Chap.4-The Feast of Tabernacles

One thing about being a Gentile celebrating the Jewish holidays is that I can break the rules a little. One year our succah or booth definitely broke the rules.
Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles centers on the booth or tabernacle that each family builds together. It must be a temporary dwelling place with at least three walls and a roof. The walls and roof are usually made of fresh green branches and one must be able to see the stars through the roof.
Since we live in Southern California our booth is usually covered with palm branches. But one year, I made a change. We put our frame up in the spring and I carefully trained a morning glory vine to grow as our walls and roof. That year we had a living tabernacle.
Not exactly a ‘kosher’ booth but a feast for the eyes, as well as, for the passing bees and humming birds. It’s customary to begin building the booth at the end of Yom Kippur not in the spring as I did.
The solemn holiday of Yom Kippur comes to an end and we have five days to build our succah and prepare for the joyous celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. A very traditional family would really need those five days to prepare. Their booth would need to be big enough and sturdy enough for the whole family to live in for eight days. In Israel, I remember seeing families bring out carpets and beds as well as tables and food. One family even had their TV in their succah.
Leviticus 23: 39-44
39 ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day.
40 ‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
41 ‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statue throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 ‘You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths,
43 so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the Lord.

Maybe the pilgrims had these verses in mind when they brought in their harvest and had their outdoor Thanksgiving feast. One theme of the Feast of Booths is the harvest celebration. The succah is decorated with fruit and vegetables thanking God for the harvest.
But why live in these little shacks? I’ve heard the theory that families all needed to be on hand in the fields during the harvest and that living in booths made this a bit easier. But I think the book of Leviticus has given us the reason right along with the command.
Lev. 23: 43 so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt.

We need to remember that journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Our children need to remember it and teach it to their children. Was living in the wilderness in booths a hardship? Perhaps. But it’s not the hardships of the journey that these booths we build signify. They signify the blessings!
These blessings are the blessings of God’s constant provision. That is; manna in a fruitless wilderness, water in a barren desert, escape from ruthless taskmasters. But the greatest provision, the main theme of Succoth is God’s presence, Emanuel or ‘God with us.’
After 300 years of slavery in Egypt, the wilderness was freedom. But even more importantly God was now physically with them. He dwelt or ‘tabernacled’ with them.

Exodus 40: 34-38
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 And throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;
37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.
38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

As a pillar of fire by night providing light and warmth and as a cloud by day providing relief from the sun and heat, God dwelt with them. He even had his own booth!
Now, as we sit in the succah, a temporary structure, we remember that the wilderness experience was not permanent, that the Promised Land was ahead.
We can see the stars through the branches reminding us of God’s sovereignty.
The walls are heavy with fruit reminding us of His provision.
But most importantly the Booth itself, reminding us that God dwells, that is, tabernacles with us.

Leviticus 23:40
40 ‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

This is another fun part of Feast of Tabernacles, waving branches before the Lord. As we read in Leviticus not just any branches. Four species are wrapped together and waved in four directions, north, south, east, and west, while reciting the Hallel or praise psalms, Psalms 113-118. Palm, myrtle, willow, and an Israeli fruit called a citron (sort of a big lumpy lemon) are raised in praise. Of course, this is another area where I break the rules a little and use whatever branches, I can. But one year while we were living in Tiberias by the Sea of Galilee, I decided to get an official-kosher lulav and citron. With two babies in tow, I made my way to the market place and found the stand selling citrons and lulavs… I should say lulavim (plural for lulav). A lulav is the name for the wrap of branches. The very orthodox salesman looked quite surprised by my request and I was quite surprised by the price. I thought our congregation back home had to pay so much because they brought these in from Israel but I guess they are just plain expensive.
Well, my lulav was lovely. The palm branch was taken from the new shoot right from the center of the tree. It was so fresh that it still pointed straight up like an arrow. The children in our neighborhood were very impressed with my purchase. I suppose only the rabbi or leader of a synagogue get them in Israel just like back home.
I had them wave the branch and repeat the blessing with me:
“Ana Adoni Ho Shiana”
“Lord do save us!”
We waved them to the north, south, east and west.
Then on the last day of the feast, we shared the citron. Most of the children had never tasted one before. I hadn’t either. It was sour with a lovely perfume.

