Pat:
This morning we’ll wrap up our look at the Jewish Feasts and their fulfillment by Jesus as we examine the last of the seven feasts prescribed by God for His people. Before we look at the Feast of Tabernacles, allow me to share a word of personal testimony. Perhaps like many of you, there was a time in my life when I pretty much dismissed the Jewish feasts as merely an “Old Testament” practice that had no relevance to me as a “New Testament Christian”. But then for an assignment in one of my seminary classes I wrote a paper about how Jesus was portrayed in these feasts. For me, that began an exciting journey that still continues today.
In the seven weeks that we’ve taken this year to examine each of the feasts, we have only scratched the surface. We’ve only been able to share with you a small fraction of what we’ve learned about the feasts over the years. And even for us, we continue to learn more about these feasts and their significance for all believers. And as we continue on that journey, our hunger to explore these feasts has increased almost exponentially. Our prayer is that we have just whetted your appetite a bit and that you will join us on that journey as you search out these matters on your own.
Once again this morning, we’ll follow the same pattern that we have been using. Pastor Dana will explain the historical background and the current day observation of the Feast of Booths and then I’ll wrap up by showing how Jesus has and will fulfill the feast and the implications for our lives as followers of the Messiah, Jesus.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Dana:
23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV)
As a event, the Lord’s Supper has the following elements:
• Celebration
• Remembrance
It is meant to be conducted repeatedly
It requires preparation
Shared as a gathering
It’s a celebration
Built upon:
• Remembrance- the Past Completed work of Jesus,
• Anticipation- the Future Return of Jesus
This reminds me of the feast God ordained to the Hebrews known as Sukkoth- or the Feast of Booths
It, too, was- and still is- a feast conducted as a celebration and is based upon remembrance and anticipation.
(Understand, though, that the Lord’s Supper is Not a replacement, for Booths, but an extension of the Feast, and a progressive picture of the Messiah.)
By now we all know that there are a total of seven feasts that were prescribed by God for His people. The feasts are broken down into three main seasons. The Spring feasts – Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits coincide with the barley harvest and were fulfilled by Jesus at His first coming.
The Feast of Weeks coincided with the completion of the wheat harvest and, as was fulfilled by Jesus by the giving of the Holy Spirit which inaugurated the church age in which we now live.
The final three feasts – the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths - occur in the Fall, and they will be fulfilled in full by Jesus at His second coming.
The primary instructions for the observance of the Feast of Booths, like those for the other feasts, is found in Leviticus 23:
33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work… 39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 23:33-36, 39-43 (ESV)
The feast began on the fifteenth day of the month of Tishri and lasted for seven days. The word translated “booths” is the Hebrew word “sukkot”, which is how the Jews still refer to the feast. That word describes the temporary shelters that the people lived in during the time they observed the feast and it is often translated “tabernacles”. However, we must point out that this is a different Hebrew word than the one used to describe the portable tent that God commanded his people to erect while they were in the wilderness as a place of worship. The feast was then followed by a special Sabbath on the eighth day. No work was to be done on the first or eighth day.
Since the feast occurs at the end of the harvest season, it is also known as the Feast of Ingathering. In contrast to the somber mood of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, this was a time of great rejoicing as the people celebrated the final ingathering of the harvest that God had provided during the year. That is why the feast is also known as “The Season of Our Joy”.
Like Passover and the Feast of Weeks, this is one of the three pilgrimage festivals that required all able bodied Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem to observe the feast. As the last of the seven feasts, this feast represented the completion of the religious season.
According to the Scriptures, there were three main activities related to the celebration of the Feast of Booths.
• The first was that the people would live in temporary shelters, or booths, during the feast in order to remember the time when God had brought them out of Egypt and God had provided for them in the wilderness.
• The second aspect of the feast is that the people were to bring specific fruits and tree branches which were waved before the Lord at the appropriate time.
• There were also specific sacrifices that were to be offered on each day of the feast as well as the day following the feast. These are described in detail in Numbers 29:12-38.
