Free Online Course - Get Guidance on Prayer and Bible Study from C.S. Lewis

Feast of Tabernacles - Bible Story

Share

Compiled & Edited by BST & Crosswalk Staff
Bible Articles Video Audio
Feast of Tabernacles - Bible Story

What is the Feast of Tabernacles?

The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot in Hebrew, is one of the three major pilgrimage festivals in the Bible, alongside Passover and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot). It is celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which usually occurs in late September to late October.

During this week-long event, people would live in temporary shelters (tabernacles) to commemorate the Israelites' journey in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. It's a time for giving thanks and remembering God's provision and protection.

The Feast of Tabernacles in the Bible

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day-- besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord 'Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.  

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.' " So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord. (Leviticus 23:33-44 NKJV)

Meaning of The Feast of Tabernacles

The significance of the Feast of Tabernacles can be found in several areas of the Bible, particularly in Leviticus 23, Numbers 29:12-38, and Deuteronomy 16:13-15. Here's a summary of its meanings and purposes:

Agricultural Significance: The festival occurs at the time of the year when the harvest is gathered, marking the end of the agricultural year. It is a time of thanksgiving for the land's bounty, a harvest celebration.

Historical Remembrance: The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the 40 years of wandering in the desert by the Israelites, during which they lived in temporary shelters (sukkot). It serves as a reminder of when God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt.

A Time of Joy and Unity: It is described as the "season of our joy" (Zeman Simchateinu). The festival encourages communal participation, joyous celebration, and unity among the people as they gather in Jerusalem to celebrate, which was particularly emphasized during the time of the Temple.

Spiritual Significance: It also has deep spiritual meanings, symbolizing God's sheltering presence and the belief in divine protection. The temporary nature of the sukkah (the hut or booth) is a reminder of the transience of life and the importance of relying on God.

Eschatological Significance: In prophetic literature, such as Zechariah 14:16-19, the Feast of Tabernacles is envisioned as a time when all nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, signifying a period of peace and universal recognition of God.

Throughout its observance, participants build and dwell in sukkot (plural for sukkah) to fulfill the commandment to "dwell in booths for seven days." The sukkah is deliberately constructed to be temporary and somewhat exposed to the elements, reminding participants of the fragility of life and the need for faith in God's provision.

In addition to its original agricultural and historical significances, the Feast of Tabernacles has evolved to acquire deeper theological and messianic meanings within both Jewish tradition and Christian eschatology, where it is sometimes associated with the return of Christ and the establishment of His kingdom.

Historical Events and Biblical Moments

Historically, the Feast of Tabernacles has been a backdrop for pivotal biblical events. Solomon chose this time to dedicate the First Temple, an act of immense spiritual and national significance for Israel (1 Kings 8:2). Similarly, during the post-exilic period, leaders like Joshua, Zerubbabel, and Ezra played crucial roles during Sukkot. Under their leadership, the Israelites celebrated the feast with renewed dedication, and Ezra's public reading of the Law sparked a great revival (Ezra 3; Nehemiah 8). Notably, Jesus Christ utilized the occasion of Sukkot to teach profound truths about living water and belief (John 7:37-39), embedding the festival with additional layers of spiritual meaning.

Pilgrimage and Community Unity

Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage feasts mandated in the Torah, requiring every Jewish male to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem. This brought together thousands from across ancient Israel, creating a vibrant community of faith, worship, and celebration. The influx of pilgrims to Jerusalem highlighted the festival's significance, transforming the city into a bustling hub of religious activity. This pilgrimage aspect underscores the importance of communal worship and the collective remembrance of God's deliverance.

Sacrificial Practices and Rituals

The Feast of Tabernacles was marked by an elaborate array of sacrifices, necessitating the service of all twenty-four priestly divisions. The diverse and numerous sacrifices signified the people's complete devotion to God and gratitude for His provision. This ritual aspect emphasized the festival's role in maintaining the covenant relationship between God and His people through worship and sacrifice.

