For the next week, the Armstrong Churches of God will "celebrate" the Feast of Tabernacles at sites all over the United States and the world beyond. There will be lots of sermons about the Millenium and the Wonderful World Tomorrow/Kingdom of God. There will also be a lot of fine dining, consumption of alcoholic beverages, and various entertainments. Unfortunately, NONE of these elements has anything to do with the biblical festival or what it pictures!
According to Chabad.org, in their article What Is Sukkot?, we read: "Of all the Jewish holidays, Sukkot is the only one whose date does not seem to commemorate a historic event. The Torah refers to it by two names: Chag HaAsif ('the Festival of Ingathering,' or 'Harvest Festival') and Chag HaSukkot ('Festival of Booths'), each expressing a reason for the holiday...The name Chag HaSukkot commemorates the temporary dwellings G‑d made to shelter our ancestors on their way out of Egypt (some say this refers to the miraculous clouds of glory that shielded us from the desert sun, while others say it refers to the tents in which they dwelled for their 40-year trek through the Sinai desert)." In the following section of the same article, we also read: "For seven days and nights, we eat all our meals in the sukkah and otherwise regard it as our home. Located under the open sky, the sukkah is made up of at least three walls and a roof of unprocessed natural vegetation—typically bamboo, pine boughs or palm branches."
So, according to the people to whom this festival was originally given, this festival celebrates the dwelling of their people in booths (temporary dwellings) and the fall harvest. Moreover, this is consistent with what we read of those original instructions in the Hebrew Torah. In the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus, we read: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, '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. On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 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.'" (Verses 33-36, ESV) Continuing, we read: "And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 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. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." (Verses 40-43, ESV)
Likewise, in the book of Deuteronomy, we read: "You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress." (16:13, ESV) Notice, here, we see this festival associated with celebrating the fall harvest. Then, a few verses later, we read: "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed." (16:16, ESV) Now, in the ACOGs, the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles has traditionally required the membership to travel to a central site for their celebrations. However, we see here that there were clearly three pilgrimage festivals designated by God for the ancient Israelites, and they were required to attend at the central sanctuary (later designated by God as Jerusalem). Moreover, these THREE festivals are also associated with each other in the book of Exodus, and the Feast of Booths is referred to there as the "feast of ingathering." (Exodus 23:16 and 34:22) Hence, we can see that the scriptural accounts clearly emphasize dwelling in booths and the fall harvest - just as was suggested in the Chabad.org article referenced earlier in this post.
Now, in terms of the meaning of these festivals from a Christian perspective, we know that Jesus of Nazareth claimed that he fulfilled ALL of the Torah and Prophets - that those writings pointed to HIM and his work! Thus, in terms of the meaning of the Feast of Booths, the only relevant questions for Christ's followers are: How did this festival point to HIM? and How did HE fulfill it? For that we need much more than speculation, we need to return to Scripture for the answers!
In the Gospel of John, we read: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, KJV) According to Blue Letter Bible, the Greek word translated here into English as "dwelt" literally means "to fix one's tabernacle, have one's tabernacle, abide (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent), tabernacle"! Notice how this same passage appears in some of the other English translations of the Bible: "So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." (NLT) "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (NIV) "And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth." (YLT, Young's Literal Translation) So, like the Jews of old, this Jew from Nazareth temporarily pitched his tent/booth among his people!
Likewise, in the epistle to the Hebrews, we read that Jesus was "for a little while" made lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9, ESV). Continuing, in that same passage, we read: "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2:14-18, ESV) Just like us, Jesus Christ tabernacled in the same flesh and blood, temporary dwelling, that each of us as humans currently inhabit!
Interestingly, the temporary nature of our current dwellings is a recurring theme in Scripture. Paul wrote to the saints at Corinth about the salvation that they had through Jesus Christ though it was currently contained in "jars of clay" (II Corinthians 4:7, ESV). A little later, in the same letter, he wrote: "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." (II Corinthians 5:1, NIV) In similar fashion, Peter wrote this about salvation through Jesus Christ: "Wherefore, I will not be careless always to remind you concerning these things, though, having known them, and having been established in the present truth, and I think right, so long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up in reminding [you], having known that soon is the laying aside of my tabernacle, even as also our Lord Jesus Christ did shew to me, and I will be diligent that also at every time ye have, after my outgoing, power to make to yourselves the remembrance of these things." (II Peter 1:12-15, YLT) Even so, these references to the temporary nature of human life are not confined to the writings of Paul and Peter.
Notice, that there are many passages which support this theme:
"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:14, NIV)
"Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! " (Psalm 39:5, ESV)
"The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away." (Psalm 90:10, NIV)
"Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure." (Job 14:1-2, NIV)
Alright, we've addressed the symbolism of the temporary dwelling, but what about the harvest aspect of this festival? Jesus equated his work in some of his parables to the harvest (see the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Weeds). In the Gospel of Matthew, we read: "And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'" (Matthew 9:35-38, ESV)
In the Gospel of John, we read that Christ told his disciples: "Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." (4:35-38, ESV)
Interestingly, a little later in this same gospel account, we find Christ observing the Feast of Booths (John 7) at Jerusalem, and he gave this message on the last day of the festival: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:37-39, ESV) A little earlier in this same gospel account, Christ had told Nicodemus: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17, ESV) Clearly, Christ envisioned his work as resulting in a great harvest of souls, and it is clearly significant that he invited everyone to come to him on that last day of the festival.
Thus, for Christians, we have demonstrated that the Feast of Booths points to Jesus Christ and his work on our behalf. The festival pictures him tabernacling in the flesh, so that we can one day also shed these tabernacles of flesh which we currently inhabit! Also, the festival pictures the great harvest of souls in the fall of humankind's history on this planet. A harvest made possible by Jesus of Nazareth! This is the meaning of the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles!
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