Understanding the Feast of Tabernacles

Peter Fitch, St. Croix VineyardSunday, November 22, 2015

• Jewish feast of Tabernacles was September 28 to October 4th this year (15-21 of Tishri, the 7th month)

• Thanksgiving Holiday has some common elements (some think the Pilgrims used Tabernacles as a model for the original North American ceremony)

The Jewish Calendar

• A rhythm of life: Sabbaths, Feasts, Festivals• A way to stay close to God and to transfer

devotion to children (Kind of like Toilet Training in-a-day)

• Three great (important) feasts: Passover, Weeks (Pentecost), Tabernacles

The Feast of Tabernacles

• Also called Succoth—Gen. 33:17 Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

• Main references: Lev. 23; Num. 29; Deut. 16; Deut. 31; Neh. 8; Zech. 14

Biblical Meaning of Succoth (Booths)

• Remember you were sojourners in the wilderness (deeply dependent upon God)

• Rejoice in the bounty of the harvest• Help your children to fear and appreciate the

Lord

Religious Meaning in Judaism

• The harvest festival of joyRabbinical Saying: “He who has not seen Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles does not know what rejoicing means”

• The pinnacle of all the feasts of the yearJosephus: “the greatest and holiest feast of the Jews”

• A time to pray on behalf of all the other nations (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 = 70 bulls)

• End of the annual Torah cycle on 8th day—Simchath Torah

John 7 Jesus & Succoth

• 1 After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.

• 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near.

• 3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, "Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.

John 7 Causing a Stir

• 10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.

• 11 So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, "Where is He?"

• 12 There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, "He is a good man"; others were saying, "No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray."

John 7 Astonishing the Crowds

• 14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.

• 15 The Jews then were astonished, saying, "How has this man become learned, having never been educated?"

• 16 So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

• 17 "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

John 7 Answering the Cry

• 37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

• 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."'

• 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 7 Division Over Christ

• 40 Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, "This certainly is the Prophet."

• 41 Others were saying, "This is the Christ." Still others were saying, "Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?

• 42 "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"

• 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.

1st Century Succoth Celebration

• People streaming to Jerusalem in large companies (Remember Luke 2—Joseph and Mary didn’t know for a whole day that Jesus wasn’t with them on the return trip to Nazareth)

• Families bringing tithes and offerings• Temple treasury opened to be refilled with

gifts for the poor and needy throughout the land

1st Century Succoth Celebration

• People building booths to live in so they can see the stars and remember absolute dependence upon the leading of God in the days of their need

• Lulav—branches of palm, myrtle, willow tied with golden thread, waved during parts of services

• Ethrog—each person came to the Temple holding a piece of citrus fruit in his hand, symbolic of the abundance of the Promised Land

The Ritual

Each day for 6 days, a priest went to the Pool of Siloam and filled a golden pitcher with water that was poured into a basin at the foot of the altar. A pitcher of wine was also poured into the same basin. Special pipes carried the water and the wine back to the Brook of Kidron.

Leading to the Great Day of the Feast

On the last day, the great day, Hoshana Rabba, the day of the great Hosanna, all the elements built to a climax. A procession went with the priest, another group stayed for prayer, another group got branches from outside of town to adorn the altar with bows forming a leafy canopy. The group coming back from the Pool of Siloam arrived just as the offering had been prepared on the altar.

The Moment Approaches

The water and the wine are poured into the basin at the altar

Priests blew shofars, Levites sang, people waved lulavs, everyone chanted the Hallel (Psalms 113-118), priests led a procession around the altar 7 times

It all focuses on the end of Psalm 118

Psalm 118

• Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD.

• 20 This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous will enter through it.

• 21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation.

• 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.

Psalm 118

• 23 This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.

• 24 This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

• 25 O LORD, do save, we beseech You; O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity!

• 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

Psalm 118

• 27 The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

• 28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You.

• 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Out of the Silence

• All of this ends with the great Hosanna (Save now), which was implicitly Messianic, as the people cried together for the hope of Israel

• Suddenly Jesus stands up and cries out“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”

Look Again at John 7:37-39

• 37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

• 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."'

• 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

How Does This Relate to Thanksgiving?

• Remember God’s question to Adam when he hid in the garden, “Where are you?”

• Everything has been shrinking since that time, but there has been a promise of water to come and fill the empty channels of the human soul

• Jesus restores the flow of living water—He brings back life (not bios but zoe)

How Does This Relate to Our Vision?

• All around all of us everyday are people who don’t know that their deepest longings can be fulfilled

• There is One who can start the water flowing back into their lives

• We pray for them, serve them, listen to them, hoping that some will take notice (“still the greatest treasure remains . . .”)

• You never know who’s ready for this adventure!

Current Thoughts

• Jesus is leading a heart-revolution against the Greco-Roman culture of His day, but also against the Jewish religious understanding

• He is breaking walls of prejudice, reaching to and protecting outsiders

• He is misunderstood by those who love Him• His work is almost sneaky at times

Sneaky?

• Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America (this past Friday night): it looked more like the kind of revolution Jesus was leading than Church voices do when they are full of protectionism and fear

• Let’s not “reject the cornerstone” at this time in history

• Receive the life of God, stand truthfully in the world for love and inclusion of others in need