FEAST OF SUKKOT - TABERNACLES

Now we are celebrating this Feast! 

The Feast of Sukkot is celebrated in the fall, and is the last of the three feasts

required for the man to go to Jerusalem and come before the presence of YEHOVAH.

Exodus 23:14-17: “Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you come out Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before YEHOVAH Elohim.”

Deuteronomy 16:16-17: “Three times a year all your males shall appear before YEHOVAH your Elohim in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before YEHOVAH  empty-handed.”

Let us understand that all the feasts involved sacrifices, and presently we cannot possibly offer them. We are not in Jerusalem and we do not have a temple. But we can still honor our Creator in ways that are acceptable to Him. Presently we have the Blood of Yahoshua that was offered for us on the stake about two thousand years ago! There is nothing more valuable. Later on at His return if He says that we need to offer sacrifices for whatever reason, we will do so.

 We still can keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread by repenting of our sin and choosing to do right. At  the Feast of Unleavened Bread  we do not offer the sacrifices, the Passover Lamb. We who believe in Yahoshua know that He is our Sacrifice and can honor Him even without the actual sacrifice, for he offered Himself once and for all.

All  three feasts are connected with the agricultural life of the people of Israel, in the land of Israel.

The first feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread takes place when the barley is harvested and is connected with the wheat harvest at Pentecost. The feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot is celebrated after the harvest of the products of the land, grapes, and all the other fruits that ripen at that time.

Each time they come before YEHOVAH, the children of Israel they have to take the tithe of the products of the land.

These three feasts are not to be confused with the agricultural feasts of the unbelieving nations around them. These Feasts are the Feasts of YEHOVAH.

Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread), Chag Shavuot (Weeks), and Chag Sukkot (Tabernacles) are feasts that celebrate the deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in the land of Egypt, and their journey into the Promised Land.  All these feasts have a story to tell.

I will not talk about each individual feast at this time, for I have spoken of them in detail in other messages. Today I will only concentrate on the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacle.

Chag Sukkot celebrates the fact that Israel lived in tents, huts, and booths, or mangers, as they crossed the wilderness as they traveled to the Promised Land.

Leviticus 23:42-43: “You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am YEHOVAH your Elohim.”

The three feasts are not a separate event, but a continuation of a love story of YEHOVAH with His chosen people.

There is a connection with the time and the giving of the tithe. The tithe was given at the time they celebrated the Feasts, for that is how the people made their income. They lived from the land. But it is also for Israel to always remember that the giver of their land is YEHOVAH, and the first fruits are the evidence that He has kept His promise to them. 

Exodus 6:6-8: “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am YEHOVAH; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your Elohim. Then you shall know that I am YEHOVAH your Elohim who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am YEHOVAH.’”

The first fruit had to be only from the land of Israel, not from any other nation.  The tithe is also a reminder that all they, or we, have is YEHOVAH’S.

By celebrating the feasts every year, the children from every generation have a chance to learn about their roots. They learn to love their Creator and to obey Him. They learn that YEHOVAH is a faithful Elohim.  Each time they participate in the feasts, they are in a way reliving the experience of their ancestors. It is a time of great rejoicing and celebration for the children as for the adults.

The Feasts of YEHOVAH are described as MOEDIM and MIQRA. Moed means APPOINTED TIME. The Hebrew word MIQRA is usually translated as convocation, and means REHEARSAL.

The feasts are for each of us to keep, after we enter into Covenant with the living Elohim. They are not “Jewish Feasts” as we have been taught in the place of fellowship we have attended in the past. The Moedim or appointed times, are to be Miqra, or rehearsed every year by each of us. Sukkot is celebrated by the believers in Jerusalem as they live in temporary shelters called Sukkah, or manger, or boot, made of branches, palm fronds, and leaves. The men live in these boots for seven days, for the whole duration of the feast. 

By doing this, they experience a real sense of belonging in the land, and they feel closeness with Yahweh, as they rejoice in His faithfulness, for He, Yahweh,  is the One  who gave them the Land they now live in.

