Feast Of Tabernacles (Pt.7) Series

know this may be heard to believe, although we have been in Leviticus chapter 23 this entire series, it has been centered around:

Colossians 2:16-17 The heading or pericope for this passage in the chapter is:

Not legalism but Christ.

16. So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink or for not celebrating certain festivals or new moon or Sabbaths.

17. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

Today’s word is found in Lev 23:33-44 please,

Stand with me as we honor God while reading His word.

Read from my bible.

As I was putting the finishing touches on this last week, I was reminded of an old public speakers adage:

Tell them what you are going to tell them

Tell them

Tell them what you told them

The entire chapter of Leviticus 23 is just that:

God tells Moses what to tell them

Moses tells them

God tells them what He told them

Go back and read Leviticus chapter 23, and I believe you will agree.

Two additional passages cover the same information:

Numbers 29:12-40 goes into greater detail.

Deuteronomy 16:16–17 ““Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God 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 the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.”

I’d like us to come back to this passage towards the end of today’s message.

At the beginning of this series/study, I asked this question of you:

Would you rather have a pastor who has it all figured out, or one who is still listening to the Lord, studying His word, and being guided by the Holy Spirit to disciple?

Although there have been times when I just shook my head because my brain became overwhelmed, other times when I had AHA moments, when tying in the OT to the NT, times when I got really emotional, as I faced my own shortcomings, and a few times when I had more questions, than answers, which is one of the things that keeps me coming back.

Kinda like taking 100 swings on the golf course, but swing #43, is what keeps you coming back, right Dan.

It has been very rewarding for me.

Really caused me to dig deep, really deep on some occasions.

And I have come away with a better understanding of how the bible in entirety, is the unified story that leads to Jesus!

When we consider the Lev 23:33-44 may seem like a lot of pomp and circumstance, without much “meat”, to us as Christians, but as we’ve taken a deeper dive, we can see a more meaningful purpose and symbolism.

Let’s take a look at this 7th feast for a few minutes.

First off, I’ll remind you that we are in between the spring and fall feasts. Between the 1st and 2nd coming of Christ.

I believe the only delay is, that our Lord doesn’t want anyone to perish!

I know y’all will be shocked, but we are going to take a look at some scripture that relates to this passage, but I’d like to set this up a bit before we do that.

Tabernacles or Booths Festival occurs before the rainy winter time of year.

Let’s begin with a quick look at the word Tabernacles or Booths.

These are dwellings that the Israelites lived in, after they escaped Egypt and were in the wilderness for 40 years. They were a nomad people for 40 years as they dwelled in these booths.

+++build on this+++Exodus 25:8 “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”

Exodus 29:46 “And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”

I want to share with you a little nugget that I found while studying about this feast.

Jerusalem generally receives about 20 inches of rain per year. Booths occurs before the winter rainy season. The people hoped and prayed for rain, and they performed ceremonies as they prayed for rain. This part is not in the Bible, but it’s what became tradition and it’s important because Jesus used this to proclaim who He is to the people.

Each morning during the feast there would be a pouring of water, which was a symbolic prayer for rain. The high priest, along with a group of worshipers, would go to the Pool of Siloam. He would take a golden pitcher and dip it into the pool. Then he would take it back to the temple.