One of Jesus’ best friends while he walked in Israel, was a young man named John. Jesus had a nickname for him and his brother, ‘Sons of Thunder.’ Their father’s name was ‘Zebedee’ meaning thunder but the fact that they were quite outspoken and self-assured, probably also had something do with the nickname.
But I’d imagine Jesus usually called John by his Hebrew name Yochanan. Yochanan had been a follower of John the Baptister but quickly became a disciple of Jesus, when he was told, “this is the Lamb of God.”
Yochanan loved the Biblical Holidays and included them in the book he wrote about his time with Jesus.
In the first chapter, Yochanan speaks of Messiah, calling him the Word.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God.

John goes on to describe how Messiah would come into the world but not be accepted by the world.

John 1:10-13
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Then in verse 14, John gives us the true reason why the Feast of Tabernacles is such a beautiful holiday.

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt (or tabernacled) among us.

Jesus was Emanuel, which means in English, ‘God with us.’ He dwelt with us; living God made flesh, tabernacling with us.
In John 15: 1-11, Jesus speaks of his followers as branches. These branches must abide in the Vine, the Vine that he claims to be.

John 15: 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.

Surrounded by our booth made of branches, which symbolize Jesus dwelling with us, we can truly feel the way John must have felt when he wrote these words of Jesus’. We can bear fruit if we abide in him as He abides in us.
Sit and feast in the Succah of the Lord. Rejoice in his provision of abundant fruit. Feel his presence, Emanuel, God dwells with us.

Yochanan writes of lulav waving in his book.

John 12: 12-13a On the next day the great multitude who had come to the Feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him,

This didn’t happen during the Feast of Tabernacles but the people seemed to be caught up in the Spirit of Succoth. They began to quote from the Hillel Ps. 118:25-26 directly.

John 12: 13b “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.”

Like the kids in our succah in Tiberias they were shouting out, ‘Lord Save Us!’ while waving the palm branches.
If we read a few verses earlier from this Hillel Psalm we find a mirror of John’s words from the beginning of his book.

Ps. 118:22
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.
John 1:11
He came to His own and those who were his own did not receive Him.

But did this Son of David, this Galilean claim to be the ‘chief cornerstone’? Yochanan shows us the answer at another Feast of Tabernacles celebration he spent with Jesus. They were in Jerusalem and it was the last day of the feast, the great day.
A joyous procession took place on this final day of Succoth. Water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam and carried by the Priest to the temple where he poured it out upon the altar. In the midst of these joyous festivities John tells us that a voice cries out.

John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
38 “He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’”

This man stands up and claims to be the answer to the prayers being offered up. As the people pray for rain and as the traditional song from Isaiah 12:3 says “ water from the wells of salvation,” is sung.
A man, whose name, Jesus or Yeshua, means salvation, calls out that he is that living water. He is the fountain of living water spoken of by Isaiah.
A man claims to be in no uncertain terms, the well of salvation, the foundation, the Chief Cornerstone.
Was Jesus thinking of Zechariah or was Zechariah thinking hundreds of years ahead when he wrote:

Zechariah 14:8a And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem…

One thing for sure Zechariah was looking forward to the days of Messiah. He had faith that those days would come. He ended his book with an amazing account that I’m sure Yochanan loved to read:

Zechariah 14:16-18 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

I believe Zechariah was looking even beyond our time when he wrote these words. He was looking to the time of Messiah, to the time when Messiah will tabernacle with us without end, to the time when the Feast of Booths will never end.
So perhaps my unconventional succah holds a special message. A living tabernacle representing our living God who will dwell with us forever and forever, in Hebrew, 'Vaed!'

