Trinity Baptist Church

 

We come tonight to the last of the seven feasts of the nation of Israel. The name of the Feast of Tabernacles derives from God's command to ancient Israel to build temporary "tabernacles," sometimes called "booths," to live in during the festival.

 

TEXT

"Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine." -Deuteronomy 16:13

 

The observance of the Feast of Tabernacles described in Leviticus 23:40-41 can be seen in Nehemiah chapter 8. The temporary dwellings or booths are described as a part of the festival. This is in remembrance of when the children of Israel dwelled in booths during their time in the wilderness (Leviticus 23:43).

 

Isaiah talked about the tabernacle in Isaiah 4:4-6. The divine order declares that after judgment, the Day of Atonement (Isaiah 4:4), comes a tabernacle for a place of refuge (Isaiah 4:5-6). 

 

The command to rejoice at this time is given in Deuteronomy 16:13-15.

 

 

The Feast of Tabernacles completes the sacred festivals of the seventh month. 

In contrast to the somber tone of The Fest of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, the third feast of Tishrei was a time of joy. Israel had passed through the season of repentance and redemption.

The Feast of Tabernacles or the festival of "Booths," occurs for seven days, from Tishrei 15 to 21. 

 

The Bible identifies the booth with the temporary dwellings in which the Israelites lived in the wilderness after they left Egypt on their way to the Promised Land (Leviticus 23:42).

 

Then there is this quick transition from the high holidays, with their somber mood of repentance and judgment, to a holiday of rejoicing and celebration, for which the people are commanded to build a hut and make it their home. 

 

The Feast of Tabernacles is called the "Season of Our Joy." One reason the Feast of Tabernacles was a time of joy was that after the season of repentance and the redemption of the Day of Atonement came the joy of knowing your sins were forgiven and the joy of walking with God, knowing God, and being obedient to God. 

 

Historically, the Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the days in the wilderness of Sinai after coming out of Egypt. According to all natural laws, the Israelites should have perished, but were instead divinely protected by God. 

 

The word tabernacle refers to a temporary dwelling place, which is the purpose of the booth. The booth symbolizes man's need to depend upon God for his provision of food, water, and shelter.

 

Historically, it was to remind the people of their exodus from Egypt as described in Leviticus 23:42-43. Prophetically, the tabernacle points toward the future to the Messianic age, the Millennium. 

 

The seven-day Feast of Tabernacles pictures the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ over the earth after His second coming (Revelation 20:4).  

 

But there is vivid imagery in every part of the festival and His life. 

 

In the days of the Temple, the Jewish pilgrims flocked to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. They came from every village within the nation and from many foreign countries, most often in large caravans for protection. It was a joyous trip with much singing and laughing along the way.

 

Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the pilgrims focused their energies upon building booths for the feast. By the afternoon of Tishri 14, thousands upon thousands of leafy booths lined the streets and dotted the surrounding fields and hills. All were carefully located within a Sabbath's day's journey (a little more than a half mile) of the Temple.

 

At sundown, the blast of the shofar (ram's horn) from the Temple announced the arrival of the holiday. A sense of increased excitement fell over the city as darkness came. Myriads of twinkling campfires studded the surrounding countryside.

 

 

During the Feast of Tabernacles, the intense anticipation of rain came to be reflected in the temple services. Each morning of Tabernacles, a water libation (sacrificial pouring out of a liquid) was offered to the Lord as a visual prayer for rain.

 

Shortly after dawn each morning, while the many sacrifices were being prepared, the high priest was accompanied by a joyous procession of music and worshipers down to the Pool of Siloam. The high priest carried a golden pitcher capable of holding a little more than a quart of water. He carefully dipped the pitcher into the pool and brought it back to the Temple Mount.

 

At the same time, another procession went down to a nearby location south of Jerusalem, known as Motza, where willows of the brook grew in great abundance. They gathered the long, thin willows and brought them back to the temple.

 

At the Temple, the willows were placed on the sides of the altar so that their tops formed a canopy of drooping branches over the altar. Meanwhile the high priest with the water from the Pool of Siloam had reached the southern gate of the Temple. It was known as the WATER GATE because of this ceremony. As he entered, three blasts of the silver trumpets sounded outside the Temple, and the priests with one voice repeated the words of Isaiah:

 

Isaiah 12:3 (NKJV) Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.

