"'So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the LORD for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'" So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the LORD." (Lev 23:39-44)

Tabernacles is the seventh and final of the great Feasts of the LORD. The Feasts are a prophetic revelation of the redemptive career of the Messiah from his death on the tree during Passover, until the time when he sits down on the throne of his father David in Jerusalem to rule the nations, during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Three different Hebrew words are used about the Feasts of the LORD. They are

1. 'moed,' which means appointment, set time, cycle, or assembly. This is one of the most important concepts in the Bible, which the antichrist will attack, see Gal 4:2,4, Ac 17:31 and Dan 7:25
2. 'miqra,' which means convocation or rehearsal, and
3. 'chag,' which means feast, to move in a circle, celebration, rejoicing

The Feasts of the LORD are sacred gatherings, or convocations, at appointed set times when we rehearse and celebrate God’s salvation through the Messiah, both what He has done and what He will do. All of them are important rehearsals for the great Feast in the kingdom of God when "many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 8:11)

During the Feast of Tabernacles, which is the final Feast, the main theme is to dwell in a temporary shelter, sukka, and rejoice before the LORD for seven days.

The Feast of Tabernacles, in Hebrew Sukkot, is all about the Millennial reign of Messiah. During this Feast we

1. celebrate that we are pilgrims in this world by living in temporary shelters, our destiny is the kingdom of God.
2. celebrate by faith in advance with great joy the ultimate victory of the kingdom of God out from Jerusalem.
3. give praise and thanksgiving for God's provision, protection and guidance for the journey through this life, present, past and future.
4. celebrate in advance the ingathering of the harvest of souls.
5. celebrate in advance the full maturity of our faith, Eph 4:13.
6. rejoice over the fullness of the spirit through faith in Yeshua, Jn 7:37-39.
7. rejoice that Yeshua is the light of the world, and that his glory dwells in us, Col 1:27.

It is very interesting that this rejoicing before God is considered by religious Jews today to be an expression of spiritual warfare. There is probably nothing that makes the devil so upset as when we by faith rejoice before our Maker, as Psalm 149 so well describes.

"Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.

"May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the LORD."

"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles." (Zec 14:16)

The Return of the Messiah

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, "…you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven."This is the true message of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is an annual reminder that we are only living in temporary conditions in this world. Like Abraham, we are pilgrims waiting for the return of the Messiah and our permanent home. "By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents [tabernacles], as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Heb 11:9-10)

Sukkot is not the Feast of Messiah's actual return, but the Feast celebrating that he has returned and has begun to reign out from Jerusalem. The Feast of Trumpets is the celebration of the rapture and the return of the Lord. The Day of Atonement marks the end of the outpouring of God's wrath upon the wicked, which will begin when Yeshua returns as described in 2 Thessalonians 1:4-7,

"…we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure [the tribulation]. This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you also suffer. Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you, and to give relief to you that are afflicted with us, when the Lord Yeshua is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire [the rapture]."

The tribulation is Satan's wrath and persecution of the saints. God's wrath is his judgment upon the wicked. We will go through Satan's wrath to be proven worthy of the kingdom to come. But if we are faithful and ready for the Lord's return, we will be transformed and caught up in the air to meet him and will escape God's wrath. "They called to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?'" (Rev 6:16-17)

During the outpouring of God's wrath it is still possible to repent, but after Yeshua has made his physical entrance into Jerusalem and all Israel is saved (the Day of Atonement) the books are closed and no more repentance is possible. Five days later Sukkot begins in Jerusalem. The Kingdom of God has come and the big celebration will begin. Hallelujah!

Just as the Lord will return on the Feast of Trumpets, we also believe that he came the first time on the Feast of Trumpets, being born exactly 38 weeks after he was conceived during Chanukah (see the article "When Was Messiah Born?"). 38 weeks is the time from conception to birth. Sukkot is the celebration that the Messiah has arrived to dwell (tabernacle) among us. Let us celebrate this great Feast!

