About Sukkot (Part A) (From Fall of 2010)
Welcome to the seventh and last of the Moedim (Festivals) given by God to the people of Israel. This is the Season of our Joy, a time when we can rejoice, knowing that we have searched our souls, repented deeply and know our sins and iniquities of the last year have been taken away. Now we can prepare for the season of our ‘being in the presence’ of God. For Jewish people, this is the purpose of Yom T’ruah, the Ten Days of Awe and Yom Kippur, celebrated annually. For the Messianic, we know we have atonement with God, “once for all”, through the sacrificial offering of Y’shua our Messiah, but it is still good to recall regularly the grace of God who, in mercy, provides that atonement for us.
The Festival of Sukkot.
The material found below is re-written from the introduction to the Sukkot Services in our Fall Moedim Machzor (prayerbook for the Fall Festivals). Sukkot occurs from the 15th to the 22nd of Tishrei, ending with the celebration of "Shemini Atzeret" and followed by the joyous occasion of Simchat Torah, when the Torah Scrolls are marched in procession around the faith community and then re-rolled to the beginning of Genesis once again.
More photos can be found below. The photos are from last year's celebration.
More photos can be found below. The photos are from last year's celebration.
The Sukkah (or Booth or Tabernacle) in which we celebrate tonight and throughout the seven days of Sukkot reminds us of the dwellings in which God’s people dwelt during the forty years in the Wilderness during their Exodus from Egypt and the journey to the Promised Land. It is customary to decorate the Sukkah with various items. Produce from Israel such as Pomegranates, Figs, Grapes, Lemons, and other fruit may be hung from the “rafters”. To make it seem more homey here in Canada we may add Apples, Pears and Corn husks as well. Flowers beautify both the outside and inside, and hay-bales make good benches to sit on or ‘pillars’ to support the decorations. Besides making the setting attractive, the decorations within and outside the sukkah remind us of the time of the “Fruit” harvest, for after the people Israel entered H’Aretz (the Land) the Festival became associated with the season of the fall harvest. In this sense, Sukkot is also known as Chag HaAsif (the Festival of the Ingathering).
Sukkot is the third of the Shelosh Regalim, accompanying Pesach (which occurs at the planting season, in the Spring), and Shavuot (which occurs simultaneously with the harvest of the Wheat in late Spring or early Summer). The Shelosh regalim are the commanded Holy Days, during which the people are commanded to refrain from regular work and mark the Festival with a gathering of the community (“a Holy Convocation”) [originally in the Temple in Yerushalayim], with the intent of making offerings of various kinds and purposes to the Lord. One of the highlights of this Festival is the sacrifice of bulls. If you read Numbers 29:12-32, you will notice a rather repetitive list of animals brought to the temple. The one thing that changes each day is the number of bulls. They reduce by one each day from 13 on day one to 7 on the last day. The total is 70 bulls and it has long been held that these sacrifices are made on behalf of the 70 nations outside Israel. These can thus be understood and "intercessory sacrifices".
Since the destruction of the Temple, these offerings have been mostly through prayer, [offered up in the local synagogue or gathering place] and through righteous living based on Micah’s words “Do justice, Love kindness and Walk humbly with God” (6:8)
On a more spiritual plane, Sukkot also has a prophetic nature to it. It anticipates the time of a restored fellowship with God. As the "Festival of Ingathering", Sukkot pre-figures the Great Harvest of souls preceding the days of Messiah's reign, all those who survive the Great Tribulation. The third purpose of the Sukkah, then, is to remember God’s words to believing Israel first found in Exodus as He gives the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle: “let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.” (25:8) And again in the 29th chapter, (vss 44-46) He states: “I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; … and I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them…”
Later, Shaul prays for the believing community in Ephesus that God would grant them “according to the riches of His glory” the strength and power that they will need “through His [Holy] Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in your hearts.” (Eph 3:16,17) It is clear from this, a follow-up to the promise of the coming of the Ruach haKodesh and the writing of the new covenant in Messiah on the hearts of believers, that God indeed desires to dwell with us and, more importantly, that we should dwell with Him.
This all rises to a great climax as the Messianic Kingdom is established on Earth in the end days. We read in the Revelation given to John: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, ‘New Yerushalayim’, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying ‘Behold, the Tabernacle of God is among men [mankind], and He [God] shall dwell among them and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be among them…’.” (Revelation 21:1-3)
As we celebrate the Festival of Sukkot, let us rejoice that God has promised to dwell among His people, that He has provided food for our journey, that He has brought Israel to the earthly land which was promised them, that He has indwelt us by His Holy Spirit as we continue to seek Him daily, and let us rejoice in the sure and certain knowledge by faith, that He will bring us into His eternal Millennial Kingdom and will dwell (tabernacle) with us as our King L’Olam Vaed (for ever).
