Bible Studies
1. Introduction to the Feast of Tabernacles
Following the deliverance from Egypt and the settling of the Israelites in the wilderness, God enacted many laws for which the people were to be governed while they were there. He also instituted feasts or holy gatherings (convocations) to occur at certain times during the year. These have become known as Jewish High Holy Days and are celebrated by Jews to this day.
These Feasts have great significance for Jewish peoples but surprisingly have as much application to Christianity and Christ’s New Covenant. Hidden in the rituals of the Old Testament are great truths applying to Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. Here we will cover the Feast of Tabernacles (Succot). We will first discuss the “Feast of Tabernacles” as mandated by God, on a physical level, during the time Moses and the Israelites were in the wilderness and recorded in the Torah (Law) sections of the Bible (the first five books). Then we will compare these to the New Covenant initiated by Christ of which these original feasts were a type and shadow.
The three most important feasts in Judaism are the Passover (Feast of Unleavened Bread), the Feast of the First Fruits (now Pentecost) and The Feast of Booths, Feast of Ingathering or most commonly known collectively as the Feast of Tabernacles including Rosh Hashanah, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur and the Feast of Booths. We will examine the Feast of Tabernacles which in 2008 occurs between September 29-October 22. It is during this period of time that Israel was cleansed of all sin committed the previous year (Yom Kippur) the Day of Atonement.
2. Feast of Tabernacles in the Old Testament
Rosh Hashanah, widely known as the Jewish religious New Year, is the first day of the Feast.It ends the old year and sets the course for the New Year. Rosh Hashanah, in Hebrew, means “Head of the Year”, and falls on the first and second days of the Jewish month of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish lunar calendar.
Rosh Hashanah is also known as the Feast of Trumpets, lasting 1 day from sundown to sundown of the first day of the 10 Days of Awe (Days of Repentance). The phrase “Rosh Hashanah” is not found per say in the Bible (Torah). However the Jewish word “teruah” is used when referring to this Holy Day (Numbers 29:1). Teruh means a “loud noise, a shout or a blowing of the shofar ram’s horn”. Numbers 29:1 is translated “a day when the horn is sounded” and “zichron teruah” which means “commemorated with loud blasts”. It is traditionally known as “the day of the blowing of the [shofar] trumpets which are hollowed out ram’s horns. A trumpet call such as this was used when the Israelites were to gather together.
Rosh Hashanah also begins the ten-day period called the “Days of Awe” or the 10-days of Repentance. This period ends on Yom Kippur, the tenth day. The 10 day period called “The Days of Awe’ -- in Hebrew Ya-mim' Noh-rah'-yim -- also known as the ten Days of Penitence (or Repentance). It is recognized by Jews as a time of reflection on the previous year and hope for the New Year. However it is more than that.
The Days of Awe (repentance) should be just that. Since atonement for sin is the main goal of the Feast, these days are preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. A participant aggressively set about to expose the sin of the previous year so it could be forgiven. It was a time for heart searching and for reflection. To a Jew it is a time of renewing vows made both to the Lord and others which were broken during the previous year.
Yom Kippur is, of the Holy Days, the most significant in the Jewish experience. It is mandated by God in Leviticus 23:26 and described fully in Leviticus 16. The literal translation of Yom Kippur is “Day of Atonement”. Biblically and liturgically it is also known as Day of Judgment and Sabbath of Sabbaths.
Atonement literally means reconciliation to God after the bond has been broken by sin. It means, in a broader sense in Hebrew ‘purge,’ ‘cleanse,’ ‘expiate,’ ‘purify,’ ‘wipe on or off,’ ‘cover,’, ‘justify’ etc. The literal meaning of the word is simply “at-one-ment”, i.e., the state of being at one or being reconciled, so that atonement is actually reconciliation.
The most important ceremonial aspects of the manifestation of atonement involved the High Priest and two goats. This has great significance even to us today. At that time the Jews had constructed a temple (tabernacle) in the wilderness as a prelude to the great temple that was to be built in the Promised Land. The temple was constructed into three main areas or divisions: the “outer court”, the “Holy Place” and finally the Holy of Holies, the most Holy place. No one entered the Holy of Holies except the High Priest once a year on the day Yom Kippur (for a fuller description of the Holy of Holies see quote from Hebrews below). A veil separated this most Holy place from the rest of the temple. The following are Biblical references as to what was to occur on the Day of Atonement:
“The LORD said to Moses [regarding Aaron]
“He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.
“He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
“Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.
“He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
“Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat [the Azezel goat) or the goat of removal.
“Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering.
“But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat"
v.2, 4-11).
“Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.
“He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities (v.15-16).
“When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.
“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.
“The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness (v.20-22).
"It is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
“Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so he did” (v.29-31, 34).
