Tag: sukkah

Categories
Appointments With God Discussions Tabernacles

The sukkah experience: How humility builds community, interdependence and spiritual growth

"The sukkah experience: How humility builds community, interdependence and spiritual growth." (Leviticus 23, Nehemiah 8, James 4, 1Kings 8)

Why did Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) initially say He would not go to Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, as recorded in John 7, but then showed up later incognito? This study suggests the answer seems to be in the key element of the celebration itself, living in a temporary dwelling for a week.

Sukkot calls us to humble ourselves, remembering our dependence on God. By dwelling in fragile shelters, we recall Israel’s wilderness wanderings — a time of stripping away self-reliance to learn trust in the divine Provider. This annual celebration challenges us to let go of earthly securities, to live vulnerably before our Maker.

In an age of increasing self-sufficiency, Sukkot’s message rings prophetic: true strength comes not from what we can accumulate, but in recognizing our smallness before the Almighty. By embracing this humility, we open ourselves to receive God’s grace and blessing.

Categories
Appointments With God Tabernacles

Tabernacles: Why the LORD wants us to remember challenges of journey to the Kingdom

Every sukkah (or tabernacle) is different

None of us would want to experience on purpose what ancient Israel did in the 40 years of wilderness travel between Egypt. For those of us living 4,000 years later, we can’t presume we would have acted better than they did. Considering how spoiled and comfortable we are with modern conveniences and dwellings, we probably would have complained even more about God’s “inadequate” hospitality in the wilderness.

Human nature doesn’t change. Only God can change human nature.

That’s where the annual celebration of Sukkot (Tabernacles or Booths) comes in. Each sukkah (booth) looks different, even if the same person builds it. Taken as a personal lesson, each our sukkot (plural) has a different calling, a different reason for being. Let’s explore further these lessons from the words of God and the Word Who tabernacled with us (John 1:14).

Categories
Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Prophets and Writings Tabernacles Torah

Lessons from Sukkot: What does it mean to be ‘in Christ’?

Decked-out king-sized sukkah
Decked-out king-sized sukkah

What does it mean to be “in Christ,” and what does it mean to have “Christ in you”? We go into the Creator’s presence by way of the Messiah. The Creator’s presence goes into us by way of the Messiah.

Among the biblical symbols of Sukkot (festival of Tabernacles, or Booths) is the tent, the temporary dwelling. It reminds us of who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. The sukkah is also a visual representation of how to have “Messiah in us” and to be “in Messiah” at the same time.

Categories
Appointments With God Tabernacles

Symbols of Sukkot: The sukkah

Mexican sukkah
A sukkah rises on a Mexican beach in time for Sukkot 2016. (Jeff, Oct. 16, 2016)

In God’s instructions for remembering Sukkot (Festival of Booths or Tabernacles), God said to gather foliage from four types of trees. Part 1 of this study reveals how these four species symbolize four types of people. Part 2 explores how the sukkah made from the trees teaches about the Yeshua’s 12 apostles, the “fruits” of the Spirit and the dwelling place of God.

Categories
Discussions Torah

Numbers 33:1-17: Lessons of the Exodus and wilderness wanderings: Ramses to Hazeroth

This is a difficult, laborious chapter. There are lots of hard-to-pronounce names — 40, 42 or 43 depending on the count. Yet the name of each encampment carries important teachings from what happened at each site and the meaning of the names themselves.

Categories
Appointments With God Tabernacles

Sukkot — from temporary shack to temple of glory

What lessons from the biblical festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles) are there for those around us? How does the temporary dwelling teach us about the most important part of daily life? How did ancient Israel have “the gospel”?