Reflections on Sukkot - The Time of Our Joy

Ahhhh....pomegranates!

(Didn't you know that I would begin this post with these words?!)

And I also say....AHHHHH, Sukkot!

Sitting in my sukkah on the
first day of Sukkot (before the winds).

Tonight (Thursday) as I begin to type this blog post, I am a little bit sad in the midst of my rejoicing.
Sukkot is now officially over for this year.
Tomorrow (Friday) I will take apart my sukkah.

Hmmm....
My sukkah!

My sukkah, pieced together from thrift store sheets, dime store curtains, old garden bamboo poles, and branches cut from overgrown road side trees (and new pine boards from the local lumber company)...

My sukkah, which survived one night of rain storms and 3 days of high Oklahoma winds with only a twisted front and some rearranged roof branches...

I became surprisingly attached to and fond of my sukkah during the week of Sukkot.  Even though the middle of my week of Sukkot was crazy-busy with a temporary job helping out at a large corporate event, and even though I was not home for most of the time during the middle of that week, the first day and the last day of the week of Sukkot, and the Shabbat day in between, were spent doing absolutely nothing but sitting in my sukkah and relaxing, dozing, reading, contemplating, praying, eating, dozing, napping (have I mentioned that yet?), etc.
(In hindsight, next year I will not take on such a time-consuming job right in the middle of Sukkot!)

I SO enjoyed the time in my sukkah!  And I enjoyed when my family came over on Shabbat to visit with me in my sukkah.

Since this is the first year that I have actively built my own sukkah (or helped build ANY sukkah), I had NO IDEA that it would be so satisfying to spend time in it, enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of the rooftop branches rustling in the breeze (and the fabric walls "breathing" in and out in the breeze).  I had no idea how it would  feel to sit back and look at the star-lit night sky from within my sukkah.  I had no idea how much more meaningful it would be to read God's Word from within a sukkah!  I had no idea how comforting and restful it would be to enjoy my meals sitting in my sukkah.  (I think even pomegranates taste better eaten in a sukkah, if that's possible!)

I heard that at least one of the Jewish synagogues in my city had built a sukkah, and I would guess that some other sukkot appeared in yards and on driveways and patios around the city.  However, as I drove around town during the week, I never saw another sukkah.  (SO different from my experience in Jerusalem during Sukkot last year...sukkot appeared in every available extra inch of space!)

I wondered what the neighbors thought as they walked up and down my street.  My sukkah was quite visible from the street through the chain-link fence.  I could see people do double-takes sometimes as they passed by.  I heard a child or two say "What's that?" and I overheard one boy say to his mom, "Wow, cool!"  (But I never heard what the adults said.)

At the same time, during the week of Sukkot, people around the USA were "occupying" Wall Street, "occupying" Chicago, "occupying" Atlanta...there was even a small group "occupying" Oklahoma City in a downtown park only a couple of miles from where I live.

I don't understand all that is being represented and promoted by this movement of "Occupy Wall Street"...it all seems vague and undefined.  This blog post is not about what I think about all of that or whether I agree or disagree with any of it.  But I found it interesting that during the time so many people were living in tents or under blankets out in the open in parks around the country, protesting and trying to make some kind of point, I was occupying my sukkah!!
I was obeying a command given by my Elohim, my God, to build a booth and live in it for a week and to REJOICE in Him!!

At the same time that I was building my sukkah, I also noticed some other temporary items being erected and decorated in the neighborhoods around mine.  I might have been the only person building a sukkah (that I could see), but I was not the only person decorating for a "holiday".

Just a few houses down the street is a giant 6 foot tall inflatable skull with a huge spider on top.  And two streets down is a  house with a temporary cemetery in the front yard, complete with temporary black fencing, coffins sticking halfway out of the ground, and skeletons strewn about.  And then on another street is an inflatable witch riding on a broomstick.  Orange and black lights and goblins and ghosts seem to be floating around every corner of many houses in my neighborhood, and "Haunted House Tours" have sprung up overnight, one just a few blocks away.  (I can honestly say that during the time I lived outside of the USA, I was so glad to be away from this particular American "holiday.")

As I have driven past such stomach-turning, darkly evil, ghoulish sights and finally arrived at my home and settled into my sukkah with my Bible and a cup of coffee and some soup and bread and cheese (and pomegranates)...my sukkah with cheery decorations of flowers and fruit and candlelight dancing and the smell of willow and palm and myrtle...I have felt such a huge relief that I have chosen to obey God's command to celebrate HIS way and HIS appointed times instead of the way I used to celebrate (in keeping with the cultural traditions and holidays of the USA).  This past week, I have felt so safe and secure in my flimsy, wind-blown, cheery little sukkah....like I was wrapped in the comfort and safety of the embrace of my God!

