Lessons From Succot

by

Clarence H. Wagner, Jr.

Living in Israel, I am privileged to participate in a society that keeps Sukkot. The symbols of Sukkot always bring me into the presence of God in a new way. Confronted with God’s sovereignty, I am always aware of my own frailty and need of Him.

Succot (Tabernacles) is a week-long autumn harvest festival that occurs in the Hebrew month of Tishri (September–October). The two main elements to the holiday, the building of booths (called sukkot in Hebrew) and the sacrifices, provide important lessons for us.

The holiday commemorates the desert wanderings of the Children of Israel after they came out of Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. Even though they were wandering because of their own disobedience, God was with them and divinely protected them and provided for their needs. So they could remember God’s presence and His faithfulness as a protector and provider, the Israelites were commanded to celebrate Sukkot by building tabernacles or booths and actually live in them for a week each year.

The Festival of Sukkot, one of the seven Levitical feasts, seems to be the only major biblical festival which has no direct fulfillment or parallel in the New Testament. While the other major biblical festivals have a large degree of fulfillment, Sukkot remains a festival of the future, shrouded in symbolism and mystery (Zechariah 14:16). The fact that many Christians have developed interest in celebrating Sukkot may indicate the significance of the prophetic times in which we live.

A Time of Joy

God commands Sukkot to be a season of joy and rejoicing. All the festivals, including Shabbat, are times when troubles are left behind because it is forbidden to bear a burden on a festival day (Leviticus. 23:35). Jewish men carry the traditional lulav and citron to the synagogue to wave as they rejoice before the Lord, as commanded in Leviticus 23:40. The lulav has three branches a–palm, a willow, and a myrtle–tied together. The citron is a citrus fruit that smells like a lemon.

Jewish tradition provides us with a practical understanding of a truly spiritual life based on the characteristics of the lulav and citron. Spiritually, we are not to be like the palm, as it can only bear fruit (deeds), but is not fragrant (spiritual blessing). We have all met folks who live their lives by the letter of the law but have no love or compassion in administering it–for themselves or others. We are not to be like the myrtle as it only has fragrance, but can’t bear fruit. We have met those who are "so heavenly minded they are no earthly good." They may say spiritual things and may be very sweet people, but their lives don’t produce any real lasting fruit. We are not to be like the willow as it can neither produce fruit nor fragrance. This speaks of people who are blown around by every wind of doctrine and never quite know where they are spiritually. Therefore, they produce no fruit. We are to be like the citron which produces both fruit and fragrance. These are God’s steadfast believers who live a balanced life in wisdom before God and man.

The Sukkah (Booth)

As we look in the yards and on the balconies in Jerusalem during Tabernacles, we see all kinds of sukkot or booths built for families to dwell in for the week of the holiday. The sukkah is a temporary structure. Traditionally, the building begins on the night Yom Kippur is over, which is four days before Sukkot begins.

The sukkah is four-sided with an opening on one side. Almost any building material will do for the sides, so long as it is not of a permanent nature. The top is loosely covered with branches from "goodly trees," taking care one is able to see an occasional star. The sukkah is usually decorated with fruit dangling on strings from the roof, since Sukkot is the harvest festival of God’s provision, which also signifies the ingathering of all the fruit of the earth (Leviticus 23:39). It is thus a festival of the endtimes. The children also like to add tinsel, streamers, paper-chains, and pictures depicting Bible stories.

Meals are eaten in the sukkah, accompanied by singing and rejoicing. Some very observant families like to spend leisure time and even sleep there. It is also a place to discuss and meditate on the lessons from this flimsy dwelling of Israel’s past. Spending time in your booth is a reminder that God brought the Children of Israel out of the bondage of their Egyptian taskmasters into freedom. As Christians, we can celebrate that God redeemed us from a life of bondage to sin and brought us into His freedom in the Kingdom of God.

Each year my family and I join in this festival and build our booth on an outdoor porch. Ashley and Allison, our girls, really look forward to the preparation and decoration. Each night for a week we eat our meals there and retell the story of how God provided for the Children of Israel in the desert and discuss how He provides for us. We sing songs of praise to the Lord, just as our neighbors do. We can feel the night breeze as it rustles through the leaves, occasionally catching the twinkle of the stars above our branches. Each year we learn and understand more about our Lord and His ways.

Lessons from the Sukkah

This exercise is much more than a cultural or historical exchange. It is a biblical experience that can teach us new insights about the Lord as we do it.

Lesson #1: We Are All Sojourners.

From the days of our father Abraham, we have been strangers and pilgrims in the earth. God seems to desire it this way. It has also spelled disaster when God’s people have grown too comfortable. This was undoubtedly one of the reasons why God commanded the Israelites to dwell in booths for one week each year, and why the custom is to be continued as a "statute forever" (Leviticus 23:41).