Theological Implications and Messianic Expectations

Beyond its historical and ritual significance, Sukkot holds profound theological implications, especially in the context of Christian eschatology. The festival is seen as a foreshadowing of Christ's second coming and His eternal reign. Some theologians also suggest that Jesus' birth occurred during Sukkot, given the shepherds' presence in the fields—a detail aligning with the festival's agricultural context. The Gospel of John subtly hints at this connection by using the term "tabernacle" to describe Christ's incarnation (John 1:14), suggesting that Jesus' earthly ministry symbolically began with His own "tabernacling" among humans.

Feast of Tabernacles Conclusion

The Feast of Tabernacles is a multifaceted celebration, deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition and enriched by its connections to Christian theology. Its observance commemorates historical events, embodies deep spiritual truths, and anticipates future fulfillment in the Messiah's coming. As such, Sukkot is a powerful reminder of God's provision, protection, and promise to dwell among His people. Through the lens of Sukkot, believers are invited to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and look forward with hope to the future kingdom of God.

Read the Bible passages relating to the Feast of Tabernacles in the section below:

Leviticus 23

1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
3 “ ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.
4 “ ‘These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:
5 The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
6 On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.
7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.
8 For seven days present a food offering to the LORD. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’ ”
9 The LORD said to Moses,
10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.
11 He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.
12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect,
13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the LORD, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine.
14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
15 “ ‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks.
16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.
17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD.
18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering.
20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the LORD as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the LORD for the priest.
21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
22 “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.’ ”
23 The LORD said to Moses,
24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.
25 Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the LORD.’ ”
26 The LORD said to Moses,
27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD.
28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.
29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.
30 I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day.
31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
32 It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”
33 The LORD said to Moses,
34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days.
35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work.
36 For seven days present food offerings to the LORD, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.
37 (“ ‘These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the LORD—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day.
38 These offerings are in addition to those for the LORD’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the LORD.)
39 “ ‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest.
40 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
41 Celebrate this as a festival to the LORD for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters
43 so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ ”
44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the LORD.

Leviticus 23 Commentaries

Numbers 29:12-40

12 “ ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the LORD for seven days.
13 Present as an aroma pleasing to the LORD a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.
14 With each of the thirteen bulls offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with each of the two rams, two-tenths;
15 and with each of the fourteen lambs, one-tenth.
16 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
17 “ ‘On the second day offer twelve young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.
18 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.
19 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.
20 “ ‘On the third day offer eleven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.
21 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.
22 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
23 “ ‘On the fourth day offer ten bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.
24 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.
25 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
26 “ ‘On the fifth day offer nine bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.
27 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.
28 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
29 “ ‘On the sixth day offer eight bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.
30 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.
31 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
32 “ ‘On the seventh day offer seven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.
33 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.
34 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
35 “ ‘On the eighth day hold a closing special assembly and do no regular work.
36 Present as an aroma pleasing to the LORD a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of one bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.
37 With the bull, the ram and the lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.
38 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
39 “ ‘In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings, offer these to the LORD at your appointed festivals: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings.’ ”
40 Moses told the Israelites all that the LORD commanded him.

Deuteronomy 16:13-22

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.
15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed:
17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.
18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.
19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent.
20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God,
22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.

Zechariah 14:16-21

16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.
17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain.
18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.
19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.
20 On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar.
21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty.

Ezra 3

1 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem.
2 Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day.
5 After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD.
6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD’s temple had not yet been laid.
7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD.
9 Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah ) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel.
11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.
13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Ezra 3 Commentaries

Nehemiah 8

1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.
3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.
6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there.
8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law.
14 They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month
15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”—as it is written.
16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.
17 The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.
18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.

Nehemiah 8 Commentaries

John 7:37-53

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?
42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”
43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.
48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked,
51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
53 Then they all went home,

Featured Bible Stories