I cannot begin to describe this new-found sense of security I have after this week of Sukkot.  I had heard that living in a flimsy sukkah for a week gives a person a new sense of God's faithfulness and His sovereignty, and our complete dependence on Him for everything, just as the Israelites in the desert after the exodus from Egypt were completely dependent on YHVH for everything.   Now I can say that I have experienced that deeper sense of realization that I can do nothing...He alone is in control of my life...He alone gives me what I need to live...He alone IS my life!

And in the midst of this sense of comfort and safety and dependence on God, I found that it is not difficult AT ALL to fulfill His command to REJOICE during Sukkot!!  What a wonderful week of rejoicing it was!

One of the reflections that I want to mention was a wistful and almost sad thought, or really more of a surprisingly strong feeling, that began to surface on the first day of Sukkot when I was finally just sitting and enjoying my sukkah after a month of preparation and building.

I was looking around at the cheery decorations, the bright yellow flowers adorning the entrance, the small and delicate dark green palm fronds draped over the sides of the roof, the blue fabric walls and decorations moving slightly in the breeze...

And suddenly I had the thought that I did not want the yellow flowers to wither and dry out.  I did not want the wind or rain to ruin any part of my "creation."  I did not want to have to take down my sukkah at the end of the week.  I was becoming rather attached to this flimsy temporary dwelling that I put so much effort and creativity into (I use the word "creativity" loosely).  I wanted to keep this experience and this sukkah for much longer than one week!  I felt like Peter who, at the transformation of Yahshua on the mountain when Moses and Elijah appeared, was so overcome with emotion that he offered to construct a sukkah for each of the three men so they could stay there and live the experience even longer! (Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9)

At that moment, I realized how very similar a sukkah is to the earthly bodies we "occupy."
We can become so attached to our physical bodies, these temporary dwelling structures we inhabit for a short time.   We know they are temporary.  We know they will decay and wither away and become more and more tattered and useless as time goes by.  We know that we cannot live in these bodies forever.  Yet we become so attached to how they look and how they function.  We want to hold onto "youth" and "mobility" and "appearance" with a fondness that can be difficult to turn loose of.

And I was reminded of the scripture that talks about the temporal dwellings we live in and the eternal home we will have with our God in His forever Sukkah.  The temporary booth that YHVH commands us to build and live in for a week every year is NOT about the sukkah...it's about HIM!  We are not supposed to rejoice because of the sukkah...we are supposed to rejoice because of HIM!
YHVH is our ultimate Eternal Cover, Dwelling Place, Provision, Shelter, LIFE!



2 Corinthians 4:5-5:10  (in this version, The Scriptures, Yahshua's name is written in Hebrew)

For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Messiah יהושע (Yahshua) the Master, and ourselves your servants for the sake of יהושע.   For Elohim, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts for the enlightening of the knowledge of the esteem of Elohim in the face of יהושע Messiah.   And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power might be of Elohim, and not of us –  being hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; being perplexed, but not in despair;  being persecuted, but not forsaken; being thrown down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Master יהושע, that the life of יהושע might also be manifested in our body.   
For we, the living, are always delivered to death for the sake of יהושע, that the life of יהושע might also be manifested in our mortal flesh, so that death indeed is working in us, but the life in you.   But having the same spirit of belief, according to what has been written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised up the Master יהושע shall also raise us up through יהושע, and shall present us with you.  For all this is for your sake, so that favour, having spread through the many, would cause thanksgiving to overflow, unto the esteem of Elohim. 


Therefore we do not lose heart, but even if our outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary pressure is working for us a far more exceeding and everlasting weight of esteem.  We are not looking on what is seen, but on what is not seen. For what is seen passes away, but what is not seen is everlasting.  For we know that if the tent of our earthly house, is destroyed, we have a building from Elohim, a house not made with hands, everlasting in the heavens.  For indeed in this we groan, longing to put on our dwelling which is from heaven, so that, having put it on, we shall not be found naked.  For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we wish to put it off, but to put on the other, so that what is to die might be swallowed up by life.  
Now He who has prepared us for this same purpose is Elohim, who has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.  Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Master – for we walk by belief, not by sight -  we are of good courage, and are well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Master.  So we also make it our aim to be well-pleasing to Him, whether being at home, or being away from home.  For we all have to appear before the judgment seat of Messiah, in order for each one to receive according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

As I was sitting in my sukkah dwelling on these verses and on my strong (and surprising) desire to "keep" my sukkah around much longer than one week, I made a conscious decision to stop focusing on my fondness for my sukkah and rather focus on my love for YHVH, my Eternal Sukkah.  Once this realization took hold, I began to understand the deeper meaning of these verses and what it means to "let go" of our temporary dwelling place, and the safety and security and even pride that is represented in it, and to instead look to Elohim and TRUST in His provision for eternal life rather than settling for temporal life.  Every time I looked at my sukkah, I was immediately reminded of YHVH's eternal faithfulness to His people - past, present, and future.  And then I couldn't help but REJOICE!

