“Sukkot” is the Hebrew term referring to the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of Booths in many English Bibles)

Many Christians today do not celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles because they have been taught that it has been done away with. So today, let’s look to the Scriptures to learn more about the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) and realize how relevant it remains today:

“Speak to Bnei-Yisrael, and say, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Feast of Sukkot, forseven days to ADONAI. On the first day there is to be a holy convocation — you are to do no laborious work. For seven days you are to bring an offering by fire to ADONAI. The eighth day will be a holy convocation to you, and you are to bring an offering by fire to ADONAI. It is a solemn assembly—you should do no laborious work.” Leviticus 23:34-36

As we continue, I urge you to read your Bible carefully. Trust the Word of God and read to discover His Truth for yourself.

Prophecies from Zechariah, Jeremiah, and Isaiah

The prophet Zechariah foretells what will occur at the Mount of Olives when the LORD returns to rule.

“ADONAI will then be King over all the earth. In that day ADONAI will be Echad and His Name Echad.” Zechariah 14:9

“Echad” means One. The LORD our God, the LORD is One God. He alone will reign as King.

It will be a glorious time!

Now look at Zechariah 14:16:

“Then all the survivors from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, ADONAI-TZVA’OT, and to celebrate Sukkot.” Zechariah 14:16

The nations along with Israel will celebrate Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles!) and celebrate our King! The Feast of Tabernacles is also known as Chag HaAsif, which means the “Feast of the Ingathering.” One day, we will all be gathered in the New Jerusalem. This is reason to rejoice!

“Therefore behold, days are coming,” says Adonai, “when they will no longer say: ‘As ADONAI lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.’ Rather, ‘As ADONAI lives, who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all the lands where He had banished them.’ So they will dwell in their own soil.” Jeremiah 23:7-8

“It will come about in that day,
ADONAI will thresh from the channel of the River to the Wadi of Egypt,
and you will be gathered one by one, Bnei-Yisrael.

“It will also come about in that day, a great shofar will be blown. Those perishing in the land of Assyria and the exiles in the land of Egypt will come and worship Adonai on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 27:12-13

Sukkot is about Rejoicing

Moshe (Moses) informed the people of the moedim, the “appointed times,” when they were to keep a holy appointment with the LORD. Sukkot is one of the moedim. We have the wonderful opportunity to spend a week in our sukkah (temporary dwellings) to celebrate and to grow closer to the LORD. In His Torah, the LORD specifically commands us to rejoice, or to be joyful, during this time:

“So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you are to keep the Feast of ADONAI for seven days. The first day is to be a Shabbat rest, and the eighth day will also be a Shabbat rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit of trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and rejoice before ADONAI your God for seven days. You are to celebrate it as a festival to ADONAI for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations—you are to celebrate it in the seventh month.  You are to live in sukkot for seven days. All the native-born in Israel are to live in sukkot,  so that your generations may know that I had Bnei-Yisrael to dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am ADONAI your God.” Leviticus 23:39-43, emphasis added

When you celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, you are participating in something Biblical. God-honoring.

Don’t get me started on all these churches that host “trunk-or-treat” and whitewash the devil’s feast of halloween.

If you need something to celebrate this autumn, go with the Feast of Tabernacles and leave the pagans to their paganism.

The Feast of Tabernacles and the Birth of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus)

No one can claim to know the exact date when our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was born.

But I can assure you, it is highly unlikely that he was born on December 25.

You have probably heard that December 25th was chosen as “Christmas” because our Savior is the Light of the World, so it was somehow “fitting” to choose the darkest time of the year to celebrate the coming of our Emmanuel.

The problem is, this pattern of thinking conforms to the world and at worst, it is aligned with Constantine and the rule of Rome.

Let us be free of the cult of paganism and false religion.

We need not conform to the pattern of this world!

Let us always look to the Scriptures.

The Bible says the Word became flesh and dwelt – “tabernacled” with us

“And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Greek term “dwelt” more literally means “tabernacled,” hence the translation provided by the Tree of Life Version cited above.

This is an awesome picture of what our Savior came to do!

He left His glorious throne above to meet with us.

As I mentioned earlier, we have sacred appointments – the moedim – and He gave us the Feast of Tabernacles as an experience. That we would realize the magnificence of the fact He meets with us in the most humble of abodes.