A Testimony by a Former Muslim

Below is an interesting testimony about the Feast of Tabernacles from a former Muslim who recently became a believer in Yeshua. His name is Simon Altaf. We believe that the next major revival will take place in the Muslim world and therefore we need to pray for this huge harvest. Altaf has a website called www.Abrahamic-Faith.com He is the author of the book "Islam, Peace or Beast" and has spoken on radio/TV shows emphasizing the dangerous trend of the Western Church, which is allowing Islam to flourish in Great Britain and other European nations. Altaf is an example of the coming harvest in the Muslim world where Arabs will not hate Israel. Here is part of his testimony:

"As a believer ever since my calling from Islam into Yeshua as my Messiah and Savior this was my second most important question: should I celebrate Christmas or not? The first being, which church should I go to? I became a believer on September 17th 1998, and Christmas was not all that far away and the need for me to find a good fellowship was paramount to my spiritual growth. I prayed for the Lord Jesus (Yeshua Ha-Mashiach) to reveal the truth to me about what I should do.

"Fortunately for me that not only did the Lord reveal the answer to this question but many others also. First of all he led me by His personal hand to a Messianic Bible believing church. A person who I had never met before contacted me to meet him for lunch, which I accepted and he showed me to the church I should go to. This became my spiritual home with other believers some thirty seven miles away from my home town set in Golders Green London, right smack bang in the middle of the Jewish heartland. This was my first experience of seeing so many Jews together in one area wearing Yarmulkes, black hats and the like. Is it not amazing that this was the answer to the very first question I had after my salvation?

"My second question carried a payload with it. I am not sure why at the time I felt I must ask this question but intrinsically I recognized that something was not quite right about Christmas. But as a baby believer in Yeshua I could not quite place exactly what was wrong with Christmas. As a Muslim I had friends who would give me Christmas cards and likewise I would give them cards, but to be honest I never knew what was the meaning of this as my friends simply followed a tradition. I saw Christmas as nothing more than getting drunk, having fun, and watching movies, which is what my friends did, and you can see this quite prevalent in the Western culture.

"The answer that the Lord gave was even more shocking: I was told that Christmas was not for me. Christmas was the pagan wrapping on a Biblical feast that the 4th century church replaced with the Roman Christmas; this was the church's effort to bring about replacement theology and to shun the Jews.

"When I looked at the question of Christmas, an interesting parallel appeared to me: in Islam the Hajj (pilgrimage) at Mecca was done before Muhammad ever proclaimed prophethood. He later adopted this practice into Islam as a valid practice that clearly had nothing to do with monotheism because Mecca housed 360 idols and was a pagan shrine, but Muhammad had to get his powerful Quraish tribe into his new-found faith. This was Muhammad's political attempt to get the pagans to buy into Islam and he succeeded in that. The same thing had happened here with Christmas, because really, this was the feast of the winter solstice which the Pagan Romans celebrated and it had nothing to do with Jesus Christ's birth; instead this practice was simply wrapped onto Biblical Christianity to appease the Roman hierarchy and get their "buy" in which, like Islam was successful. This is what then led to the 1600 years of anti-Semitism, Jewish persecution and hatred in our churches.

"A friend phoned me the other day asking what I was doing at Christmas this year. I casually responded that I do not celebrate Christmas, to which he retorted, "But that is Christ's birthday, how can you not celebrate?" This led to some flurry of questions from him to establish whether I was a believer or not.

"I could not believe what I was hearing. An evangelical Christian had questioned my very salvation on the basis of Christmas, simply because I said Christmas is not Biblical! It does not get any more ridiculous than this.

"I went through an explanation to my friend that I left the pagan religion of Islam after I found the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah of Israel - then how can I possibly adopt another pagan festival, namely, Christmas? I asked him would I not be a hypocrite if I told the Muslims that you worship false practices of a false god, but then I also do the same thing myself? I further explained that there is no mention in the Bible of Christmas and that this was a question that the Lord had dealt with upon my conversion. The real symbol for Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah would be the feast of Tabernacles. The Lord wants us to celebrate His feasts - not pagan feasts. We should be observing the feasts that the Lord appointed to reflect on both the past and future of the atoning work of the Lord on the cross for and on our behalf." (End quote)

We are truly living in the season of the restoration of all things when the Holy Spirit is revealing the truth to people all over the world, who have a listening ear. Yes, the Feast of Tabernacles should be the great Feast, a one week holy convocation in every local congregation to celebrate and honor Yeshua/Jesus according o the promise given by the angel Gabriel to Miriam (Mary),

"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." (Lk 1:30-33)

Let's be sanctified by the truth and washed in the word of God from man made traditions so that we can be ready for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. He is doing a quick work in these days!

The Feasts of the Lord are God's appointed times. A tremendous rich heritage of truth was lost when the church in the second century began to sever the connection with the Jewish people and eventually stopped celebrating the Feasts of the Lord. Still it took centuries until the biblical feasts were completely rooted out of the church. The main reason for John Chrysostom preaching his famous “Homilies Against the Jews” towards the end of the fourth century was to put a final end to Christians going to the synagogues during the Biblical Feasts. It is not clear if he successful.

We are now living in times of restoration in anticipation of the Lord's return. Yeshua promised, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things." (Mt 17:11) Celebrating the Biblical Feasts is part of this promise to restore the true altar of the LORD that has fallen down. In the kingdom of God all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. We need to practice already now.

"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. …This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles." (Zech 14:16-19)

How You Can Celebrate Sukkot

The Feast if Tabernacles is full of prophetic significance for us today and we strongly encourage you to celebrate this Feast. We want to give you some simple suggestions that you can use as it fits you and also elaborate on as the Holy Spirit directs you.

1. Build a Tabernacle - 'Sukkah'

The Feast is called Tabernacles, or in Hebrew Sukkot. Sukkot is the plural form of 'sukkah' meaning tabernacle or booth. The people of Israel are commanded to live in simple tabernacles or booths during this feast to remember the Lord's faithfulness to take care of them during their 40-year pilgrimage through the wilderness when they lived in simple, temporary tents.

We encourage you first of all to build a 'sukkah.' If it is in your home you can do it on your porch or your balcony. In your congregation you can build it in the vestibule or on the stage. It is to be a very simple structure that you can make as small or large as you want depending on how much space you have available. Normally it is covered on three sides with white sheets with the fourth side being the entrance. Cover the top with a few branches, preferably palm branches. If you have the sukkah outside you are supposed to be able to see the stars through the branches. Congregations could even consider meeting in a tent instead of their regular building during the Feast.

Inside you can hang fruit and colored lights from the ceiling and maybe have a picture of Jerusalem and Jewish, Messianic, prophetic artwork on "the walls." Use your imagination and creativity but keep it simple! The sukkah is not meant to be a castle, but a very simple structure. Place some chairs or mattresses to sit on inside the sukkah. Israeli families today eat their meals and spend their leisure times in the sukkah during this Feast. Some even sleep in them, at least one night. Take time to eat and fellowship together during the Feast. It is part of the celebration. It is to be a joyful feast!

The prophetic significance of the sukkah is first of all to remind us that we are a people of pilgrimage. This world is not our home. Secondly, it reminds us of God's faithfulness that He is able to keep us and protect us on the journey through this life. It is a faith-builder that we can trust God to provide for all our needs, just as God supernaturally provided for the people of Israel for forty years in the wilderness. We recommend that you study the lives of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

2. Teach About the Second Coming

The Feast of Tabernacles points to the time when Yeshua has returned to take up the throne of David and has restored the kingdom to Israel ruling as King of kings from Jerusalem.

This is why Peter, when he saw Jesus in his coming glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, suggested that he build three tabernacles. He later wrote in 2 Pet. 1:16, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."

