September 20th sunset to sunset the 29th.
Sukkot takes place during the full moon of the seventh month – Tishrei.
Sukkot completes the sacred festivals in the seventh month.
In contrast to the somber manner of festivals earlier in the month, Sukkot is a time of joy.
This Feast has several names and themes. These are not inclusive.
SEASON OF JOY
Sukkot is also known as a “season of joy.” This is because redemption follows a time of repentance, drawing us closer to the Father.
And you shall rejoice before Hashem your God, Leviticus 23:40.
And you shall rejoice in your Festival, Deuteronomy 16:14.
And you shall be exceedingly joyous, :15.
SPIRITUAL ACTIVATION
Just as we celebrate America and God’s blessings at Thanksgiving. Have a special dinner during Sukkoth and Rejoice in all of the following:
FEAST OF DEDICATION
King Solomon dedicated the temple during Sukkot. 1 Kings 3.
The Feast of Dedication was celebrated after the Babylonian captivity. Ezra 3:1-4
SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
As Believers we are the temple of God.
Sit quietly, find His Presence within and pay honor to Him by dedicating your spiritual temple to Him.
Practice the Presence of God today.
FESTIVAL OF THE INGATHERING
The fall harvest confirms the agricultural element of the feast. It is a time the produce of the field, orchard, and vineyard are gathered. The granaries, threshing floors and presses (wine, olive) are full.
The sweat and toil put into growing the crops is now rewarded adding to the season of rejoicing,
You shall keep… the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors which you have sown in the field;
and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year,
when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. Exodus 23:15-16 NKJV
The Ingathering also refers to the end time Harvest of souls.
Jeremiah sorrowed for people who were not a part of the Great Harvest….
Jesus spoke about the ingathering or the end time Harvest in the explanation of the parable of the Wheat and Tares in Matthew 13:36 -33.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.
And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the
sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the
end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels,
and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice
lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Pray for all the souls in the balance.
FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Sukkot, is also known at the Feast of Tabernacles. The word Tabernacles means a “temporary dwelling,” which is the purpose of Sukkot. John 1:14 says that Jesus became flesh and “dwelt” or tabernacled among us; He came and “temporarily dwelt among men.”
In the days of the Temple, the Israelites were commanded to travel to Jerusalem. It was a Pilgrimage to meet with the living God. Dwelling in booths for seven days.
“Ye shall dwell in booths seven days;…
…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 23:42-43
All the feasts carry an historical, agricultural and prophetic element.
Prophetically, Tabernacles teach the Messianic Kingdom.
God often gives us encouragement on our journey. One way is that He tells us the end from the beginning to give His people a vision of their goal.
The promise of Succoth is to show us the hope that awaits in the Kingdom to come while we live in our temporary booths.
The booth is our physical body, our temporary dwelling place for our soul and spirit man. (1Corinthians 6:19-20)
Historically, The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the days in the wilderness of Sinai after their release from Egypt. Applying natural laws, the Israelites should have perished in the 40 years, but instead, they were divinely protected and provided for by God.
And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes are not waxen old upon you,
and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread,
neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye might know that I am the
LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 29: 5,6 JPS Tanakh
Jesus reminds us again that God will take care of all our physical needs in Matthew 6:31-33
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or
‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles strive after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added unto you.
We need the food of God – the Word to live. John 6:63
…The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. NKJV
And, we need to be obedient to His Will to be reinvigorated. John 4:32
But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” NKJV
The Word and our obedience to God are food for our soul, giving life and reinvigorating us. Together they make a shelter of God’s protection over our lives.
Read: Psalm 91
The sukkot or booth most importantly symbolizes man’s need to depend on God.
In the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declares,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:3
To be poor in spirit is to recognize your absolute spiritual ruin without God. Poor in spirit is not only to come to salvation, but to stand before God with no illusions of self-righteousness or self-sufficiency. But most assuredly, demonstrating a life dependent on God.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
Sukkot is a time to remember the goodness of God, but most of all, to remind us of our need for dependence on God.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5
Connect with Father and ask Him to show you any area in your life that you are not depending on Him. Then ask Him to show you how to change.
