According to YHWH’s command to appear before Him, Israel sojourned each year to where God had put His name. Jerusalem was the only place Israel’s God chose to put His name, and from His holy dwelling, the priests put YHWH’s name upon the Israelites, the covenant blessing of His Presence. During the holy meeting times (Feasts), the Israelites were in the light of His face, hearing His voice and feeling His breath upon them. The main idea for Israel’s keeping the annual Feasts of YHWH was to stay connected to Him wherever they went, showcasing His name, “I am YHWH, your Elohim who brought you out.” In this way, it indicated YHWH’s Holy Spirit leading and guiding them in obedience to His will, His laws of life. Each Israelite’s life became a witness to who God was as He worked salvation in them and for all humanity in the midst of the earth. When the Israelites went up to Jerusalem to keep the seven-day Feast in the seventh month, what did they do and why? This blog explores the answers and the underlying principles.

The layout of the Camp of Israel in the wilderness was a spatial design that represented YHWH’s essential holy nature, a way of living that never crossed the boundary line into death. Within the Camp, each person played a unique role and had a sacred, bonded relationship with YHWH that saved their name from being blotted out from the Book of the Living. The Feast of Sukkot reminded Israel’s hosts of the wilderness journey of transition from death to life and of every person’s predestined place within YHWH’s divine entourage. The Exodus began with a separation and protection from all things associated with death. Death’s definition (Hades) is separation from God, without the knowledge of God. YHWH created humans to know Him in relationship with Him, experiencing the awe of His holiness, of life. At each Feast, every family with their households came to Jerusalem with an offering and a sacrifice, representing the giving of their heart, life, and strength to loving YHWH their Elohim and being in His Presence, worshiping and serving only Him.

Since YHWH alone is the source of all blessings, when He redeemed Israel, freeing them from Egypt with His strong arm, He did not send His peculiar family out empty-handed. His victory involved taking spoils and giving them to Israel, empowering and equipping them to partner in His work. They were, in turn, to present an offering gift for the building and edifying of the tabernacle, echoing back to YHWH His divine nature of abundance. The Israelites were commissioned to “be fruitful and multiply” by being connected to YHWH. Every family was to give as they were able, according to the blessing of YHWH, which He had given them (Deu. 16:16-17). Conversely, appearing empty-handed before YHWH was a statement of being cut off from the family blessing, unsuccessful in doing God’s will, but given to the vanity of human plans apart from God. Yeshua left us an example of doing the will of God, bearing the sins of many and putting them away, becoming the substitute sacrifice. His taking sin outside the Camp in His body stopped death in the Camp (Psa. 40:6-8, Heb. 10:5-7). Imitating Yeshua’s example in an expression of faith, His people, like the drink offering (the pouring out of one’s life’s blood, serving as a complement to the sacrifice), attend to God’s will in the Camp, causing great gladness and rejoicing (Phi. 2:17). Through the drink and grain offering fellowship, the message of life within the offerer, edifies the house of God (Eph. 5:2, Phi. 4:18). Sharing blessings with the poor, the fatherless, the widow, the Levite, and the stranger who had no inheritance among them meant everyone had enough, promoting unity in the Camp of Israel, the sweet-smelling aroma of love.

Although rejoicing is a natural part of every Feast of YHWH (Deu. 12:7, 12, 18), He directed Israel to rejoice before Him seven days at the Feast of Tabernacles so that His people might live (Lev. 23:40, Deu. 16:14,15). Walking in the way of life comes from hearing and obeying out of deep awe (fear) of YHWH’s covenant love. Ultimately, there is an unwavering joy in trusting YHWH’s truth and goodness, persevering even amidst hardship, because when He removes sin, death is no more. When God wipes away every tear, and there is no more crying, sorrow, pain, or death, then what remains is great gladness and rejoicing. By one offering, Yeshua perfected forever those who are purified from sin and made holy (Heb. 10:12).  Through His intercession, all humanity can offer a sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming the Presence (glory) of His name (Heb. 13:15). When Israel obeyed His voice, YHWH blessed everything they put their hands to so that they rejoiced, knowing they were free from sin’s affliction and its hard labor of oppression (Deu. 26:7, 11).

Israelite families sat under sukkot while they ate and drank at the Feast, enjoying themselves before YHWH their Elohim (Deu. 14:26) because they were images of a living God, unlike the gods made by men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. Only the living can praise and worship YHWH. YHWH blessed the land with abundant produce so that the poor, the widow, the orphans, and the stranger ate without scarcity at His Feast. At Sukkot, the Israelites rejoiced in fellowship with their servants, neighbors, and the Levites (Deu. 15:31), strengthening the Camp through eating together, and sharing the knowledge of God to achieve the telos of worship.

The festival days typically began with the temple sacrifices in the number required by ordinance for each day (Ezra 3:4-5; Num. 29:12-38), and the water pouring ceremony¹, followed by the reading of the Book of the Law of God from the first day until the last day (Neh. 8:14-17). The people joined the Levitical choir, singing songs of praise in gladness of heart². Unique to Sukkot, every seventh year, at the appointed time of the year of release, the elders of Israel read the Book of Deuteronomy to the congregation as Moses commanded (Deu. 31:10). In the second half of the day, the community ate and celebrated with songs and dance. The Israelite family spent an entire week at the Feast of Tabernacles under a sukkah. On the afternoon of the seventh day, they took down the sukkah in preparation for the holy convocation of the Eighth Day³.

The Feast became a rehearsal of the way YHWH led and transformed Israel from death to life. Israel’s witness of YHWH’s saving hand influences the nations to become followers of Yeshua and experience the same way of YHWH, leading them out of bondage to life. Zechariah foresaw the impact of YHWH’s holy restored people on the world and prophesied that all nations would come up to keep Sukkot and learn of His way out of bondage to embrace life (Zec. 14:16, 18-19).

Takeaway:
To stay alive, Israel kept the Feast of the seventh month by rejoicing in the way their covenant God led them out of bondage to death and converted them into holy people, knowing their God and His blessings of life intimately. The sojourn out of futility to an abundant life caused great delight and joy, sharing YHWH’s rich blessings with those without, feasting together in unity.

Fun Factors:
The word for rejoice, gil, גּוּל has a sum of 43 and refers to circling around in joy, rejoicing at God’s works or attributes (TWOT 346a, Strong’s H1523), used 44 times in the OT, 19 in Psalms, 11 in Isaiah, 4 in Proverbs, 1 in each 1 Chronicles, Song of Songs, and Hosea.