Feast of Tabernacles – Sukkot – Feast of Booths
Should or shouldn’t we keep the Feast days?
Are the following Biblical guidelines just for Jewish people or are they for all followers of the Bible, all Christians, all followers of Yahweh (God) and Yashua (His Son Jesus)? Are these guidelines also for strangers (non-believers)?
I’ve read up on the Feast days for some years now and my family and I keep the Feast days as much as we’re able to.
However we believe that everyone should make up their own mind if they want to accept the invitation to celebrate or not. The collection of Scripture verses below may help shed some light on who the Feast of Tabernacles is meant for and how to celebrate this Feast.
For more information on the (Feast) of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) read here.
Read below for the next Feast;
Feast of Tabernacles – Sukkot – Feast of Booths
Sukkot 2024 begins at sunset on October 16, 2024 and ends at nightfall on October 23, 2024.
(fifteenth day of the seventh month)
For those who feel that they are included in the invite;
According to Biblical guidelines we are to
- Not work on the first (October 16, 2024) and the eight day (October 23, 2024) because these are holy days (Sabbath) and one should not work on those days.
- Build an outdoor dwelling (in our garden, on our porch or veranda, balcony) where we at a minimum enjoy/eat all our ‘festive’ meals during the next eight days. Ideally we’ll sleep outside as well but I don’t think this is required if not good for health.
- We’re told to decorate our outdoor dwelling as follows; “Olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths.” “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.”
We have access to palm branches and stick these in vases throughout the house and tie palm branches to our veranda posts (which is our outdoor dwelling). - Make an offering by fire. Detailed instructions are given for this in Numbers 29 but few of us have a flock to choose from so I reckon pancakes on the stove and/or sausages on the bbq will have to substitute for this. Drink offerings are poured in remembrance of Yahweh providing water in the desert.
- Main thing to remember is that we’re rejoicing and feasting before Yahweh because we are grateful for having been saved from slavery and from living in tents in the desert.
Following are the Scripture verses in the Bible which mention ‘The Feast of Tabernacles’ and ‘Dwelling in Booths.’
Speak Unto The Children Of Israel… all that are Israelites
Leviticus 23:33-43 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
34 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.
35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36 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.
37 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:
38 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.
39 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.
40 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.
41 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.
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
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.
In Leviticus Chapter 23, as we just read, The Feast of Tabernacles, fifteenth day of the seventh month and dwelling in booths are all mentioned in the same chapter.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2023&version=KJV
Rejoice… You and your Servants, Stranger, Fatherless, the Widow
Deuteronomy 16:13-17
13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
14 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.
15 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.
16 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:
17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2016&version=KJV
All Israel… the Stranger… All Children
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.
10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
11 When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
12 Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:
13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2031&version=KJV
According to the Commandment of Moses
2 Chronicles 8:12-13
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,
13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%208&version=KJV
The Children of Israel… as Written in the Law of Moses
Ezra 3:1-4
1 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezra%203&version=KJV
Hosea 12:8-9 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
9 And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea%2012&version=KJV
Every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem
The punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast
Zechariah 14:16-19
16 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.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lordof hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah%2014&version=KJV
Written in the law… The Children of Israel… all the Congregation
Nehemiah 8:13-18
13 And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.
14 And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:
15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
16 So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nehemiah%208&version=KJV
Numbers 29:12 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:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers%2029&version=KJV
Ezekiel 45:25 In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2045&version=KJV
Jesus went to the Feast of Tabernacles
John 7:1-11
1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.
2 Now the Jew’s feast of tabernacles was at hand.
3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.
9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%207&version=KJV
To feast or not to feast?
I like parties so it’s a no-brainer for me.
For anyone else I hope that the above Scripture verses are useful in some way.
If you like to find out how the Jewish people party you can find a guide to the Holiday of Sukkot and the Feast of Tabernacles (same thing), and the meanings behind it on the Chabad.org website.
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Feast of Weeks
What is the Feast of Weeks? I asked Google. Thank you Google!
Tomorrow will be the biblical Feast of Weeks for all of us who accept invitations and commandments from our Creator and Father. How do I know? Because His Holy Word tells me so. Thank you Bible Gateway!
Thou shalt observe the Feast of Weeks
And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest,
and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end. Exodus 34:22Thou shalt keep the Feast of Weeks
of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God,
according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee … Deuteronomy 16:10
Do not appear empty
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 … Deuteronomy 16:16According to the commandment
Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses,
on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts,
three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks,
and in the feast of tabernacles. 2 Chronicles 8:13A Holy Convocation … a statute for ever in all your dwellings
Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals;
they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord
…
And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you:
ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings
throughout your generations. Leviticus 23:17-21
How do Jewish people celebrate the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot?
