Many people who accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, whether they refer to themselves
as Christian or Messianic, observe the biblical Feasts and Holy Days, including the
weekly Sabbath, as times of worship, fellowship, and celebration. They believe that
these Feasts and Holy Days are shadows pointing to the reality of Jesus. And they
believe that there are valuable spiritual lessons to be learned week by week and
year by year through actually physically setting aside these times as “appointments
with God.”
See The 3 Rs Introduction article for an overview of the three biblical principles
of Refreshment, Rejoicing, and Remembering as they apply to the observance of the
biblical Feasts and Holy Days. The rest of the articles in this series on The 3 Rs
provide specific, practical suggestions for building those 3 Rs into these observances.
Refreshment
Preparations
The preparations your family will need to make for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles may depend on the customs of any group you may be in regular fellowship with. If you are part of a group that celebrates the Feast at a central Feast site, much like a church convention, your primary preparations will involve travel arrangements and accommodations for the period of the Feast. See the section below for information on such “pilgrimage” Feast options.
If you are celebrating with a group that keeps the Feast locally, or if you have no group to fellowship with at all, you will have to decide whether the idea of building a sukkah at your home might be a way to enhance your family observance. For more information on this see the section below on traditional Jewish celebration customs of the Feast. If you decide to go this route, you will need to create building plans and gather building materials for your sukkah, and construct it in time for the beginning of the Feast.
Another option for a one-
Environment
Many families find that changing their home environment for the Feasts and Holy Days adds to the feeling of celebration and refreshment. This can include:
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Special tableware and centerpieces for one or more of the meals for each day.
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Special lighting such as candles or a fireplace.
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Special background mood music that is themed to the observance.
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Special decorations around one or more rooms.
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See some of the suggestions below for decorations and music for the Feast of Tabernacles for group settings, and adapt them to home use. It is particularly important to involve the children in planning and creating these elements, as that gives them an “investment” of their own in the celebration.
Children’s Activities
Most of the suggestions in the Crafts, Games, and Other Special Activities for Children section below on group projects for children for the festival period can be adapted to home use with just a little creative adaptation
Devotional
An eight day Feast of Tabernacles devotional booklet titled Bringing in the Sheaves of Your Year is available in this Times of Refreshing series.
This devotional is available also for viewing on the Internet, or printing out for your use individually or with a group.
Each day’s entry provides relevant scriptures to consider, inspirational thoughts, and points for meditation or discussion. For those who observe the Feast in their own home, this devotional will help keep a focus, each day, on this time of celebration. For those who print it out to take to a Feast site, it can provide a very personal emphasis to why you are there.
In Bringing in the Sheaves of Your Year you are invited to consider the spiritual harvest you have reaped in eight areas of your life in the year just past. In each area, you will be asked to reflect upon: Provisions the Lord made for you to sow; seed that you sowed; the harvest that you reaped; and how you might improve next year’s harvest..
Both devotionals are suitable for one person to use alone, two people to share with one another, or for whole groups to use as a focal point for a group discussion. If you are at home (or have a lap-
Rejoicing
Among those Christians or Messianics who observe the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day, there are several distinct styles of observance. Below are three typical ways that Christian or Messianic congregations choose to celebrate. See the 3 Rs Introduction booklet for more details on each of these types of groups.
Varieties of Contemporary Observances
Traditional Jewish Celebrations
Some groups, particularly those which label themselves as Messianic or Hebrew Roots congregations, model their Tabernacles (Hebrew: Sukkot) celebrations closely on the traditional modern Orthodox or Conservative Jewish customs for this Feast. They will, however, often interpret these customs in ways that emphasize Jesus (whom they may refer to by a Hebrew version of His name such as Yashua or Y’shua) and the Gospel of salvation.
Such celebrations are local and community-
Family members will each have their own esrog and lulav to use throughout the Feast. (For a description of these items, and details about this and related Jewish customs, see the Times of Refreshing booklet Jewish Feast and Holy Day Customs: Sukkot.)
Family members will each have their own esrog and lulav to use throughout the Feast. (For a description of these items, and details about this and related Jewish customs, see the Times of Refreshing booklet Jewish Feast and Holy Day Customs: Sukkot.)