 

The high priest slowly proceeded then to the stone altar in the Inner Court of the Temple and ascended the right side of the ramp.

At the peak, he turned to the left where there were two silver basins which drained to the base of the altar. One was reserved for the regular drink offerings (libations of wine), and one for the water libations during this feast.

 

As the high priest raised the golden pitcher to pour out the water offering, the people shouted, "Raise your hand!" In response, the high priest lifted his hand higher and poured, allowing the people to verify his action.

 

As the high priest poured out the water libation before the Lord, a drink offering of wine was simultaneously poured into the other basin. Three blasts of the silver trumpets immediately followed the pouring and signaled the start of the Temple music.

 

The people listened as a choir of Levites sang the Hallel (i.e. the praise Psalms 113-118). At the proper time, the congregation waved their palm branches toward the altar and joined in singing: "Save now, I pray, Oh Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity" (Psalms 118:25). At the same time the priests, with palm branches in hand, marched once toward the altar.

 

Psalm 118 was viewed as a messianic psalm, and, as such, gave the feast a messianic emphasis. This is why Jesus was greeted by the crowds shouting, "Hosanna" (Hebrew for "save now" ) and waving palm branches on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem ( Luke 19:38; John 12:13). They viewed Him as the Messiah King, come to deliver ("save now" Israel in fulfillment of Psalm 118):

 

Psalms 118:25 (NKJV) Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.

 

Matthew 21:8-9 (NKJV) And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!"

They hailed Him with the messianic imagery of palm branches from the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

This same imagery is in view in Revelation 7:9-10, where redeemed saints worship, with palm branches in hand, around the throne of God and of the Lamb,

 

The celebration of the water pouring (as opposed to the ceremony) was observed during the evenings of the feast by an impressive light ceremony in the Temple. It was known as "The Rejoicing of the House of Water Drawing".

 

As the second evening of Tabernacles approached, the people crowded into the vast outer court of the Temple known as the Court of the Women.

 

In the center of the court stood four towering menorahs (lamp stands), each with four branches of oil lamps. Their wicks were manufactured from the worn-out linen garments of the priests. Each menorah had four long ladders leading up to the lamps, which were periodically refilled by young priests carrying large pitchers of olive oil.

 

 

 

The Feast of Tabernacles began in the middle of the lunar month, when the harvest moon was full and the autumn sky was clear. The outline of the surrounding Judean hills was clearly visible in the soft moonlight. Against this backdrop, the light of the Temple celebration was breathtaking. All night long the elders of the Sanhedrin performed impressive torch dances, while the steady yellow flames of the menorah oil lamps flooded the Temple and the streets of Jerusalem with brilliant light.

 

Soon after the celebration was underway, a group of Levites gathered in the Inner Court in what was known as the "Court of the Israelites". Once formed, the group of Levites moved through the Nicanor Gate to stand at the top of the 15 steps leading down to the Court of the Women. The sound of Temple flutes, trumpets, harps, and other stringed instruments swelled as the Levites sang the 15 Psalms of Degrees (Psalms 120-134). With each new psalm they descended to the next step.

 

This celebration was repeated every night from the second night until the final night as a prelude to the water drawing the next morning. Nothing in ancient Israel compared to this light celebration. It was so spectacular that the ancient rabbis said, "He that hath not beheld the joy of the drawing of the water (the Simchet Bet Hasho'ayva celebration) hath never seen joy in his life (Sukkah 5:1). The light celebration was reminiscent of the descent of the Shekinah glory in Solomon's day, and looked forward to the return of the glory of the Lord.

 

 

 

John recorded that it was the day after the Feast of Tabernacles (the eighth day), which was considered a Sabbath, when Jesus returned from the Mount of Olives to teach in the Temple (John 8:2; cf. 7:2, 37). As the Pharisees came to entrap Him, Jesus proclaimed:

 

John 8:12 (NKJV) Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

 

The Pharisees did not question the meaning of His statement. They knew it was a messianic claim, for they immediately called Him a liar. They were familiar with the many titles in Scripture which ascribed LIGHT to the Messiah. He is called the "Star out of Jacob," the "light of Israel," the "light of the nations (Gentiles)," a "refiners fire," a "burning lamp," and the "Sun of righteousness."

