After Yom Teruah and Yom haKippurim, Sukkot is the third Shabbat Shabbaton of the seventh month. To grasp the significance of the Feast of Tabernacles, in the last blog, we “zoomed out” to the cosmic view of creation week and then overlayed it onto the Pentateuch and Holyday timeline. Doing this revealed a perspective on Sukkot’s meaning. This blog digs deeper into the two journeys on either side of Leviticus, first reflecting on Israel’s exodus marked by seven days of unleavened bread and seven Sabbaths to Pentecost, reversing tohu (unlivable space). Then, it explores why the Feast of Tabernacles fits with the Pentateuch’s Book of Numbers, reversing bohu (emptiness). On the creation timeline, Sukkot occupies the place of filling the habitable spaces with life, day five and day six (see chart above and Blog 100).

How do creation days two and three, dividing the waters above from the waters below and bringing the dry land out of the waters, reverse tohu (non-life-supporting, wasted environment)? And how did Israel’s exodus trek out of Egypt reflect the “dividing” theme of creation’s first three days? In the Exodus story, God separated the monster of the deep and his cohorts, Pharoah and Egypt, from Israel, dividing what belonged to the underworld from what belonged to heaven’s world. The ways of death He distinguished from the ways of life, separating light from dark and the waters above from the waters below. The plagues that came upon Egypt de-created the nation of Rahab, but not the people God was creating for Himself. YHWH’s separating a people for Himself culminated in building the tabernacle’s sacred space of His dwelling within Israel’s camp in Exodus’s final chapters. Structuring space gave access to YHWH’s holiness.

On the third day of creation, God raised the dry land out of the waters to touch the heavens, the mountain nexus point where He would meet with His people at appointed times of holiness. YHWH brought Israel through Yam Suph on dry land to His holy mountain, but Pharoah and his army drowned in the sea of judgment. Israel’s passing through Yam Suph was a baptism, a mikveh, the same word used when God brought the dry land out of the sea in Genesis 1:10. God raised Israel out of Yam Suph (the sea of destruction) to connect with His holy dwelling place in the heavens. In the wilderness journey to the mountain of God, YHWH gave Israel water, armed them for war, and gave them daily bread from heaven, manna the color of bdellium, the Word of God that rightly divides right from wrong (Heb. 4:12). After bringing forth water from the rock, He empowered them to fight their enemies through the mediator and intercessor Moses and warrior Joshua at Rephidim. The seven Sabbaths refined Israel, separating the dross from the precious metal to reflect Him. Israel became a clean and pure people, ordered and bound by the measurements of YHWH’s holiness. At the mountain of God, YHWH covenanted with Israel, joining Himself to them in marriage. Where there is holiness, there is life.

How do creation days five and six, filling the habitable spaces with life, reverse bohu? And how does Israel’s march to the Promised Land reflect filling the spaces with life when a whole generation of Israel died in the wilderness, yet depicting the fulfillment of YHWH’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be innumerable as the stars of heaven and as the sand upon the seashore? After YHWH married Israel, joined together through the tabernacle’s sacred garden space, Israel’s sanctification appeared. In YHWH’s garden of creation, the reality of God-life flowed into Israel, healing their brokenness and binding the lawless chaos in their minds. The Numbers wilderness journey was defined by the glowing fire of YHWH’s Spirit removing the chaff, the carnal mind, from His people while feeding them with the tangible living reality of YHWH, the sparkling manna, to maintain their numbers. After the disobedient generation had died (Num. 1-25), there was no more rebellion or death mentioned for the new generation (Num. 26-33). A newly cultivated Israel, anchored and harbored within the measurements of sacred space, replaced the lawless Israel of the flesh. YHWH’s new creation was alive with His holiness and ready to enter the Promised Land. Israel’s number reflected God’s blessing and promise to Abraham among the nations. With not one missing and everyone numbered and accounted for, Israel, in perfect, full complement, was ready to conquer and possess their inheritance, filling the land. Bearing His name, their worshiping eyes focused on YHWH and not upon the giants of the Canaanites.

How are we to look at the time markers on creation days 1-4-7, connecting them to YHWH’s festival timeline? Passover happened on Abib fourteen at midnight, differentiating those houses not marked by the lamb’s blood from those that were, calling attention to life and death’s origins. Unleavened Bread and the seven Sabbaths are marked by seven and seven times seven (49, 7²), indicating a developing perfection in holiness. Pentecost means “count fifty,” the jubilee number after seven weeks or years when everyone atoned returns to their atoned inherited land. The dual center of Pentecost and Trumpets reflects the rule of the sun and moon (and also the stars), a holy kingdom of priests reigning with YHWH, calling out the appointed meeting times to the nations. With the full complement of humanity measured, refined, and equipped to fill the land with the blessing of numbers from tabernacling with the Word, they, too, are filled with the glory of YHWH. Following Sukkot’s seven days, the Eighth Day, in and of itself, is the number of new beginnings. The Eighth Day is the time when there will be no more destruction because no one walks in the way that produces trauma and death anymore. It is a time of enduring worship of YHWH in spirit and truth. It is the Sabbath, the end goal of all creation, when the Creator’s wisdom of love rules, streaming out from Him and His images reigning on the throne of life together.

Takeaway:
The two seven-day periods of guided wilderness journeys on either side of the nexus point of creation week’s Day 4 reveal how the Creator reverses the tohu and bohu that befell His good creation in Genesis 1:2. The Creator’s Spirit moved, and He spoke, creating a new creation in seven days by first dividing to make inhabitable space for life and then filling the spaces with life. From providing water (Spirit) and manna (the Word of God) to Israel, He separated them to Himself as His people and then blessed them with abundance that flowed out to heal the nations. By calling out the Creator’s appointed feasts, He summons all humanity to worship Him and learn how to live. The finished product is holy time, the Sabbath, the Creator ruling with His children forever.

Fun Factors:
The creation time markers on days 1, 4, and 7 appear in the geometry of the Hebrew text of Genesis 1, having a letter sum of 110,601 = 3² × 12289, or 3²(108² + 25²), and 12289 is the 1470^th prime (1-4-7 × 10). Translated into number-speak, it says justice (3², 9) is a life full (18, 108²) of holiness (25²), represented by the days of creation and its axial center leading to the Sabbath. The number of years from Israel entering the promised land to Yeshua’s ministry (30 Jubilees) is 1470. Jacob’s days were stamped by 147 years and mikveh (147), the hope of YHWH’s atonement. His name, “I AM” (21), life in perfect holiness (7), bears His 1-4-7 signature 21 × 7 = 147. The journey to holiness, represented by 7², is the way of life (see Blog 20).