A congregational Holy Day worship service is held on the Holy Day that begins the seven-
All of these activities will mirror closely the customs and symbolism of contemporary Judaism. Decorations and rituals, including traditional prayers, will be distinctively Judaic.
Opinions among such groups may vary on whether individuals are expected to take the full eight days as a vacation from their regular jobs, or just take off on the two Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath and continue working on the other days, participating in the evenings in the special Feast activities.
All of these activities will mirror closely the customs and symbolism of contemporary Judaism. Decorations and rituals, including traditional prayers, will be distinctively Judaic.
Opinions among such groups may vary on whether individuals are expected to take the full eight days as a vacation from their regular jobs, or just take off on the two Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath and continue working on the other days, participating in the evenings in the special Feast activities.
Non-
Some Christian groups which observe the Feast of Tabernacles pay little attention to Jewish customs and instead create their own style of Feast celebration. Among such groups it is typical to focus on the “pilgrimage” aspect of the Feast, and staying full time in “temporary dwellings” for eight days somewhere away from home, rather than on having a sukkah in the back yard in which one just spends a few hours a day. This most often takes the form of gathering at central “Feast sites” in various parts of the country. The size of such meetings can vary from a few dozen people to hundreds or even thousands. The emphasis is the communal experience of getting away from the workaday world for the whole eight days (the Feast itself and the Holy Day of the Eighth Day Assembly), and spending all that time in regular fellowship with others.
This style of Feast would be more
comparable perhaps to a religious convention or conference. Daily
gatherings are typically held in a central convention facility, and
families stay in nearby temporary housing such as motels, hotels,
vacation rental homes, condos, cabins, or campgrounds. Each morning,
afternoon, and evening may include one or more gatherings. Such
gatherings may include worship services, seminars and classes for adults
and youth, social events such as Ice Cream Socials, amateur Variety
Shows, sing-
Some groups prefer if possible to find a facility, such as a State Park convention center, that allows all the people in attendance to stay in the same building or complex of buildings (and/or campgrounds), so that there are constant fellowship opportunities at all times. Regular group meals are also very important to some.
This type of centralized Feast site is most often attended by the members of more than one congregation. There are some denominations (groups that have a central headquarters with oversight of multiple congregations) that sponsor their own denominational Feast sites, serving their own members. People from a number of their congregations scattered around a section of the country would join together at one of these central sites. It is typical in this type of organization for all Feast activities to be organized and administered by the central headquarters leadership.
There are other “ministries” (as opposed to “denominations”) that sponsor Feast sites that are designed deliberately to attract anyone and everyone who would like to attend. The ministry may do all of the planning, presentation, and coordinating of activities at the site. Or it may “sponsor” such a site and promote it, but leave the planning and such to an independent group of people who volunteer to provide that service.
One example of a ministry that sponsors and promotes such a Feast site, but leaves the coordination of the actual planning, administration, and coordination of activities to an independent “Festival Association” made up of volunteers, is Christian Educational Ministries. The Feast site sponsored by this organization attracts nearly 1,000 people from all across the US and several other countries each year to a Christ-
Some groups prefer if possible to find a facility, such as a State Park convention center, that allows all the people in attendance to stay in the same building or complex of buildings (and/or campgrounds), so that there are constant fellowship opportunities at all times. Regular group meals are also very important to some.
This type of centralized Feast site is most often attended by the members of more than one congregation. There are some denominations (groups that have a central headquarters with oversight of multiple congregations) that sponsor their own denominational Feast sites, serving their own members. People from a number of their congregations scattered around a section of the country would join together at one of these central sites. It is typical in this type of organization for all Feast activities to be organized and administered by the central headquarters leadership.
There are other “ministries” (as opposed to “denominations”) that sponsor Feast sites that are designed deliberately to attract anyone and everyone who would like to attend. The ministry may do all of the planning, presentation, and coordinating of activities at the site. Or it may “sponsor” such a site and promote it, but leave the planning and such to an independent group of people who volunteer to provide that service.