Questions for Succoth
1. Whenever I see a new palm shoot pointing straight up on the top of a palm tree, I think of the lesson of God’s presence with us. Are there certain examples in nature that make you mindful of God?
2. Read Nehemiah 8:18. The Israelites discovered a tradition which had been lost and immediately began celebrating and practicing it again. Do any of your discoveries of the Biblical Holidays cause you to want to begin celebrating?
3. Read Psalm 113. Can you find Jesus in this Hillel psalm? (verse 6a compare with Phil.2:8.)
4. Read John 15. How can you abide in him even when the Succah is taken down for the year?
5. John 7 takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles. Outline this chapter giving special attention to the days of the Feast.

Chap. 3-Yom Kippur

At the end of Rosh Hashanah, at the ceremony of Tash Lich, we watch the breadcrumbs float away and our hearts rejoice to think of our sins cast away “into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19). In ten days will be Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and these ten days are spent in preparation.
As volunteers on the kibbutz, my husband and I had very little. Our room had 2 beds, a wardrobe, and one desk. We had brought only what we could carry in our backpacks so sleeping bags became our blankets and jackets, our pillows.
We were surprised and delighted when during these ten days of preparation, we became the recipients of many mitzvahs or good deeds. Tables, blankets, even, an old black and white T.V., were given to us by kindly kibbutzniks. It’s no coincidence that a telethon is held in this season.
Those crumbs may have sunk to the depths of the sea but now a real attempt is made to start off on the right foot and try to do good works. Of course, we’ve all made these attempts. Unfortunately, our resolutions are usually built upon human resolve and like New Year's resolutions through the ages, doomed to fail.
Actually I’d say ten days is just about enough time to realize that once again I won’t make it. These days of repentance, ‘turning around,’ making tishuvi, are pointless without Yom Kippur. When Yom Kippur arrives we are heartily ready for it!

Now I shall have to talk about two different Yom Kippurs, most of which isn’t practiced today. Leviticus gives directions to the priests on the sacrifices to take place on this most holy of days. The priests or Levites chose a special lot-selected goat called the scapegoat. This was the one-day during the year that a priest entered the Holy of Holies, a special veiled place within the tabernacle. He offered the blood from the sacrifice within this holy place. Then the priest would lay his bloodied hands upon the scapegoat and send it off into the wilderness. This scapegoat was selected by lot to bear the iniquities of the people. As it says in Leviticus 16:22;
And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land, released into the wilderness.
Well, today there is no sacrifice, no temple, no tabernacle… there are Levites but they aren’t priests. As one of my kibbutznik girlfriends explained it, because her father’s family name was Levi, he sometimes did special things in the synagogue. But when I tried to ask her about the blood sacrifice of Yom Kippur and about the scapegoat, she had no idea what I was talking about. “Oh blood sacrifices, that’s a Christian thing,” she said.
Yom Kippur of today is still a solemn ‘Sabbath’ or day of rest so solemn that my girlfriend dreaded it. Fasting from sundown to sundown, no TV, or other entertainment, a long synagogue service, there’s no animal sacrifice, but instead a personal sacrifice of humbling oneself. Fasting, prayer, and gifts of charity have replaced the blood sacrifice and the scapegoat. Much time is spent in the synagogue listening to the Torah (Bible) reading for the day and praying. Yom Kippur ends with the ‘Neilah’ or the 'closing of the gates' service. Some believe this is the last chance to make it into those gates of heaven for the coming year. Then the shofar (trumpet) blasts a long tekia gedolah (great blast) and the gates close, Yom Kippur has ended for another year.
But what about the Kippur, the Atonement? Atonement means reconciliation (forgiveness) for the guilty by divine sacrifice. Where is that scapegoat? An often-used symbol of Yom Kippur is the balancing scales. I know that if I were being judged, I would be like King Belshazzar in Daniel 5:27…
You have been weighed on the scales and been found wanting.
I have a suspicion that most people would agree with me about themselves and if they didn’t agree they would be even more ‘found wanting!’

