Shemini Atzeret (Eighth Day) readings

This is the second part of a study on how we go into the Creator’s presence by way of the Messiah and how the Creator’s presence goes into us and through us into the world around us by way of the Messiah. Yeshua’s ministry on Earth fulfilled God’s desire to dwell with us, not to be foreign to us. A heart transformed, such as King David’s, welcomes the Kingdom of God and the fact God can see everything in us. The Holy One provides us a way out of temptation to forsake Him when we cry for help from Heaven’s…

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…

This is a 50,000-foot-high view of the fall “feasts to the LORD” (Lev. 23:2) — Yom Teruah (Trumpets, aka Rosh Hashanah), Yom haKippurim (Atonement) and Sukkot (Tabernacles). We’ll look at what they are and what meanings are stacked on top of each other as memorials of the actions of the Messiah past, present and future.

The common name for the day following seven days of Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles) is Shmini Atseret in Hebrew, or “Assembly of the Eighth (Day).” The day also is called Simchat Torah, Hebrew for “joy of the Torah,” based on the centuries old practice in synagogues of restarting the cycle of Torah readings at that time. Shmini Atseret is a bookend to the miqra qodesh on the first day of Sukkot. Its place following Sukkot suggests that God wants to memorialize what is planned for when the time period of “wandering” in these mortal bodies and rebellious minds finally comes to…

Yeshua (Jesus) kept the festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), but the only record of that is His keeping the latter part of it (John 6:26-7:41). During the Feast of Tabernacles, the people were looking for the Prophet like Moshe (Moses), but did they recognize the Prophet? Do we recognize the Prophet when we memorialize the past, present and future of God “tabernacling” with mankind?

The beginning of the future reign of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) on Earth (Rev. 20:4–6), memorialized in the appointed times of Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles) and Shmeni Atzeret (Convocation of the Eighth Day). Let’s consider this hypothetical situation: During the 1,000 year-reign of Yeshua, if someone walks the wrong direction, the errant person will hear a voice, “Turn neither to the left or to the right; walk straight!” (Deut. 28:14; Josh. 1:7; Prov. 4:27; cp. Zech. 8:20–23). Right now, that voice is hard to hear, but during the Millennial reign, that voice will be very clear.

A number of theologians have wondered publicly if the festivals of the LORD are relevant for today or are just historical or intellectual curiosities. Many dismiss Sukkot as either a harvest festival only applicable in the Land of Israel or only relevant with a standing temple. Let’s explore what the Bible says about the past, present and future layers of meaning in these annual appointments and how they teach us about the Messiah and ourselves. We will look at the different layers of the festivals: past, present and future. In a sense, they are like a wedding anniversary, on which the couple…

A chiastic structure buried in 1st Kings 8 compares messianic figures of Moshe (Moses), David and Shlomo (Solomon) by changing up the historical and thematic order of them. This swapping is very important because it reveals elements of the character of the Messiah.

Shmeni Atzeret (Convocation of the Eighth Day) pictures a just God beyond human understanding. His goal is that all of mankind be with Him.

During this year’s celebration of Sukkot (festival of Tabernacles) and Shmini Atzeret (convocation of the Eighth Day), we’ve been learning from each other and from God’s word and trying to put them together in our hearts. Every feast gives us something a little different. We have to be at first with God before we can be at peace with others. God gives us this shalom.

With the coming of Shmini Azteret (Convocation of the Eight Day), Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) is over. The Eighth Day represents a time when all people who have been called and heeded the call will know God.

Daniel explores foreshadowing of all seven ‘feasts to the LORD’ in Genesis 2–5. For example, hints of Passover are seen in Adam and Eve’s hiding from God in the garden; Firstfruits, in Eve’s dedicating her firstborn; Atonement, in God’s marking Cain to wander with vengeance taken against him.

Once in a while it’s good to get back to basics. The “gospel” of the Kingdom of God is more than the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. Shimini Atzeret, or the Eighth Day (Isaiah 52), is a celebration of salvation, peace, restoration and the reign of God.

The Eighth Day (called Shemini Atzeret in Hebrew) after the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Sukkot) is celebrated as a wedding banquet. It looks forward to a time when there will be a celebration of the wedding of the people of God and Messiah, the Lamb. To be ready, we need to admit how unready those God is calling to that banquet are until God cleans us up.

The Eighth Day after the seven days of Sukkot is celebrated as a wedding banquet. It looks forward to a time when there will be a celebration of the wedding of the people of God and Messiah, the Lamb. To be ready, we need to admit how unready those God is calling to that banquet are until God cleans us up.

In part 3 of this discussion of the Eighth Day in John 7-10, the healing of the blind man and the parable of the door for the sheep corral show how believers in Yeshua as God’s Messiah will see the “a new heavens and a new earth” foretold in Isa. 66:22, 2nd Pet. 3:13 and Rev. 21:1. Recap of John 7-8 Why was Yeshua in hiding during the Feast of Tabernacles?  Why is John 7:17 an important clue about the goal of Yeshua’s ministry, particularly in the judgment of the woman caught in adultery? Was He seeking glory for Himself?…

Yeshua continues His theme of His being the Light of Life, Who brings hope to the condemned and penitent, a theme developed in John 8-9. God’s mercy and a new beginning are integral to the Eighth Day, an important appointment with God right after the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Food for thought from the recorded discussion of John 8:20-9:41 John 8:21 — What does Messiah mean by saying “you will not be there”? How is knowing the will of the Father connected to knowing the Father? Yeshua repeats the thought that they “will die in their sins”?…

When read contextually, John 7-10 is Yeshua’s long discussion of His important functions — God’s mercy, the Light of the world — using the concepts wrapped into two feasts of the LORD, the seven-day festival of Sukkot and the following day, called the Eighth Day.  Some believers think that Yeshua abolished the Torah, including feasts of the LORD such as Sukkot, a.k.a. the Feast of Booths and the Feast of Tabernacles, because they don’t see many references to them in the Apostolic Writings. They say the feasts faded away after Yeshua’s resurrection. However, a close reading of those writings reveals…

How is the lesson of new beginnings wrapped up in the symbolic use of the number eight in the Bible shown in Yeshua’s appearance in the temple during Sukkot in John 7-10?

The day after the seven days of Sukkot (Tabernacles) is a mysterious festival. However, eight in the Bible symbolizes new beginnings and fits with the teaching of God dwelling with mankind as Messiah and then forever.