Feast of Tabernacles

Act  3, Scene 3

 

The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD.  On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.  For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.  (Leviticus 23: 34-36 NKJV)

 

The seventh month of the year seems to have been one of both celebration and reflection.  The final crops of the year were coming in, and it was a time to thank God for the bounty with which he had blessed the nation.  The Feast of Tabernacles was a sort of Thanksgiving festival to be celebrated as they “gathered the crops of the land” (Leviticus 23:39 NIV).  Yet, in the context of the Scriptures as a whole, it is much more than that.  This Festival illustrates how the annual Feasts of the Lord can mean many things on many levels.  For example:

 

  1. Historical:  If we to read only Leviticus 23 in reference to the Feast of Tabernacles, we would notice that God commanded the Israelites to live in temporary dwelling places (Hebrew: sukkot), commonly referred to as “booths” or “tabernacles”.  The living arrangements served as a reminder, that their “generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (verse 43)

 

  1. Soteriological (or salvation related):  In the New Testament, the word tabernacle is often used figuratively to represent our mortal, physical bodies.  (II Corinthians 5:1-5, II Peters 1:13-14).  In the same way that the Israelites lived in temporary dwellings (tabernacles or booths) during their sojourn in the wilderness, so we find our dwelling in our temporary earthly tabernacles which we will one day, at Christ’s return, put off.  God has reserved in heaven for us a tabernacle “not made with hands” (II Corinthians 5:1 KJV) that our “mortality might be swallowed up in life” (verse 5 KJV).  Interestingly enough, in synagogues the Book of Ecclesiastes is read during the Feast of Tabernacles.  That book emphasizes the temporary nature of this life

 

  1. Christological:  In John 1:14 we read, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”  The Greek word “dwelt” is derived from the word skenoo, which literally means to pitch one’s tent or tabernacle with (See Robertson’s New Testament Word Pictures for John 1:14).   Jesus literally “tabernacled” with us, and these days point to his coming in the flesh to walk among us.

 

  1. Eschatological (or related to the end time):  Revelation 21:1-3 (KJV) tells us that the Father’s throne will one day be on the earth.  Verse 3 reads, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell (“tabernacle”) with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” 

 

In ancient Israel, those who kept the Feast of Tabernacles were to “celebrate” and “be joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:13, 14 NIV).  It was to be family time, and for seven days they were to celebrate God’s blessings (verse 15).  It is commonly viewed that this permission to celebrate was a type of the Messianic Kingdom on earth, the “thousand years” of Revelation 20, frequently referred to as the Millennium.

 

Solomon’s Kingdom and the Messianic Kingdom

 

It is possible to look at Solomon’s kingdom as a type of the Messianic Kingdom, or Millennium, when Jesus Christ himself will rule the kingdoms of this world.  Those who make this connection note that Solomon dedicated the First Temple during the seventh month of the year at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles (I Kings 8:2, 65).  Note these parallels between how things were in Solomon’s day versus how they will be after Jesus returns:

 

  1. Solomon’s kingdom was a time of peace (I Kings 4:24).  So it will be when Christ returns (Isaiah 2:2-4).

 

  1. Prosperity was the norm.  Everyone had their own piece of productive real estate.  (I Kings 4:25)  In the Messianic Kingdom it will be the same (Micah 4:4).

 

  1. People came from the world over to learn from King Solomon, just as they will once again all go up to Jerusalem to learn wisdom from the King of kings. (I Kings 4:34, 10:1-3, 24Isaiah 2:3).

 

  1. God gave rest to Solomon’s kingdom (I Kings 5:4), even as we should strive to enter into God’s rest (Hebrews 4:1-11).

 

  1. There was no adversary (Hebrew: satan) in Solomon’s kingdom (I Kings 5:4), just as Satan will be bound during the Millennium (Revelation 20:1-3).

 

  1. Near the end of Solomon’s reign, God allowed an adversary (Hebrew: satan) to arise.  Satan, at the end of the millennium, will be loosed for a short while (Revelation 20:7-8).

 

  1. The Temple in Jerusalem was to be a house of prayer for all nations, not just for Israelites (I Kings 8:41-43).  One day all nations will seek God (Zechariah 9:20-23, Micah 4:1-2).

 

Solomon’s day was a time of great advances in science and exploration (I Kings 4:29, II Chronicles 9:21-22).  For the Israelites it was a time of unmatched prosperity and peace, just as it will be for the entire world when Jesus returns as King to rule with righteousness for the benefit of all.

 

Conclusion

 

While one can make a connection between the Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus’ Millennial rule on the earth (and that connection certainly fits nicely in this act of the play), the days help us understand other lessons God wants us to learn.  He wants us to know that we currently dwell in physical, temporary bodies that will one day pass away, and that this present evil world will also one day pass away.  We are merely pilgrims in this world, passing through in temporary dwellings (these physical bodies), and that our real, permanent home awaits us at some future time when we are resurrected to rule with Jesus for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4).

 

But what will happen after that thousand years?  An entire eternity awaits us, and that is pictured in the final scene of Act 3.