Feast of Tabernacles

Biblical Texts

The most detailed account appears in Leviticus 23:33-43. The feast is kept for seven days beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and on the first and eighth days the people gather for a holy convocation (a sacred assembly). The people live in booths built from tree branches, so that future generations may know that God made Israel dwell in booths during the Exodus (Leviticus 23:42-43).

Exodus 23:16 and 34:22 call this feast the "feast of ingathering," referring to the gathering in of the harvest. Deuteronomy 16:13-15 commands that it be kept with rejoicing after the produce of the threshing floor and the winepress has been gathered. Numbers 29:12-38 prescribes the offerings for each day; the number of young bulls begins at thirteen on the first day and decreases by one each day.

Background

The Hebrew name Sukkot means "booths." The feast begins five days after the Day of Atonement and coincides with the end of the late harvest of crops such as grapes and olives. Together with Passover (the Feast of Unleavened Bread) and the Feast of Weeks, it is one of the three feasts at which all the males of Israel were required to go up to the sanctuary (Deuteronomy 16:16). In addition, at the Feast of Tabernacles in the year of release, which came every seven years, the law was to be read aloud before all the people (Deuteronomy 31:10-13).

The Feast of Tabernacles in Israel's History

• Dedication of the Temple: Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem at the feast in the month Ethanim, the seventh month (1 Kings 8:2, 8:65).
• After the Return from Exile: The returned exiles kept the Feast of Tabernacles (Ezra 3:4). After Ezra read the law aloud, the people built booths and rejoiced greatly. Nehemiah 8:17 records that "since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so."
• Prophecy: Zechariah 14:16-19 declares that in the last days the nations will go up to Jerusalem year by year to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Connections to the New Testament

The Gospel of John chapter 7 is set during the Feast of Tabernacles. On the last day of the feast Jesus cried out, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37-38). Later Jewish literature describes a water-drawing and water-pouring ceremony during this feast, as well as the custom of lighting great lamps in the temple courts. For this reason, many interpreters read this saying and the statement "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12) in connection with those ceremonies.

The word translated "dwelt" in John 1:14 means "to pitch a tent" in Greek. Accordingly, some read this verse as linking the Incarnation with the tabernacle theme. Some interpreters also connect Peter's proposal to build three tabernacles at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:4), as well as the palm branches of Revelation 7:9, with the Feast of Tabernacles, though the texts themselves do not state this connection.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• Should It Be Observed?: Most Protestant denominations teach that the Old Testament feasts are shadows fulfilled in Christ (Colossians 2:16-17) and that Christians are therefore under no obligation to observe them literally. Some groups, such as Messianic Jewish communities, keep the Feast of Tabernacles as a commemoration. The World Mission Society Church of God asserts that observing the Old Testament feasts, including the Feast of Tabernacles, is a doctrine bearing on salvation, and several denominations have taken issue with this teaching. For details, see the article on heresy designations.
• Eschatological Prophecy: Dispensationalism holds that Zechariah 14 will be fulfilled literally during the Millennium. Other interpretations read it as a symbolic portrayal of the nations coming to worship God.
• Speculative Claims: Some claim that Jesus was born around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, but this is conjecture without basis in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

The Feast of Tabernacles is not observed as part of the liturgical calendar of the Korean church. However, the texts concerning the Feast of Ingathering (Deuteronomy 16, Leviticus 23) are frequently used in Thanksgiving sermons. It is also common to explain the Summer Harvest Thanksgiving as corresponding to the Feast of Harvest (the Feast of Weeks), and Thanksgiving as corresponding to the Feast of Ingathering (the Feast of Tabernacles).