I also realized that if I had not taken the time to obey God and build a sukkah to live in for a week, I would not have come to the deeper understanding of what it means to LIVE His Word, including these verses from 2 Corinthians.  I am finding that to be true with all of His commanded appointed times....for me, obeying them always brings a deeper understanding of some part of YHVH or His Word or His Son, Yahshua the Messiah.

And now, the most important part of Sukkot:  Yahshua the Messiah!

In my last blog post (which was at the beginning of Sukkot), I mentioned John chapter 7.  Did you read it?  Did you see the backdrop for the whole chapter?  Did you notice that all of the events and interactions that happened in this chapter happened during Sukkot?  Not just during Sukkot, but in the very midst of the Sukkot celebration, as an integral part of Sukkot.

In the first part of the chapter, Yahshua is accosted by his unbelieving brothers and pressured to go to Jerusalem for the Sukkot festival (verses 1-5).  But Yahshua answered that his time had not yet come and that they should go on up to the festival for his time had not yet been fulfilled.  (verses 6-8)

After his brothers left him, Yahshua went secretly to the festival of Sukkot (verse 10).
In the middle of the festival, Yahshua went into the Temple and was teaching His FATHER's words, and people were amazed at it.  (verses 14-16)

I won't go into detail about all that Yahshua spoke here.  You can read it for yourself.
But it started the people debating among themselves whether or not he was the Messiah, and many believed that he was.

The part I want to look at comes after this.
Let's begin at verse 37, which opens at the end of Sukkot, on the 7th day of the festival, otherwise known as Hoshanah Rabbah, or The Great Supplication/Great Salvation.
This word "hoshanah" is related to the word "hoshianah" (the word we know as hosanna), and it is a cry for salvation.  It is a desperate plea: "please save us!"  


Now before we go further with what Yahshua says in this verse, let me tell you that one tradition of Sukkot that happened each of the seven days was the Water Libation.  Basically, the priest would go down to the spring of Shiloach and draw some of the "living" water from the spring.  He would take it back up to the Temple and pour it on the altar.  This was not a biblical command, but it was a tradition with the verse from Isaiah 12:3 as a reference:  "With joy you shall draw water out of the well of salvation."


So now we come to the 7th day of Sukkot, the Great Supplication, the cry of "YHVH, please save us!"
And we have the priest performing the Water Libation with the "living" water from the spring.

Now look at what Yahshua did and said during this 7th day of the festival of Sukkot:


John 7:37-39
  And on the last day, the great day of the festival, יהושע stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and let him who believes in Me drink.  As the Scripture said, out of His innermost shall flow rivers of living water.” 
And this He said concerning the Spirit, which those believing in Him were about to receive, for the Set-apart Spirit was not yet given, because יהושע was not yet esteemed. 


Can you imagine the reaction of the people?  (Look in chapter 7 to see what it was.)
They would immediately have made the connection between the water libation, the cry for salvation, the search for living water, and the claim that this man Yahshua was making and had been making during the years of His ministry...

Yahshua is the Living Water.  
Yahshua is Salvation (that is, after all, exactly what his name means), the promised Messiah.
Yahshua is the perfect and complete fulfillment of YHVH's commanded festival of Sukkot (and ALL other commanded appointed times).
Yahshua IS our Sukkah, in every possible way, in the completeness of every detail, for eternity!

To see more of how Yahshua fits into this perfect picture of the past, present and future coming together in the  fulfillment of all biblical prophecy regarding Him, regarding Jerusalem (the place where YHVH has chosen as the dwelling place for His Name), regarding His people Israel (including those who are grafted in through belief in YHVH's salvation - Yahshua), and how YHVH's appointed time of Sukkot dovetails perfectly into place, read Zechariah 14.  (Of course, this passage is supported by countless other places in YHVH's Word.)