As sojourners (I Peter 2:11), we must learn to hold all things loosely. This is especially difficult in our materialistic age. We are constantly held by the tyranny of "things." Things control and manipulate us; they become gods, or idols, over us. As the people of Israel were entering the land, God impressed upon them the message of Tabernacles, lest they be drawn away by the very affluence of the Promised Land. This message is still good today.

Christians also must learn that this life is only temporary. We, too, are on a pilgrimage to a Promised Land in eternity. We need to seek God’s kingdom, not earthly comfort. As we seek first the kingdom of God, our material needs are provided for by the Lord (Luke 12:31).

Finally, sojourning is a great equalizer. When the Israelites were wanderers in the desert, they all lived in tents–rich and poor alike. The book of Deuteronomy speaks of all the people going to their tents. After the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, the book of Judges mentions tents and houses. By the time of the books of Kings, the author speaks of tents, houses and palaces. During Tabernacles, all men are equal before God and one another. Each one sits in his flimsy sukkah and considers God, not his own special status. During Sukkot, temporarily "sojourning" in your sukkah gives you an annual opportunity to reflect on how you relate to God and to others.

Lesson #2: Our Faith Requires Flexibility.

We must be able to move when God moves. Christian history is filled with those who had vested interests that prevented them from moving when God moved. The tabernacle is a flimsy structure. It is almost a tent and can be put up or taken down in a few minutes. It is sensitive to the wind of the Holy Spirit. It is open to the heavens; it is indefensible and cannot be closed off.

Throughout the Bible, it seems that the struggle has gone on between the concept of tabernacle (sukkah or mishkan) and the concept of house (bayit). The whole episode of Stephen’s stoning seemed to revolve around this issue. Stephen told his hearers that David "desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob, but Solomon built Him a house" (Acts 7:46-47). Certainly, the house is a more attractive, more comfortable, more durable and appealing human habitation. Yet in the house, we lose the flexibility to follow the cloud, we lose the sensitivity to the wind, and we lose that intimate contact with the creation and the Creator. The tabernacle may have been a fragile structure, but it enabled the Israelites to look out the tent door and see the glory of God hovering over them in the pillar of cloud and fire. Throughout subsequent history, both Israel and the church have traded away spiritual reality for human security.

The Bible looks forward to a time of purer and simpler faith. The prophet Amos speaks of the end days as a time when the Tabernacle of David will be restored (Amos 9:11). That flimsy tent with its glorious worship and fellowship with God has probably touched both Judaism and Christianity more than any of us realize. David’s worship, his Psalms, and his ecstasy before God have surely influenced many outbreaks of revival in both Jewish and Christian history. It is noteworthy that some of the great revivals actually were held in tents and brush arbors, closely resembling the ancient tabernacle.

With this in mind we can better understand the movement of the last days spoken of by John in Revelation: "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" (Revelation 21:3).

Lesson #3: We Remember The Frailty of Our Lives.

As you sit in the sukkah and watch the wind rustle the leaves overhead, some will fall around you. Early in the week of Sukkot, the leaves are fresh and green, but soon they are dry and dead. The verse of Isaiah 64:6 becomes especially clear, "We all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away." With the "house" concept it is easy for us to feel permanent and self-sufficient and to lose sight of our very brief sojourn on the earth. As the flight attendant announces on a short stopover, "Our ground time here will be brief."

The tabernacle also speaks of our frailty, that we are but flesh. The New Testament writers often refer to our bodies as a tabernacle (II Peter 1: 13). Paul reminds us that ". . . if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven" (II Corinthians 5: 1). Like the Tabernacle, we too are flimsy and frail, and soon begin to fade. Life is short. Our hope is not in what the world has to offer, but in what God has already provided for us to serve Him here and now, and for eternity. Yeshua (Jesus) said, "In My Father’s house are many mansions I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am" (John 14:2, 3). The place for our permanent "house" is in eternity.

The Sacrifice

The second main element of Sukkot, one that is hardly ever mentioned, is the admonition to sacrifice (Leviticus 23:37-39; Numbers 29:12-20). The Israelites were supposed to bring burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and drink offerings each day of the week of Sukkot! This was costly and time consuming. Imagine if we had to fulfill these daily requirements? Would we do it? Do we have that much commitment to the Lord? Would we be willing to sustain the cost of these rich sacrifices or would we find an excuse to avoid participating? If it is so hard, then why did God require the sacrifices?

The underlying purpose of the offerings was to be purified from sin so that the worshipper could enter into fellowship with God. The requirements were stiff. The basic principle is obedience. God provided for the sacrifice, but were His people faithful to lay it on the altar? That took faith.