As we have seen with many of the other feasts, the Jews also developed other traditions related to the celebration of this feast which were not prescribed by God in the Bible but arose from the oral tradition recorded in the Mishnah. Two of these traditions which were in place during the lifetime of Jesus have special significance:
• The first was a water-drawing ceremony in which water was drawn from the pool at Siloam. This ceremony, which was performed on all except the first day of the feast, was a time of great joy and celebration.
• At the close of the first day of the feast, the worshippers would descend upon the Court of the Women where four large candelabras, about 75 feet tall and each with four golden bowls had been set up. Four youth of priestly descent would climb the ladders and fill the bowls with oil and then ignite them, using the worn undergarments of the priests for wicks. Since the Temple was on a hill above Jerusalem, the light from the candelabras would illuminate the entire city.
John 7 and 8 record the account of Jesus at the feast of Tabernacles. The recorded words of Jesus have clear references to those two aspects of the feast:
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
John 7:37, 38 (ESV)
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12 (ESV)
Today, the observance of the feast revolves primarily around the booths and the fruits and branches that are waved before the Lord. As with the other feasts, the prescribed sacrifices can no longer be made due to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.
Each family constructs a sukkah, or temporary shelter. It must have at least two and a half walls and a covering that will not blow away in the wind. The covering must be constructed of materials that grew in the ground and were cut off and there must be openings so that the stars may be observed at night, but not so large that there is more light than shade in the sukkah.
The requirement to “dwell” in the sukkah may be met by eating all of one’s meals there, but the people are encouraged to spend as much time as possible there, even to sleep there if feasible.
The second main part of the observance involves the “Four Species” which is based on the instructions in Leviticus. For the first six days of the feast, the etrog, a fruit similar to a lemon, a palm branch, two willow branches and three myrtle branches are waved in all directions as the people make a procession in the synagogue and pray. In the seventh day of the feast, the same procession is made for seven circuits.
FULFILLED BY JESUS
Pat:
In both rabbinical and Biblical teaching…
• The Feast of Booths typifies the days of the Messiah
We saw this a few weeks ago in our study of Amos in this passage:
In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the Lord who does this.
Amos 9:11, 12 (ESV)
In that passage Amos was describing the time when God would restore Israel and when the Messiah, who would be a descendant of David, would reign.
We also see a clear connection between the Feast of Booths and the Messiah in the New Testament in the account of the transfiguration. You’ll remember that Peter, James and john accompanied Jesus up to the mountain and while he was praying His appearance changed and He was talking with Moses and Elijah. Peter clearly connected this event with the coming of the Messiah when he spoke these words:
And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”…
Luke 9:33 (ESV)
The Greek word translated “tent” there is the same word used in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, to translate the word “sukkah” or “booth” as well as the distinct and different Hebrew word that described the Tabernacle. Since Peter believes that this event represents the coming of the Messiah, he is prepared to erect the “sukkah” that is associated with that event.
As we saw last week with the Day of Atonement, both the first and second coming of the Messiah, Jesus, fulfill the prophetic implications of the Feast of Booths:
o At His first coming
As we’ve seen, every significant event in the life of Jesus has a connection to one of the feasts:
His death on Passover
His burial on the Feast of Unleavened Bread
His resurrection on the Feast of Firstfruits
The giving of the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
His return on the Feast of Trumpets
His salvation for Israel on the Day of Atonement
There is one more historical event that is almost certainly related to the Feast of Booths. John, whose gospel is built around the Jewish Feasts, hints at that event at the beginning of his gospel:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 (ESV)
Notice the word “dwelt” in that verse. Not surprisingly that is the verb form of the very same Greek word that we saw just a moment ago in the passage in Luke that literally means a booth or tabernacle. So we could accurately translate the first phrase of that verse like this:
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us…
John is clearly referring here to the point in time where Jesus came to this earth and took on a body of flesh:
The birth of Jesus
Although we celebrate that event on December 25 each year, the evidence we have makes it clear that could not possibly be the date of Jesus’ birth. And although we can’t be dogmatic about it, there is convincing evidence that points to the fact that it is likely that Jesus was actually born during the Feast of Booths in the early fall.
That would explain the large crowds in Jerusalem and in nearby Bethlehem and why it was so hard for Mary and Joseph to find a place to stay. That also would have been a time when the shepherds would have still been out in the fields, tending their flocks at night. It would have been much too cold to do that in December. There is also additional evidence related to the time Zechariah would have been serving in the Temple and the timing of the birth of his son, John, that also points to the birth of Jesus during the Feast of Booths.
And isn’t it interesting that when He came to earth, that Jesus lived in a temporary shelter, in other words he “tabernacled”, possibly even in a “sukkah” that had been erected in connection with the Feast of Booths? This is such a fascinating topic and I’d encourage you to study it some more on your own.
But the prophetic fulfillment of the feast of Booth is not just limited to the first coming of the Messiah. We will also see it fulfilled…
o At His second coming
Before we look at the future fulfillment of the Feast of Booths, let’s take a moment to quickly review what we’ve discovered in our examination of the first two fall feasts.
The Feast of Trumpets pictures the return of Jesus to this earth, accompanied by a shout and loud trumpet blast. Following that, the Day of Atonement pictures a time of tribulation for Israel during which the many will recognize Jesus as the Messiah and be saved.
The prophet Isaiah provides us with a good framework for what occurs next:
In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
Isaiah 4:2-6 (ESV)
This fits perfectly with what we’ve already seen. Isaiah refers to the time when the sins of Israel will be washed away and their names recorded in the book of life. This is a clear reference to what the future fulfillment of Rosh Hashanah and the Day of Atonement. And then God’s glory will appear over Mt. Zion and His glory will create a canopy – a canopy that is described as a “booth” – a “sukkah” – clearly a reference to the Feast of Booths.
We find this same event pictured throughout the Old Testament prophets. As I mentioned earlier, we saw it in Amos, and we also saw it described in Joel. But since God progressively reveals truth as the Scriptures unfold, we shouldn’t be surprised that it is the prophet Zechariah who provides us with the most complete picture of this event. Although we’ll look at this in more detail when we get to the Book of Zechariah, which will complete our study of the Old Testament prophets, let’s look briefly at a couple of passages this morning as they relate to the Feast of Booths.
Zechariah 14 describes how the nations of the earth will come up against Jerusalem, but Jesus will return with His army and completely defeat those nations. And then we find these words:
On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Zechariah 14:8, 9 (ESV)
Remember Jesus’ claims about being the living water that He made while attending the Feast of Booths? Here we see the final fulfillment of those words as living water flows from Jerusalem. That occurs as a result of Jesus, the Messiah from the line of David, taking His throne and ruling over all the earth.
This same battle is also described in Revelation 19 where Jesus comes as the rider on the white horse who destroys all His enemies and begins His reign over all the earth. Then, near the beginning of chapter 20, we find this passage:
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4 (ESV)
This ushers in the 1,000 year period that is usually referred to as the “millennium”. It is a period in which Jesus will reign along with those who have been proven to be His true followers.
The Bible doesn’t really give us much detail about what will occur during that period of time, but Zechariah does reveal one significant activity that will take place:
Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
Zechariah 14:16, 17 (ESV)
During the Millennium, everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, will be required to go to Jerusalem once a year to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And for those who disobey that command, God will keep the rain from falling on their land as a punishment for their disobedience.
As we saw earlier, the Feast of Booths is also known as the Feast of Ingathering and it certainly represents the time when all of God’s people will be gathered by God in one place to celebrate and rejoice in Jesus the Messiah. So we shouldn’t be surprised that when Jesus gave his commentary on the parable of the weeds, he compared the end times to gathering in the harvest:
The harvest is the close of the age…
Matthew 13:39 (ESV)
This is all exciting stuff isn’t it? But this is kind of like those infomercials on TV – Wait, there’s more!
