This LAST FEAST IN YEARLY CYCLE speaks of harvest – the last ingathering and tabernacling in the presence of the LORD.
The yearly cycle of feasts or moedim (appointed time) of the Lord is a multi-millennium cycle of yearly celebrations commanded in the Torah (1st 5 books of the Bible), sometimes referred to as the Books of Moses. There are actually 7 major holidays on the Jewish calendar, and come over a “3-time –period- each –year” frame. These times are based on a lunar calendar and start in the spring – the beginning of the religious calendar cycle, which as believers we have inherited.
The first of these is known to us as Passover, which Christians often think is the same as Easter. The first of these is known to us as Passover, (Pesach) which Christians often think is the same as Easter. This season includes Unleavened Bread (7 days) and First Fruits (1 day). The second is Shavuot (or Pentecost – 1 day) in the summer and the last segment in the fall has Rosh Hashanah – (Trumpets & Head of the Year 1-2 days – 9-9-2010), Yom Kippur – (Day of Atonement 1 day 9-18-2010) and finally Sukkot (Tabernacles 8 days 9-23/30-2010), spread out over the month of Tishri.
What is this last holiday about? Where did it come from? Why is it celebrated?
In Christian tradition, in the time of Roman Emperor Constantine, the date was set to celebrate Christmas as the birth date of Yeshua – (the name His mother called Jesus). There is much debate and some very pertinent research that this fall festival season could actually be the time of His birth. While we do not have the actual date, we have some clues from Scripture. We are told about the birth of John the Baptist, and we can see when his father was serving in the Temple by looking at the time of his service. (Luke 1: 5-9;1 Chronicles 24:10)We are also told that his mother, Elizabeth was in her 6th month when Mary was approached by the angel to speak of Yeshua (Luke 1:23-26). Then the word translated manger, could also be translated sukkah, booth. John 1:14 tells us that God became flesh and TABERNACLED (dwelt) among us. Since He died as the Lamb of God at Passover, and the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost, is it possible that he came to dwell with us at Tabernacles?
Well, all of that aside, Tabernacles is a time when the children of Israel were to remember the time when God lived in their midst during the 40 years in the wilderness, after their redemption from Egyptian slavery. They were to live in booths, remembering the tents they camped in. Also at each feast, they brought the tithe of the harvest, and there were three harvest periods: barley, wheat, fruits and vegetables. This would have been the last of the tithe of the harvest at this time. Each of these were commanded by God as continual / everlasting celebrations.
What does that mean to us as believers in the Messiah? When we think of harvest in agricultural sense, it is a time of ingathering of crops. In Scripture, especially from the words of Jesus, harvest means salvation of souls, disciple – making, and people being brought into the Kingdom of God (John 4:35,36). Tabernacle-ling – living in the presence of God brings thoughts of the Millennium reign of Christ on the earth, when He returns to rule as King, dwelling among us in Jerusalem, on the throne of David. The last harvest brings thoughts of the end of a season before a new cycle of springtime and harvest begins.
This is not irrelevant to us in our physical and spiritual perspectives. Each year we go through the seasons and what we wish to achieve in that time period. Each year we get to evaluate what we set out to do and how that has progressed. God in His infinite mercy and wisdom gives us a new cycle each year to either start again, or progress further in achieving the goals He has for our lives before that “final time.” At this year end time of Sukkoth – dwelling, it is time, once again, to evaluate and plan – for planting and harvesting.
