Today, on the 15th of October, 2008, Jewish people around the world are celebrating Sukkot (the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles). Once again a nation is remembering how God provided for ancestors under the severe conditions of a barren wilderness.
For the people of Israel, this seventh and last of an annual cycle of Jewish holidays looks not only to the past, but to the future as well. Together the 7 ancient holy days of Israel tell the story of the most important events of human history and prophecy.
Ever since the days of Moses, observant Jewish people have seen in these times of celebration a rich picture of God’s provision. And ever since the first century, followers of Jesus have seen not only evidence of God’s ability to provide, but of the coming of His long-awaited Messiah.
According to the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, on Passover, Jesus became our Passover Lamb (paying for our life with His own). During Unleavened Bread He remained in the grave (putting away sin for us). On Firstfruits, He rose bodily from the dead to become the evidence of God’s ultimate provision, in anticipation of a last-days resurrection harvest.
Then on the fourth festival, 50 days later, the book of Acts says that a resurrected and ascended Jesus sent His Spirit to unite and empower 3,000 of those who had acknowledged him as Messiah. While these Jewish followers of Jesus became the first members of an international body called the Church, they were also the first harvest of a future regathering that would be pictured in the three holidays that remained.
After the fourth festival of Shavuot (Lit. “weeks” and also called Pentecost) several months pass. These are the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth months of the summer growing season (apparently corresponding to the period between the suffering and ruling phases of Messiah’s work).
The Feast of Trumpets. Not until the beginning of the seventh month does God call for another festival. Throughout the Jewish world, this first day of the seventh month is known as the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah. It is a day of spiritual awakening. The ram’s horn (shofar) is blown, followed by 10 days of repentance and reflection.
The Day of Atonement. On the 10th day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is observed. In Israel it is the highest holy day of the year, and the whole nation comes to a standstill. It is the only festival which is not a feast. It is a fast. On this day, Moses instructed the people of God to afflict themselves (in the awareness of sin), while waiting on God for personal and national forgiveness.
The Feast of Tabernacles. Five days later, the last of the seven feasts begins. Known as the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot in Hebrew), this is Thanksgiving Day in Israel. The Feast of Tabernacles signals the most happy holiday season of the year. The harvest is in. The barns are full, and spiritually sensitive people know that the hard work would not have paid off if God had not given conditions necessary for the harvest.
During the Feast of Tabernacles Moses instructed the children of Israel to live in “booths” for seven days to remember their years in the wilderness. For generations to come, this annual national “camp-out” would be a rich opportunity not only to remember what God had done for them in the past, but to anticipate what He would yet do in the future. (Above and to the left is a picture of one of these Sukkot “booths” built on top of an apartment building. The “booth” pictured to the right is an example of a more ancient “Sukka”. )
Many followers of Jesus join observant Jewish worshippers in believing that the feasts of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles form a group picture of what is still ahead. According to the prophets, God will call for the blowing of the shofar. He Himself will awaken Israel and regather her. He will judge His people, give the nation a spirit of repentance, and then then forgive their sins.
Then, and only then, the feasting will begin. Messiah will enter His Temple and, according to Zechariah 14:16-19, all nations will come annually to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
The difference is that while many observant Jewish families continue to look for the coming of their Messiah, followers of Jesus believe that the Messiah of Israel has already come, and that he fulfilled the ultimate meaning of the first four feasts while becoming the Savior of all who trust him!
I find the story of the Holidays of God as compelling as it is provocative. What a picture of provision, of history, of the work of the Messiah. Seven holidays. Seven reasons to stop, to think, and to remember that everything we have comes from God. Everything good comes from the One who is our Passover, our Unleavened Bread, our Firstfruit evidence of a resurrection to come. He is the one who has given His Spirit, and who now works in us in anticipation of a future sounding of the shofar that will begin the last-phase work of Messiah and fulfill all that the prophets have foreseen.
Seven holidays. Seven reasons to deepen our confidence in a Provider God, to take us back to our spiritual roots, and to prepare us for days which will come to pass.
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