1^st Day Readings:
Leviticus 22:26-23:44; Numbers 29:12-16
Zechariah 14:1-21

Long ago, the Jewish sages created reading calendars to be read annually throughout all the synagogues every sabbath. They are the Parsha (from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible), and the Haftarah (selected readings from the prophetic books of the Old Testament). Today, I continue my series exploring the Messiah in each of these portioned readings that was planned and scheduled in ancient days and appointed for our present days. For October 5 this year, the readings are cited above. I would encourage you to read those passages first before you read my post, or at least read them in tandem.

Sukkot is an appointed time full of rejoicing, beginning the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It is the third holy day that required Israel to pilgrimage to the temple. During this time, spanning seven days, people live in the booths they make for themselves, temporary dwellings decorated with fruit and leaves and branches. Leviticus 22:43 tells us they must do this so “that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Why seven days? Why in booths? Why so they can remember being in booths when God called them out of Egypt?

The Apostle Paul uses tents or booths as a metaphor for the human body. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, he writes this:

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (vs. 1-10).

The fruit during sukkot could represent the fruit of good works in the body, since the Bible often likens evidence of salvation (good works) to good fruit. The tent or booth is the body, and the seven days is a Biblical number for earthly completion. We thus do good works in the body, until our time in the body is complete. When the Israelites were called out of slavery in Egypt, they were a living example of a spiritual truth, that God calls all people out of slavery to sin (John 8:34-36). This still happens in the body, just like Israel was called out to live in tents for a time.

One day there is going to be a resurrection, and those that are saved will get to celebrate before the Lord in their resurrected bodies, presenting the fruit of their labor grown during their time in their earthly bodies.

So Sukkot isn’t just for Jews. It’s a sign to the world as to what’s to come for all who believe in the one true God. In fact, Zechariah 14 tells us that whoever of all the nations does not observe Sukkot in Jerusalem will be punished severely, very severely:

“Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths” (vs. 16-19).

I don’t know about you, but personally, my family has decided to go ahead and start voluntarily rehearsing now for what will one day be mandatory for all. That’s what the appointed times are, rehearsals. One day, the truer and greater fulfillment of Sukkot will occur during the millennial reign of Christ.

We are closer to that time now more than ever. Before Zechariah tells us how Sukkot will be applied to all nations, Zechariah tells us all nations will come against Jerusalem militarily and take it, but then God Himself will descend, deliver Israel, and enter into judgment with the nations. They will be judged according to how they treated Isreal, and ultimately how they handled God. God clearly laid out, from the time of Abraham, the promise that he will bless those who bless the nation that comes from Abraham, and curse those who curse that nation (Gen 12:1-3). Guess what: that nation is Israel! And if you’re not convinced modern Israel is the same Israel, well, I’d encourage you to read your Bible more and study your history books again.

When I look at the news and see how nation after nation is capitulating to the recognition of a Palestinian state ruled by Hamas while Israeli hostages are held there, and that the UN has issued 139 statements of condemnation against Israel, it’s not hard to imagine Zechariah 14 being fulfilled even in our own days. I’m not being political. I’m being Biblical. Just to compare, the second most condemned nation is the United States with 11 condemnations. Don’t you think the numbers indicate a bit of an obsession against Israel? What about North Korea? What about Iran? Russia? Sudan? Yemen? Nigeria? It’s interesting that the nation with the second most UN condemnations is the closest ally of Israel. One day, Israel won’t have a strong ally like the United States anymore, and all the nations that have cultivated this contempt for Israel will be free to act on it, and they will. It’s also interesting that Jerusalem is once again being recognized as the capital of Israel, and the nations will one day convene against Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv.

The destruction of Israel will be terrible. It will be an October 7 on steroids. “[T]he city [Jerusalem] shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zech 14:2). But don’t be fooled. The action of the nations will reap their judgment, and according to Zechariah, it will be an awful one, for their skin will rot off their bones, their eyes out of their sockets, and their tongues from their mouths while they are still alive. The description is like the closing scene of Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail. I wouldn’t be surprised if the director got his inspiration from Zecharaiah.

So what’s the take away from this blog entry? Remember that your life now is a rehearsal for things to come. Do good in your body. Bless God and His people, whoever they are (including Jews), and await that wonderful day when all flesh will see the Lord returning in power and glory to bring righteousness and justice upon the earth. Remember you and I must give an account to Him of all we did in our bodies, our tents, our temporary dwelling places.