Forgive the belatedness of this post; my seminary studies
have kept me occupied. Beginning this past Monday through this approaching
Monday, is the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles on the Hebrew calendar.
Sundown will mark the end of the appointed time with Simchat Torah—the
celebration of Torah.
It is important to note, the reason for examining the
feasts, is to celebrate the Christology in them, and the fulfillment of them in
Christ. I do not “keep” the feasts, but I celebrate them, and I study them to
gain an understanding of end time events. Not all of the feasts have been
fulfilled. The fall feasts, (The Feast of Trumpets, The Feast of Tabernacles,
and the Day of Atonement), speak to future events. For believers in Christ, He
is our atonement, but there is coming a day when all Israel will look upon Him
who they pierced (see
Zech.
12:10) and receive Him as the Messiah.
I do not waste time trying
to determine when Christ is coming back, for no man knows the hour (see
Matt.
24). But Jesus does tell us that we will know the season:
Now learn the
parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts
forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see
all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door
(vv. 32-33)
. He also warned us
that we would see signs in the heavens (see Lk.
21:25).
Luke 23 describes the Lord’s command for the Feast of
Tabernacles. The people are to build temporary tents. The
NASB renders
it the Feast of Booths; it is the Lord’s appointed time to remind the
Israelites of their season in the wilderness, of living in tents, and how the
Lord sustained them (
Lev.
23:33-44). It is also a time to celebrate in
awe
and wonder that the Creator of the universe came to
dwell
with His people.
The feast falls at the end of the harvest, and ushers in the
beginning of the rain and new winter planting season. Tabernacles is kept for
eight days after the corn and wine have been gathered. The corn represents the
Word of God; the corn and wine together represent the fullness of God’s
blessing, and speaks to the millennial kingdom when all God’s people will be
gathered to Him. For this world is temporary:
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the
coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil,
being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You
too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord
is near (Jas. 5:7-8).
A sacrifice was to be offered—there must be a blood offering.
The priests sacrificed seventy bulls—one for each nation of the earth and the
seventy souls that came out from Jacob.
This feast is not yet fulfilled, the answer to this season
of festive joy is still in the future— the future days of glory when Christ and
His risen saints will return with Him, and reign over a world rejoicing in His
coming. Israel will be restored to their land and to Yeshua, their Redeemer. He
will be head of the nations and under his righteousness creation will no longer
groan, but will rejoice at the redemption of all things.
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for
all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile
all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His
cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things
in heaven (Col. 1:19-20).
To all the people of the earth, the Feast of Tabernacles
points to the joy and rejoicing that waits them in the millennial reign. The
feast will be kept, and all the nations will go up to the city of the great
king to celebrate it (Zech. 14:16, 17).
God Dwells With His People
The booths were made of palm and willow branches. They serve
as a reminder for God’s chosen people of His strength and victories in the
wilderness, and His mighty works on their behalf. The willows represented the tears
that He wiped away—they have so much to be thankful for, and this festival
should evoke a worship from Israel worthy of the Lord of Glory.
During the Feast of Tabernacles, there were possibly two
million Jews in Jerusalem celebrating Jehovah’s feast; it was a time of great rejoicing—because
Yahweh is dwelling with His people. Due to the great number of people, the
priests were divided into three groups. The first group was responsible for offering
of the sacrifices. The High Priest led the second group to the Watergate, and the
Pool of Siloam. The Third group of priests went out the Beautiful Gate to cut
the palm and willow branches.
The Women’s Court was the main place for the celebration of
the feast, and it was here that the Levites played music in praise to Yahweh.
As people sang, the men would dance. While ascending the steps to the court of
Israel, the Levites played lyres, trumpets, and harps. Two priests would blow
the
silver
trumpets while positioned on either side of the great gate of the Court.
In the Women’s Court stood four massive
lampstands. Each lampstand was capped with a golden bowl, and they stood
approximately seventy-five feet high. The wicks for these lampstands were worn-out
priestly garments, and young priests in training would climb to the top carrying
large jugs of oil to fill the bowls. The light emanating from these lampstands
filled every courtyard in Jerusalem. It was during this feast, with the
lampstands burning bright, that Yeshua proclaimed Himself to be the
Light
of the World.
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (Jn.
8:12). Oil also represents the Holy Spirit.
The water libation ceremony commenced at the Watergate. A
parade of faithful Jewish pilgrims marched with the high priest to the pool of Siloam;
the pool of living water. The priest then filled a golden vase (representing
divinity) with living water from the pool, while a second priest filled a vase
of wine in a silver pitcher (representing redemption); speaking to the blood
and the water—the two elements of the crucifixion.
On the last day of the feast the pilgrims then performed a
“Jericho march” around the altar seven times, and with singing, ascended the
stairs to the Temple, and poured out the blood and water on the altar. This is
the water libation. The people pray for rain and blessings upon the earth for
the coming year. The liturgy continues with the singing of
Psalm
118:
The Lord is my strength and song, And He has
become my salvation. The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in
the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does
valiantly (vv.14-15).
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and
not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He
has become my salvation.” Therefore you will joyously draw water from
the springs of salvation. And in that day you will say, Give thanks
to the Lord, call on His name. “Make known His deeds among the peoples;
Make them remember that His name is exalted.” Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things; Let
this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant
of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel (vv.1-6).
