corn harvest
was connected with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai in the past, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; the harvest thanksgiving of the Feast of
Tabernacles reminded Israel, on the one hand, of their dwelling in booths in the wilderness, while on the other The Feast of
Tabernacles is two weeks after Rosh Hashanah. It is always on the
same day of the week as New Year's Day.
A pious Jew began his preparation for the festival as soon as the Day
of Atonement was over. He had only five days
to erect a sukkah, a booth in which he
and his family would dwell during the feast. The Feast of Booths Historically,
Tabernacles looked backward to the Exodus when Israel lived in booths. "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" (Leviticus 23:42-43). Each family built a sukkah, which was actually a temporary outdoor structure. It had a twofold purpose: to remind the Jews of their
Exodus and to indicate the transitoriness of human life. The
roof was made of slats placed closely to one another so that the shade inside the sukkah
was greater than the light. The roof had to rest on the walls; it
could not be fastened. It was
then thatched with green branches, and the entire room, walls, and ceiling
decorated with flowers and fruit. Every male who
attends an Orthodox synagogue during Tabernacles (Sukkot) carries with him what is
called "the four species": an etrog,
which is a citron, in his left
hand; the lulav, a palm branch, in his right hand; two myrtle twigs and two willow
branches are bound to the palm branch.
The Scriptures state, "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 forseven days" (Leviticus 23:40). Sukkot not only looked back into history, it also looked forward into
the future when Cod's promise to Abraham will be fulfilled, when all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3). The Feast of
Tabernacles was the last of the three festivals when all adult men of ancient
Israel thronged Jerusalem. "Three times
a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place He will
choose: at
the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, the
Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear
before the Lord
empty-handed: Each of you must
bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you" (Deuteronomy 16: 16·17). The Mishnah
gives us a vivid picture of these pilgrimages. From all over the land, all roads were
thronged with gaily
clad people keeping
the holy days. Everybody carried his offering to the Lord.
There were olives, dates, pomegranates, wheat, barley, and perhaps a pigeon or turtledove. The
rich brought more, the poor less. Those who could,
brought their offering in carts, heavily laden with gifts; the poor carried theirs in wicker baskets; but each
brought a gift in
proportion to the way the Lord God blessed him. As the pilgrims
journeyed, they sang the songs of Zion, the psalms.
On one side of the road, a family would sing from Psalm 121: I lift up my eyes to
the hills. Across the road, the
response would come: Where does my help
come from? And all together: My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and
earth. Others would sing: I rejoiced with those
who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.' Our feet are
standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted
together. That is where the
tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to praise the name of the LORD according
to the statute given to Israel (Psalm 122:1·4). It was Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. The tribes of Israel, their hearts with praise to
the Lord, were going up to Jerusalem to render unto Him honor and praise and glory. Every Sukkot service in the Temple. not only looked backward in history, it looked forward in prophecy.
God had spoken to Abram from Ur of the Chaldees and promised him, All peoples on earth
will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3), and the temple service proclaimed this truth. The services of the week
were elaborate; in all there were seventy bullocks that were
sacrificed.
According to the Talmud, there were seventy nations in the world, and a bullock was slain each year during the
Feast of Tabernacles for each of them. The ancient rabbis realized a wonderful truth about the prophetic message of Sukkot: Then the survivors
from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year
to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of
Tabernacles (Zechariah 14: 16). The seventh and last
day of the feast is a very special day. It is called Hoshana Rabba, "the great Hoshanah." !n the synagogue during the morning
service after seven
circuits
are made around the altar with the lulav (palm branches, they are beaten on the floor of
the synagogue floor or its furniture while the worshipers are chanting, the
voice announcing the coming of the Messiah is heard. Succot (anonymous publication by the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Rabbinical Council of America) p. 10. This beating of the branches is
work which is illegal on the Sabbath. It is for
this reason that "the calendar was fixed in such a way that the New Year would not occur on a Sunday so that Hoshana
Rabba should
not fall on the Sabbath which would cause the taking of the willow to be
cancelled. The Encyclopedia Judaica,
“Hoshana Rabba,” vol. 8, p. 1027 How Jesus Kept the Feast One of the ceremonies of the Sukkot
service was the libation of water procession each
morning. Abraham Millgram aptly describes this ceremony:
The water was brought in a golden flask from the fountain of Siloam
and poured by the officiating kohen into the basin near the
altar. This
was the most joyous of the temple ceremonies. The Mishnah says that "he who has not seen the rejoicing at the place
of water-drawing
has never seen rejoicing in his life" (Sukkah 5:1). The ceremony was
accompanied by a torch-light procession, dances, singing and chanting by the Levitical choir of the fifteen
pilgrim psalms, the songs of ascents (Psalms 120-134),
to the accompaniment of musical
instruments. It was a symbolic act performed in compliance with the prophetic verse,
"With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" ' (Isaiah 12:3).4 Millgram,
Abraham, Jewish Worship, p. 204. Picture this scene
from the life of Jesus: It was Hashana Rabba, on the last and greatest day of the Feast. See the crowds in the temple courts, watch the white-robed priests as they
climb the steep ascent from Siloam to the Temple. They are carrying a golden vase of the water they just drew with
joy from the well of Siloam. The water was poured into the basin near the altar. Then, as the priest stood
with his empty flask, a Man who had been watching cried with a loud voice: If a man is thirsty, let him come to Me and
drink. Whoever believes in Me, as
the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. (John 7:37-38). These were strange words to
say, anywhere, at any time. But in the Temple on Hoshana
Rabba, they
were not just strange, they were audacious. The entire libation-of-water ceremony celebrated
God's provision of life-giving water to the Israelites when they were dying of thirst in the wilderness. "If a man is thirsty, let him
come to Me and drink." Our
Lord was claiming that the miracle in the wilderness, when the rock gushed forth water 'pointed to Himself!
This is one of the messages of John’s Gospel where we also find our Lord claiming to be the fulfillment of
other incidents under the Law: Jacob’s ladder, the brazen serpent in the wilderness, and the manna: There is a future
Feast of Tabernacles that is described in the New Testament: And I heard a loud
voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live
with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with ,them, and be their God. He will wipe every tear from
their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for
the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, "I
am making everything new! Then He
Said, write this down for these words are trustworthy and true." He Said
to me: "It is 'done. I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to
drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. (Revelation 21:3-6). Christ our Passover
became Christ the Firstfruits from the dead. At Pentecost, the firstfruits of Israel's ripened harvest
were presented to the Lord. The first sheaves were reaped from Israel. But Israel did not keep the harvest to herself. The gospel, which was to the Jew
first, has been proclaimed to the uttermost parts of the. earth. It has been a long time since
Pentecost, and we longingly listen for the sound of the trumpet, the return
of our Lord. Then after that we
look for Israel's Day of Atonement and the nations of our Lord keeping the
Feast of Tabernacles. After this I looked
and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every
nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front
of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm, branches
in their hands. And they cried
out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb’ (Revelation 7 :9-1 0). It's Hoshana
Rabba, the
great day of the feast! How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the
Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in
His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. He, the Messiah is the way to
Eternal Shabbath, Yom Shekulo Shabbat!
Eternal Paradise/Heaven, of the world
to come. Is that of one long extended,
unending eternal Sabbath Day. Reprinted
for educational purposes from: ISRAEL’S
Holy Days, In type and Prophecy, Daniel Fuchs, chapter 11 Chosen
People Ministries www.chosenpeople.com And
other publication sources. For More Information:
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