Feast of Tabernacles
“Speak unto the children of Israel,
saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of
tabernacles for seven
days unto the LORD. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are
Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the
children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of
Egypt: I am the LORD your God”,
Leviticus 23:34, 42-43. The Feast of
Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths is a joyous celebration to commemorate God’s
blessing and protection to the children of Israel in the wildness. Much like Thanksgiving in the United States,
The Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated in the fall, after the time of harvest. “Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles
seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine”,
Deuteronomy 16:13.
The Feast of Tabernacles sometimes
refers to as the Feast of Booths. God
told the Israelites to “dwell in booths” (tents) for the duration of the feast.
This was for remembrance of their
wilderness wandering. It is also a
picture of the fact that in the wilderness was no permanent dwelling. It wasn’t until the children of Israel got to
the Promised Land that they could build any permeant buildings. What a good reminder for us as Christians that
“this world is not our home, we’re just passing through”.
Warren Wiersbe tells us, “the Jews
added two extra rituals to their celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. The first was the pouring out of the water
from the pool of Siloam, recalling God’s provision of water in the desert; the
second was the placing of four large lighted candlesticks to recall the pillar
of fire that led the people by night”. It
is interesting to note that Jesus played off of these two rituals in declaring
who He was. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If
any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”, John 7:37-38, and John 8:12
“Then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life”.
As the Feast of Tabernacles is being
celebrated by our Jewish friends, what a wonderful time for us to celebrate the
fact that, “we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens”, 2 Corinthians 5:1.
Elder Tim White
Ider, Alabama
