Tag Archive | Feasts of God

Worship at the Feast of Tabernacles!

Oct16

Perhaps the most exciting celebration that God gave to His people, Israel, is the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths. Another name for it is “Sukkot”, which literally means booths or tents. The eight days of Sukkot were given by God to remind His people that He had sheltered them and their parents as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land! It was to be a time of joy and happiness, singing and dancing, waving of palm branches, in short, eight days of celebration! On the first day there was to be no work and on the eighth day, that Great Day, there was to be more celebrating as well as a day of rest. God gave seven feasts to the Children of Israel and of all of them, Tabernacles was without a doubt the most joyful!

All of the Feasts of God are detailed in Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 16 and Deuteronomy 31 :10 and again mentioned in Ezra 3:4 as well as in John 5 and 7, where the writer speaks of Jesus going up to the Feast of Tabernacles in two different places. According to the description 0f what was supposed to happen during these eight days given by God in Leviticus 23, were the following: a holy convocation on the first and last days; an offering to the Lord made by fire, burnt offering, grain offering and sacrifice and drink offerings; rejoicing with the waving of palm branches and the boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook for seven days; and the dwelling in booths. It also stresses the importance of doing no work on the first and last days. In short, this was a celebration of worship to YHVH (God)! He also stated it was to be kept forever throughout all of their generations.

This feast of celebration and worship begins at sundown tonight! Jewish people all over the world will be celebrating it, along with Messianic Jews. These are people of the Jewish faith who have accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah. They continue to keep the feasts of God and observe the commandments, health and daily living laws He outlined in the books of Exodus and Leviticus, while still trusting in Yeshua for salvation by grace. This is a mixture of both Old and New Testaments, trusting in Christ for salvation while continuing to observe what God has commanded since the days of the tribes of Israel (later divided as Israel and Judah, or “Jew”). The question is: Should those not necessarily of Jewish descent continue to keep the Feast of Tabernacles and the other feasts, such as Passover, Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)?

I personally believe it is a wonderful idea to observe them in a new way, knowing we do not have to offer sacrifices to God to atone for our sins, as Yeshua (Jesus) became our sacrifice when He died upon the Tree (cross) over two thousand years ago. Some of the Feasts have been fulfilled, but the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) has not. Many Christians believe Jesus may well return for His Bride (Christians who have trusted in Him) on a Feast of Trumpets! We, of course, do not know which one, but it is possible God will fulfill this Feast through this occurrence. Passover was fulfilled when Jesus was nailed to the cross and cried out, “It is finished!” right on the day before the Passover (John 19:30). Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mark 15:38) and the sun was darkened and the earth quaked (Luke 23:45 and Matthew 27:51).

Many Christians believe that the Feast of Tabernacles will be fulfilled when Jesus returns to earth and sets up His Kingdom during the Millennium (Thousand-year reign) before all believers are transported to the New Heaven to dwell eternally with Him! Whatever you may believe about these events, we know that Yeshua (Jesus) will come again, and we need to all be ready for that Great Day! So, with this in mind, many feel it is important to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, not with literal sacrifices, but in newness of life in Christ and with the sacrifices of praise, as Paul commanded us in Hebrews 13:15! This is where the theme of this blog, “Music is Worship”, comes in! We worship through our praises, through our lives, through our obedience, through our giving back to Him daily, and we should keep the Feast of Tabernacles in our hearts by giving praise and worship to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, continually offering thanks for His sacrifice on the cross for our sins and Eternal Life with Him! This is the true meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles for a Christian. Looking forward to that Great Day when Jesus returns for His own, the Millennium, and eventually being together with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity) for Eternity, should compel each of us to celebrate what He has done for us with our songs of worship and praise! Here’s a song I arranged and played called just that….”Praise Him, Praise Him!” I hope you will worship along with me and take time out to enjoy and celebrate this Feast of Tabernacles! Maybe you’ll even bring out the Shofar!