Sukkot (Tabernacles)

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Leviticus 23:33-44
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.

Numbers 29:12-40
And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish: And their meat offering [shall be of] flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams, And a several tenth deal to each lamb of the fourteen lambs: And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the second day [ye shall offer] twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot: And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering thereof, and their drink offerings. And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish; And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the fifth day nine bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without spot: And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the sixth day eight bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work [therein]: But ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: one bullock, one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish: Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullock, for the ram, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. These [things] ye shall do unto the LORD in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings. And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Deuteronomy 16:13-17
Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that [are] within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: Every man [shall give] as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.

Sukkot is a memorial celebration of how Israel dwelt in booths in the wilderness after God brought them out of captivity in Egypt. It is an eternal memorial to be kept every year for seven days with rejoicing and one of three requiring journey to Jerusalem to celebrate. There is also an interesting wording in Deuteronomy that this feast is to be kept “in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.”

Biblical Holidays:

The Feast of Tabernacles is a week-long autumn harvest festival. Tabernacles is also known as the Feast of the Ingathering, Feast of the Booths, Sukkoth, Succoth, or Sukkot. The Feast of Tabernacles was the final and most important holiday of the year. The importance of this festival is indicated by the statement, “This is to be a lasting ordinance.” The divine pronouncement, “I am the Lord your God,” concludes this section on the holidays of the seventh month. The Feast of Tabernacles begins five days after Yom Kippur on the fifteenth of Tishri (September or October). It is a drastic change from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous. The word Sukkoth means “booths,” and refers to the temporary dwellings that Jews are commanded to live in during this holiday, just as the Jews did in the wilderness. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts for seven days and ends on the twenty-first day (3x7) of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which is Israel’s seventh month. It is expounded in Leviticus 23:43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Feast of Tabernacles Fulfillments

Second Coming Fulfillment

If you recall the study of Pesach Seder (Unleavened Bread), it is on the fourteenth day of the seventh month that Israel had to make preparations prior to the fifteenth of the month for Sukkot, which was one of the seven moedim, a high holy day in which no servile work could be done. And in Nisan annually it was also the day of preparation and ultimately fulfilled when Yeshua was crucified. That pattern of a Sabbath feast is mirrored in the building of the booths in which Israel would live in for the duration of the seven days of Sukkot, beginning with a holy convocation in which no servile work could be done. So Sukkot (Tabernacles) started on the same day of the month (15th) as Pesach Seder (Unleavened Bread) six months earlier. Sukkot, however, ends with a holy convocation not on the seventh day of the month like Pesach Seder, but on the eighth day.

Significance of the 8th Day

When looking at the significance of numbers in the Bible, the number seven is agreed to be the number of completeness. There are seven days in the week, mirroring the creation of the world by God and His day of rest. In Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy, there are 70 sevens that mark the time in which God will complete His work bringing Israel back to Him. A day is as a thousand years, 2 Peter 3:8-13, and so following the pattern there would be 6,000 years of God working with man and 1,000 years of rest. The number eight represents a new beginning and we can see this represented both historically and prophetically.

Looking at these same patterns, the eighth day is the first day of a new week and in the 1,000 year principle, it is after the Messianic kingdom of 1,000 years of rest on earth that the final judgment is completed and we begin a new age in a new heaven and a new earth for time without end. Revelation 20:11-21:7

Yeshua presented Himself as the Lamb of God on 10 Nisan in 30 AD. Four days later on Pesach (Passover) He was crucified on 14 Nisan and was buried for three days and nights in the heart of the earth like Jonah in the whale. Jonah 1:17 | Matthew 12:40 So it was that transition from the 17th to the 18th of Nisan that Christ was risen from the dead in His glorified body on the eighth day having defeated death for us. That Sunday was the wave sheaf offering, called Firstfruits. 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Shavuot (Pentecost) is to be the last of the spring moedim, or appointed times, and takes place on the 50th day after Firstfruits. Seven weeks of seven days are counted from the Sabbath and on that seventh Sabbath, the eighth day is the feast of weeks, Shavuot. It was on this day in 30 AD that the followers of Christ were gathered together and the Holy Spirit descended upon them, for the first time those that believed were indwelt with the Spirit of God and they proclaimed the Gospel in many languages of those who had traveled from abroad to Israel for Shavuot, each hearing in their own language. A new more intimate relationship with God by His Spirit was made possible from that time forward.

If the three fall feast days of Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot are indeed tied to Christ’s second coming as the four spring feasts were tied to His first, we should expect them to similarly be fulfilled in the same year sequentially as they were in 30 AD. As seen in the days of repentance, it would seem that both Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur are tied together in that time and four days later is Sukkot.

Revelation 12:6, 14-17
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days. ... And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

We see this woman, symbolizing Israel, protected from the dragon in the wilderness. She is given a means of escape from the time of Jacob’s trouble as promised and protected in the wilderness after that unparalleled tribulation by the dragon that gives his power and great authority to the beast. Revelation 13:5 It shows the transition during the great tribulation from phase 1, Jacob’s trouble, to phase 2 the remnant of Israel not protected globally and those with the testimony of Yeshua. As for Israel, she has just gone through the worst time in Jewish history and has escaped by the hand of God once again to live in the wilderness under His protection. It is during this time that it would seem God is speaking comfortably to her and bringing her to an understanding of their Messiah, possibly with the help of the 144,000 young men from the 12 tribes of Israel who are sealed with the seal of God.