 

Later that day, the Messiah reinforced this same truth when He healed the blind man. As He did so, He repeated, "As long as I am in this world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:5). The Pharisees were again angered at Jesus.

 

The issue continued to be His messiahship (John 9:22). This time, however, they chose to find fault in that He had healed the blind man on the eighth day, which was considered a Sabbaths by Scripture (John 9:14). Although there were no Mosaic laws against the act of healing on the Sabbath, the traditions of the Pharisees classified it as work, and therefore, forbade it.

 

More than just a messianic claim, Jesus' claim to be the "light of the world" carried a reference to the Temple light celebration. The celebration was still vivid in their minds. They had just celebrated it six nights in a row. The light that Jesus offered would light not just the Temple, it would light the whole world. He, Himself, was the source:

 

Isaiah 49:6 (NKJV) Indeed He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

 

On the seventh and final day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Temple services reached a climax. The anticipation of rain was at its annual high. Jewish tradition held that it was on this day that God declared whether there would be rain for the coming year's crops. Consequently, on this final day of the feast, the Temple water-pouring ritual took on great importance. Water was the foremost thought on every one's mind.

 

On the other six days of this feast, the silver trumpets gave three blasts. On this day the trumpets gave three sets of seven blasts. On the other six days, the priests made but one circuit around the altar. On this day, the priests made seven. As they marched around the altar, they sang the Hosanna verse (Psalm 118:25), and the people waved palm branches.

 

Thoughts of rain for the coming year and messianic fervor were at their highest pitch.

 

The year was around A.D. 30. It was Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day, the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles. As the people intently watched the priests conduct the service, a loud voice rang out from the crowd. The priests glared in consternation, and the people whipped around in great surprise to see who dared interrupt the service. They saw a young Galilean in His early 30s, the one whom many held to be a great rabbi, a prophet, or even the Messiah:

 

John 7:37-38 (NKJV) 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. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

 

The sound of His words produced silence, then ecstasy. The religious leadership was infuriated, indignant, and threatened. Some wanted to kill Him:

 

John 7:44 (NKJV) Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

 

The authoritative claim was understood by all, believed by some, spurned by others. Jesus was claiming to be the long awaited and promised Messiah.

 

Now watch this: 

 

Some believe that Jesus Christ, the Living water, was born into this world during the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

 

 

Luke 1:5 and 1:8 states that John the Baptist's dad, Zechariah, belonged to the priestly division of Abijah and was serving in the Temple when he received the news that Elizabeth would be with child.

 

1 Chronicles 24:10 says that Zechariah's priestly division, Abijah, was the eighth division to serve at the Temple.

 

The first division started on the first week of Nissan. Each division served a one-week period and all priestly divisions had to serve during the three pilgrim Festivals.

 

That means the 2nd week of Sivan, the feast of weeks, the division of Abijah, of which John the Baptist’s Father was a member, had the responsibility to serve.

 

Zechariah serves during the first week of Sivan and then is required to serve the following week for the Feast of Weeks. During Weeks, the priests would draw lots to see who would get the honor of going into the Holy Place to burn incense on the altar.

 

Only once during a priest's lifetime could his lot be drawn for this service. Zechariah's lot was drawn (Luke 1:9), and it was his time to offer the incense.

 

Zechariah would enter the Holy Place, offer incense, and then would return back outside to give the blessing over the worshipers. As Zechariah is offering incense, to his surprise, an angel of the Lord appears to him and informs him that his prayers have been answered, and that his wife will be with child.

After Zechariah's service was completed, he returned home; and Elizabeth, his wife, conceived. John the Baptist was conceived some time after that time. 

 

If John were conceived sometime after the Feast of Weeks, then he would have been born in the month of Nisan.

 

I would like to propose that John was born on Nisan 15, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, based on these facts.

