Same to you <erime..May the blessings of our Lord be your's according to YOUR faith that works inf you :peace:
Sukkot: The Feast of Booths
By Rabbi Jack Zimmerman
The Feast of Booths is the seventh and last festival on the biblical calendar, as recorded in Leviticus 23. Also known as Sukkot in Hebrew, God wanted the Israelites to observe this festival by living in temporary shelters for seven days as a reminder that when their ancestors were in the wilderness, God provided them booths to dwell in.
As in every year, Sukkot is a time of rejoicing. Why? Because it was at this time in ancient Israel when the harvest season was over that God had provided more than enough food for the people to survive. Now it was time to go up to Jerusalem and give thanks to Him in worship at the Temple!
In fact, many Jews today celebrate this holiday by building their own booth, or sukkah, a four-sided, temporary structure; with palm branches for the open roof, through which the night sky is visible, and sometimes canvas for the walls. For the seven days of this holiday, many observant families eat their meals there, and others go so far as to sleep in it, too.
Leviticus 23 tells us how the holiday was observed in biblical times. The LORD tells Moses in verses 33-36, �Tell the people of Isra'el, �On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to ADONAI. On the first day there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work. For seven days you are to bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI; on the eighth day you are to have a holy convocation and bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI; it is a day of public assembly; do not do any kind of ordinary work.��
Now a question may have popped up in your mind�if this is a seven-day holiday, why in verse 36 does it talk about celebrating on the eighth day? Because the eighth day was actually a separate holiday known in Hebrew as Hoshanna Rabba, or in English as �the Great Hosanna.�
You may know Sukkot as the �Feast of Tabernacles.� Some Bible translations may even use it, however, Sukkah actually means �booth,� not tabernacle. The Hebrew word for tabernacle is mishkan, which is not found in this portion of text.
Sukkot was also the last of the annual three pilgrimage feasts, when all Jewish men from near and far were required to journey to Jerusalem. And if you could go back there during Yeshua�s time, you�d see a city packed with people; a parade filled the streets as crowds made their way to the Temple.
Leviticus 23:40 instructed, �On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of ADONAI your God for seven days.�
On the first day of the holiday, people would pick their best fruits, branches, and palm leaves. It�s customary for Jews today to carry and display a reminder of that. The first is called an etrog, a citrus fruit looking much like an oversized lemon. The second is called a lulav, an unopened branch from the date palm tree. Holding the etrog and lulav on Sukkot is a reminder of the harvest God provided for our ancestors, as well as the materials He gave them to build the sukkah, or booth.
Not far from the Temple, the people would hear the sounds of rams and goats and lambs being prepared for the morning sacrifice. It was at this time that the Temple priest would lead his own parade. He would exit the Temple through the Water Gate holding a golden pitcher, and he would walk several hundred yards to the pool of Siloam to fill the pitcher with water. With musicians in tow, the priest would gather the water; all would march back to the temple, and the priest would take the water from the pitcher and spill it on the altar where the animals were sacrificed.
As he would do this, he would say, �Please, Lord, save us, hear our prayers.� Prayers would be recited, as would the Psalms. And it was likely that the message the people would hear would speak of how God�s Shekinah Glory, that cloud of fire, first made itself known to the Israelites in the wilderness on Sukkot, and how the very Temple the people were sitting in, the Temple of Solomon, was dedicated on Sukkot. That�s another reason Sukkot is also called the Feast of Dedication.
Afterward, many worshipers would go to a section of the Temple complex called the Court of the Women, where a wonderful celebration would take place. There would be four golden candelabras, each with golden bowls, and four priests pouring oil into the lamp stands to light up the sky. The men would dance and sing, �Happy is every man on whom guilt rests, and he who having sinned is now with pardon blessed.�
Since this was a pilgrimage feast, every Jewish man would have to be there. Naturally, our Jewish Messiah Yeshua would be there, too. John 7 tells us Yeshua celebrated the festival.
Verses 1-4 say, �After this, Yeshua traveled around in the Galil [Galilee], intentionally avoiding Y'hudah [Judah] because the Judeans were out to kill him. But the festival of Sukkot in Y'hudah was near; so his brothers said to him, �Leave here and go into Y'hudah, so that your talmidim [disciples] can see the miracles you do; for no one who wants to become known acts in secret. If you're doing these things, show yourself to the world!�"
Happy and Blessed Sukkot to you to merime !! and you are correct about the moon cycle. It is by the moon that we get the beginning and ending of the seasons that the LORD has stated from the very beginning...Genesis 1:13-18.
A most Excellent article ET...thank you for it and the link !!
Lev 23:41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.:
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
Notice � �that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:�
43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Notice �� That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths�
*** I am not an Israelite�I was born a pagan/gentile and do not read here that being as such, am to do as such as I am not. However I�ve found that studying about all the Feasts that they are the �LORDS Feasts� that HIS people shall come before HIM and Celebrate what HE has done for them. And out of utmost respect for my LORD�s most HOLY Convocations I pay attention to these Feasts and Acknowledge HIM and give much Praise and Thanks for HIS Mercy and Grace that has been bestowed upon me through HIS son Jesus the Christ / Yahshua Hamashia�
GOD�s continued Blessings and Grace Abound and Abide to yall !!! X <>< O
Blessings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, the most high and worthy Lamb of God, Christ Jesus!
We all have our own ways of worshipping the ancient of days, our Lord Yahweh, and if celebrating this festival edifies your spirit, helps you to grow more in it and gives you comfort, I am sincerely overjoyed for you!
I must however note, for those who are perhaps still new in Christ or who otherwise are confused by a Christian celebrating Jewish festivals, this is not a necessary part of Christian discipleship. We have a Jewish heritage yes, and in the sense that we have an adoption into the son-ship of Jacob (Israel), even Abraham, even Adam, even Abba our father. Nevertheless, for reasons of the sacrifice of his only begotten son, the Christ from before the foundation of the world, Emanuel, God who is forever with us; we are saved by Grace through Faith.
And what an honour and privilege that is!
If however a Christian viewed these festivals as somehow important to their salvation, I would have to strongly admonish them, with love. That view would be a false doctrine and actually potentially so damaging to ones faith that I would begin to question whether such a person was in fact actually, in Christ by faith. For we are indeed saved not by our works but by our faith in the Son of God. Not to mention the damage caused by the teaching of such a doctrine to impressionable young/new Christians.
All blessings in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus!
