Sukkot: The True Significance of the Feast of Tabernacles
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
This article explores the third of three annual high Sabbaths of Israel specified in the Old Testament, called the Feast of Tabernacles or “Sukkot” in Hebrew, also referred to alternatively as the Feast of Ingathering.
As we explore the annual High Sabbath feasts of Israel, we will see the explicit Christological and prophetic significance in the Feast of Tabernacles and its impacting power regarding eschatological revelation.
Introduction
What is The Feast of Tabernacles?
The Feast of Tabernacles, or “Sukkot,” is the third of three annual perpetual Old Testament High Sabbaths instituted under the law of Moses to be held in the seventh month of Tishrei under the Hebrew calendar. It is an umbrella festival covering two other significant high Sabbaths in the same month of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.
Three Annual High Sabbaths
The first High Sabbath to be held annually is the Passover or “Pesach” in Hebrew, which includes the the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The second is designated seven Sabbaths later, called the Feast of Weeks or “Shavuot” in Hebrew, commonly known as Pentecost. Each of these holds significant meaning, with the Passover signifying the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, and Pentecost celebrating the beginning of the wheat harvest in Israel.
We see the first reference to the three annual feasts together as perpetually commanded in Exodus 34:18–23 (KJV). They are then further unpacked in Leviticus 23:2-44 (KJV), and again in Deuteronomy 16:1–17 (KJV). We also find a detailed instructional description of the three solemn assemblies under the Feast of Tabernacles in Numbers 29:1–39 (KJV).
These feasts were to be held as a perpetual annual ordinance where several special sacrifices were offered to the LORD, as well as the continuance of the daily temple sacrifices. They are referred to in Scripture as “holy convocations” (Leviticus 23:37 KJV), “solemn days” (Numbers 10:10 KJV), “solemn feasts” (Numbers 15:3 KJV), a “solemn assembly” (Numbers 29:35 KJV), and “the feasts of the LORD” (Leviticus 23:44 KJV).
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
What is Meant by Tabernacles?
The word “Sukkot” or “tabernacles” comes from the Hebrew word “suka” meaning “a hut or lair—booth, cottage, tabernacle or tent.” The concept is found in the wilderness wanderings recorded in the Book of Exodus and Numbers, where the Israelites had to dwell in tents during the forty-year probationary period before entering the promised land.
Once entering the promised land of Canaan, they were commanded to memorialize this event by constructing small “booths,” huts, or “tabernacles” as a physical acknowledgment of how they lived and were supported by God during their time in the wilderness.
Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Tabernacles in Perspective
The Feast of Tabernacles is little acknowledged outside of Jewish religious thought and practice, and due to the absence of the Hebrew Temple, the season cannot be observed in its full application.
Historical Christianity concluded that the observance of the Old Testament feasts had become obsolete due to historical teaching, which renders Jewish observance and the Law of God now superseded by the Gospel.
It is important to note here that even though the Law and Gospel are separate and distinct systems, with the Gospel taking preeminence, being the culmination and fulfillment of the Law, they have a symbiotic relationship complementing one another as taught by the Apostle Paul in the Book of Romans:
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Future Observance
The Millennial Kingdom
Understanding the spiritual continuity between the Old and New Testaments, the Scriptures indicate that the annual Feasts of the LORD will be observed once Jesus Christ returns to rule the world from Jerusalem during the 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom, as revealed by the Prophet Zechariah:
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
The Prophet Zechariah prophesied that the Feast of Tabernacles will be kept in the regeneration as a perpetual observance by Israel and the nations of the Gentiles. In this prophecy, even divine judgment in the form of drought will be executed against all nations who attempt to exempt themselves from its future observance.
Prophetic Significance
The spiritual significance of the Feast of Tabernacles in its relation to Christocentric biblical theology is great in extent.
With all three feast days in the same month climaxing under the Feast of Tabernacles, we also see obvious eschatological implications for the prophetic end times. We will now break these three events down into historical descriptions and types and shadows.
The Feast of Trumpets
Yom Teruah Explained
The Feast of Trumpets, or “Yom Teruah” in Hebrew, is more commonly known in modern Judaism as “Rosh Hashanah,” which marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year and is held on the first day of the seventh month, Tishrei. Biblically, it was the first feast in a series of three in the seventh month and was designated a “memorial of blowing of trumpets.”
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Prophetic Symbolism of Trumpets
Trumpets are used in Scripture as a tool of announcement, either for the calling of regular assemblies, for use during public and religious ceremonies, as a public call organizing the people for mass movement, announcing the presence of royalty, for musical celebration and thanksgiving, or in military operations as a battle cry.
Allusions to the significance of the Feast of Trumpets can be found in the Numbers 10, pointing to the day as being a memorial of victory in warfare and a memorial of celebration of the solemn days, signified by the blowing of trumpets in fanfare.
And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.
Types and Shadows
The prophetic types and shadows in this feast are clear and powerful as we see the prophetic landscape being prepared for the soon return of Jesus Christ.
The trumpets signify the eschatological period where the coming of Christ is announced, both as a symbolic preliminary action through fulfillment of prophecy and also through the literal trumpet blast of God initiating the resurrection of the dead in Christ and gathering of His elect at His return.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
We also can see a clear allusion to the aspect of warfare in the symbol of the trumpet blast. Scripture declares Jesus Christ will return to deliver His people in glorification but also to wage war upon the unrepentant and, particularly, the satanic forces amassed under the direction of the Antichrist.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
The Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur Explained
The Day of Atonement, or “Yom Kippur,” is the second of the three feast days, held on the tenth day of the seventh month, Tishrei, and is a day in which the people of Israel were to “afflict their souls” in nationwide repentance and cleansing from sin. The Hebrew word atonement is “kippur,” essentially meaning reconciliation or to return to a status of being “at one” with God, hence atonement or “at-one-ment.”
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Yom Kippur was the day for national atonement instituted in ancient Israel, when the sins of the nation were forgiven by the High Priest. Key to the sacrificial ceremony was the selection of two goats, with one being a sacrifice for sin with its blood to be sprinkled on the mercy seat, and the other designated a scapegoat to be released into the wilderness after having the sins of the nation transferred upon it by confession of the High Priest.
The New Testament Atonement
The New Testament doctrine of the atonement speaks specifically of Gospel reconciliation purchased for us by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our High Priest—particularly the shedding of blood for the remission of sins. It is this atonement that reconciles the sinner to God, and in which the forgiveness of sins is found and applied. This immediately causes us to view the Day of Atonement through the lens of the atonement of Christ.
The prophetic significance of the Day of Atonement in relation to the Feast of Tabernacles is clear in two senses. Firstly, at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, redemption will be complete. The full benefits of the atonement of Christ will be applied in the resurrection to eternal life, and the glorification of the body in its full redemption from corruption in sin.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
The Day of the Lord
Secondly, the Day of Atonement symbolizes the coming prophetic event “the day of the Lord” of Acts 2:20 (KJV), the “day of the LORD” in Joel 2:31 (KJV), or the “day of Christ” in Philippians 1:10 (KJV) and 2 Thessalonians 2:2 (KJV).
The day of the Lord is the literal day of the return of Christ when those who are saved through the atonement of Christ are redeemed and glorified. It is also the same day the sinners who rejected the Gospel and atonement are judged and destroyed by the glory of His power (2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:10 KJV).
We see the Prophet Joel reveal the coming day of the LORD in the Old Testament:
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
We then see the Apostle Peter declare the fulfillment in Christ in the Book of Acts:
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The Feast of Tabernacles
Dwelling in Booths
The Feast of Tabernacles, as explained earlier, is the central feast under which the previous two are also celebrated. It is a memorial feast that highlights the wilderness wanderings and, particularly, how the Israelites dwelt in tents or “booths” or “tabernacles” in their travels through the Sinai and Arabian deserts until they reached the land of Canaan.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
The Significance of the Tabernacle
Scripture commands this feast be kept on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Tishrei, with a duration of eight days. The first day was a Sabbath day of rest, and for seven days the people would dwell in small constructed booths or abodes, which would bring remembrance to the historical events. The eighth day would mark the end of the festive week and also be a Sabbath with special sacrifices and offerings.
The prophetic significance here is also twofold. Firstly, the New Testament revelation sheds light on the concept of the tabernacle. According to the Apostles Paul and Peter, the Tabernacle spiritually refers to the human body in which the soul and spirit is contained.
Also, the concept of wilderness wanderings is now seen in transferred significance to the Christian journey of faith through the world, which is now our wilderness, until we reach that promised land of full redemption from the corruption of sin in eternal life with God in the new heavens and new earth.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
The New Tabernacle
Secondly, the Book of Revelation tells us that in the end, God will dwell physically with redeemed humanity in the New Heavens and New Earth. It speaks of the time in which all things and all creation are reconciled to God and sanctified in what is called the “Regeneration” (Matthew 19:28 KJV).
In this time, the “tabernacle of God,” or “New Jerusalem,” will be present on earth, as Scripture reveals in several places that there is a heavenly tabernacle where the Lord God the Father dwells and where the Lord Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of His throne in glory. Therefore, it can be concluded that the future observance of the Feast of Tabernacles also acknowledges the Tabernacle of God in its presence on earth and where the faithful saints of the Most High will dwell with Him forevermore.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Conclusion
Tabernacles Revealed
In the Feast of Tabernacles and the surrounding feasts of the LORD, we see clear prophetic correlations to the eschatological realities both in play right now and still yet to manifest. We see the clear signposts pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ, as these Old Testament statutes and ordinances are all types and shadows that reveal Him to us.
We also acknowledge the future observance of these solemn assemblies as prophesied in Scripture, where we will memorialize the fulfillment of the promises of God given to us in the Everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord (Hebrews 8:5; 10:1 KJV).
The Coming of the Lord
Let us now wait for that trumpet sound announcing the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blessed hope in the resurrection to eternal life, and the final victory of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church over the enemies of righteousness.
We can also find grace in His glorious appearing, that the full effects of the atonement will be realized in the redemption, and that the Lord Jesus will execute the final righteous judgments that the whole creation groans and longs for.
And let us finally look forward to the blessed day when, in the twinkling of an eye, we who are saved will shed this earthly tabernacle and put on our heavenly Tabernacle and in which we will dwell with God forever in the New Jerusalem—the Tabernacle of God.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