There were two goats and a bull involved. The bull was atonement for Aaron and his Family. The first goat was sacrificed for the defilement of the temple by Israel. As to the third goat, the live goat, it was brought before the Lord where Aaron became the vehicle of God in transferring to the goat all the sin of Israel for the previous year thus reconciling Israel once more to God. This Azazel goat was led far into the wilderness where he was released and allowed to wander in the desert far away from Israel.
There is no evidence that this transference of the sin from Israel to the goat was not a real occurrence. Just as all the sin of the world was transferred to Christ on the cross, on the Day of Atonement the sacrifice was transferred to the live Azaxel goat who was then banished. God also made this ceremony a permanent occurrence which means it was to occur eternally (carried on through Christ).
Following Yom Kipper by four days was the Feast of Tabernacles (Succot) lasting eight days which culminated in an eighth day “Feast of Rejoicing’. The Feast is also known as the “Feast of Booths”.
Tabernacle in the Hebrew means the place where God meets man and thus they tabernacle together. Tabernacle is also referred to as a tent or dwelling. ‘Miskan”, a durative of or noun expression of means "God’s dwelling place" called the “Tent of Meeting” in the Old Testament wilderness. It was where God would speak to Moses. In the New Testament the equivalent term “miskan” is used to denote the permanent temple, Christ’s body, where God will tabernacle with His people for eternity. Leviticus 23:39-43 explains why this Feast is called “The Feast of Booths”:
“On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a Sabbath rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day.
‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
‘You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths,
so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt [Passover]. I am the LORD your God. ”
Thus each Israelite built a booth from plants and trees for their family to dwell for seven days. They did this for a remembrance of how God delivered Israel from the bondage of the Egyptians. It was a family time and a time for the Israelites to commune and sup together. Being after Yom Kippur the people rejoiced over God’s forgiveness and all was hope for a favorable upcoming year-crops a’ plenty, prosperity, good fortune and well being.
Thus the Feast of Tabernacles was a time of God being with His people and a time of remembrance. In the Kingdom of God we will eternally live in this constant state of being in His presence.
3. New Testament Application of the Feast of Tabernacles to the Christian
The Old Testament is, most of all, the physical foundation upon which Christ is building His priesthood and His Kingdom. The Books also, in a literal and symbolic way, all speak of Christ and His coming as the Messiah. Jesus said to the Pharisees: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;” (John 5:39). Old Testament scriptures reveal much about Christ that is not revealed in the New Testament. Many Old Testament scriptures are quoted word for word in the New Testament, even by Christ himself (see Luke 4:18-19; the Lord quotes Isaiah 61). This just one example of many. Isaiah 53 is devoted entirely to a description of Christ, the suffering servant.
Likewise Jeremiah 31:31-34 lays out Christ’s coming New Covenant centuries before His appearance. That scripture is later quoted by the writer of Hebrews as being the New Covenant (Hebrews 7:8-12).
The Psalms all point to David’s relationship with God (Christ). The Song of Solomon speaks of the relationship between the Bridegroom (Christ) and the Bride of Christ (His body, us). Samuel, Kings and Chronicles speak of God leading and speaking to His people through the numerous Kings, Priests and Prophets looking toward the day when Christ would fulfill His Prophet, Priest and King relationship with spiritual Israel in the end-time. Joshua is Christ the conqueror, defeating 31 nations greater than Israel. Ruth is faithfulness; Esther is courage; Ezra and Nehemiah restoration; Exodus deliverance; Genesis about the origin of Israel and God’s choosing. The Books of the prophets show ordinary men who spoke God’s word to Kings, rulers and the people and who saw the coming Kingdom afar off.
The Feast of Tabernacles is also important in its depiction of our relationship with God today. It covers everything from the blood sacrifice, to the High Priest, to forgiveness of sin, to the relationship of God with his people. First of all is the principle of the blood. Hebrews says that “there is no forgiveness of sin except by the shedding of blood” (v. 9:22). In the Old Testament the blood shed by the sacrificial animals was necessary for the forgiveness of sin. With Christ He was the sacrificial lamb who forgave the entire world by the shedding of His blood on the cross, rendering one sacrifice for all time.
Rosh Hashanah was the trumpet or “loud noise” that signified the New Year and the gathering of all Israel together. So also Christ will come with a shout! and a trumpet blast. Note the parallel references in the scriptures to the sounding of the trumpet: the walls of Jericho fell; the seventh seal of the seven angels with the seven trumpets of Revelation 8; the 7 trumpets carried by those escorting the ark (Joshua 6:4); Gideon and the trumpets (Judges 7:8), the great trumpets that will gather the scattered of Israel (Matthew 24:31) and Gabriel and his trumpet. There are many many more examples. Suffice it to say the blowing of the trumpet on Rosh Hashanah was a significant event duplicated literally in the end-time and symbolically in the New Testament.
