Thursday, October 13, 2011

SUKKOTH: FEAST OF TABERNACLES


by Molly Noble Bull 


As a Christian, I like to learn about the Roots of my Faith, and the Feast of Tabernacles is the third of three fall Feasts of Israel mentioned in the Book of Leviticus—chapter 23. This year, that seven-day feast begins on October 13th.  
The Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkoth is Israel’s Thanksgiving, also called the Feast of Booths. In some Bible translations, it is called the Feast of Shelters. This feast required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple there. 
During this seven-day feast, the Children of Israel were to gather corn stalks, reeds, sticks, tree branches and wooden planks and build temporary shelters called booths or tabernacles. They were to live in these shelters for seven days to remind them of the days after Moses led them out of Egypt when they lived in tents in the wilderness. During  the Temple services connected with this feast, the Jews tied the branches of palm trees, myrtles, and willows together with a golden thread and waved then at certain times during the worship services. 
According to the Book of Zechariah (chapter 14, verses 16 to 19) during the thousand- year kingdom when Jesus reigns on earth, the people must gather in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles once a year. To refuse to do so would result in a lack of rain and a break out of certain diseases.  
Christians are sure to recall that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, the people waved Palm leaves as mentioned above.
The Feast of Tabernacles is normally celebrated in October while America celebrates Thanksgiving in November. Was America’s first Thanksgiving a delayed celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles? 
Scroll down to read about the other two fall Feasts of Israel. Day of Atonement and Feast of Trumpets.
Please leave a comment. We want to hear from you.
  

8 comments:

DenaNetherton said...

Thanks for filling in my knowledge of the Feast. What a wonderful celebration. I sure wish we Americans would celebrate Thanksgiving with the Giver of all good things in mind. What a great God and provider we have!

Molly Noble Bull said...

Dena,
Thanks for stopping by. God's feasts are so beautiful. I am glad you think so, too.
Love,
Molly

Terri L. Gillespie said...

Thanks for posting this info about this wonderful festival, Molly. As the third feast in the Fall Holy Days, the Feast of Sukkot is most joyous and also ripe with prophetic significance and symbolisms.

For instance, the feast celebrates the final harvest. Prophetically, we know the "final harvest" is yet to come.

Rosh Hashanah calls--via the blowing of the shofars--our attention to holiness.

Yom Kippur points to our atonement for sins.

Sukkot rejoices in the harvest.

God is so good!

Molly Noble Bull said...

Terri,
Your opinions are always inspiring and worth hearing. Thanks of stopping by.
Love,
Molly

Cynthia Lovely said...

Molly,
Thanks for an interesting post. It brings back memories of an Old Testament class I took in bible college many years ago.

Molly Noble Bull said...

Thanks for writing, Cynthia.
I love to read the Old Testament and well as the New. I especially like to read the major and minor prophets. But I was never able to figure out what was minor about the minor prophets. I thought their books were great.
Then somebody told me that it meant their books were shorter than the books by the major propthets. Now that made sense.
Love,
Molly

Lisa Grace said...

For even a deeper understanding of the festivals and how they are a picture of the endtimes, I recommend you order Rabbi Jeff Zaremsky's Surviving and Thriving in the Last Days.
It is a 31 hour - 8 DVD set for only $25. Rabbi Jeff is a Messianic Jew.
He goes over each of the fall festivals in depth and shows how the New Testament and the book of Revelations are a fulfillment of the Old Testament.

Yom Kippur symbolizes the final judgement, and Sukkot the celebration in heaven afterwards.
You can order the series from http://www.jewishheritage.net

Molly Noble Bull said...

Thank you, Lisa. I will click onto the website you gave and see about that video. Sounds great.
Thanks again.
Love,
Molly