Sukkot

   Chag Sameach!  Today we celebrate Succoth, the Feast of  Booths.  It is the third of the Holy Days in the month of Tishrei and it is the third “Feast of Ingathering” when in ancient times, people would come to Jerusalem with the first fruits of the harvest. (the other two being the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks).  According to Lev. 23:33ff.  It is a celebration that is to last for seven days with an extra day added on.  According to the Sages, the festival is so joyous that God added an extra day!  We are told in Lev. 23 that the purpose of the holiday is to remember how God was with the Jewish people when they were wandering in the wilderness.  In other words, the people were to never forget that God was with them when they seemingly were wandering aimlessly for forty years.

    Sukkot has unique features both in the synagogue  and at home.  At services we include the “lulav and etrog”. The lulav is a palm branch with myrtle and willow attached and the etrog is a lemon like fruit native to Israel .  During the service  we shake them together in all directions. There are many meanings attached to this tradition. The Sages decided that since there are 70 animal offerings at Sukkot (more than at any other festival), Israel is to intercede on behalf of all of the nations of the world symbolized by waving the lulav and etrog in all directions.  Another reason is an acknowledgment that God is always at work everywhere in the world. 

   At home and at the synagogue  many Jewish people build a sukkah in the back yard. It is a “flimsy structure often made of 2x4s with walls of burlap with branches for a roof. (Although lattice is also acceptable!) It is decorated with fruits and vegetables.  Meals as well as prayers are conducted in the sukkah and sleeping as well.

     At Succoth we not only remember the presence of God in the wilderness but we also remember that today God is always at work. We are the flimsy structures that God cares for and protects-even when it seems that we are wandering in the wilderness. In the Brit Chadasha, Paul may have had Succoth in mind when he said

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  ² For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,  ³ inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.  ⁴ For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.  ⁵ Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

     This passage teaches us that no matter what the condition may be of our body or the condition of our earthly lives, God is faithful to always be with us. He is faithful to always be guiding us and caring for us. When Yeshua said that “if any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink” (Jn. 7:37) he was speaking to the crowd in the Temple on the seventh day of Sukkot. The passage continues to say that He was speaking of the Spirit. No doubt, Yeshua was saying that today we can have the same protection as our ancestors did in the wilderness. As believers in the Messiah, we are celebrating Sukkot all our lives as we remember the indwelling Holy Spirit who provides spiritual power and contentment!  The passage also gives us hope that this life is not all that there is.  We have hope for a new life to come. This new life will include the perfect body that we will have forever.  There will be no more aches, pain diseases or death. There will be no more disappointment or sadness. As we speak, the Messiah is preparing a perfect place for us to live.  Sukkot gives us a reminder that there is hope for the future.

     Speaking of hope for the future, Sukkot is a festival of hope in another way. It points to the day when the Messiah will rule from His throne in Jerusalem and all of the nations will come to Jerusalem to “worship the King the Lord of Hosts”. (Zech. 14:16).  Prophetically speaking, Yom Kippur is a picture of Israel ’s national day of atonement when the Lord returns. Sukkot following five days later pictures the Messianic kingdom when the whole harvest of believers will be gathered together to celebrate the victory of the Messiah and the redemption of the whole world.

     Finally, Sukkot serves as a personal reminder of restoration. Since the shofar sounded on Rosh Hashanah we have been on a journey of repentance and reconciliation. Now we come to the final “leg” of the journey - restoration. On this holiday we celebrate our renewal in the Lord.  We celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We celebrate the fact that God continues to love us and show us grace and mercy. May today be a day of celebration of life in Messiah! Shabbat Shalom!