So how can we hope to tip those scales with humbling ourselves, prayer, and charity? It’s not enough. That’s why there were the blood sacrifices and the scapegoat. The fasting just wasn’t enough to carry those iniquities into the wilderness. We need propitiation, a divine sacrifice, a scapegoat to bear our iniquities and remove them as far as the east is from the west.
Thankfully God has always known our need for atonement and has always provided a sacrifice. There were the animal skins covering Adam and Eve’s nakedness. The ram caught in the bushes given instead of Isaac for Abraham to offer on the altar. But as Abraham spoke prophetically to his son Isaac on the way to the mountain, “God will provide himself a sacrifice.” That Atonement, that scapegoat, that propitiation was yet to come. My kibbutznik friend was mistaken. Blood sacrifice was and is a very important part of Judaism and especially of Yom Kippur.
The scripture reading for Yom Kippur includes Isaiah 58. Isaiah was a prophet of amazing vision and insight. He spoke of things that would happen to his generation and of things that would come many generations later. His words in Chapter 58, verse 1., are perfect for Yom Kippur.
Cry loudly. Do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to my people their transgressions,
And to the house of Jacob their sins.The mention of the shofar reminds us of the repentance of the Feast of Trumpets, of returning to God and turning from our sins.
Then in verse 3-10, Isaiah speaks of the right way to fast, the right motives to have in your heart. This is a wonderful message for Yom Kippur.
But this fasting and humbling isn’t enough. As we read on in Isaiah 59:2…
But your iniquities have made a
Separation between you and your God.
And your sins have hidden His face
From you, so that He does not hear.There is a separation between God and us. A gap, a chasm, our sins keeps us from Him. No matter how hard we try this is not a river we can ford. God, himself must provide the solution, the Kippur, the atonement.
Then in Isaiah 59:16, God gives Isaiah a prophecy of that solution.
And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no
one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him;
And His righteous upheld Him.His own arm would bring the solution. The one to intercede, the one to bring salvation, the one to be the scapegoat would be ‘God himself.’
As we continue to read Isaiah’s book, we come to chapter 61. In fact, Jesus was called up to read from Isaiah one Sabbath. He was home for the holiday as any good Jewish boy would be. Attending services in his hometown synagogue, waiting for the fast to end so he could have some of his mother's good cooking. He was becoming a famous prophet and rabbi so the community was delighted to have him read this Sabbath.
Luke 4:16-21 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach
The gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim re-
Lease to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are downtrodden,
19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”He stops half way through a verse and closes the book as it says in verses 20 and 21.
20 And He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him.
21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”Which scripture is he referring to?
He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he sent me to proclaim release to the captives recovery of sight to the blind… to set free those who are downtrodden…
He was here to set them free. It is finished. I am here. Heneni, which translates from Hebrew… ‘Here I am.’ I am the atonement, the Kippur. He was claiming to be the atonement. There was no more vengeance. That was over and done.
Jesus is our Kippur. Jesus is our atonement. These words that Jesus spoke about proclaiming liberty to captives, freeing prisoners and binding up the broken hearted. This mirrors the verse from Isaiah 58. These verses spoken on Yom Kippur from Isaiah 58:6
6 “is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free,
And break every yoke?
Today, this has been fulfilled by the Messiah himself!
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’Heneni! It is finished. It is ended. God provided Himself a sacrifice. Jesus is our scapegoat.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 59:16 And he saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him;
And His righteousness upheld Him.Thank God that His own arm, his own Messiah has brought salvation.

Group Study Questions for Yom Kippur
1. Read Micah 7:19 and celebrate your own Tash Lich daily. Those sins are gone. How can we keep from fishing for them again? Do you think God ever goes fishing for them?
2. Think of some times when your resolutions have been ‘found wanting.’ Ask God to give you goals instead of setting goals from your own ego or desires. Share!
3. What’s the fast, which God desires? Hints…. Isaiah 58, Psalms 51, Matthew 6:16
4. Study the ‘Here I ams' of the Bible. Discuss their significance.