The imagery is stunning. The blood sacrifices and the water is
a picture of Christ pouring blood and water from His body on the altar of
redemption. Through His blood we are saved and our sins are symbolically washed
away through water baptism (see
Acts
22:16). The
Brazen
Altar is a shadow of Christ’s blood sacrifice and the
Brazen
Laver, the washing away of sin.
The third group of priests marched from the Beautiful Gate to
the Motzah Valley to cut branches from the willows, palms, and other luxurious
trees. Imagine the scene. Thousands of priests walking in sync and waving the
branches; stepping and waving, stepping and waving. The waving created a
swooshing noise. The Hebrew word for wind is ruach, meaning spirit. The
word for the Holy Spirit is ruach hakodesh. The swishing is an illustration
of the Holy Spirit’s breath that would blow in the temple. It was symbolic of
the Spirit of God coming to Jerusalem.
The liturgy of the feast represents the Trinity; the blood,
water, and Spirit.
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus
Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that
beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood: and these three agree in one (1 Jn.5:6-8).
The three processions
make their way to the Temple, where a priest stands playing a flute, calling each to the Temple. Because the flute
is pierced, the flute player is known as the pierced one—the pierced
one is calling for the wind and water to enter the Temple.
I will pour out on the house of David and on the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that
they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him,
as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like
the bitter weeping over a firstborn (
Zech.
12:10).
The Lulav
The liturgy of rejoicing is accompanied by a
lulav which
is made from the branches of four trees (Lev. 23:40), each represents life in
the wilderness. The palm tree represents the strength and victory of God, and
it is a Jewish picture of joy. Remember that the people used palm branches to
welcome Yeshua as the King of Israel (see
Jn.
12:13). Palm branches will again be
waved to welcome Christ:
After these things I looked, and behold, a great
multitude which no one could count, from every nation
and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm
branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud
voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the
Lamb” (
Rev.
7:9-10).
The lulav also contained myrtle branches, which represents
the rest God gives to the people on Sabbath cycles. The willow branches evoke
memories of sorrow and weeping. During
the Babylonia exile, the Jews hung their harps on the willow trees and refused
to sing the Lord’s songs while in exile:
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down
and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the
midst of it we hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of
us songs, And our tormentors mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the
songs of Zion.” How can we sing the Lord’s song in a
foreign land? (Ps. 137:1-4).
The fourth branch in the lulav is the citron, which
is a citrus tree that is bitter and sour—to remember times of bitterness and of
their slavery.
Jesus and the Feast Of Tabernacles
On the last day of the feast, Christ is in the temple near
the brass altar as the high priest is pouring out the wine and water, praying for
the rains, and for the Spirit to be poured out. Suddenly, according to v. 37,
He cries out and interrupts the song service of Psalm 118 and Isaiah 12, and proclaims
that He is very One about which they are singing:
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and
not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He
has become my salvation.” Therefore you will joyously draw water from
the springs of salvation. And in that day you will say, Give thanks
to the Lord, call on His name. “Make known His deeds among the peoples;
Make them remember that His name is exalted.” Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things; Let
this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant
of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel (vv.1-6).
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. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said,
‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living
water.’” 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 (Jn. 7:37-39).
Jesus declares that He is the water of salvation. Shout
aloud for the Lord God is standing in your midst. The Hebrew word for
salvation in Isaiah is Yeshua, He is the well of Salvation, and with
joy, they shall draw water from His wells. He is literally standing in their midst.
The libations are to ask God for rain for the season, and
for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to reach the four corners of the earth. Jesus
connects the last day of Tabernacles with the coming outpouring of the Spirit.
The
lulav branches are beaten on the side of the
altar following the pouring out of the blood and water by the high priest. Christ
then cries out for the outpouring of the Spirit. The coming of the Spirit was
preceded by the beating of the Messiah, and the pouring out of the blood and
water from His body. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was only possible
because of the death of Christ our
Great High Priest (
Heb.4:14-16),
and the pouring out of His life on redemption’s altar.
The seasons of the fall feasts, are known as “the seasons of
our joy.” It begins with the Feast of Trumpets and ends with the Feast of Tabernacles.
The trumpet sounds as a warning that the Day of Atonement is coming, and on
that day, God will determine judgment or mercy; it is a solemn day. However, repentance
is followed by great joy and rejoicing. Jesus teaches us that the angels and
all of heaven rejoice when one sinner repents (see
Luke
15).
Everything in this feast, like the others, speaks to the
person, ministry, and work of Christ. The Bible says that
all nations will
celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles during the millennial reign of Christ. Every
nation that does not come up to the Feast of Tabernacles will not receive the
rain that the feast is designed to bring.
In
Mark
9, Peter, James and John witness Christ in His glory in the
Transfiguration. When Moses and Elijah appear to minister to Jesus, Peter is
emphatic about constructing a tabernacle for the three of them. He thought this
because the Transfiguration occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles. This
reminds us that Jesus is coming back, and we will rule and reign with Him. It is the only feast that Jews and Gentiles
will celebrate and rejoice in together. Celebrate and look for the return of
Christ; for it is near, even at the door, and we will dwell with Him forever.
