INVITATION TO SUKKOT

The seventh and last feast of Redemption is known as “Tabernacles”, in Hebrew Sukkot. It is a feast that lasts seven days. And it is summoned by God and dedicated to Him.

(Leviticus 23:34) Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD.

It is a feast made to be celebrated forever.

(Leviticus 23:41) You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

The phrase “celebrate it” is translated from the Hebrew verb: Jagag, which means: to move in a circle, to march in a holy procession, to observe a festival, to celebrate a feast. It is to go around and around, repeating something. This feast not only is repeated during 7 days, but it is something that God wants us to do year after year… as a statute forever (Heb. Jukat Olam).

In fact, all the Feasts of Redemption are a “statute forever”. All of them are connected, and the message is so important that God wants us to rehearse them, repeat them, so that we won’t forget. And the Feast of Tabernacles is the conclusion to the whole message, which ends in rejoicing, because we celebrate how the Redemption process will be completed.

During the Millennium, everyone will be invited to celebrate Sukkot; even those who were saved in the last minute, bending their knees before Yeshua on his second coming. They will have to show their loyalty to the Lord on this feast, to which they are also invited, but it won’t be “optional”.

(Zechariah 14:16-19) Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. (17) And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. (18) And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. (19) This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.

ON THE FIRST DAY

As we already mentioned, the Feast of Sukkot consists of 7 days of celebration. The first day is considered a special day of rest (Heb. Shabbaton). It doesn’t matter on what day of the week it landed on, it is a holiday and a day of rest.

(Leviticus 23:35) On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.

(Leviticus 23:39) On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.

THE EIGTH DAY

Interestingly, to the seven days of feast, an eighth day is added later, which is connected to Sukkot.

(Leviticus 23:36) For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

This eighth day in Hebrew is known as: Shemini Atzeret (lit. Final Eighth). This is also a special day of rest.

(Numbers 29:35) On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall not do any ordinary work

It might seem strange to us that the Bible says that Sukkot is made up of seven days of feast, but then it mentions an eighth day. Why not simply say that it is eight days instead of seven + one? The reason is because the eighth day, although is related to Sukkot, has a meaning all to itself. On the messianic fulfillment, the seven days of Sukkot represent the Millennium, that is, the thousand year period in which the Messiah will reign over all the Earth. At the end of these thousand years, the fulfillment of the “Eighth Day” will come, which prophetically represents the day in which God will make a new heaven and a new earth. That will be the beginning of eternity in the presence of the Lord, and this is what the Eighth Day represents (Heb. Shemini Atzeret – Shemini: eighth, Atzeret: lit. to remain or retain). The number eight in the Bible represents a new beginning.

Let’s read what Revelation says about the fulfillment of that day:

(Revelation 21:1-7) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (2) And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (4) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (5) And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (6) And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. (7) The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

REJOICING IN TORAH (Heb. Simchat Torah)

The rabbis still add another day to the feast, which they call: Simchat Torah, which means: Rejoicing in the Torah. On that day, they celebrate the closing of another cycle of Torah reading, and the beginning of a new cycle (this is according to the annual Torah reading cycle, not to the triennial).

Until the early Middle Ages, Jews had several cycles for reading the Torah. For a long time, the most known and practiced cycle was the triennial, which took them tree years to read through the Torah. In the Modern days, the annual reading cycle became the most popular one. The festive day Simchat Torah marks the end of this reading cycle and the beginning of a new one.

READING ON THE SHMITA YEAR

There is a special instruction that God gave his people for the feast of Tabernacles, which should be fulfilled every seven years. God instructed that on the Sabbatical Year (Heb. Shmita) the Torah had to be read before all the people.

(Deuteronomy 31:9-13) Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. (10) And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, (11) when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. (12) Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, (13) and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

God wanted to make sure that all his people knew Torah… so that all may go well with them.