Sukkot - The Feast of Tabernacles

Feast of Tabernacles Temporary Booths are constructed to remind Israel of the Wilderness wandering for forty years. A Lulav of Palm Branches are waved ushering the Kingdom--Leviticus 23:33-44.

Sukkot is observed seven days from the fifteenth day of Tishri to the twenty-first day.  This places the annual festival in the months of September or October, which comes just five days after Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement.  Unlike the Days of Awe with its mood of repentance and judgment between Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot is a time of festivity and celebration.

Sukkot was the third pilgrimage feast in which all men were to appear before the Lord at the Temple (Passover and Pentecost being the other two).  As conditions permitted, pilgrims would travel from all over Israel to Jerusalem to celebrate colorful and elaborate Temple rites, which included a large number of sacrifices each day (Numbers 29).

To appreciate the past and future meaning of Sukkot, Jewry was commanded by God to build a hut (sukkah; plural sukkot) and to dwell in these temporary structures.  "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.  Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days . . . on the eighth day hold an assembly and do no regular work," Numbers 29:12, 35.  "Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths [for forty years] when I brought them out of Egypt," Leviticus 23:42-43.

Rabbinical laws govern Judaism concerning the booth to be built during the celebration of Tabernacles

• The sukkah must be temporary, not a permanent one.  This is to remind them that for forty years Israel wandered about, until they reached Canaan.
• Jews must treat the sukkah as their home, bringing in personal belongings--furnishings, in order to eat and to recline in leisure and study.
• The roof is the key element of the sukkah--it must be grown and detached from the ground.  Branches, lathing and bamboo poles are most often used.  Enough for shade, but not too much to prevent them for seeing the heavens.
• The holiday of Sukkot is associated with beauty, therefore Jews are told to put creative effort into decorating the hut.

The sukkah is a temporary and humble dwelling that Jewish families create to which they move from an otherwise solid, permanent home.  In a home one surrounds himself with mementos and acquisitions of trinkets and sometimes elaborate collections of worldly success.  Through windows he peers out into a troublesome world, but locked panes and secure locks keep him from most dangers.  The home is his refuge from the chaotic events outside that are beyond his control.

Nonetheless, the Feast of Tabernacles (Temporary Tents/Huts) helps one realize that the best shelter is still only momentary.  Over the centuries, winds, waves and terrible storms have stripped away millions of homes in only seconds, bringing to reality how vulnerable life truly is.  Wood, walls and roofs are not where lasting security is found; rather, in the shelter of the Everlasting Arms.  The lesson to be learned from Sukkot is that earthly homes are but temporary dwellings--mere tabernacles in the wilderness.  One must not be rooted or attached to this world, to the things that will soon pass away.  

As Paul said, the Abraham "lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob . . . for he was looking forward to the city with foundations [New Jerusalem], whose architect and builder is God."  The saints of God are "aliens and strangers on earth . . . they [are] longing for a better country--a heavenly one . . . for He has prepared a [new] city for them," Hebrews 11:9, 13, 16.

Sukkot is also the festival of the future reign of Messiah in the new earth.  All the nations will gather to the New Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles each year (Zechariah 14:16).  In a symbolic manner, Sukkot concludes the story of the Israelites journey which began with the Exodus from Egypt at Passover and the giving of the Law of God at Mount Sinai on Shavuot fifty days later.  Sukkot is connected closely to the other fall feasts of Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur which just precede it.  However, Sukkot is even more a part of the yearly cycle of the major pilgrimage feasts which include Passover and Pentecost.

Like the other pilgrimage feasts, Sukkot has an agricultural element. The feast marks the time of harvest--of the final ingathering of produce before the oncoming winter.  Hence, the day is called "hag-ha-asif"--the festival of ingathering (Exodus 23:16).  The three pilgrimages foreshadow the choosing, maturing and ingathering of the 144,000 "firstfruits" to God (Revelation 14:4).  First the choosing of the grain at Passover and Day of Firstfruits, then the pouring out of the spring rain that brings the grain to maturity at Pentecost, and finally, the ingathering beginning at the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Liberation of Water

In Biblical times during the week of the Feast of Tabernacles, there was a ritual performed daily connected with the sacrificial ceremony which was called nisukh ha-mayim--the liberation of water.  The celebration itself was called simhat beit ha-sho'eivah--"the rejoicing at the place of the water-drawing."

In ancient times King David organized the Levitical choirs into singers and musicians. The full choir consisted of 4,000, including 288 Levites who were skilful players on wind, string, and percussion instruments. ( 1 Chronicles 23:5-6; 25:1-7).  They were divided into 24 Orders. They took their turns in the musical ministry of the Temple. Their songs were the Psalms - "T'hillim".

During the seven day Festival, each morning a procession of pilgrims and citizens followed a white-robed Levitical priest, who was carrying a golden pitcher. He led the people through the "Water-Gate" to the Pool of Siloam where he filled the pitcher.  The procession then followed him back to the Temple all the way singing, waving their palm branches, and dancing in the streets.

A most impressive ritual - the "Water-Pouring" ceremony! It was the highlight of the Festival. The water symbolized the rain. Now was the time to thank God, and to pray for the "latter rain" for the next Spring harvest.

Earlier that morning of the seventh and last day, the sacrifices had already been laid upon the "bronze grating" of the great altar (Exodus 38:30).  The blood of the sacrifices had also been poured out at the base of the altar, to fulfill the law of atonement: "It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul," (Leviticus 17:11).

Now the white robed priest bearing the golden pitcher with water from the Pool of Siloam, approached the altar.  Another priest met him, bearing a golden pitcher of wine for the "drink offering," also prescribed in the Torah (Leviticus 23:13).  Together they mounted the ramp to the altar of burnt offering. Simultaneously, they poured the water and the wine down the silver funnels, emptying at the base of the altar.