Feast of Tabernacles Devotional

Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:2

The final culmination of the seven feasts set up by God some 3500 years ago is the Feast of Tabernacles. The Hebrew word for tabernacle, booth or hut is Sukkot. It is also called the Feast of Ingathering since it marks the harvest of the fall crops. This year this feast will be celebrated from the evening of October 9th to the evening of October 16th.

To celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles the Hebrew people are commanded to take branches from trees and build a hut outside where they will live during the seven days of the feast. These huts remind them of God’s faithfulness to their forefathers when He provided for and protected them as they wandered in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. He met their daily needs by providing manna and water from a rock. He even kept their shoes from wearing out for forty long years. Most of all God tabernacled with them in the wilderness. His presence was known through the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Three times we are told this is a feast marked by rejoicing, “…and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.” Leviticus 23:40.

The seven feasts set up by God so long ago celebrate and remember something God has done in the past for His people. But the feasts are also called rehearsals because they anticipate something God will do in the future. The spring feasts found their literal fulfillment in the events of the life of Christ at His first coming. The fall feasts may anticipate events in the second coming of the Lord Jesus.

The ancient Hebrew wedding was an elaborate affair. The father of the groom selected a bride for his son. The couple entered into a solemn covenant of betrothal that was sealed with a cup of wine. The son then went to his father’s home to prepare a place for his bride. The bride made preparations so that she would be ready for his return. She knew he would return for her but she did not know the exact day. About a year later when their home was complete, the groom, dressed as a king fetched his bride at night. The entire wedding party returned to the father’s home in a joyous wedding procession. The couple stood under the chuppah, the marriage canopy, where they declared their deep lifelong commitment to one another and sealed their vows with a cup of wine. The marriage was consummated and all the guests enjoyed seven days of celebration.

The Sukkoth of the feast and the chuppah of weddings are very similar in structure and design. They both symbolize the protection, provision and presence of the Lord. Could it be that when we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles we are rehearsing and anticipating the marriage supper of the Lamb? Both are joyous occasions set outside under a canopy with dancing and celebrating for several days.

Jesus has pledged Himself to us with the blood of His covenant. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He has gone to prepare a place for us. He has promised to some day receive us to Himself so that we may be with Him. One glorious day in the future, possibly in the fall at the time of ingathering, our King will come to dwell or tabernacle with us on earth. We will celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb. It will be a time of great rejoicing. His kingdom will come. His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

“And the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 25:6-8

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:7,9.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the beauty and mystery of the feasts you instituted so long ago. Thank you for your plans for us. What you promise, you will do. As we anticipate all the events of your return, may we be found faithful.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen