Sukkot

Leviticus 23:34 says on the 15^th of Tishrei as the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. This Festival is celebrated for an entire week so that we might remember how God dwelled among the Israelites after He brought them out of Egypt. The wilderness experience was a period of growth for the Israelites as God brought them out of Egypt, He formed the former slaves into a nation of kings and priests.  He also taught them to be completely dependent upon Him.  But the Torah He gave them states that after they, Israel would enter the land and begin living in real houses, harvest the crops and begin to enjoy a comfortable existence, they were to sacrifice the comfort of their homes to live in an unstabl, opened roof sukkah, or tabernacle for a full week.  This is to bring back to rememberance how He wants His people to remember with joy.  God has provided all things and only He has the power to sustain our lives as we are reminded in Sukkot, for He has truly dwelt among them.

In Jewish tradition, when the sun sets on Yom Kippur, plans begin for the building of the family sukkah four days later.  In ancient Israel, farmers lived in little sukkot built in the fields during the harvest of their crops.  And, at this Festival God calls all of Israel out into the open to live in sukkot.  A sukkah is not to be too sturdy; it is to represent the temporary tents and structures Israel would erect and break down as they moved from place to place in the wilderness.  Today our sukkah is to be as in the days of old and as we build remember the light of the full harvest moon should shine through the roof; and the wind should shake it a bit, but don’t worry, God is with us!

In Jewish tradition is typical to build your sukkah in a place where there is no impediment of the upward view.  The sukkah should be outside, built of a wood frame, sides maybe of canvas and thin wood slats on the roof with tree branches scattered on top, just enough to let the star shine inside.  The interior maybe decorated with flowers and fruit and flimsey furniture.

This exercise can be especially significant for Messianic believers who celebrate this Festival.  As we decorate our sukkot we can bring to rememberance how it was our Messiah Yeshua who tabernacled among us (Yochanan/John 1:14) and then sent to us the “Helper,” the Ruach HaKodesh, or the Holy Spirit, Who now dwells in our temporary "earthly tabernacles" (2 Corinthians 4:7-11; 6:16).  We can also rejoice in knowing that soon Messiah’s Kingdom will be here and then He will dwell with us forever (Revelation 7:9-17).

The Sacrifices

Leviticus 23:36-38 includes daily sacrificial offerings during the seven days of Sukkot. Amid the festival of joy is the unrelenting blood, fire and smoke of the sacrificial altar. Numbers 29:12-40 shows that over the period of the seven days, a total of 70 young bulls, 14 rams (2 each day), and 98 male lambs (14 each day) were to be sacrificed as special festival burnt offerings. A total of seven young male goats (one each day) were to be sacrificed as sin offerings. The 70 young bulls were offered to remember the 70 nations outlined in the book of Genesis.  These sacrifices were offered up for those nations ignorant of the One True God which eventually woud have the opportunity to into the fold taught to believe and obey the God of Israel.  There were also 14 lambs each day which were offered for ("seven times over x 2 =) atonement for Israel and for the nations.

The preists were also to mingle with the blood of the burnt offerings special measures of fine flour and oil. The flour was to be pure without any leaven, or leavening agents. It was to represent purity; flour only, fine and smooth, without speck.  The same pure flour used to produce the flat Shewbread which was placed weekly before the Ark of the Covenant and representative of the bread of life God would provide man in the form of His Son, Yeshua.  The oil represents joy and gladness.  In the Scriptures it is a picture of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit (see Psalm 51).  The sacrificial oil was added to remind Israel and all of us of the joy we have with God in our midst, the Kin of the universe!

The offerings also have a personal significance for Messianic believers.  Since we know about Yeshua’s shedding of blood for our atonement and that He is the Bread of Life we have access to the riches of God in the Holy Spirit.  What joy and gladness to know that this gift is for all who believe that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Many believers see Sukkot as looking forward to the Millenial Reign of Yeshua, or the one thousand years of Messiah’s Kingdom on earth.  For those who remain from among all the nations who came against Jerusalem, they will mingle with the saints during that period and all will appear before Messiah in Jerusalem every year to celebrate and observe the Great Feast, the Feast of Sukkot (Zechariah 14:16-19).