 

First, Malachi 4:5-6 indicates that Elijah must come prior to the arrival of the Day of the Lord. In Matthew 11:11-14, Messiah says that John the Baptist is the Elijah who was to come. John came as the forerunner to Christ's ministry; John prepared the hearts and minds of people for Christ. John was the Elijah to come as prophesied by Malachi.

 

When were the Jewish people expecting Elijah? At every Passover Seder a place is set for Elijah, and a child will open the door to see if Elijah has come. If John the Baptist is the Elijah to come, and he was conceived sometime after Weeks, then I believe that John was born on Passover (Nisan 15).

 

Remember that Messiah was born six months after John the Baptist. If John was born on Nisan 15, then Messiah would have to be born on Tishri 15. I believe Messiah was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

John says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us..."

 

The Greek word for "dwelt or dwelling" is skenoo and means: "to occupy (as a mansion) or (spec.) to reside (as God did in the Tabernacle of old, a symbol of protection and communion)"

 

The “booth” is a perfect picture of Christ. It is not an attractive structure, just as there wasn't anything of Christ that would attract us to Him (Isaiah 53:2). If Christ's life and ministry revolved around the Feast's of the Lord, then even His birth had to be in conjunction with a Feast. The Feast of Tabernacles fits perfectly with Messiah's birth. The Savior of the world was born in a lowly booth on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

If Messiah was born on Tishri 15, then His circumcision would have taken place on the eighth day of Tabernacles.

 

The Jews have a tradition associated with the eight day called "Simchat Torah" and means "Rejoicing in the Torah."

 

Luke 2:21-38 says that on the eighth day they brought the baby Messiah up to the Temple to circumcise Him and to name Him, and when Simeon and Anna saw Israel's Savior, they rejoiced over Him. These two righteous people were rejoicing over the Living Torah of God. Every aspect of Messiah's birth, including the day of His circumcision, is a picture designed to teach us more about Him.

 

As we have stated earlier, the Feast of Tabernacle is called "the season of our joy" and "the feast of the nations."

 

 

With this in mind, notice what Luke writes:

 

Luke 2:10 (NKJV) Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

 

Here the birth of Christ is announced as a time of great joy [Tabernacles is called the "season of our joy"], which shall be to all people [Tabernacles is called "the feast of the nations"].

 

So, we can see from this that the terminology the angel used to announce the birth of Jesus were themes and messages associated with the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

In Luke 2:12, the baby Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. The priests discarded clothes were also used as wicks to light the 16 vats of oil within the court of the women during the festival of Tabernacles.

 

During the Feast of Tabernacles, God required that all male Jews come to Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16). For this reason, the city would be overcrowded with people, and would explain why Mary and Joseph could not find lodging in and around Jerusalem (Luke 2:7). Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born, is only about four miles from Jerusalem.

 

This Feast also reflects the "rest" symbolized by the weekly Sabbath (Hebrews 4:1-11) that celebrates the great harvest of humanity when all living people will learn God's ways. Humanity will at last be restored to a right relationship with God (Isaiah 11:9-10).

Well, got to hurry on. . .

 

Just as it was true of Jesus that He became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us (John 1:14). He came to earth at His first coming and temporarily dwelt among men, the Bible emphasizes that, as with booths or temporary dwellings, our physical life is temporary.

 

 

 

The Feast of Tabernacles is the fall harvest festival. Like the other pilgrimage festivals, it has an agricultural element. It marks the time of the harvest, the final ingathering of produce before the oncoming winter. 

 

Hence, it is also called the festival of Ingathering. 

 

"And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field." -Exodus 23:16

 

As just stated, the Feast of Tabernacles is called the Feast of Ingathering. Jesus told us that the harvest represents the end of the age. This is found in Matthew 13:39, Revelation 14:15 and Joel 3:13. The harvest refers more specifically to people who choose to accept Christ into their hearts and lives (Matthew 9:35-38, Luke 10:1-2, John 4:35-38 and Revelation 14:14-18).

 

One of the most outstanding truths of the Feast of Tabernacles involves the seasonal rains in Israel. The prophet Joel tells us that the former and latter rain would come in the first month (Joel 2:23). 

 

This is because Passover is the first month in the religious or sacred calendar, and the Feast of Tabernacles is the first month in the civil calendar.

