Bible Studies

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Tabernacled Among Us
By David Wiseman
“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be a Fest of Booths seven days to Jehovah.’” Vayiqra‘ (Leviticus) 23:34
The Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, was set up as a day to remember the years of living in the wilderness after coming out of Egypt. Leviticus 23:42-43 says, “You shall live in booths seven days; all who are home-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations shall know that I caused the sons of Israel to live in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Jehovah your God.” (LITV)
Sukkot is the last of the three “feasts of ascension,” when all the men of Israel go up to Jerusalem, according to Deuteronomy 16:16.
This is the feast that the modern Thanksgiving is based on. It was kept after Israel had gathered in “thy corn and thy wine” (Deut 16:13) and was celebrated “because the LORD your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.” Deut 16:15
Leviticus 23:40, “And you shall take to yourselves on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, palm branches, and boughs of oak trees, and willows of the brook, and shall rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days.” (LITV) Various teachers make a great argument over what kind of fruit is supposed to be used. The most common thought is that it is pomegranates, though some say olives. However, the olive harvest is not until winter, and Sukkot takes place in the fall. This verse is the origin of the lulav, which is a bundle made of these branches and pomegranates, which is waved during Sukkot. These are also the branches that the sukkot, or booths, are made out of. Not only does this represent the harvest, and remind the revelers to thank YHWH for the harvest, but the fresh tree-smells mix to make a lovely perfume.
The time of tabernacling in the wilderness was the betrothal period of Israel, as it is in Ezekiel 16:9-11, “Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.” (HNV) This parallels the coverings and ornaments of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is called the Mishkan in Hebrew. The root-word of Mishkan is Sakan, meaning hedge, screen, protector, or to cover oneself. Sukka comes from the word Sak, meaning thicket, lair, cover, or booth, which is also from the root-word Sakan. This is the time of Sukkot.
John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled with us: and we saw his glory, a glory as of the only begotten from the Father, that he was full of grace and truth.” (Murdock) The King James Version translates this “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” but the word “dwelt” or “tabernacled” is, in Greek, skenoo, meaning “to set up one’s tent,” “to have a tent,” “live in a tent,” or “tent.” In the Aramaic it is the word “oagen,” which means, literally, “Garden.” (CAL) Since the tabernacles made at Sukkot are made out of branches, it lines up perfectly with this reference to gardening, which otherwise does not make sense.
This reveals not only what Y’shua was doing, but when He was born. If He came and tabernacled among us, He must have come at Tabernacles. It is also true that the Romans often took advantage of the feasts when all of the Jewish nation would go up to Jerusalem for censuses. What could be more convenient for Rome?
“And Peter answered and said to Jesus, My Lord, it is better for us to remain here; and if you wish, we will make three shelters here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Matthew 17:4 (Lamsa)
The King James Version reads, “Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”
So it says it is good, rather than better. If Peter said, “It is good for us to be here,” as the Greek texts say, he wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. Obviously wherever Y’shua lead them, it was good for them to be there. But if He said “it is better for us to remain here,” as it says in the Aramaic texts, it makes perfect sense. It is explained by the context of the passage. The Aramaic word for “shelters” is “tal,” another Aramaic term for “tabernacle” or “booth.” (CAL) So this is referring to tabernacles as in those built at the Feast of Sukkot. But how does that explain Peter’s peculiar statement? Deuteronomy 16:16, “Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of matzah, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty” (HNV)
This is one of the feasts at which it was commanded to go up to Jerusalem. Peter is saying that it was better for them to stay where they were for Sukkot than for them to go up to Jerusalem. Peter wanted to celebrate Sukkot there with Moses and Elijah. Why? Because Peter thought that it was time for the final fulfillment of Sukkot. “Then I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand and two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth.” Revelation 11:3 (Lamsa)
Thus fulfilling the Law, Deuteronomy 19:15, “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.” (HNV)
Though traditional theologians say that Peter’s question is completely ridiculous, it really isn’t. This was the time of Sukkot. At this time Y’shua and His disciples were actually going up to Jerusalem for Sukkot, as Peter’s use of the word “better” reveals.
Learning that they were going up to Sukkot lends new life to the passage just a little earlier, in Matthew 16:24, “Then said Yeshua to His disciples, ‘He who wishes to follow after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow after me.’” (Younan)
The Greek word usually translated “cross” here is actually the word “stauros.” This is better translated “staff,” the English form of the Latin word “stauro,” meaning “staff,” rather than the Latin word “crux” which means “cross.” The Aramaic word is “zqapa” meaning “stake” “to erect” “to stick up” or “to raise up” among other things. (CAL) It, too, is actually a staff, rather than a cross. So it is actually “let him…take up his staff and follow Me.” Why is this important? Exodus 12:11, “This is how you shall eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's Pesach.” (HNV)
They were to eat Passover with their staffs in their hands, because they were going out from Egypt. When they went out into the wilderness, what did they do? They Tabernacled, still with staff in hand.
At the time Y’shua said these things, He was on His way to Jerusalem for Sukkot. He told them to follow Him, not just anywhere, but specifically up to Sukkot. Zechariah 14:16-17 says, “And it shall be, everyone who is left from all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be, whoever will not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, there shall even be no rain on them.” (LITV)
This feast is very, very important, especially in the Messianic era. Why is it that they will not have rain if they don’t go up to Sukkot? Because they are not taking up their staffs and following Him. This is what Sukkot is all about. From the first Sukkot, when Israel followed YHWH into the wilderness, to the Sukkot when Y’shua called the people to follow Him, it has been about taking up staffs, and following Him.
Isaiah 16:4-5, “Let My outcasts tarry with you, Moab. Be a hiding-place to them from the face of the destroyer. For the exactor has ceased, destruction has failed; the trampler is ended out of the land. And in mercy the throne shall be founded; and he shall sit on it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and swift in righteousness.” (LITV)
Why the Tabernacle of David? Because He is going to Tabernacle, literally, here again, in Moab, as the passage says. Daniel 11:41 also talks about this time, “He shall also enter into the glorious land, and many shall be stumbled. But these shall escape out of his hand; Edom and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.” (LITV)
He will again Tabernacle with His people in the wilderness.
Isaiah 4:5-6 reveals what He will be doing when He Tabernacles again. “Then Jehovah will create a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all the site of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies; for over hall the glory will be a canopy. And there shall be a booth for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge, and for a hiding-place from storm and rain.” (LITV)
When the Hebrew is understood in this passage, it gives a very clear picture of what He is going to do. The word the King James Version translates “defense” and most other versions translate, as something to the effect of “canopy” is the Hebrew word “chupah.” The only other two times it appears in Scripture, in Psalm 19:5 and Joel 2:16, it is used as a wedding-chamber. A chupah is traditionally a canopy used in a Jewish wedding. This is a wedding-chamber. In the next verse it is referred to as a “booth” or a “tabernacle.” When He is Tabernacling this time it will be His wedding, His honeymoon, with His bride.
There are great discussions about what should be done in the tabernacles. Eating? Sleeping? Leviticus 23:42 merely says, “You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Yisra'el shall dwell in booths,” (HNV)
Amein!

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