Leviticus 23:40 includes the branches of myrtle, palm and willow and the fruit of the fragrant etrog (a citron grown in Israel) as elements of the festival of Sukkot. Traditionally, the myrtle, palm and willow are bound together with a gold thread to form a lulav. Together with the etrog, the lulav is carried in the synagogue during the reading of the Great Hallel (Psalms 113-118), and as the cantor sings special passages called Hoshanot each day of the week of Sukkot.

In Jewish tradition the myrtle, palm, willow and etrog symbolize four virtues characteristic of man. Messianic believers see these as symbolizing the beauty and

character of Messiah Yeshua as the described in Psalm 45. During the days of the Temple, the seventh day of Sukkot included a procession from the Pool of Siloam to the basin in the Temple. This was the day of Hoshanah Rabbah, the day of the Great Hoshanah. The Temple was lit up with all the lamp stands burning brightly. The procession would begin at the Temple with the priest carrying the silver pitcher. The Levites would follow praising and sounding the trumpets. The faithful would follow with lulav and etrog in hand. At the Pool of Siloam, the golden pitcher would be filled with the water coming from the spring of Gihon which fed it. This water spring was associated with Israel’s Messiah, since the spring ran directly under the Temple Sanctuary on Mt. Zion.

The procession would return to the basin at the Temple where the water from the spring would be poured out till it overflowed upon the ground. This ceremony is significant because water, more specifically rain, is very important during the Feast of Tabernacles. The fall planting season is soon to begin, and the spring harvest season depends upon the blessings of rain. The ceremony is a prayer to God for that rain, and for the coming of Messiah.

In the Scriptures, the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of God, is likened to rain. For us who know that the Messiah has dwelt among us and that His Spirit indwells us, this festival is quite literally a time for "singing in the Rain:" L’Chaim b’Yeshua! To Life in Yeshua! As we celebrate year to year, we may look forward to sharing in Israel’s consummate joy when Messiah Yeshua returns.

With the Temple and the sacrificial altar gone, the rabbis have brought innovation to the day of Hoshanah Rabbah. The celebrants in synagogue beat the willow twigs against the floor or other hard surface five times, causing the leaves to fall. This work symbolizes that a man can, by his own effort, separate sin from his life. Invariably Hoshanah Rabbah turns the thoughts of a Jewish mind back to the issue of atonement. Jewish tradition holds that the days of judgement which began on Rosh HaShanah end on the day of Hoshanah Rabbah, on which day the Books of judgement, Life and Death, are closed. According to rabbibic tradition, whoever is written in these books on that day, is written there eternally. The modern synagogue ceremony is followed with a plea to God for acceptance of the mitzvot performed by the celebrants for being written in the Book of Life.

Finally, Leviticus 23:36,39 designates a special Sabbath day to follow Sukkot on the eighth day. This is called Shemini Atzeret which is the eighth day’s solemn assembly. Numbers 29:36-38 directs that a special burnt offering is to be made on that day of one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs accompanied with the grain, oil and wine in their specified measures. This offering is to be followed with the sin offering of a young goat. As with all the sacrifices, all the offerings were to be without blemish.

With the Temple and the Sacrificial Altar gone, the synagogue ceremonies on this day attempt approaching the God, whose Holy Covenant endures, with good deeds worked by sinful hands, appealing to His mercy. For these the season of our joy ends on a note of bitter uncertainty. Their vision of God’s mercy for which they plead extends only to the limits of their confidence in their own good deeds. Their vision of His holiness is eclipsed by their own righteousness, so that they are blind to the unfathomable depths of the mercy of their God.

Would the God of Israel be so perverse and hateful as to take away the only means of atonement without providing an everlasting atonement in Yeshua’s Blood? There is no rejoicing in a god who would do anything less than Israel’s God has done for her, so let us rejoice in the God Who has brought Salvation on His Wing, in the person of Yeshua.