Tabernacles is the Feast when we celebrate in advance "the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." In a troubled world we stir up hope, looking forward to the consummation of our faith when we shall see Him face to face. "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 Jn 3:2)

We suggest that you make the first night of the Feast an evening of teaching on the Feasts of the Lord and specifically the Feast of Tabernacles so that you can explain to everyone from the Scriptures what it is all about. Make a special emphasis to teach on Yeshua's second coming. Stir up hope for His return to Jerusalem to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords! Too many Christians are frightened about the last days. That is not a Biblical perspective and it is time to change the entire attitude about the last days to a posture of faith. Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles will do that! We are to look forward to His coming with much joy and to and hasten that day!

3. A Feast of Joy and Praise

Some rabbis say that the most difficult commandment to keep in the entire Law is the one about the Feast of Tabernacles, "you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days." (Lev 23:40) You must be happy for seven days. You cannot be sad during this feast. There are stories about Orthodox Jews who even danced their way into Hitler's gas chambers during Sukkot. What faith!

The New Covenant says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Ph 4:4) We are to rejoice "in the Lord." It is good to practice that during these seven days! It was on the last and greatest day during the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus told His people that He Himself was the source of the joy, when we believe in Him.

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, '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.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (Jn 7:37-39) This is a time when we can really celebrate the Feast!

During the Feast arrange one whole evening, maybe the last evening in the Feast, as a "Hosanna evening" to just praise and worship before the Lord. Encourage dancing with costumes and banners and the blowing of shofar horns! Through thanksgiving and praise we express our faith and trust in the Lord that He is able to take care of us and provide all of our needs. We also praise Him in advance for His ultimate victory, when He will cast out Satan and set up His kingdom. "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Hab 2:14) With praises we want to welcome the Messiah back and prepare the way for him.

4. Bless Israel

The spring feasts were all fulfilled in Jerusalem through the Jewish people. Tabernacles will also be fulfilled in Jerusalem through the Jewish people. "For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" (Ro 11:15) God has not rejected His people. (v. 2) They have not fallen beyond recovery. (v.11) They are still loved because of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. (v. 28-29)

God is restoring His people back to Jerusalem and to Himself in our day. Yeshua said, "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Lk 21:24) We are living on the threshold of the Lord's return.

It is impossible to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles without honoring God's chosen people Israel. Tabernacles is certainly a feast to bless Israel and praying for the peace of Jerusalem, remembering that salvation is from the Jews.

Take one night during the Feast as an Israel night. Teach about Israel and our responsibility to bless them and comfort them. If you cannot take one whole evening for this you need to at least include it in one of the other nights during the celebration.

The Bible tells us, "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God." (Is 40:1) It is through the mercy given us that they will receive mercy. (Ro 11:31) We encourage you to take up a special love offering during the evening to bless Israel.

Take time to pray for the restoration and salvation of Israel, which will be life from the dead for the whole world. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  'May they prosper who love you.' " (Ps 122:6)

5. It Is a Harvest Feast

The Feast of Tabernacles is a harvest feast. "So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days." (Lev 23:39) It is a celebration that the whole harvest among both Gentiles and Jews has been gathered in.

During Tabernacles the Jewish people pray for the nations in anticipation of the day when all nations will join them in Jerusalem to worship the Lord. "Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles." (Zech 12:16) According to Jewish belief there are 70 nations in the world. God's word commands that during Sukkot 70 bulls be offered by fire as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Paul wrote,"I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved." (Ro 11:25-26)

The harvest in the nations must come in! Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Mt 24:14)

Take time to pray in faith for the end time harvest. Pray for workers! "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." (Mt 9:37) Pray for the fullness of the Gentiles that can provoke Israel to jealousy! This includes fullness of maturity and a restoration back to the Jewish apostolic foundation found in the book of Acts before the so called Church fathers established another foundation separate from Israel. Let's pray for this restoration and fullness! It is time to return to our roots to be ready for the Lord's return.

"I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 8:11)

Summary

We hope that these points about the Feast of Tabernacles will give you ideas how you can celebrate this important feast. You are encouraged to study more about Tabernacles and add or take away from these points as the Holy Spirit leads you. It is better that you do it simply the first time and maybe just take one night, rather than doing nothing. Try to wet the appetite of your people the first year and then you can add more to the celebration next year.

"Prepare the way for the LORD"