1. Why am I writing about the Feast of Tabernacles?

The intent to write about the Feast of Tabernacles was first impressed upon me during the 2014 celebrations. I heard quite a few preachers saying that the Feast of Tabernacles prophetically refers to the Rapture because the Lord will blow His Trumpet when He returns for His Saints. While this could be true, I was shown, by revelation, that the Feast of Tabernacles refers to a more practical and immediate meaning that has not yet been applied by the Body of Christ.

2. What is the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles?

The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (cukkah/H5521) was one of three yearly feasts that God commanded the Jews to celebrate. It was celebrated after the gathering in of the final harvest of the year and was a period of rest after four months of reaping, production and storage of food.  As in the other two feasts, God commanded the Jews to set time aside to worship and to rest.

During the celebration of these three feasts, Israel enjoyed at least 21 or more national holidays associated with spiritual renewal. This points us to the goodness of God, who desires His people to enjoy rest periods and not to slave at work. God therefore reveals that rest and not hard, relentless labor, is the ideal for the citizens of His Kingdom:

 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11: 28.

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his – Hebrews 4: 9 & 10.

Cukkah, the Jewish word for Tabernacles, first occured in Genesis 33: 17 and is translated as tabernacle (12 times), booth (11 times), pavilion (5 times), cottage (1 time), covert (1 time) and tents (1 time). In the natural, Cukkah means a rude or temporary shelter and is not a place for longevity.

It was in Succoth (Cukkowth/H5523), that Jacob built a house for himself and booths for his cattle, finding a place of rest after twenty years of hard labor with his Uncle Laban:

And Jacob journeyed to Succoth (Cukkowth/H5523), and built him an house, and made booths (cukkah/H5521) for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth (Cukkowth/H5523) – Genesis 33: 17. 

Jacob should have stayed in Succoth (booths) rather than relocating close to Shechem, a Caananite city where he encountered personal disaster in an unsavory situation related to his daughter Diana.

We will avert personal and national disaster when we take time to dwell in the booths or tabernacles or Presence of God. 

3. When was the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated?

During Jewish month 7 = October

The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated during the 7th Jewish month, with 7 pointing to the the Law of Sevens  as well as rest at the end of a period of Creation. Like the other feasts, where the dates match exactly, this play on the number 7 tells us that God used this opportunity to recreate or renew His People in His Image and Likeness:

Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine – Deuteronomy 16: 13.

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 – Deuteronomy 16: 16.

Examples of offerings given to the Lord during The Feast of Tabernacles

King Solomon kept the Feast of Tabernacles

Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch

Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles – 2 Chronicles 8: 12 & 13.

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem

They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required – Ezra 3: 1 & 3.

The Jews were commanded to dwell in booths  made with the branches of thick trees, during the seven days of the feast. I am reminded of the Palm Branches that the saints wave to God in heaven (Revelation 7: 9) and of those Palm branches that the Jews waved to King Jesus on His way into Jerusalem (John 12: 3):

Ye shall dwell in booths H5521 seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: H5521

That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, H5521 when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God- Leviticus 23: 42.

And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, H5521 as it is written – Nehemiah 8: 15.

Since booths represent the Presence and Protection of the Lord, the Feast of Tabernacles is a time to pray for personal and national protection

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion H5521 from the strife of tongues – Psalm 31: 20.

Since Tabernacle also refers to the Tabernacle of David, where the Priests were appointed to prophesy and sing, the Feast of Tabernacles is a time of prophetic utterance and revelation from heaven

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle H5521 of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old – Amos 9: 11.

The Feast of Tabernacles was a time to offer advanced praises to God for the blessings of the upcoming year

Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice – Deuteronomy 16: 15.

Since the Feast of Tabernacles was designed as a time of perpetual worship and resulting blessings for all nations, Kingdom Citizens should set time aside for the celebration and worship of the True and Living God in order for rain to fall on our lands

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one

And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited…

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  – Zechariah 14: 9, 11, 16, 17 & 18.

At the end of every 7 years, God commanded Israel to set aside time during The Feast of Tabernacles for rehearsing and teaching of the scriptures to the nation

And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles

When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing

Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law

And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it – Deuteronomy 31: 10 – 13.

Example of the Awesome Presence and visitation of God during the seventh month

King Solomon dedicated the Temple that he built during the Feast of Tabernacles (2 Chronicles 5: 3) the seventh Jewish month and the Presence of the Lord filled the building with such a thick cloud that the Priests could not stand to minister (1 Kings 8 & 2 Chronicles 7: 2). He set an example for us in his prayer of repentance, pleasing God to such a degree that fire came down from heaven, burning the sacrifices without human intervention (2 Chronicles 7: 1). God was pleased and appeared to the King, promising to establish him if he would keep His ways (1 Kings 9). This is a truly impressive account of the impact of the Feast of Tabernacles.

4. The Agenda of the Feast of Tabernacles and meaning for the Body of Christ

Day 1 of the seventh month – Blowing of the Trumpets, a day of rest and a convocation

= An announcement on the first day of the month that God was about to release the nation from the oppression of the enemy. How do I know this?

The meaning of the Blowing of the Trumpets was revealed in the Flood of Noah’s era. After the flood, the waters decreased continually and the tops of the mountains were seen on the 1st day of  month 10th (Genesis 8: 5). This is a replay of Creation Day 3 in which God removed the waters from the face of the earth, thus releasing the earth from the oppression and heaviness that had covered it (Genesis 1:  and Psalm 104: 5 – 10). This symbolically refers to the removal of satanic oppression from the nations. I believe that God used the Feast of Tabernacles to remind Israel that the earth would not remain covered under the ice of the upcoming winter.

The Blowing of the Trumpets refer to the decrees that the Body of Christ is to make against the hosts of hell in relation to any issues concerning the nations:

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

Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD – Leviticus 23: 24 & 25.

The Blowing of Trumpets was associated with worship and war. This is a time of warfare against hell and Trumpets are blown to remind God to come forth to help and deliver His people:

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 – Numbers 10: 9.

Day 10 – Day of atonement = Time to intercede for the nations in a 24 Hour Prayer Vigil

The atonement began in the evening of the ninth day of the seventh month until the evening of the tenth 10 day. This was  a sabbath of rest:

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

And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God

It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath – Leviticus 23: 27 & 28

Day 15 – 22nd = seven days of rest, celebration, offerings, worship, praise and rejoicing to the Almighty God, with two convocations or services on the 15th and 22nd:

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

Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein  – Leviticus 23: 24.

And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gate – Deuteronomy 16: 14

 

Conclusion

The Feast of Tabernacles symbolizes the gathering of the Church or Body of Christ to worship, war, repent, intercede and to give offerings to the Lord on behalf of the nations. It is a special time in which the Body of Christ should anticipate special Visitation from God and visible manifestations of signs and wonders from heaven.

I believe, according to the scriptures,  that there are many blessings to be gained if  the Church would set this time aside to adhere to this perpetual feast. Can you imagine what Earth would be like if the Church International joins forces during the seventh month of the year?

Angelic blessings and prosperity to you and blessings of the Christmas season.

The Feast of Tabernacles in the bible

Earth’s Earliest Historical Calendar – Revealed In The Book Of Genesis