Hosea 2:14-23
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and [with] the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to [them which were] not my people, Thou [art] my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God.

Isaiah 35:1-10
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, [and] the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, [shall be] grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it [shall be] for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err [therein]. No lion shall be there, nor [any] ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Jeremiah 30:23-31:14
Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done [it], and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it. At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people [which were] left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; [even] Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat [them] as common things. For there shall be a day, [that] the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim [is] my firstborn. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare [it] in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd [doth] his flock. For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of [him that was] stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 51:9-23
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. [Art] thou not it that hath cut Rahab, [and] wounded the dragon? [Art] thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy [shall be] upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; [and] sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, [even] I, [am] he that comforteth you: who [art] thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man [that] shall die, and of the son of man [which] shall be made [as] grass; And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where [is] the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. But I [am] the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts [is] his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou [art] my people. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, [and] wrung [them] out. [There is] none to guide her among all the sons [whom] she hath brought forth; neither [is there any] that taketh her by the hand of all the sons [that] she hath brought up. These two [things] are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God [that] pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, [even] the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

From these prophecies of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Hosea we see the promise to Israel is not forgotten and they reference the latter days return of Israel in the wilderness to be comforted by God and return to the days of her youth out of Egypt. God will make her to lie down safely and return to faithfulness to Him.

So it is possible that while Israel is protected, she has her blindness removed as God reveals Himself to her in the wilderness as His wrath is poured out on the earth. There she is protected and provided for, the scriptures revealed that they had been blinded to so that they will come out of this time recognizing Yeshua as their Messiah and saying blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. They will be His people and He will be their God.

Sukkot is a seven-day feast that is to be a joyous time of rejoicing following the solemn Yom Kippur. If the fall feasts are fulfilled at Christ’s second parousia as the spring feasts were in His first, then we should see the order of events line up with His arrival.

Matthew 24:29-31, Mark 13:24-27, and Luke 21:25-28 all place Christ’s return just after the signs of the sixth seal of Revelation 6:12-17, which is the coming wrath of God. As His faithful bride is not appointed to wrath, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, and Israel is protected on the earth from the dragon for 3 1/2 years, Revelation 12:14-16, we see a distinct picture of Israel being taken swiftly out of the dragon’s grasp around the time of the sixth seal coinciding with His coming. This is also shown in Revelation 7, where a vision of an innumerable multitude in heaven before the throne from the catching away of the bride and the sealing of the 144,000 of the 12 tribes of Israel on the earth prior to the wrath being poured out.

I was recently watching a video from Olive Branch Fellowship called The Moedim - Part 7: Sukkot where the teacher made a point I hadn’t noticed before as the focus was on Israel in terms of Sukkot. However, while we see Israel taken to the wilderness to dwell protected in booths, notice what those who are standing in heaven are doing.

Leviticus 23:40-41
And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. [It shall be] a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

Revelation 7:9
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

This would seem to indicate that both groups described in this time just after the sixth seal and before the wrath of God is poured out are celebrating the same feast, one group on earth and the other in heaven.

In light of the fall feasts then, that same order can be seen where the unknown day of Yom Teruah and the blowing of the last trump would call up the faithful resurrected and living bride to meet Him at His coming, Israel would have just been taken to the wilderness and protected, recognizing the coming of the Messiah and being unblinded at the fulness of the Gentiles, and have a solemn assembly where they afflict their souls on the day of atonement, having just come out of the time of Jacob’s trouble where many of Israel are broken off. Then comes Sukkot, where they are to rejoice before the Lord and live in booths reminding them of their time in the wilderness coming out of Egypt where God saved them from captivity.

If that is the case, and Israel’s repentance is completed and blindness lifted, the eighth day of Sukkot will truly be a time of great rejoicing. I’ve always been a Christian, although not always a good one. I remember in my early teens when I was baptized of my own choice and the weightlessness I felt after. It was a tangible thing in my soul that I knew had changed in me. I’m so excited for this time for remnant Israel as a nation, not longer blinded, protected in the wilderness to realize just as their forefathers were saved from Egypt into the wilderness, so too will they be as they learn of the Messiah they were blinded to. 42 months later they will enter into the Promised Land and the Messianic Kingdom. In this way I believe the realization of their sins and true repentance will wipe away their sins as they accept Christ and the Lord will teach them, perhaps through the 144,000.

Messianic Kingdom Fulfillment

Zechariah 14:16,17
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

We see here that all during the Messianic Kingdom, all the nations will have to keep the feast of tabernacles. I believe the ultimate fulfillment of this fall feast will be in eternity, when God tabernacles with men once again.

Revelation 21:2,3
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

List of Dates

Sukkot will occur on the following days of the secular calendar:

• Jewish Year 5784: sunset September 29, 2023 - nightfall October 6, 2023
• Jewish Year 5785: sunset October 16, 2024 - nightfall October 23, 2024
• Jewish Year 5786: sunset October 6, 2025 - nightfall October 13, 2025
• Jewish Year 5787: sunset September 25, 2026 - nightfall October 2, 2026
• Jewish Year 5788: sunset October 15, 2027 - nightfall October 22, 2027
• Jewish Year 5789: sunset October 4, 2028 - nightfall October 11, 2028
• Jewish Year 5790: sunset September 23, 2029 - nightfall September 30, 2029
• Jewish Year 5791: sunset October 11, 2030 - nightfall October 18, 2030