Sukkot - A Prophetic Marker

​A week of rejoicing has begun with the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. This celebration has more references throughout the Bible than any other one. The first mention of this feast in the Bible is in Leviticus 23:33-43. "The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles...You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generation. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days...that your generation may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." (NKJV)
 
This feast is not only a remembrance of history and a time of thanksgiving for the harvest, but a prophetic enactment of what is to come--the final Aliyah or going up of the Jewish people to their homeland. According to the Talmud (Central text of Rabbinic Judaism), Israel sits higher than all other lands. It is the most prominent place to connect with God. The Jewish people have been dispersed throughout the world, but God has promised to gather them and bring them back to their homeland. Zechariah 10:8-9 says, "I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they were before. Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember Me, and with their children they shall live and return." (ESV)
 
The ultimate fulfillment of Sukkot is Jesus. John 1:14 tells us, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory..." (NKJV) "Dwelt" in the Greek is “eskenosen” which means "to tabernacle" or "to pitch a tent." Jesus chose the last day of Sukkot, the seventh day, when the priests circle the altar seven times, carrying the Scrolls and singing from Psalm 118 to make a declaration. (This is recorded in Mishnah Sukkah 4:5 and practiced heavily during the Second Temple period.) He also chose during the water libation ceremony, when everyone is quiet, to declare, "...If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38 - NKJV)
 
In saying what He did at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus was identifying Himself as the source of living water and the fulfillment of the feast's hope. He is the One who would pour out the Holy Spirit. (Luke 24:49) Those who believe in Jesus are the ones who have the Holy Spirit living within them. As the Jewish people ask God to provide the physical rains for the next growing season, we ask Him for the rain of the Holy Spirit.
 
After the seven days of Sukkot there is the eighth day, considered to be holy and dedicated to the Lord. It is called "Shemini Atzeret" which means "The Eighth Day." It is part of the Sukkot celebration and yet it is a festival in and of itself. Eight is the number of new beginnings. It transcends time and points us to new life. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn says, "It breaks the barriers of time. There are not enough days in a week to continue my love for the Lord."
 
Let us join in the celebration of Sukkot just as Jesus did. The Jewish people say to one another during this season, "Z'man Simchatenu" or "The season of our rejoicing." This prophetic marker in time should remind us of the greater things that will come as the Jews return from exile to their homeland and spiritual revival comes to the Church. We will see our Messiah manifest Himself as the true source of living water when revival comes. All of these are truly reasons to rejoice.