The last part of the last book of YHVH's Word gives us the beautiful and joyful picture of our Eternal Sukkah  with YHVH through Yahshua the Messiah:

Revelation 21:1-4
And I saw a renewed heaven and a renewed earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more.  And I, John, saw the set-apart city, renewed Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from Elohim, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the heaven saying, “See, the Sukkah of Elohim is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and Elohim Himself shall be with them and be their Elohim.   And Elohim shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying. And there shall be no more pain, for the former matters have passed away.” 

Then, we will no longer be crying "Hosanna, hosanna!"
 ("Save us, save us!")

Instead we will be shouting out with great joy, 
"HALLELUYAH!!"  (Praise YAH!)




There is so much more about this wonderful and joyful appointed time of YHVH called Sukkot that I could write about...so many more reflections that I have pondered during this wonderful week.
But perhaps they will have to wait for next year.

Let me just finish this particular blog post with Psalm 84, which also has a deeper meaning for me now after experiencing this week of Sukkot.

Until next time, rejoice in the shelter of the wings of our Messiah, the Living Water, the Living Sukkah!

Gina

Psalm 84
How lovely are Your dwelling places, O יהוה of hosts! 

My being has longed, and even fainted, for the courts of יהוה; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she has put her young ones – your altars, O יהוה of hosts, my Sovereign and my Elohim. 
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, they are ever praising You. Selah. 
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Your highways are in their heart. 
Passing through the valley of weeping, they make it a fountain; the Teacher also covers it with blessings. 
They go from strength to strength, appearing before Elohim in Zion. 
O יהוה Elohim of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O Elohim of Jacob! Selah. 
O Elohim, see our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed. 
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand days. I have chosen rather to be a doorkeeper in the House of my Elohim, than to dwell in the tents of the wrong. 
For יהוה Elohim is a sun and a shield; יהוה gives favour and esteem; He withholds no good matter from those who walk blamelessly. 
O יהוה of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You! 

Sukkot - A Time for Rejoicing!

Ahhh…pomegranates! 

Haven’t I already started a recent blog post with that same statement?

Well, it’s still the same season, and still the same month, and still the same series of moedim, and I still get just as excited about pomegranates now as I did at the beginning of the month!

I just finished cutting open a pomegranate and removing the juicy rubies inside, and now I am sitting in my sukkah enjoying handfuls of this wonderful fruit.

Did I say sukkah?  YES!  Today begins the week of Sukkot!

This is the sukkah I built for this year's Sukkot.

I have spent the last month planning, preparing and building my sukkah. 

I built the frame in pieces and stages over the last month.
I glued and pinned and sewed several sheets together to make the ‘wrap-around’ walls.
I gathered all the decorative items I could find in the last few weeks to fit the Sukkot theme , and I found some places that had ‘extra’ branches of fruit trees, myrtle trees, willow trees, and other leafy trees that I could use for the roof.

I gathered everything (and asked my landlords for permission to take up some extra yard space for a week and a bit), and after the much-needed rain stopped any plans of building my sukkah on Sunday, I rushed on Monday to put everything together during the first part of the day.  With a little extra time on Tuesday, and the finishing touches on Wednesday, I was ready to eat my first meal in the sukkah Wednesday evening after work.

After a hectic week of work, work, work, and after preparing during the early hours and late hours for weeks, the sigh of relief and rest when I finally sat in my sukkah and looked at the stars through the branches on the rooftop last night was one that went through every part of my being.  I cannot describe what it is like to STOP everything and obey God’s command to be in a sukkah.  It is the most satisfying and refreshing thing I have experienced in a long time.  (I almost had the same experience 2 years ago when I used my camping tent as a sukkah…but it’s different when you put so much time and effort into building one.)

And then today….ahhhh…pomegranates in my sukkah!

(And coffee, and bread, and strawberries with yogurt, and cheese, and mango, and tangerines, and soon a dinner of lamb and potatoes with carrots and leeks and a sprinkling of pomegranate, and home-made ice cream for dessert…ummmm!)

I have been looking forward to this week for SO long! 

And it’s not just because of the food.

And it’s not just because I have 2 extra days off work (the first day and the 8^th day of Sukkot are ‘no work’ days).

And not just because I have my very own sukkah to sit in this year.

And not just because it is such a feast of celebration and joy, this Feast of Booths/Tabernacles.

All of these are very real reasons that I have been looking forward to this week, but even more so because this is the final moedim (appointed time) of the year.

Yes, there is still Hanukkah to come, but that is not one of the appointed times that was commanded by YHVH for His people to keep (though I think it is still important and enlightening to celebrate it).