One of my favourite biblical scholars, Nehemia Gordon, tells us that ‘Shavuot is a pilgrimage-feast, in Hebrew chag. As a chag, Shavuot is one of the three annual biblical festivals on which every male Israelite is commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple.’ Nehemia then continues to explain in depth what Shavuot is all about on his website Nehemia’s Wall in an article called The Truth About Shavuot. As an aside, there is no temple today to make a pilgrimage to. More about that later.
Additional information about this wonderful Feast can be found on the Chabad.org site which tells us that ‘The Torah was given by G‑d to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai more than 3300 years ago and every year on the holiday of Shavuot we renew our acceptance of G‑d’s gift, and G‑d “re-gives” the Torah. On this day G‑d swore eternal devotion to us, and we pledged everlasting loyalty to Him.’
[edit] Also Jewish people read out the Book of Ruth during Shavuot. The story of the Book of Ruth is set during harvest time. Ruth is the ancestor of King David and Jesus as well as an example from the Bible of a Gentile who choose to join the God of Israel. According to the Karaite Jews, “Anyone who 1) is circumcised [males only], 2) accepts the God of Israel [YHWH] as their own God, and 3) accepts the People of Israel as their own people is a full-fledged Jew [Israelite], see Exodus 12,43-49 and Ruth 1,16.[finish edit 25/05/2015]
More info still on the Wikepedia site. Thank you Wikepedia!
Should or shouldn’t we celebrate Shavuot?
I’ve heard ‘Christian’ people say that they don’t feel it is necessary to celebrate any of the Feasts after Jesus’ crucifixion. And I’ve heard ‘Jewish’ people say that because there is no temple there is nowhere to celebrate or give the sacrifices. I also hear Bible students say that only males are to celebrate these Feasts and that God doesn’t like sacrifices.
Whose Feasts are these?
With regards to any of the Feasts: this is what The LORD says about them. He doesn’t call them Christian Feasts and He doesn’t call them Jewish Feasts and the Lord doesn’t call these Feasts Biblical either. No, what He says is instead that these are ‘The Feasts of the Lord, holy convocations, my Feasts.’
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
Concerning the feasts of the Lord,
which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations,
even these are my feasts.
…
Ye shall do no manner of work:
it shall be a statute for ever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
‘Being Jewish’ explains ‘Why we do no longer bring animal sacrifices’ and why we cannot bring sacrifices without a temple. Christianity stack exchange explains where in the bible it says that sacrifice can only be done in the temple.
And I collected a stack of Scripture references where the Lord in no uncertain terms expresses his displeasure with the sacrifices.
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Accept the invite or decline?
Sacrifices or not, temple or not, male or not; what I read in the Bible is our Creator telling us to celebrate His Feasts f o r e v e r and OBVIOUSLY in the right spirit. Sure the LORD said that He is not interested in hypocrites who are trying to bribe Him by offering Him slaughtered animals. He also said that ‘His Feasts are a Holy Convocation, a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.’
The excuses given for not showing up to the party remind me of the wedding party story. In a nutshell: The King invites guests to his party and everyone has an excuse. All the initial guests end up in a bad place and a whole new crowd is being invited. Guess what? It appears that only those not wearing the right wedding garment are kicked out.
Sure you can decline and sure you can have an excuse. No doubt a very legitimate excuse too, just like the guests who couldn’t make it to the wedding and declined the invitation.
But when my Creator invites me, I brush up and I show up. And everyone else can do whatever their heart tells them to.
How to celebrate Shavuot?
On this occasion we are to bring a gift (freewill offering). You can read about my favourite charity here. I’ve been told that Feed the Hungry.org provides one hundred meals to hungry kids for six bucks only! It’s the best value around. And not only that but 100% of donated funds ends up with the kids because all services such as transport as well as all food and administrative work are donated by volunteers.
To argue that we’re not to bring a freewill offering during this Feast strikes me as a bit, dare I say it? Pharisaical maybe?
The timing of this Feast coincides with the giving of the Law so what better time to commemorate the giving of the Law? A Pact of Love as far as I’m concerned. So here goes once more.
And God spake all these words, saying,
1
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.4
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.7
Thou shalt not commit adultery.9
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
Happy Shavuot!
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