Sukkot: A reminder of Heaven’s extreme makeover of our lives

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“You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

Leviticus 23:42–43 NASB

A rabbinical discussion saw two main teachings from the Torah instructions in Lev. 23:42–43 to live in sukkot (Talmud tractate b.Sukkah 11b): 

1. Because Israel literally lived in temporary structures for 40 years between leaving Mitzraim (Egypt) and entering the Ha’aretz (the Land). After the fall harvest and you have plenty, remember when Israel literally lived on Heaven’s blessings (Deut. 8:7–18).
2. Because Israel lived under the cloud of the Presence those 40 years.

In the biblical account, the Israelites living in temporary shelters for 40 years, their simple structures are a stark contrast with modern-day glamping tents or the tents of modern nomads with their satellite televisions and electric generators. 

Some Jewish commentators have noticed that there is another connection between the festivals of the 1st and 7th months.

• When the LORD delivered Israel from Mitzraim the night of Pesakh, the first camp was at a place called Sukkot (Ex. 12:37; 13:20; Num. 35:5).
  • Israel was dwelling in livestock pens.
  • Israel was eating matzah because they had to flee quickly.
  • Israel was camping within easy recapture distance from Mitzraim.
  • Similarly, Ya’akob (Jacob) just after reconciling with his brother, Eysau (Esau), camped at a place that became known as Sukkot because he built livestock pens there (Gen. 33:17).

Earlier, we had the ceremony of the Lulav which includes specific plants in it. The species of plants called for in the sukkah (Lev. 23:40; Neh. 8:15) can be seen as symbols of groups of people.

• Palm symbolizes the Torah. Righteous people bend under adversity, like a palm in a gale, but don’t break.
• Willow symbolizes the heart, like David’s in Psalms.
• Myrtle is associated with Esther’s fasting and prayer. Her Hebrew name, הֲדַסָּה Hadassah (H1919), means myrtle.
• Fruit trees (traditionally, lemon-like citrus called etrog in Hebrew; b.Sukkah 31a) symbolize the 12 apostles and the “fruits of the Spirit.”
• Olive represents the light of God, His eyes, the prophets of God. Later in Israel’s history, early in the second temple period, they included olive branches as a part of the Sukkot decorations (Neh. 8:15)

The elements of the lulav contrast the different kinds of people found in the People of God, with their various roles their representing emotions, prayer, and humility.

We should be ready for God to inspect our fruit at any time and any season. We should be ready in and out of season. Where we are in Northern California, the winemakers are going through the vineyards inspecting the grapes, tasting them, testing their sugars to see if they are ready for harvest, waiting patiently for just the right time to pick them and gather them into the wine vats. 

Before the Day of the LORD, there will be a great gathering in of peoples. All the components of Ezekiel’s temple (Ezekiel 40–48) (and the Temple in Revelation) are spiritual representations of different types of people who make up God’s temple. 

Heart of the matter: Elohim dwelling with His people

Adonai walked directly with Adam and Chavah (Eve), until they were enticed to dwell differently (Genesis 3).

“When the woman saw that the tree [of knowlege of good and bad] was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

Genesis 3:6-10 NASB 1995

When God can see everything about you, are you concerned or not? It depends on whether you have anything to hide. God knows everything about us, does that bring comfort or does that scare you? 

After redeeming Israel out of the house of bondage, Adonai wanted to dwell directly with humanity in an overt way (Ex. 25:8-9; 29:45–46; Lev. 26:11; 1Kings 6:13). 

“Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.”

Exodus 25:8-9 NASB 1995

God tells the children of Israel to build Him an embassy on earth for Him to live with His people on earth. Initially, it was only the people of Israel who celebrated His feast days and learned about His laws, but now, God is calling all people to learn His ways and celebrate His feasts. (Ex. 29:45–46; Lev. 26:11; 1Kings 6:13) 

As Adonai prepares to restore His creation to the “manufacturer’s settings,” a key goal of that is to fully dwell with humanity (Ezek. 43:7, 9; Rev. 21:3).

We should long to God directly and overtly, rather than through passing experiences or apparitions.

God can not dwell in filth and iniquity 

“Then I heard one speaking to me from the house [of the LORD], while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die, by setting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them put away their harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will dwell among them forever.”

Ezekiel 43:6-9 NASB 1995

The Tabernacle was well suited for Israel’s ancient nomadic lifestyle but as the children Israel settled into houses, the consequences of this transition from a nomadic culture to a settled culture was not lost on King David. 

David laments the fact that he lived in a nicer house than God did and David longed to build God a Temple. God said He would be willing to live in a Temple among them, but God was adamant that He could only live among them if they kept themselves holy. 

God gives Ezekiel this vision telling the prophet to dig right through the wall into the side of the temple and shows Ezekiel what’s going on inside. It was awful what was going on inside. The Temple was supposedly the house of the Lord. But all kinds of detestable things, such as idols and temple prostitition and other activities of ill repute were common placed in the Temple. The hearts of the people were sick. The priests were in front of the temple, facing their boss and it wasn’t the Lord. They were facing toward the sun and worshipping the sun, not the Creator who made the sun. They had their backs to God, the King of heaven and earth. 

Later on as the Second Temple gets built up, and Herod the Great works to expand it, what did they put right next to the temple?  Concessions for the Temple, but more importantly, the Romans built a large government building right next to the Temple, to tower over it so the Roman officials could look down on the Temple, under the pretense of “security,” of course. 

Revelation and its connections to Torah and prophecy

The orientation of the Tabernacle in Revelation 21 reveals the Messiah’s role in resetting creation.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:2-4 NASB 1995

One of the key plot points in the book of Revelation is the question about who is able to unroll and read the scroll, and we are shown that only Messiah Yeshua is qualified for that role. A key way that Adonai dwells with humanity is via the Word of God made flesh: Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ). The Apostle Yokhanan (John) — and Yokhanan the baptizer — connected Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) not only with Pesakh and Yom haKippurim (Jn. 1:29), but also with Sukkot (Jn. 1:14).

God promise to carry away all our sins and never remembering them or bringing them to mind again. He will ask “Where are your accusers?” and they will be nowhere to be found. 

Sukkot and the character of God

The glory of God’s presence was contained, hidden in the Sukkah of God to protect Israel from death (Ex. 33:20; Isa. 6:5; 1Tim. 6:16). Yeshua contained the glory of God’s Presence in Himself (Heb. 1:3), revealing enough of the Presence to heal and inspire but not enough to kill. It’s because of Him that we can know God as God longs to be known. 

The Bible time references in Matthew 1 and Luke 1–2 point to connections with the Anunciation at Chanukah (Festival of Dedication) and Sukkot (see Hallel.info/birth). These references were not just passing references. There are some that know those references and ignore them. They should know them but they don’t want to know. The Jewish leaders had said, “There’s no prophet that comes out of Galilee”  but Isaiah specifically said that there will be a prophet who comes out of the lands of Zebulon and Naphtali, which are located in the Galilee. These leaders should have known better and either were purposefully ignorant of this prophesy or were obfuscating the prophesy deceptively to deceive the masses about who Messiah was. 

We need to know the character of God and how He longs to mold us into His character. Are we heading towards the kingdom, or do we prefer to wander in the desert? Do we want to follow our Leader into the Land of Rest, or do we want to follow our own path?

Summary: Tammy