So Israel has two first months in the same year because of the special calendar that God set up in Exodus 12:2.

 

Hosea 6:3 tells us that the coming of the Messiah will be as the former and latter rain on the earth. His second coming will also be in the first month of the civil calendar, Tishrei. 

 

The fullness of this feast will be experienced at the coming of the Messiah when He will rule and reign on the earth during the Messianic age, the Millennium. This will be a time of joy for all believers in Christ and will be the age of Israel's glory.

 

"For 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. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." -2 Corinthians 5:1-2

 

This is true in the spiritual realm as well. The booth is the physical body, which is a temporary dwelling place for our souls and spirits (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). 

 

We need the food that the Word of God provides (Matthew 6:11, 4:4, John 6:33-35), the cleansing, rinsing, and washing that the Word of God brings to our lives (Ephesians 5:26), and the shelter of God's protection over our lives from the evil one (Matthew 6:13, Psalm 91).

 

Our physical needs will be provided for by God if we seek Him spiritually (Matthew 6:31-33).

 

So spiritually, a tabernacle is supposed to remind us that we are but strangers and pilgrims on the earth, this being a temporary dwelling place. The believer in Christ is but a stranger and pilgrim on this earth (Hebrews 11:8-10,13-16, Genesis 23:3-4,47:9, 1 Peter 1:17, 2:11).

 

Now God designed the agricultural and weather seasons in Israel to parallel the life of every believer in Christ who seeks to love Him and serve Him with all his heart. 

 

For instance:

 

Every time a person receives the Lord Jesus as his own Savior, he spiritually experiences Passover. He is to flee Egypt, the world's evil system and ways, trust in the Lord, the Lamb of God, and allow Christ to be the doorpost of his heart. 

 

As believers, we are then to seek to live holy lives before God and experience Unleavened Bread. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we are to consider our former ways dead to us and experience the newness of life in the Lord. Once we do this, we can be immersed (baptized) in the Holy Spirit and have the power of God (the anointing) in our lives. 

Spiritually, we have experienced the spring harvest of Israel in our lives. When we accept Jesus into our hearts and lives, He begins to teach us the Bible and show us how much He loves us, and we begin to grow in the knowledge of Him.

 

At that time, God will begin to take us on a spiritual journey through the wilderness of life. Spiritually, we will begin to experience the dry summer season of Israel. Many things in our lives will not go the way we expect them to or how we trust God for them to go. In the process of experiencing life's bitter disappointments and struggles, if we keep our eyes upon God, He will take us from Passover to Pentecost.

 

There He will reveal His ways and his Word, the Bible, in a deeper and more progressive way. By keeping our eyes on the Messiah through life's struggles, God will not only reveal His Word, the Bible, to us in a greater way, but He also will refine our faith like fine flour, just as was done to the wheat during the days of counting the omer between Passover and Pentecost. 

 

Meanwhile, if we put our entire trust in Jesus while on our spiritual journey in the wilderness of life as God refines our faith and reveals Himself to us in a greater way, then our spiritual journey will not end in the wilderness of life. Instead God will take us forward to spiritually experience the fall festivals and our spiritual promised land.

 

 

 

 

It is when we spiritually experience the fall festivals -- especially the Feast of Tabernacles, and enter into our spiritual promised land that God will anoint our lives for Him in an awesome way, as we live and serve Him, and we will then experience the greatest joy in our entire lives. Joy unspeakable! 

 

But we will experience not only joy, but also dancing, praise, victory, peace, and the power of God in our lives. Spiritually, we will be experiencing the fall harvest of Israel. The rain in the bible speaks of two things: the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit and an in-depth understanding of Jesus and his Word, the Bible, in our lives. 

 

Both the anointing of the Holy Spirit and great knowledge of spiritual truths will be present in our lives in order that we may accomplish the purpose God has for every one of our lives. 

 

Therefore, we have the anointing of God upon our lives so we may help to do our part to build up the Body of Christ to full maturity and to establish the Kingdom of God on earth until we come to that day when we will rule and reign with the Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords on earth during the Messianic age, the Millennium, and for all eternity.