You see, perhaps you have never built or even seen a sukkah. A sukkah is sort of like a tent. It is a temporary structure built for this occasion.

No Room in the Inn, but room in a . . . sukkah?

When there was no room at the inn . . . could it be that all of the hotels and motels of Bethlehem were taken because a busy pilgrimage feast . . . known as Sukkot . . . was going on?

Many who study the Hebrew Scriptures believe it very possible that the birth of our Messiah coincided with this pilgrimage feast of Sukkot. The shepherds were in the fields and the sheep in the pastures – it couldn’t have been too terribly cold yet . . . Sorry, closet Constantinians, the first Christmas definitely wasn’t in winter.

I don’t mean to offend anyone since I know Christmas is a beloved tradition for a lot of people.

But I do mean to point out Truth versus modern day tradition.

Could it be that the innkeeper had a sukkah, which provided the extra space available for Miriam and Yosef (Mary and Joseph)?

Our Messiah, our Prince of Peace, was born in the most humble of places. If you build a sukkah, you will see it fits that description.

A humble dwelling place.

Need more evidence?

The Hebrew word, sukkah, is translated as “stable” (Genesis 33:17).

Celebrate the Incarnation of our Messiah this Sukkot

Our wonderful Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) our LORD came to earth in a manner that demonstrated humility and the veracity of the Word. He never has contradicted His Word, and He never will.

On the contrary, the Word proves True every time, against any test.

This Sukkot, realize this amazing Truth. We currently dwell in temporary tabernacles of flesh, but one day, we will put on the eternal resurrected tabernacle because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh) and He will raise us up incorruptible.

My husband is an immigrant to the United States and didn’t really grow up with Christmas carols. So he is fascinated by our culture in that by the end of November every radio station is playing Christmas songs. He loves the fact that the secular stations even play songs that honor our Savior.

So he wishes that they played these songs all year!

He doesn’t just want Christmas in July, this man would love to play Christmas songs on our stereo all year if I let him.

Do you love those beautiful songs, too?

Well, no need to wait any longer. Get out your Joy to the World playlist because the LORD has come, and will return! Let heaven and nature sing!!

He has come to tabernacle with you, my friend.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Enjoy the feast, and invite your friends.

Perhaps someone will come to a saving relationship with Yeshua (Jesus) because of your faithful witness.

It was during the Feast of Tabernacles when Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) revealed Himself as the Living Water. If you’d like to study that topic, more in-depth, I invite you to check out my post on the Living Water at the Feast of Tabernacles: Exploring John 7.

Speaking of Living Water, notice that an offering by fire had been required during Sukkot. Now, the Holy Spirit fills those who call upon His Name with Living Water and the Fire of Pentecost. Let your life be that offering to Him, on fire for your Savior, and filled with the precious Holy Ghost. Chag Sameach Sukkot!

Are you celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles this year? We pray you have a wonderful time with your family and friends, celebrating the coming of Emmanuel, the One who gives us Living Water!

https://adonaishalom.com/index.php/2021/09/14/living-water-at-the-feast-of-tabernacles-exploring-john-7/

Parashat Emor (V’yikra/Leviticus 21-24)

Are you familiar with the springtime Biblical feasts?

Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of First Fruits, and the Feast of Weeks are special days outlined in the Bible.

Each of the Biblical Spring Feasts can also be called by its Hebrew term:

The Feast of Passover = Pesach

The Feast of Unleavened Bread = Chag HaMatzot

The Feast of First Fruits = Yom HaBikkurim

The Feast of Weeks = Shavu’ot

Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) fulfilled the prophetic meaning of each of these Biblical spring feasts (moedim).

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Perhaps your church has held a Passover Seder meal or you have tasted matzah bread at some point in your life.

Passover is so clearly mentioned in the Gospels and we know the Lamb of God came to take away the sin of the world, so most Christians have at least a basic understanding of what the Passover feast is all about. The amazing Truth of Redemption.

However, most do not realize that Passover leads right into the 7 day Feast of Unleavened Bread.

It is also common for many believers to admit they do not know much about the Feast of First Fruits or the Feast of Weeks.

No worries.

I can help you sort this out.

