The word "Sukkot" means
Tabernacles, it is to remember the time the Israelites spent in temporary
dwellings while wandering in the desert. These dwellings are called "sukkas"
which are just temporary shelters made of wood and branches.
Sukkot is the feast which the Bible
indicates all believers will celebrate (not just the Israelites, but every
believer) when THE LORD is reigning from Jerusalem.
When I am invited to a party, I want to
know if it is a wedding, birthday, or what the occasion is and of course what
the dress code is and what happens during the party. If we are all
celebrating this important party (Sukkot) in the future, wouldn't you want to
know what it is about?
Zechariah 14, indicates how we all are
going to do "aliyah" (going up) to worship THE LORD; in the past some of the
psalms were written as the worshippers were "making aliya" to mount Zion,
including psalm 121 "I lift up my eyes to the hills...". Yes this psalm was one
which was being chanted as the Israelites were going up and looking at the
hills.
The Feast of Tabernacles is one which
talks about the temporary dwelling just as we are in a temporary dwelling in our
bodies and God Himself will dwell among us and we will be under His Sukkot
forever.
It is believed by many scholars that
Yeshua Ha Meshiach came as a baby during Sukkot; the Roman empire often
used the main feasts to do tax collection of census because the Romans knew that
even those who were not obedient to the Roman regime would come to Jerusalem for
the feasts. The word for stable in Hebrew is "Sukka"
God indeed dwelled among us and is
preparing a Sukka for each one of us in heaven.
During this feast it was the custom to
bring a "full tithe" to the temple - this offering was to support the temple for
the whole year. All the other offerings like for the firstborn son,
cleansing, sin, etc, were extra but the "full tithe" was made once a year
bringing a tenth of the whole blessings of that year, (Sukkot takes place at
harvest time)
Sukkot lasts a week and every day the
people around Jerusalem would bring a little of the whole offering until the
last day which, being the most important, the people would bring the rest of the
offering and then leave. People would actually eat and sleep under the
sukka and would pour water on the ground as they asked God to bless them for the
following year with rain from heaven to get a good harvest.
This is the context in which Yeshua in
John 7 says "if any one is thirsty come to me...". The whole chapter (John 7)
takes on a new meaning when read in this context. What Jesus is doing is
declaring Himself God, for those who were asking God for water, Jesus says "come
to me"