Sukkot is final of the 3 'Fall Moedim' -  Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot all happen in the 7^th month of the biblical calendar.  And Sukkot is the Grand Finale!  (more about that in another post)

I wrote a blog post for Yom Teruah (both this year and last year). 

You may have noticed that I did not write one for Yom Kippur.  It is such a time of awe and repentance and focusing on God’s holiness and righteousness, and there is SO MUCH meaning and deeper layers involved in this most important day…I decided that I would spend it in prayer and fasting rather than trying to write what little I know about it.  Besides, so many other bloggers and other sources of information have much to say about Yom Kippur.  So I decided not to write about it this year.

And now Sukkot!

I will definitely be writing about Sukkot!

In fact, I plan to write blog posts several times throughout this next week - hopefully some shorter posts than my normal post length – sharing some of what YHVH’s Word says about this final moedim, and also sharing some of my own observations and experiences.

What is the purpose of Sukkot?

We had Yom Teruah (the sounding of the shofar) which had no purpose given to this ‘hearing of the teruah.’

Then 10 days later, we had Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement/Judgment.

And now, 5 days later, we have a week of Sukkot!

Let’s take a look at what YHVH says about Sukkot in His Word.

Deuteronomy 16:13-15

     Perform the Festival of Sukkot for seven days after the ingathering from your threshing-floor and from your winepress, and you shall rejoice in your festival, you and your son and your daughter, and your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates.  For seven days you shall observe a festival to יהוה your Elohim in the place which יהוה chooses, because יהוה your Elohim does bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be only rejoicing!

• Okay, so we know that this is a harvest celebration and that we should be rejoicing over the blessings from our Elohim.
• We also know that everyone should rejoice and celebrate (even the foreigner who is with us).
• We also know that it should be celebrated in Jerusalem (the place which YHVH chooses and has chosen).  (I really hoped to be able to celebrate this Sukkot in Jerusalem, but this year was not possible.)

What else can we learn about it from YHVH’s Word?

Levitcus 23:33-43

    And יהוה spoke to Moses, saying,  “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh new moon is the Festival of Sukkot for seven days to יהוה.   On the first day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.  For seven days you bring an offering made by fire to יהוה.  On the eighth day there shall be a set-apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה.   It is a closing festival, you do no servile work.   These are the appointed times of יהוה which you proclaim as set-apart gatherings, to bring an offering made by fire to יהוה, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a slaughtering and drink offerings, as commanded for every day –besides the Sabbaths of יהוה, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your voluntary offerings which you give to יהוה.   
  
   On the fifteenth day of the seventh new moon, when you gather in the fruit of the land, observe the festival of יהוה for seven days.  On the first day is a rest, and on the eighth day a rest.   And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of good trees, branches of palm trees, twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall rejoice before יהוה your Elohim for seven days.   And you shall observe it as a festival to יהוה for seven days in the year – a law forever in your generations. Observe it in the seventh month.  Dwell in booths for seven days; all who are native Israelites dwell in booths, so that your generations know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am יהוה your Elohim.’ ”

• Now we know when to celebrate:  the 15^th day of the 7^th new moon (that’s today!).
• We also know that we are to celebrate for one week, and the 1st and 8^th days are to be days of no work.
• It is repeated here that this is a harvest celebration.
• We also know now that all who are part of the Israelites should celebrate Sukkot to remember the booths God made the children of Israel live in after bringing them out of Egypt.  (Remember, those who call themselves believers in the Messiah Yahshua are grafted into the olive tree of Israel, God’s chosen people.)
• It is a law forever.
• And we know that during Sukkot, we are to dwell in booths (sukkot) of fruit trees, palm trees, leafy trees and willow trees.
• And we are to REJOICE!

Okay, so this is a harvest celebration and a celebration of remembrance of the time God led Israel away from Egypt and through the desert to His chosen land for them.

Is there any other purpose?

Oh yes!

Yahshua!

You know, Yahshua (Jesus) kept the Torah.  He kept every part of YHVH’s instructions and commands perfectly.  He kept the Sabbath.  He kept the biblical eating regulations.  And He kept the commanded appointed times, the moedim.

So…it’s no surprise to find Yahshua observing and attending Sukkot!

Take a look at chapter 7 in the book of John to see how involved Yahshua was with Sukkot.

But that will have to wait for another day and another blog post, at which time we will look more at what YHVH's Word says about Sukkot.

Now it's time for me to put dinner on the stove and relax in my sukkah!

Chag Sameach!  (Joyous Festival!)

Remembering YHVH’s faithfulness in times past, and rehearsing for His eternity,

Gina