Before we go any further, let me reassure you, you do not need to be “Jewish” in order to celebrate the “Jewish” feasts.

Followers of Messiah, whether native Israeli or grafted-in, are now part of Israel.

Together, truly a nation under God. Israel’s history is our history. We do not compete with Israel, we do not supersede or replace Israel: we are Israel. We have been united by the blood of the Lamb and saved by His unfailing grace.

More and more Christians are learning about our Father’s established feasts!

He has prepared a banquet before you and you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to feast and celebrate with Him.

The Feast of Firstfruits

The Feast of First Fruits is about harvest. The LORD established it so that the people would bring the first and the best of their harvest. It was a feast day for this expression of worship. (Leviticus 23:9-14)

So what does this mean for us today? Most of us are not farmers. It seems a bit challenging to fully understand agriculturally-centric feasts, but we can understand the simple Gospel teaching that spiritually-speaking, the fields are white and ready for harvest (John 4:35).

This Biblical feast illustrates the victory of the Gospel in the most powerful and marvelous way possible.

You see, Passover is about freedom from death and bondage. The Feast of Unleavened Bread reminds us that He was buried and in that tomb. The Feast of Firstfruits is about the Resurrection!

“But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20

Messiah Yeshua was the first of the harvest – raised into His glorified, resurrected body. If you read about what was involved with the celebration of First Fruits, you will learn that a sheaf had to be waved before the LORD back and forth.

Waving the sheaf surely seems to represent the movement of the wind through the crops.

A mighty rushing wind.

The power of the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh) breathing new life!

The Spirit of the LORD stirring up salvation!

We know that in the last days, the harvest will include people from the east and west, north and south.

So back and forth the wave offering was made: prophesying the harvest of the latter days and prophesying the Truth of Resurrection Day!

The Feast of Firstfruits is the Celebration of Resurrection Day!

The Feast of Weeks

Speaking of the awesome power of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:1 begins “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come . . . “

The Day of Pentecost as a holy day wasn’t something new.

Bible translators chose to translate the Hebraic term, “Shavu’ot,” with the Greek term “Pentecost.”

Ironically, there are language barriers

It is debatable as to whether those who translated were legitimately trying to help readers understand the Hebrew here or whether they were trying to obstruct it (sadly, it is plausible). Preference for Greek terms in translation led to a loss of the original meanings and intent and propelled the wide separation between the early Messianic movements and later church movements.

Before you start thinking I’m anti-Pentecost, hold it right there.

I love Pentecost. I am an ordained Pentecostal pastor. Yet, using solely the term “Pentecost” actually obscures the fullness of the meaning of the Scriptures here!

We need to become more aware of the deficiencies caused by language. (This is nothing new to us Spirit-filled believers. We know language barriers have been overcome by the amazing infilling power of the Holy Spirit!). The limitations of our vocabulary lead to slight discrepancies in doctrine and practice which over time can become huge discrepancies.

For example: I don’t know any Christians who say, “Happy Shavu’ot Sunday!”

It’s always “Pentecost Sunday” in our vocabulary! And that is ok, in the sense that this is how we understand a word in our language.

But, we are missing half of the meaning!

We know the Holy Spirit came down. However, many do not realize that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit coincided with the ongoing celebration of the Biblical feast day. The disciples present in the Upper Room literally lived the Messianic fulfillment of the feast day.

The reality is, Shavu’ot (i.e. Pentecost) has been celebrated since the days of Exodus!

Exodus 34:22 says “You are to observe the Feast of Shavuot, which is the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, as well as the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.”

It became traditional to celebrate the giving of the Torah on Shavu’ot. As you can see, the Word which was written on tablets of stone would now be written on the hearts of all who would receive Him. Now we also celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit on Shavu’ot! The LORD never leaves us without instruction and never leaves us comfortless.

The Messianic significance of the omer count

Beginning at the Feast of First Fruits, a special omer count was to begin every year. This was a measurement used for dry goods. Each day, for 50 consecutive days after First Fruits, the day’s omer was to be counted. This had gone on for generations prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day we know as Pentecost.

The word, “Pentecost,” is highly appropriate here because it was exactly 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits (Resurrection Day) when the Holy Spirit fell upon the gathered, praying believers and endued them with power from on high.

