“On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a sabbath rest on the first day and a sabbath rest on the eighth day.” Lev. 23:39
“You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native born in Israel shall live in booths.” Lev. 23:41-42
This coming Sunday evening, October 13, begins The Feast of Booths (or Sukkot). On the Hebrew calendar it is the 15th of Tishrei, which is the 7th month. It is the last feast of the year of the 7 feasts designated by God in Leviticus (Leviticus 23:1-44). These were God’s declared ‘holy convocations’ and ‘appointed times’ that the Hebrews were required to observe annually. These feasts ultimately foreshadowed the coming Messiah and His mission.
All of the spring feasts (Unleavened Bread, Passover, First Fruits and Pentecost (or Shavout) have had fulfillment in Jesus’s first coming. The fall feasts (Trumpets, Atonement and Booths) have yet to be completely fulfilled and will be at Jesus’s 2nd coming. I do believe that a partial fulfillment has been accomplished with the Feast of Atonement and the Feast of Booths.
I encourage you to research this subject for yourself. While the feasts were only for the Jews to observe, they are important for Christians to understand. They display God’s wisdom and His agenda. I only want to focus on the Feast of Booths here.
The Feast of Booths, or Sukkot, is the last fall feast following the Feasts of Trumpets and Atonement in that order. Leviticus says that the purpose of this holy convocation is to remind the Jews every year that God had them live in booths when He brought them out from the land of Egypt (Lev. 23:43).
In Exodus 23:16, it is also called by God as the Feast of Ingathering. “…also the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.” (See also Exodus 34:22)
The question is – why did God want to constantly remind the Jews that He had them live in booths?
A booth, or sukkoh (cukkah is the literal Hebrew), was a temporary meager shelter. It had four sides and roof made with various types of branches from leafy trees (Nehemiah 8:15). The tradition is that the night sky could be seen through them.
In Genesis 33:17, it says that Jacob journeyed to a place where he built a house for himself and booths for his livestock. The place from that time forward was called Succoth or Sukkot, which means booths (cukkowth is the literal Hebrew plural).
This question of why God wanted to remind the Jews that He had them live in booths has even greater dimension when you realize that it is the only feast that will be observed by everyone on earth during the Millennial Kingdom with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem. “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths” Zechariah 14:16
When the Hebrews were freed from Egypt, the first place they camped was called Succoth (Exodus 13:20). This was not the same Succoth as Jacob’s Succoth.
We have to assume that they made booths and lived in them there. The reason we have to assume it is because it does not say specifically that they did in the passage in Exodus. But, Leviticus does specifically say that God had them make and dwell in booths.
When it comes to understanding the Feast of Booths, it is also significant that the Shekinah Glory of God appeared first at Succoth. The Pillar of Cloud and Fire is first mentioned in this passage. “And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” (Exodus 13:21) So, God manifested Himself physically among the Jews.
Will God Indeed Dwell with Mankind on the Earth?
Coinciding with the above was that Solomon’s Temple was dedicated, and the glory of the Lord filled it, during the Feast of Booths. “And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month of Ethanim (Tishrei), which is the seventh month.” “And it came about when the priests came from the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord.” (1 Kings 8:2,10) In 2 Chronicles 6:18, after the glory of the Lord filled the Temple, Solomon exclaimed “But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth?”.
This was not a question of doubt, but of wonderment and awe. And we know this occurred during the Feast of Booths because it was one of the 3 feasts where all the males of Israel had to assemble (Ex. 23:17, Ex. 34:23, Deut. 16:16), and it happened in the 7th month.
As mentioned earlier in Zech 14:16, the Feast of Booths is the only feast that is required to be observed by all the nations during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth (According to Ezekiel 45, it appears that the Jews in the Millennial Kingdom will also observe the Feast of Passover). Representatives from all the surviving nations will be required to go to Israel and live in booths just as the Jews did before Christ. This means Jews and Gentiles. Any who do not go, that nation will not receive any rain, presumably at least until the next Feast of Booths (Zech. 14:17-18).
Finally, Jesus was born in a booth. He was born in a small shelter for livestock and laid in a feeding trough (manger). And He was born during the Feast of Booths in the fall, not December 25th (I’ll write about this when we get close to Christmas). God came to earth in the form of man during this feast and He dwelt with man. This is why I say the Feast of Booths has been partially fulfilled as a foreshadowing.
There is no specific passage that explains exactly why God commanded the Jews to live in booths for 7 days every year. Nor is there a verse that explains why God will require the nations to observe this feast either. But from all of the passages mentioned above, we can make an educated assumption.
I believe the Scriptures express 2 primary reasons.
First, it was instituted to remind the Jews that God was their provider. The feast takes place after the harvest is gathered. The Jews celebrated with a great feast but sacrificed their first fruits to the Lord. It reminded the Jews that it was God who brought them out of slavery and cared for them in the wilderness. In the Millennial Kingdom, the nations will also need to be reminded that the King of Kings is the provider of all the earth.
Interestingly, it is also probably why the forgiveness of debts every 7 years happened during the Feast of Booths (Deuteronomy 15:1-2 and 31:10). In other words, the forgiveness of debts is an act of faith in the Lord providing.
I think it is important to include that when Jesus returns, there is going to take place the great harvest. There will be survivors of the 70th Week of Daniel all over the world. They will include righteous and unrighteous and they will be gathered up and brought to the new capital of earth, Jerusalem (Matthew 25:31-32). Then there will be the separation of the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares. All of the righteous and unrighteous, the wheat and tares, will be separated and gathered. Matthew 13:40-42 says that,
“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
This is describing hell, not the Lake of Fire (see the article ‘Eternal Torment or Eternal Destruction). The goats and tares will be cast into hell to await destruction at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. The righteous will enter the kingdom. This happens during the Feast of Ingathering after Jesus returns, which is the other name for Feast of Booths. This harvest of souls is a fulfillment of The Feast of Ingathering.
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, Sukkot was to teach and remind the Jews that it was God’s desire and plan to dwell with man permanently in an eternal kingdom. Booths, and the Tabernacle and Temple were temporary. But God dwelt in all of them. And when Jesus is reigning on earth during the Millennial Kingdom, He will require the feast to be observed because He wants the nations to be reminded that He is seated on the throne in Jerusalem, ruling and dwelling with man. But that also will be a temporary realm.
It is God’s burning desire to dwell with man whom He loves, and provide all good things. He has tarried this long to return because He wants to live with multitudes of people.
When the new heaven and earth are created, there will be no need of any reminders.