Why Throngs of Christians Observe the Feast of Tabernacles - AARON EBY CHARISMA NEWS

Sukkot booth (Pinterest )

Why Throngs of Christians Observe the Feast of Tabernacles

10/13/2016 AARON EBY  CHARISMA NEWS

Every year, throngs of Christians from all over the world flood the streets of Jerusalem in October, waving flags of Israel and the nations from which they come. It is a beautiful expression of solidarity for Israel and love for the Jewish people.

Many of these Christians are inspired by biblical prophecy. According to Zechariah,"Then it will be that all the nations who have come against Jerusalem and survived will go up each year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles" (Zech. 14:16, MEV).

But what is the Feast of Tabernacles?

The Feast of Tabernacles, also called the Feast of Booths in some translations, is one of the biblical holidays described in Leviticus 23. Jewish people do not typically refer to it as "the Feast of Tabernacles" (or "Booths") but more commonly refer to it by its Hebrew name: Sukkot, which this year falls on Monday, October 17.

What is a Sukkah?

"Tabernacles" and "booths" are attempts to translate sukkot into English. The singular form is sukkah.

A sukkah is a makeshift shade from the sun made from readily available materials. For example, during the harvest season of late summer, a laborer might rise early and work throughout the morning. Then as the oppressive midday sun bears down, he takes a break. Using leftover plant stalks, leaves, and branches, he constructs a simple shelter to provide him with shade.

When traveling through Israel's countryside during the harvest season in biblical times, one would no doubt have seen many of these little shelters in fields, vineyards and orchards. But they are not just for harvest. Jonah also built such a sukkah to sit in as he waited to see what would come of Nineveh (Jon. 4:5). Jacob built sukkot for his cattle in his journeys, and actually named the place after them (Gen. 33:17).

When the ancient Israelites emerged from Egypt, they left their houses behind. At first, they would not even have had tents to pitch to protect themselves. They would have gathered whatever brush they could find to keep the sun off their heads. God Himself also sheltered them from the sun's rays; His presence was the sukkah they needed!

Because of its uses, the sukkah is a symbol for both harvest and sojourning.

The Biblical Source

Given this information, let's take a look at the institution of this holiday in the Bible:

"Speak to the children of Israel, saying: The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles [Sukkot] for seven days to the Lord" (Lev. 23:34, MEV).

"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep a feast to the Lord for seven days. On the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. You shall take on the first day the branches of majestic trees—branches of palm trees, branches of leafy trees, and willows from a brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native children of Israel shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Lev. 23:39-43, MEV).

To summarize this passage:

• Sukkot is a happy seven-day holiday.
• It starts on the 15th day of the seventh month.
• It is connected to the harvest.
• The first and eighth days are days of rest.
• One should rejoice using four kinds of plants.
• It is an everlasting commandment.
• Jewish people in Israel are commanded to dwell in a sukkah for seven days.
• It is a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt.

Happy Campers

Today Jewish people all over the world, not just in Israel, construct sukkot to celebrate this joyous festival. Usually this takes the form of a small hut with natural plant material, such as branches or bamboo. Then decorations and furnishings are added to make it feel festive and comfortable. Depending on the weather and climate, one might eat meals or even sleep in the sukkah each night.

The four plants mentioned in the verse (identified as a citron fruit, palm branch, myrtle branches, and willow branches) are bound together. Each day, participants shake them in each direction as an expression of prayer and worship.

On the seventh day, called Hoshana Rabba, there are prayers for rain. In ancient times, these prayers accompanied a ceremony in which water from the pool of Siloam was poured on the Temple altar.

In the gospel of John, Jesus taught in the Temple during Sukkot (John 7:2–14). It was on the seventh day, Hoshana Rabba, when He said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38, MEV).

Sukkot in the Future

Sukkot may contain symbols of the past, but it is a future-focused holiday. It occurs at the very culmination of the calendar: after the harvest, in the seventh month, on the 15th day (the full moon), and lasting for seven days. It depicts the messianic future of peace and God's provision.

As the prophet Zechariah declared, one day all nations will flow to Jerusalem for the festival. So why not start now? 

Aaron Eby is a writer, teacher, and translator for the Messianic ministry of First Fruits of Zion (www.ffoz.org), an international organization with offices in Israel, Canada, and USA, bringing Messianic Jewish teaching to Christians and Jews. Aaron is also a member of the Board of Directors for The Bram Center for Messianic Jewish Learning in Jerusalem (thebramcenter.org).

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How Christians Can Stand in Unity With Jewish Brothers and Sisters Worldwide - AARON EBY CHARISMA NEWS

Tower of David in Jerusalem (Wikimedia Commons )

How Christians Can Stand in Unity With Jewish Brothers and Sisters Worldwide

 9/14/2016 AARON EBY  CHARISMA NEWS

About 120 Jewish men and women, followers of Jesus of Nazareth, gathered together in Solomon's Colonnade, under the shade of its cedar beams. They assembled for prayer in the Temple Courts alongside Jews from all over the world in honor of the biblical festival called Shavuot or Pentecost.