When the LORD Yeshua (Jesus) walked on this earth, He came to fulfill the prophecies, not to abolish them. He promised that He would send another Comforter (John 14:16, KJV) and that is exactly what He did. Every single action He took and Word He spoke correlated with His mission and He never contradicted Himself.

All of the Biblical Feast Days were established before God sent His Son. Today we are just focusing on the spring feasts, but each Biblical feast day is a part of the divinely orchestrated plan to show us the way of salvation. (If you are interested in the fall feasts, those include what is known as Yom Teruah (aka Rosh Hashanah), Yom Kippur, and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles).

What shall we do?

On that same Shavu’ot day, Peter preached a Spirit-empowered sermon that resulted in 3,000 immersion baptisms.

When people felt convicted of their need for repentance, they asked, “Fellow brethren,what shall we do?” Acts 2:37 (emphasis added)

“Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua for the removal of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh.  For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away—as many as ADONAI our God calls to Himself.”

With many other words he warned them and kept urging them, saying, “Save yourselves from this twisted generation!” Acts 2:38-40

The question posed by the crowd should be the same question we still ask.

What shall we do?

And the exhortation of Peter continues to direct us:

1. Repent
2. Be immersed (baptized) in water
3. Receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit
4. Be saved from this twisted generation

Our journey of faith doesn’t end when we are baptized in water. We must seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit, who empowers us for the task of ministry.

How can we be saved from this “twisted” (some translations read, “perverted”) generation?

By doing things God’s way, not our way.

That includes surrendering our manmade traditions.

By Acts chapter 5, there was so much going on in the way of outreach and missions that the Jewish authorities became very upset. Miraculous healings, supernatural deliverances, prison doors being opened . . .

“And the high priest asked them, saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?

And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:27c-29 (emphases added)

Obey God rather than men

This verse isn’t a license to stop listening to the wise people that God has placed in your path. Heed godly counsel. Submit to righteous authority.

But carefully discern what is truly godly.

If we are to obey God rather than men, let me ask you this question today.

Why continue with manmade festivities?

Why not celebrate the LORD in the way the LORD established?

Why allow the world to creep in to our faith practices?

What do the Springtime Biblical Feasts represent?

Easter, Eostre, and Ishtar

It is no secret that the word Easter has been derived from several pagan sources. Do we really need to “Christianize” these false gods?

Look at the linguistics.

We get the term, “Easter” from Eostre, an English goddess, who is likely the same personage as Ishtar, the Babylonian fertility goddess. It is no surprise then, that we see the reappropriation of fertility symbols such as eggs and rabbits in Easter celebrations.

What, then, shall we do?

Obey God rather than men!

Our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) died to free us from idolatry and sin.

We need to reject the pagan practices that have managed to invade our celebrations of our Savior’s Resurrection.

Resurrection Day exists in Scripture as the Fulfillment of the Feast of First Fruits. We should celebration Resurrection Day! But we really don’t need “Easter.”

Consider celebrating each of the Biblical spring feasts. Consider trading in man’s Lent for God’s teshuvah (time of repentance). Trade in man’s Easter for Yom HaBikkurim (the Feast of First Fruits). In the fall and winter, (I know this one will be controversial) trade in man’s Christmas for the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the most amazing celebration of the Word being made flesh and coming to dwell with us! If you decide to truly follow what Scripture says rather than what the majority of tradition has invented, you will gain so much!

If following the LORD at His Word is important to you, please comment below! If you have questions about the Biblical spring Feasts we would love to help you! And most importantly, if you have questions about the Messiah, please let us know and we would love to share the Good News with you. Please subscribe so you don’t miss any new posts! Shalom!

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Rethinking holidays and the resistance we got from pastoral colleagues

When our children were born (they are close in age), my husband and I started really thinking about the Biblical feast days. We thought through the types of holidays and traditions we would want them to grow up with. We were familiar with the Jewish holidays and had participated in Passover seders and church-sponsored Feast of Tabernacles events, but we still celebrated Christmas and Easter. We were good about keeping the celebrations as focused on the LORD as possible – never incorporating santa claus or Easter eggs, but we definitely enjoyed the Christmas Eve candlelight services and the Easter sunrise services. We are both pastors, so of course we loved these events! We were trained to lead them!

