Underlying meanings of the Feast of Tabernacles

Feast of Tabernacles

Underlying the Feast of Tabernacles

According to dictionary.com, the Feast of Tabernacles, is also known as Sukkot, which was a Jewish festival celebrating the fall harvest and also commemorating the desert wondering of the Israelites during the Exodus (Sukkot - Definition of Sukkot, 2006). It is observed from the 15th to 22nd day of Tishri, which is the first month of the Jewish year (Tishri - Definition of Tishri, 2010). God commanded the Jewish nation to celebrate seven feasts over a seven-month time period, beginning in the spring of the year and continuing through the fall. The feasts fell in three clusters; the first three came to be known as "Passover" occurred in rapid succession over a period of eight days in spring. The "Passover" feasts were Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. The Harvest was the fourth feast, took place in the summer, fifty days after the "Passover." In the New Testament, it became known as Passover (Love, 2009). The last feasts, known collectively as "Tabernacle" extended over a period of twenty one days in fall and comprised of three feasts, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles.

The feasts were related to the agricultural cycle with the feast of First Fruit being a time the first fruits of the barley harvest were presented to God. The Feast of Harvest was in celebration of the wheat harvest. It was also the time when Moses received the Law from God on Mt. Sinai. The feast of Tabernacles was partly in thanksgiving for the harvest of olives, dates and figs. It also served as a reminder of God's protecting the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. The feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread related to historical events like the angel of death passing over the Jewish houses marked with blood of a lamb and the swift departure from Egypt leaving them with no time to put leaven in their bread. Spiritually, these feasts related to the people's spiritual life. Passover served as a reminder of the shedding of blood in order to achieve atonement. Unleavened Bread symbolized the reminder of God's call on the Israelites to be people set apart to holiness as leaven symbolized sin. The feast of First Fruits was to remind people to make God their first priority in their lives. The feast of Harvest reminded them of God being the source of all blessings. The feast of Trumpets reminded them of the need for constant and ongoing repentance. The Day of Atonement was a solemn day of rest and introspection and reminded them of God's promise to send a Messiah whose blood would cover what God's Law demanded for His mercy. The feast of Tabernacles was a joyous celebration of constant and unconditional faithfulness.

How Jesus fulfilled the symbolism underlying the Feast of Tabernacles

Reagan (2005) states that Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Israelites to deliver them from sin. The Passover pointed to the Messiah was the Passover lamb whose blood would be shed for deliverance from sin. Jesus was crucified on Passover when lambs were being slaughtered for the Passover meal. Jesus was viewed as having a sinless life making him the perfect sacrifice for sins relating to the feast of Unleavened Bread. His body was in the grave in the first days of the feast like a wheat kernel waiting to burst forth as the bread of life. Jesus' resurrection was symbolic in the feast of First Fruits as it was an indication of the first fruit of righteous. The feast of Harvest or Pentecost symbolized the great harvest of souls that would come during the Church Age. The Church was established during Pentecost when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit.