The primary source of wealth in Moshe’s day were one’s animals, so offering an animal to the Lord was a financial inconvenience, a sacrifice. Romans 12 tells us what sacrifice we are called to make now that there’s no Temple. We give our lives to God. That is more expensive and more precious than a turtledove, goat or a bull.
God can redeem anyone He wants. When He redeems you, you give Him a peace offering and your life.
Shemini Atzeret (Convocation of the Eighth Day, Lev. 23:33–36, 39–43), the day following the seven days of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles or Booths), and Shavuot (Pentecost) are “buddies.” The symbolism of one is mirrored in the other. What happened on Shavuot throughout the Bible is a “shadow,” a likeness, of what will happen on a Shemini Atzeret during the Day of the LORD.
Spirit beings need God’s breath, “water” from the God and the Tree of Life. We will experience seeing God face to face, and we will be able to keep His commandments without any hinderance. He will be our Father, and we will be His children in fullness. We will “look like” God, which was God’s intent all along.
There are conjunctions in Israel’s history between the days of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles or Booths) and key events, from the Flood to the time of David and Solomon to Yeshua (Jesus) mission on Earth to the coming Day of the LORD. Rather than coincidences, these intersections teach us about God and His Messiah.
God will put a trial on the nations who do not come to the Great Ingathering, i.e., the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). God told Israel to bring in their laborers to Sukkot — even the “stranger,” or foreigner. So this among God’s appointments with mankind is not just for the House of Yehudah (Judah) or the House of Israel. God wants to “harvest” the peoples of the world into a new reality without sin and death.
There’s a common theme occurring throughout the Hebrew Roots/Messianic community recently — separation and regrouping. We also see in Scripture the recurring symbol of “cutting off” in an agricultural sense to talk about God’s action in improving the health of the “vine” of Israel. It’s OK when God cuts off parts of the vine to promote growth. It’s OK if there is a time of not producing fruit.
Some read about the “Sabbath-rest” in Hebrews 4 and conclude that the teaching is that the remembrance of the seventh-day rest, the Sabbath, has been transferred to the Messiah, Yeshua. Yet the context of the passage and the quotations in it relating to a pivotal event in the Torah point to the fuller meaning of personal peace and real “rest” that God provides.
The sacrifices of the day of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) are not about the animals but about the Messiah and the people they represent. There’s so much beauty and hope in Sukkot. All 70 nations that came into being after the Flood, represented by the 70 bulls sacrificed during the entire feast, will be brought back to God.