The Festival of Lights Ceremony
This is a ceremony within a ceremony that provides the illumination of the Temple during the Water Libation Ceremony.
The youth of priestly descent climbed the ladders that leaned against the four, 75-foot golden candlesticks.
Filling the bowls atop with 120 logs of oil (7.5 gallons). Lighting the wicks that were comprised of strips of cloth from the old garments of the priests, the light from these four candlesticks was said to be like a sea of fire that cast shadows six miles away.
There in the candlelight the woman spent the night dancing and rejoicing in the women’s courtyard to the music of the Levite’s as they played lyres, trumpets, harps, cymbals, and other instruments. The men and women often carried candles and torches as they danced adding to the illumination of the night.
The Light represents the shekinah glory that once filled the Temple where God’s presence dwelt. It was during this time the temple was thought of as the “Light of the world.”
In this brilliance, Yeshua spoke again with them and he said:
“I AM THE LIVING GOD, The Light of the world. Whoever follows me
shall not walk in darkness but shall find the light of life.
Aramaic Bible Plain English
Water Drawing Ceremony and the Water Libation Ceremony
The water for the Libation Ceremony was obtained during the Water Drawing Ceremony that took place at night for the next morning’s water libation or sacrifice. The ceremony of the water drawing was a jubilant occasion.
The Mishna states, “He that has never seen the joy of the [ceremony of the water drawing] has never in his life seen joy.” (Sukkah 51a)
This water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam at the base of Mt. Moriah. The water that flowed into the Pool flowed from the Spring of Gihon. King Hezekiah had redirected the water of this spring into the city of Jerusalem through a long underground conduit known as Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Within the walls of Jerusalem, the waters of Gihon ran into a pool named the Pool of Siloam.
It is where Jesus sent the blind man to wash off the clay He had applied to the blind man’s eyes. The man received his sight after washing in the pool – John 9:6-7.
Anoint means to be smeared with the Holy Spirit – 1 Samuel 6:13
Because the waters of Siloam were used to anoint the kings of the house of David, waters of Siloam became associated with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
To get to the Pool it was a descent of 15 steps on which the Levites stood playing music and singing songs as the priests descended and ascended with the water. Each one of the 15 steps also correlate with the passing days from Rosh Hashana to Sukkoth. Beginning in the darkness of the new moon passing into the light of the full moon at Sukkoth; declaring all things hidden in the darkness will be revealed in the light of the full moon.
Once at the pool as the priests bend down on one knee before the water, the crowd falls quiet as they captured a large jar full of water in complete silence.
Once the jar is lifted, the crowd roars and the processional heads back up the mountain to the House of God.
“Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation…”
Isaiah 12:3
Then the priest would begin his ascent.
With each step the priest stood on the steps chanting, a Psalm from 120 – Psalm 134, except on the Sabbath.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
There must have been tens of thousands watching and worshipping, singing songs of praise as the priest descended and then silence as he knelt and drew the water.
Using our redeemed imagination and the eyes of our heart ask God to show you the Drawing of the Water that you may see the brilliance of the light and be apart of the jubilation of the people as they rejoice in the goodness of God.
Each of the psalms in this collection begins with the title “A Song of Ascents” as the Jewish priests walked up the steps to the temple in Jerusalem expressing their love, adoration and worship to God.
The Water Libation Ceremony
In the times of the Temple every burnt offering and peace offering sacrificed on the altar was accompanied by a flour offering and by the pouring out a prescribed amount of wine on the altar. During the seven days of the Festival of Sukkot, water was also poured on the altar as a libation accompanying the daily morning sacrifice. This water came from the Water Drawing Ceremony.
For seven consecutive days a priest would walk up a ramp leading to the bronze altar located in the Temple Court and pour a jug full of water from the Pool of Silom into a bowl that drained into the altar.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me,
as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive;
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
-John 7:37-39
SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
Ask Jesus to show you where you may not trust Him and then ask Him to fill you with living waters that His Words would come to pass –
“Everyone who trusts in me, just as the Scriptures have said, rivers of living water
shall flow from within him.”
Aramaic Bible plain English John 7:38
During Sukkot read the 15 Psalms.
Blessings,
Pastor Karen-Elisabeth