Since the destruction of the Temple, these offerings have been mostly through prayer, [offered up in the local synagogue or gathering place] and through righteous living based on Micah’s words “Do justice, Love kindness and Walk humbly with God” (6:8)
On a more spiritual plane, Sukkot also has a prophetic nature to it. It anticipates the time of a restored fellowship with God. As the "Festival of Ingathering", Sukkot pre-figures the Great Harvest of souls preceding the days of Messiah's reign, all those who survive the Great Tribulation. The third purpose of the Sukkah, then, is to remember God’s words to believing Israel first found in Exodus as He gives the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle: “let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.” (25:8) And again in the 29th chapter, (vss 44-46) He states: “I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; … and I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them…”
Later, Shaul prays for the believing community in Ephesus that God would grant them “according to the riches of His glory” the strength and power that they will need “through His [Holy] Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in your hearts.” (Eph 3:16,17) It is clear from this, a follow-up to the promise of the coming of the Ruach haKodesh and the writing of the new covenant in Messiah on the hearts of believers, that God indeed desires to dwell with us and, more importantly, that we should dwell with Him.
This all rises to a great climax as the Messianic Kingdom is established on Earth in the end days. We read in the Revelation given to John: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, ‘New Yerushalayim’, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying ‘Behold, the Tabernacle of God is among men [mankind], and He [God] shall dwell among them and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be among them…’.” (Revelation 21:1-3)
As we celebrate the Festival of Sukkot, let us rejoice that God has promised to dwell among His people, that He has provided food for our journey, that He has brought Israel to the earthly land which was promised them, that He has indwelt us by His Holy Spirit as we continue to seek Him daily, and let us rejoice in the sure and certain knowledge by faith, that He will bring us into His eternal Millennial Kingdom and will dwell (tabernacle) with us as our King L’Olam Vaed (for ever).
For more references to Sukkot, readers should also check (hopefully with new understanding):
Isaiah 27:12,13
Jeremiah 23:7,8
Ezekiel 37:26-28
Zechariah 14:16,17 and
John 1:1 and 14
Visitors to our web-site are also encouraged to check out "Our Parshiot.." page to see other suggested readings for the week of Sukkot.
Below are pictures from our Chavarah Sukkah last year:
Isaiah 27:12,13
Jeremiah 23:7,8
Ezekiel 37:26-28
Zechariah 14:16,17 and
John 1:1 and 14
Visitors to our web-site are also encouraged to check out "Our Parshiot.." page to see other suggested readings for the week of Sukkot.
Below are pictures from our Chavarah Sukkah last year:
More About Sukkot:
The last (seventh) day of Sukkot is known as Hoshana Rabbah, (meaning Great Hosanna or Praise). On this day, a marvellous procession of worshippers processed from the Temple Mount to the Pool of Siloam and then, carrying large pitchers of water, they returned and poured it out in scooped out 'gullies' which surrounded the Bronze Altar of Sacrifice back in the Temple grounds. One suspects that this had some significance to the prayer later to be voiced which asks God to provide water for the new crops about to be planted.
As often can be seen on careful reading, however; Y'shua gave new meaning to this century's old practice. Turn to John's gospel, chapter 7 verse 37 in which we find Y'shua in Yerushalayim speaking to the crowds as they celebrate Sukkot. "Now on the last day of the festival, the 'great day',(Hoshana Rabbah) Y'shua stood and cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking! Whoever puts his trust in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being!" (CJB)
This relates to the passage in John's 4th chapter in which we read about Y'shua and the Woman at the well. There He says: "...whoever drinks the water I give... will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give... will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
For information on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, see the accompanying Teaching Page -
"Sukkot - Part 2".
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As often can be seen on careful reading, however; Y'shua gave new meaning to this century's old practice. Turn to John's gospel, chapter 7 verse 37 in which we find Y'shua in Yerushalayim speaking to the crowds as they celebrate Sukkot. "Now on the last day of the festival, the 'great day',(Hoshana Rabbah) Y'shua stood and cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking! Whoever puts his trust in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being!" (CJB)
This relates to the passage in John's 4th chapter in which we read about Y'shua and the Woman at the well. There He says: "...whoever drinks the water I give... will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give... will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
For information on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, see the accompanying Teaching Page -
"Sukkot - Part 2".
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