Remember that God also gave instructions concerning the day after the Feast of Booths. This celebration is known by the Jews as Shemini Atzeret, which means the “eighth [day] of assembly”. Eight is the Biblical number for new beginnings. And just as we would expect, immediately after the end of the 1,000 period, we find a new beginning described in Revelation chapters 21 and 22 which describe the new heaven and the new earth that come down from heaven and become the eternal dwelling place for those who are God’s children through faith in the Messiah, Jesus. And near the beginning of John’s description of the new heaven and new earth we find these words:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Revelation 21:3 (ESV)
Yes, the words “dwell” and “dwelling” come from the same word we saw earlier that can also be translated “tabernacle”. But this time, it is no longer a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one.
IMPLICATIONS FOR US
As we conclude our study of the seven Jewish feasts this morning, allow me to share a couple of implications that these feasts have for us as followers of Jesus. The first comes from an overall look at all seven feasts and the second relates directly to the Feast of Booths.
1. The Jewish Feasts should cause us to consider how we prepare for corporate worship.
Although each of the seven feasts are quite diverse in the ways in which they are observed and they portray diverse aspects of the Messiah, Jesus, there is one thing they all have in common. They were celebrated in community, not in isolation. All of these feasts brought God’s people together to remember God and to celebrate what He had done and was doing in their midst, not unlike what our times of corporate worship should be like today.
But in order to be ready for those times together, the individual worshippers had to make preparations ahead of time. And that wasn’t something they could just do at the last moment. It often required significant planning and effort on their parts.
The three pilgrim feasts required a trip, often a long one, to Jerusalem, in order to observe the feasts. That meant getting together food and other provisions for the journey as well as gathering the animals for sacrifice and other elements that would be used during the observance of the feast. But it also required the people to prepare their hearts as well. We saw this especially with the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement where the people would spend the entire preceding month searching out God and searching their own hearts in order to repent of any sin in their lives. They didn’t wait to do those things until the feast started.
This certainly applies to us as we gather for corporate worship each week. And what occurs here each Sunday morning is frankly a lot more dependent on how well all of us have prepared for this time together before we arrive than it is on how wonderful of a message I preach or how well the Worship Team sings and plays.
In his book, The Air I Breathe, Louie Giglio writes these insightful words:
Most of my life, I thought that you went to church to worship. But now I see that the better approach is to go worshipping to church.
Trust me, church is a lot better when our gatherings are filled with people who have been pursuing God for six days before they get there. Church as a “refill” or a “tank-up” is a disaster. Corporate worship works best when we arrive with something to offer God. As opposed to only coming to get something for ourselves from God…leaning on Sunday as our only time of spiritual intake is a recipe for languid worship and an anemic Body.
Church is supposed to be a celebration of our personal journeys with God since we were last together.
2. The Feast of Booths calls us to focus our lives on those things which have eternal value.
The temporary shelters of the Feast of Booths are a reminder to us that our life here on earth is only temporary. In fact, Paul clearly had this feast in mind when he wrote these words.
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV)
Once again, the word translated “tent” here is the same word that is translated “booth” or “tabernacle” elsewhere. The point is that these earthly bodies that we live in are only temporary. But right now Jesus is preparing for us a permanent home that is eternal.
And that truth should impact the way that we live our lives right here and now. At the end of chapter 4 of that same letter, Paul described quite clearly how the temporary nature of our human bodies ought to guide the way that we live.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
The fact that our bodies are only temporary, that they are wasting away, should be our motivation to focus our attention on those things which are eternal, not temporary; things that are internal, not external; things that are unseen, not things that are seen.
The two primary things that fit that description are our relationship with God and the souls of men. Those will both survive this world and enter into eternity. So that is where the main focus of my life is to be. It doesn’t mean that we are to completely ignore those things which are only temporary. The Bible is clear that we are to be good stewards of our bodies and our material possessions. But that is only an extension of focusing my attention on developing my own personal relationship with God and investing my life in the souls of others so that they might be able to experience that same ete