One example of a ministry that sponsors and promotes such a Feast site, but leaves the coordination of the actual planning, administration, and coordination of activities to an independent “Festival Association” made up of volunteers, is Christian Educational Ministries. The Feast site sponsored by this organization attracts nearly 1,000 people from all across the US and several other countries each year to a Christ-
Description from the website above:
For eight days in the fall of the year,
Christians in our tradition pause to observe “The Feast of
Tabernacles.” We celebrate this festival because it is commanded of God
and because we see a powerful Christian significance in the feast. For
us, this is not merely a Jewish holiday, but one of the “Appointed Times
of God,” given to remind us every year of an important part of His
plan, and to deepen our understanding of the work and ministry of Jesus
Christ.
... Come and keep the feast with us. Everyone is welcome, and no prior reservations are required. We have plenty of room for you. Come and worship for one day or eight, but come. You will grow deeper in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
... Come and keep the feast with us. Everyone is welcome, and no prior reservations are required. We have plenty of room for you. Come and worship for one day or eight, but come. You will grow deeper in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hybrid Celebrations
Some groups, while borrowing some of the customs, rituals, and symbolism of Judaism, are more experimental in their inclusion of these. Rather than try to imitate the whole package of the standard Jewish Feast of Tabernacles celebration, they will pick and choose those aspects which appeal to them, perhaps sometimes for spiritual reasons because they seem to be deeply meaningful, and at other times just because they are aesthetically attractive or seem fun.
These groups vary in custom also
regarding whether they keep the Feast as a local activity or at a
central Feast site. Some may choose to stay in the local community and
build one central, “symbolic” sukkah at their place of worship rather
than at their individual homes.
Their worship services during the Feast may feature music with a particularly “Hebraic flavor.” Yet some may completely ignore such customs as the esrog and lulav. Others may include these items, but not necessarily follow all of the detailed, traditional guidelines for their use typical among Jews.
Those who choose to create a larger, centralized site to which people travel may include some variation of Jewish customs there also. If the site is suitably rural, one common activity is to have the children and teens construct a single outdoor sukkah as a project for youth classes.
Local or regional gatherings both may include features that are more “Messianic Jewish” than Orthodox Jewish, such as the so-
Their worship services during the Feast may feature music with a particularly “Hebraic flavor.” Yet some may completely ignore such customs as the esrog and lulav. Others may include these items, but not necessarily follow all of the detailed, traditional guidelines for their use typical among Jews.
Those who choose to create a larger, centralized site to which people travel may include some variation of Jewish customs there also. If the site is suitably rural, one common activity is to have the children and teens construct a single outdoor sukkah as a project for youth classes.
Local or regional gatherings both may include features that are more “Messianic Jewish” than Orthodox Jewish, such as the so-
Festive Food
While there are no specific foods connected with Feast of Tabernacles celebrations, the Feast is a fall harvest celebration, and in the Holy Land it would have been particularly the time of the harvest of fall fruits and vegetables (grains such as wheat and barley were harvested earlier in the year). This makes it quite comparable to the American November Thanksgiving celebration, and typical Thanksgiving-
Remembering
Message Ideas
The original command for the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles noted that God wanted the Israelites to annually “dwell in booths” to commemorate the time period after the Exodus when their ancestors stayed in such “temporary dwellings” during their wilderness wanderings and had to rely on God totally for both protection from the harshness of the elements and for food and drink. As a nation, they weren't yet “home” in the Promised Land, and were only looking forward to it. During some periods they seemed to trust Him to keep providing, but all too often they became impatient and whined and grumbled, and even threatened to go back to Egypt just to get their bellies full. Just so, Christians as a people aren’t yet “home” as they will be in the resurrection in the Kingdom, but are “dwelling in temporary dwellings” in their physical bodies, waiting for the “blessed hope” of the return of Jesus, when they will dwell permanently with Him. We all have some periods when our trust in His provision is strong, and some times when we just aren’t sure if it’s “worth it” when we go through difficult times.
In addition, it was God’s plan for them to go directly to the Promised Land shortly after their sojourn at Mt. Sinai to receive The Law. But because they were fearful, and didn’t trust God’s assurance that He would go before them into the Promised Land and take care of the enemies there, He chose to let them wander in the wilderness until that whole generation died off. Suggested message titles related to these factors:
“God’s promised provisions”
“What are you complaining about?”
“Are the ‘giants’ in your life keeping you from trusting God?”
“While you wait to enter the Promised Land” (redeeming the time in His service)
“So you want to go back to Egypt?”
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