How would you like it if God set things up for you to have a powerful
reminder He will always be your "ever-present help in time of trouble
(Psalm 46:1)" and that He always watches over you - never slumbering
nor sleeping on the job (Psalm 121:4) and that He can "guide you in
The-Path-that-is-Right (Ps. 23:)3?
God gave Feasts to Israel as illustrations that speak about the nature
and character of the God of Israel. Aspects of each Feast point to
Yeshua as the promised Jewish Messiah.
When the Jewish people left Egypt, Jehovah provided for all their needs
(if they followed HIS instructions for obtaining their provision). He
even provided a cloud to shield them from the hot desert
sun (Psalm 105:39-41).
Once the Jewish people were settled in the Promised Land, God instructed them - "For 1 week each year, after you have brought in the harvest, you shall live in booths for 7 days, that your generations might know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. (Lev. 23:39-43)".
He wanted them to remember that when they left what they knew and trusted Him, He provided for all their needs.
In the days of the 2nd Temple, after the return from Captivity in Babylon, the Jewish people added two key elements to their Sukkot celebration. One element started out as a good reminder of God providing Himself as our help. The other was an action showing Jehovah they were turning to Him and asking Him to provide.
In their days in the desert God manifested His Presence at night in a pillar of fire that lit up the whole camp of the Jewish people. In their temporary dwellings, literally the light of God's glory rested on their faces, coming through the branches that served as roofs for their sukkot (tabernacles). To remind themselves that God wanted to make His Presence known to them, during Sukkot the Jewish people would set up 4, 50 foot high columns on top of which were oil lamps that held ten gallons of oil (in other words, they were HUGE!) The historians say all of Jerusalem was lit up by the light of these lamps.
The second element was part of the Sukkot service at The Temple. In Israel, their is almost no rain from late Spring until late Fall. So at Sukkot they added a prayer for God to send the much needed rain. They called on God to be faithful to His promise to pour out water on the thirsty land (Jsaiah 44:3) which also is where Jehovah said to the Jewish people "I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring!"
Today, many religious Jewish people build a sukkah / booth during
during the Feast of Tabernacles. Many will eat at least one meal
in the sukkah. Some will eat more and some will actually spend
the night sleeping in that temporary shelter.
In the days of Yeshua, it says in John 7 that He went to The Temple
on the Feast of Tabernacles. After those assembled cried out to
Jehovah to provide the rains and water they needed, verses 37 - 39
tell us He cried out, "Are you thirst? Then come to Me and drink.
If you believe in Me, then out of your innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water. (By this He meant the Holy Spirit.)" He was saying HE was the answer to their prayer. Indeed, He was God manifested in their midst, an even more clear revelation of Himself than the Cloud by day, and Fire by night!
Also, in John 8 - as the Feast of Sukkot was coming to a close and the 4, 50 foot towers with huge oil lamps were about to be taken down until the following year - Yeshua stood under those man-made lights and announced (verse 12) " I am The Light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness." Yeshua was saying, "These 4 powerful lights are about to be extinguished, but if you look to Me as your Light, I will faithful Light your way, even as Jehovah showed you the way in the darkness of the wilderness."
Are you thirsty? Have you drunk from many of the "sources" this world can provide and find yourself not satisfied?
Then put your trust in Yeshua and you will with have a satisfying connection to The River of Life which will never run dry.
Is their darkness in your life? Is is dark on the outside and you're not sure what you are facing, or where to do? Is their darkness inside - do you find yourself NOT doing the right thing towards others, or yourself? Then follow Jesus. He is The Light that shows us The Way to walk and sends the evils of the dark scampering away into someplace else with less Light. He is The Light that exposes where we are broken and damage inside, AND His Light is filled with the warmth of His Healing Love.