Sometimes we were met with resistance from our colleagues. They wondered why we always refused to host Easter egg hunts. Pastors in the community would invite us to host joint activities of this type and we would never participate. Many would ask questions like, “Why would you turn down an opportunity to get extra visitors into your church?” They’d move from questioning us to judging us: “This is a great church growth model, and you are not taking advantage of it.” Sorry, but we have always cared much more about Truth than numbers. And we’ve been blessed because of it.

Sadly, when we tried to share what we knew about the Biblical Feast Days, most of our pastoral colleagues made it clear they’d rather just keep the status quo. Today, few church leaders want to embrace anything that might mess with the Sunday morning offerings.

So, we decided to be different. And it has been an awesome adventure!

Choosing to celebrate Biblical feasts rather than Christmas/Easter

Colored eggs inspired by the Ishtar or Eostre’s fertility cults never seemed to make sense to us as a positive testimony of the Resurrection victory of our Savior. (For consistency, let me inform you we do not use the boiled egg on our seder plate as is also customary in Jewish tradition). If the Messiah, the Son of God, rose from the dead in victory, is that not enough of a powerful message? Why do we need the help of rabbits to tell the Good News in a compelling way? The Resurrection really doesn’t need embellishment.

Similarly, “everybody” knows that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25. So why continue to perpetuate this day as Jesus’ birthday? Instead of giving the world ammunition to accuse Christians of being delusional and embracing idolatry, why not learn how Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) birth fits into the holy-days given by God Himself? Christmas trees have nothing to do with a baby in a manger. Bunnies don’t lay eggs nor do they rise from the dead. My question has become a simple one: Why, my dear Christian brothers and sisters, why do you participate in these traditions?

We decided that our children should be raised with the holidays given to us by the LORD and described in detail in the Bible. We began to realize there are so many of them that they wouldn’t be missing out on anything! The LORD has given us so many wonderful feast days that help us see His handiwork in our lives throughout the year.

2022 list of Biblical Feast Days, traditional Jewish holidays and other dates of interest for the year

Here is a list of the Biblical holidays, traditional Jewish holidays, and other notable dates for 2022. The appointed times described in Leviticus 23 have exact specifications as to their dates so some people attempt to more closely align the dates using lunar calculations. I respect this attempt since the Gregorian calendar does not perfectly match, but our family uses the commonly accepted dates of the Jewish calendar.

Each of them has major significance to any believer who recognizes that they are part of Israel. The appointed times (moedim) are, of course, set feasts that our LORD established as “appointments” with us. He wants us to gather, to assemble, and He wants to meet with us and celebrate with us! He wants us to understand the fullness of the salvation reality – that our Passover Lamb has come, has been sacrificed, and has been raised again as the Firstfruits of the Resurrection harvest!

Some believers choose not to celebrate Purim or Hanukkah. I find there is great value in both, and will write about that another time. Similarly, one might wonder if you are not living in Israel, why care about Yom HaShoah or Israel’s independence day? But remember, whether you were born ethnically Jewish or have been grafted into the community of Israel, Israel’s victories are your victories, just as Israel’s sorrows are our collective sorrows. We weep with those who weep and we rejoice with those who rejoice.

Dates for your calendar

Here is a listing of the Biblical feast days. If you would like a FREE downloadable PDF, subscribe to our newsletter, and you will receive it straight to your inbox!

March 16 Purim

April 15 Passover/Pesach

April 16-23 Unleavened Bread

April 17 Firstfruits/Yom HaBikkurim/Resurrection

April 27 Holocaust Remembrance Day/Yom HaShoah

May 3 Israeli Memorial Day/Yom HaZikaron

May 4 Israel’s Independence Day

May 28 Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim)

June 4 Shavu’ot

September 25 Yom Teruah/Feast of Trumpets/Rosh HaShanah

October 4 Yom Kippur

October 9-16 Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot

December 18-26 Hanukkah

May your year be most especially blessed!

If you are new to celebrating the Biblical feast days and need some help or encouragement, please don’t hesitate to reach out. It can be a lot of information to take in when you are new to it all! We’d be happy to guide you or give you some pointers! Shalom!

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