Without obedience and faith, the offerings were valueless. It was not enough to go through the motions of making a sacrifice, if there was no repentance and a subsequent effort to live a Godly life each day. Likewise for Christians, without faith and practice, the sacrificial, atoning death of the Lamb of God is valueless. It is not enough to know the facts of the story. If we

don’t appropriate it personally and act upon it by faith, then we will not have the promised salvation. It is God’s gift, but we have to receive it and then live it. "For by grace we are saved through faith. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Yet James 2:17 tells us that "faith without works is dead, being alone." This is not a contradiction, but a qualification. If our faith does not yield fruit through works of faith, then the faith is not true faith, and it is dead. It is the obedience of acting on our faith, even sacrificially, that proves it to be true.

Another lesson of the sacrifice focuses our attention on what we can, and should, give to the Lord. Too often in our modern evangelical Christianity, particularly in some of the North American groups, the emphasis is on what we can "get" from the Lord, and not on what we should be giving. Certainly, we are blessed by the Lord as we are faithful to give. Yet, the blessing should be the fringe benefit, not the sole motivation for giving.

Sukkot reminds us of God’s sovereignty and majesty. It also reminds us of the need to honor Him with our lives and give back to God from the provisions and blessings He has given to us. The tithe is a requirement of God (Malachi 3: 10) that even predates the Law (Genesis 14:20; 28:22). For Christians, Romans 12:1 asks more of us than a grain or drink offering. God requires our lives. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–which is your spiritual worship."

We have so much to give to the Lord: God gave us our lives, so we can give them back in service to Him. God sustains us with income, food, clothing, and shelter, which we can give to His service. God gives us each talents, which we can lay before the throne of God for His service. God gives us our salvation and love to share this message with others. God gives us the fruit of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22).

God’s Blessing: Our Celebration

The final holiday of the fall festival cycle is Simchat Torah, meaning, "celebrating the joy of God’s Word." This holiday is the day following Sukkot when the people finish the annual Torah reading cycle with Deuteronomy 34 and begin it again by reading Genesis 1. There is great celebration because it is the Word of God that provides us with life’s instruction book for righteous and abundant living. In Israel, the neighborhood streets are filled with people as whole congregations pour out of the synagogues carrying their Torah scrolls high in the air as they sing and chant in celebration. Can you imagine the effect on the neighborhood if your congregation did the same thing with your Bibles raised in the air?

Are we ready to put our lives on the line for God? He is inviting us to a celebration. Let’s start today.

Building Your Own Sukkah

It is considered to be a mitzvah (good deed) to build your own sukkah. Actually it is not such a difficult job. You will need to start planning early though, in order to begin your construction as quickly as possible after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The tabernacle can be almost any size so long as it is large enough to sit in. A seven foot cube (2.5 meters) will allow plenty of room for guests.

The sukkah is meant to be a temporary structure, so all materials are lightweight and easy to handle. Inexpensive materials may be used. You will need 4 lightweight posts (2 x 2’s in the U.S.) for the corners, 4 more poles (2 x 2’s) for the roof. All should be approximately 7 or 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length. To cover the roof you will need several slats or small boards capable of holding up light tree branches. For the sides, old bedsheets seem to work well. Other materials like canvas, cane matting, heavy cardboard, or light plywood are also fine. You will need enough to enclose three sides, with a drape for the entrance. For the top you simply need to trim a few trees in the back yard.

Nail four poles together to form a square. Then tack a post to each corner, and have a friend help you set your sukkah upright. If you wish, you may anchor the uprights in the holes of stacked concrete blocks or bricks. You may also use an existing building for one side of your sukkah. Once your sukkah frame has been set up, drape bed sheets or other coverings around three sides. In the front, a bed sheet attached on a wire track works well for a door. Finally, place the tree branches on top, but not so thick as to obscure the stars shining through.

The sukkah can now be outfitted to your own taste. Many people furnish their sukkah with a table and chairs. You may wish to decorate the walls with pictures or Bible verses. Fruit should be hung from the ceiling, and paper chains and other decorations may be hung on the walls. Use your imagination, and by all means, let the children participate.

All that is left now is the enjoyment. Invite your friends to see your masterpiece and rejoice with you. Try a meal out in the sukkah, or even spend the night there. It will be an unforgettable and blessed experience.

Clarence Wagner is the International Director of Bridges for Peace, a Jerusalem-based organization that supports Israel and provides Israel’s only food bank among its many humanitarian efforts. He is editor of the Dispatch from Jerusalem, which offers insights on political, social, economic, and religious developments in Israel. He travels internationally, teaching on Israel and Christianity’s Jewish roots. Clarence, his wife Pat, and their daughters, Ashley and Allison, live in Jerusalem. Website: http://www.bridgesforpeace.com

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