Following Jesus' command, these disciples had remained in Jerusalem after His ascension. It was there that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Jerusalem, they were transformed from a small band of disciples into a true ekklesia (assembly).

Just before His ascension, Jesus told His followers that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth (Acts 1:8). Notice how Jesus Himself envisions the world with Jerusalem at its center.

Jerusalem is mentioned no less than 58 times in the book of Acts alone. The followers of Jesus met regularly in Solomon's Portico, an area within the Temple courts. And even as the message spread across the region, Jerusalem remained the home base of the apostles. Paul would collect donations from other communities of believers and bring them to the apostolic community in the holy city.

Like other Jews, first-century followers of Messiah faced Jerusalem when they prayed. It represented for them the hope of redemption and the Second Coming of Jesus.

As the church began to distance herself from her Jewish roots, reverence for Jerusalem was lost. Instead of facing Jerusalem in prayer, Christians began to adopt the more universal custom of simply facing east regardless of location. This is the custom among Orthodox Christians to this day.

But today, more and more Christians are recognizing Jerusalem as the "apple of God's eye," knowing that this is the place of Messiah's glorious return. It makes sense to stand in solidarity with the Jewish people today and return to the ancient practice.

Spiritual Jerusalem

Why turn to face a physical place? Didn't Jesus say to the Samaritan woman that true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23)? Isn't the present Jerusalem "in slavery," while the Jerusalem above is "our mother" (Gal. 4:25-26)? Doesn't the body of Messiah now constitute the Temple and dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Eph. 4:22)?

In speaking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus confirmed that the Jewish people possess the true revelation of God. He told her, "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). But Jesus was aware that only one generation later, the Romans would ransack the Temple and tear it down to its foundation. Despite its holy, chosen status and glorious future, it would not always be physically possible to pray there. And yet, we worship in spirit, turning our hearts toward Jerusalem and anticipating God's future plans. (Thank God, in our time Jerusalem is inhabited by Jews once more, and people once again worship there every day!)

In Galatians, Paul contrasts the "present Jerusalem" with the "Jerusalem above." But this is not a new idea that originated with Paul. The ancient rabbis also knew and talked about the "Jerusalem above." This in no way minimizes the importance of Jerusalem—actually, it emphasizes it.

After all, how many cities are there that have a heavenly version? This just shows that our Jerusalem on Earth is a physical representative of a tremendous spiritual reality.

Similarly, the concept of a spiritual Temple did not originate with Christianity. For example, the ancient rabbis looked closely at the verse, "And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst" (Ex. 25:8). In Hebrew, this verse can also be understood as "They will make Me a sanctuary, but I will dwell within them." In other words, God's faithful people have always constituted a dwelling place for His Spirit.

This illustrates an important concept in a Jewish frame of mind: physical and spiritual realities can exist simultaneously. The heavenly tabernacle already existed before God commanded Moses to build one on Earth; the heavenly tabernacle was the "pattern" that God showed him on the mountain (Ex. 25:9). One does not negate or obviate the other.

Turning the Heart

If you don't know which way is Jerusalem, or if it is just not practical for in your time and place, then don't worry.  We are not praying to Jerusalem; we are praying to our Father in heaven. Direct your heart toward Him.

There is nothing magical about facing a certain direction in prayer. God could hear our prayers even if we were speaking into a hole in the ground! And it certainly has no bearing on our salvation.

And yet, prayer is communication. Communication not only exists in the word we speak, but also in body language. Think of what it conveys when a person faces away from you while speaking, or when someone's eyes are darting elsewhere. What would that kind of distraction look like in prayer?

The author of Hebrews invokes Zion and Jerusalem as symbolic of the new covenant enacted through our Messiah:

"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Heb. 12:22-24)

By turning to face Jerusalem, we express to God our desire to step into line with His plans and purposes in this world. We show that He has our full attention. We communicate that we are eager to see Messiah return.

When Christians turn their hearts and faces toward the holy city, anticipating its redemption and transformation through Messiah, they stand in unity with our Jewish brothers and sisters all across the world. They unite with countless generations of Jewish people going back to the earliest followers of Jesus. 

Aaron Eby is a writer, teacher, and translator for the messianic ministry of First Fruits of Zion (ffoz.org), an international organization with offices in Israel, Canada and USA, bringing Messianic Jewish teaching to Christians and Jews. Aaron is also on the board of directors for The Bram Center for Messianic Jewish Learning in Jerusalem (thebramcenter.org).

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Did you enjoy this blog? Click here to receive it by email.