The Days of Awe (10 Days of Repentance) are symbolic of our preparation to receive Christ at His return. Our human natures must be brought to the surface and replaced by the nature of Christ. This involves much reflection and the ability to let go. Being the longest portion of the Feast indicates the importance of this process to God. It can be a difficult and painful time as your most secret sins work their way to the forefront of your lives. But without it there can be no Yom Kippur experience. Our depth of repentance in many ways dictates our depth of forgiveness.
On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Aaron was the priest who administered the sacrifice of the blood of “bulls and goats”. In the New Testament God administrated through Christ His forgiveness of the world; eternal sacrifice.
The writer of Hebrews (9:1-10:21) contrasts the Old Covenant with the New, excerpts of which appear below. There is much scripture to read but the writer of Hebrews expresses the inadequacy of the first (Old) Covenant with that of the New Covenant better than it can be expressed by anyone. First He describes the Old Tabernacle as it was in Moses’ day:
“Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.
‘For there was a tabernacle [sacred tent] prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place.
Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,
having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant;
“Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship,
but into the second [Holy of Holies], only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance”.
“The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing,
which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation” (v. 9:1-10).
The priest entered the Holiest place only once a year, on Yom Kippur. The sacrifice he offered there, however, was not an eternal sacrifice but a temporary one relating only to regulations for the human body. Only a cloth veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. When Christ was crucified on the cross, that veil was rent from the top to the bottom providing access to the Holiest place to all (Matthew 27:50–51).
Hebrews continues: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
For this reason He [Christ] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance”.
The sacrifices for forgiveness of sin always occurred with a death-of a bull or goat or under the New Covenant the death of Christ (see Leviticus 1-7 for an explanation of all the Old Testament sacrifices for sin).
“And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens [the old Covenant on the physical level] be cleansed with these, but the heavenly [spiritual] things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (v.11-23)
“For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a MERE COPY of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.
Otherwise, He [Christ] would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (v.24-26).
As we have said the Old Testament priest had to continually offer new sacrifices for sin every year performed in a physical temple made with hands. Christ entered into the spirit realm (Heaven) where God dwells and opened the way for us to also enter. His sacrifice was not continual occurrence but once for all.
“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things can ever, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.
Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?
But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins”.
Nothing about the Old Covenant could permanently do away with sin or the sin nature of man. Therefore Christ had to do it for us.
Therefore, when He [Christ]comes into the world, He says,
“SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED,
BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;
IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE.
“THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME
(IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME)
TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD” [quoting Psalm 40:6-8).
This scripture can also be likened to the many good sacrificial works we do for Christ in hopes of pleasing Him. However, He no longer desires or approves such “dead works”. We are transformed into one who comes “to do the works of God” which proceed not out of their flesh but are originated by God.
Hebrews: “He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,
waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET” [from Psalm 110:1).
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (v. 10:1-14).
Christ did away with the law as it applied to man. He found the Old Covenant wanting. Therefore He fulfilled the law for us as He knew we couldn't.
Hebrews: "And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
“THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,
AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”
He then says,
“AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”
"Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren… we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
and…we have a great priest over the house of God” (v. 10:15-21).
The First (Old) Covenant showed the way to the second (New) Covenant. The inadequacy of the temporary nature of the Old gave way to the permanence of the New. The Old Covenant was inadequate in that the sin “problem” remained. However, the Old Covenant pointed the way to the new and showed us our need of it. Since the Old didn’t work a New was necessary to take care of the problem eternally.
Similarly, the Old Testament Law, the rules and regulations enacted by God, could never be fulfilled by man, even the Jews. This necessitated the one ultimate sacrifice by Christ. Since it was proven over and over again that God’s chosen people, the Jews, could not fulfill the Law in and of themselves Christ came to fulfill it for us. It is not now by works we are saved but by faith in a Messiah that accomplished it for us for eternity.
Therefore, all the Tabernacle “rituals” pointed to forgiveness of sin, atonement and reconciliation to God. the old covenant rituals were but a type and shadow of the true sacrifice. Aaron transferred the entire sin of Israel for the previous year onto the scapegoat (Azazel) who carried it far away and forgotten. With Christ, the entire sin of the world was transferred to Him on the cross. When He died and was resurrected He arose a resurrected being seated at the right hand of God. The sin that had been on Him for us was banished. By faith all can now participate in this resurrection. Therefore one could say that Christ was our permanent Yom Kippur. Everything He did, and morfe, can be traced back to this Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles. We all, Jews and Christians alike, should celebrate this Feast as an eternal ordinance of God.
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