They also experience a closeness to their ancestors as they traveled in the wilderness for forty years. The men are exposed to the weather, rain or shine, they have to dwell inside the Sukkah, or outside if the weather is pleasant!  Their faith grows and their lives become overflowing with joy. It is a tremendous experience for the men as they remember the past and fellowship in the present with their brethren.

The children have also the opportunity to learn and to become part of the history of their ancestors as they participate in the Feast, which in reality is also a powerful visual teaching. When celebrating the feasts every year, it causes an expectation in all, young and old. It is a time of real joy and great celebration thinking on the faithfulness of YEHOVAH, how He protected Israel, and sustained them during their forty years in the wilderness. He miraculously fed and kept them, as no other god (although there is no other god) could ever do or would be able to do. 

During this Feast the Torah has to be read completely every seven years. We must understand that the children of Israel did not have the Torah, and the Kethubim (Writings), and the Nebiim (Prophets), in their home as we are able to have now. Usually only the scribes and the priests had the Oracles of YEHOVAH. In the past the people needed to go to the priests to hear the Scriptures. We are so blessed today, yet so many neglect to read them. There is coldness toward the Word, and I hope you get encouraged as you read this message today to pick your own Tanakh (First Covenant) and Renewed Covenant and prayerfully read it.  

Deuteronomy 31:10: “And Moses commanded them, saying: ‘At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles,

11 when all Israel come to appear before YEHOVAH your Elohim in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.’

12 Gather the people together men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear YEHOVAH your Elohim and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear YEHOVAH your Elohim AND CAREFULLY OBSERVE ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LAW, (emphasis mine)

13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear YEHOVAH your Elohim as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.’”

Please note that “the stranger within your gates” comprises all believers, not only Israel. The Feasts teach us the Gospel.  As I have mentioned in other messages, the feasts are not only historical, but prophetic, and they reveal us the life, death, resurrection of the Mashiach Yahoshua; the coming of the Ruach haQodesh, (Holy Spirit), and the soon return of Yahoshua haMashiach to this planet to tabernacle with us for one thousand years!

So many Jewish people have not yet grasped the significance of the Feasts, and may do not even celebrate them anymore. The reason for that is that that particular group of people does not yet know the Messiah. However, there is a very large group of Jews who have believed in Yahoshua and they know how to fully celebrate this feast and all the other feasts as well.

And now let me give a word to parents. Understand it is your responsibility to teach your children about the whole Torah, which includes the Feasts of YEHOVAH.

Deuteronomy 4:9-10: “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,

10  especially concerning the day you stood before YEHOVAH  your Elohim in Horeb, when YEHOVAH said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’”

Deuteronomy 6:6: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”

7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Deuteronomy 11:19: “You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Personally I had to repent for I did not obey the above commandment. I missed the mark when I raised my son. When he was born and until his adulthood, I did not serve YEHOVAH, but now I have to do all I can to make up for the lost time. I am trying to teach my adult son, but, I noticed that my best teaching is my example. He sees me as I serve my Creator, and that causes him to search for himself. We do pray together when he has a need, and he has experienced answers to prayer on several occasions. However, he is the one who will have to seek Yahweh for himself in order for the Torah to be his guide and instruction in this life. What are you doing for your children? Are you teaching them?

In Hebraic thinking, doctrine is what we do and not simply what we believe in our heart or what we speak. Talk is cheap, show me your works, James says.

James 1:22: “but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

24 “for he observes  himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”

Another reason we do the Feasts is to keep us focused and in a state of expectancy for His return.

Matthew 24:42-43:”Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Master is coming.

43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.”

Luke 12:47:” And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”

Revelation 3:3: “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2: “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of YEHOVAH so comes as a thief in the night.”

2 Peter 3:10: “But the day of YEHOVAH will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it  will be burned up.”

Let us understand that if we are prepared for the thieves, they will not be able to take anything from us. And so it is with Yahweh, is we are prepared to go with Him at any time, we will not be caught by surprise. We will be ready to go at any time He calls us; therefore He will not come to us as thief, but as the expected Bridegroom! Amen.

Therefore, make the preparations you need to do. Do not be caught unprepared.  Live your life as He had commanded you and me to live it, and rejoice with great anticipation when the time of His return has arrived.