The+Feast+of+Sukkot

During Old Testament times, God instituted a religious calenar for the Isreelites to follow. The seventh day, the seventh year, and the end of seven years were significant to him. Within each year, he specified seven feasts (Leviticus 23), one of which was the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles).

This celebration of Sukkot began after the fall harvest, a time to be especially thankful for God's blessings. It was a time to praise God for his past gifts of freedom, land, and bountiful harvests. In fact, God commanded them to "rejoice" before him (Leviticus 23:40). Following God's command, his people came to Jerusalem and built booths of olive, palm, and myrtle branches (Nehemiah 8:15) that provided shade. The people were to leave enough space in the branches so that they could see the sky, reminding them of their wilderness years. These booths (//sukkot,// plural //sukkah//) gave the feast its name. For seven days, the people ate, lived, and slept in these booths.

A special element of these celebrations of Sukkot involved living water. Sukkot took place at the end of the dry season, so the rains needed to begin immediately to ensure a bountiful harvest the following year. Thus the celebration of God's harvest was coupled with the people's fervent prayers for the next year's rains. The priests, too, added a ceremony that included a prayer for rain. During this ceremony, a procession of priests marched from the temple to the Pool of Siloam, which was fed by the Spring of Gihon (living water). One priest filled a golden pitcher with water, and the procession returned to the temple. At that time, the priest carrying the pitcher stood near the top of the altar and solemnly poured the water into one of two silver funnels leading into the stone altar for the daily drink offerings. At this time, the people--accompanied by the Levitical choir, began a chant that meant, "O Lord, save us by sending us rain as well"

During Sukkot, four great menorahs ( more than seventy five feet high) were also placed in the women's court of the temple. They commemorated the miraculous burning of a small amount of sacred oil for eight days in the menorah (eternal light) in the Holy of Holies after Judah Maccabee defeated the Greek army of Antiochus and reclaimed Jerusalem. (This miracle has its own holiday now, Hanukkah).

In the context of Sukkot, the water ceremony, and the menorahs blazing with light, Jesus presented the message of his new kingdom. He had traveled to Jerusalem for Sukkot (John 7:10) and had taught great crowds thronging the temple (John 7:14). On the "last and greatest day of the Feast" (John 7:37), during the water ceremony, the chanted prayers, and the plea made through the offering of living water (by the priests), Jesus stood and said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:37-38). So, the setting in which Jesus chose to give this lesson, and the similarity of his meaning to Jewish tradition, meant that his shouted promise in the temple must have had stunning impact: "Let him come to //me!//"

The Feast of Sukkot will be fully realized in heaven. There, God's people will experience living water (Revelation 7:17), his eternal presence (Revelation 21:22), and the light of God (Revelation 22:5). Whereas Sukkot taught the Jewish people to be joyful in anticipation of heaven, imagin the most joyful celebration that ever existed lasting for eternity. That, indeed, is heaven!

All of the above material is copyright and quoted from: Ray Vander Laan //Discovery Guide Life Ministery of the Messiah// That the World May Know Video series. Copyright 1999, 2009 Published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. pp. 270-271.