Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles

7 Fruits of Israel—Dates 

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

Deuteronomy 8: 7-8 "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey.” 

People in biblical times used the date tree for many purposes. They ate its fruit, weaved its leaves into baskets, turned its trunks into structures, and fermented its sap to make wine. The date palm tree itself is often used in the Bible to symbolize peace, victory, and prosperity. (Dates in the Biblical Times by Nature's Candy | Apr 6, 2017 | Blog, History, Holiday Ideas) 

 

The date palm tree was seen as beauty personified, and in Genesis, it was referred to as Tamar, a term also used to describe a beautiful woman. 

There are many references in the bible directing people to use the date palm to build shelter or nourish their bodies. The images of palm trees were present in the Temple.   

Ezekiel 40: 16.  There were beveled window frames in the gate chambers and in their intervening archways on the inside of the gateway all around, and likewise in the vestibules. There were windows all around on the inside. And on each gatepost were palm trees. 

Ezekiel 41: 15-16: He measured the length of the building behind it, facing the separating courtyard, with its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits, as well as the inner temple and the porches of the court. 

Evidence of date palm cultivation was found by an archeologist named Ehud Netzer when King Herod’s palace was excavated on top of Mount Masada. The palace was destroyed by the Romans after the Jews committed mass suicide rather than surrender. There was a container of date palm seeds at the site, which were later treated, tested and cultivated at Yale University in the 1960’s, successfully grown into a tree dubbed the Methuselah Palm. The remaining seeds were sent off to Zurich, Switzerland, for carbon dating, and were found to be more than 2000 years old. Beyond being a scientific miracle, the seeds of that era could actually be viable, it is seen by some as a metaphor for the survival of ancient Israel, and of the resurrection. 

Psalm 92: 12-14:  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing.

John 12: 12-13:  The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! `Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!'' 

Leviticus 23: 39-40: `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. (This is a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles.) 

Judges 4: 4-5: Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 

What do the date palms teach us as Christians? 

1. We are to be beautiful in the root meaning of the word. We are to be full of goodness and fruitful in goodness. 

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2. We are to be thankful for the grace of God in providing all our needs for protection and provision out of his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) 

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3. We should walk in the wisdom of the Lord in such a manner that the world will come to us for advice and discernment. 

 

Sukkoth:  Feast of Tabernacles 

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Lev. 23:33-43

Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the harvest of the fruit of the land.  During this Appointed Time, many people, both Jew and Christian, build tabernacles or huts.  Generally, they spend at least part of each day during the seven days celebration in their tabernacle. 

Sukkoth reminds us of the forty years Israel spent wandering in the desert and God’s provision. According to Nehemiah, during the forty years in the desert, the people’s clothes did not wear out.   Along with manna and water, God provided for all the rest of the people’s needs.

After the return from the Babylonian Exile, Ezra read the law and led the Israelites in acts of repentance during the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:8-17). “So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.'' For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.''

 "So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.'' And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.

"Now on the second day the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.''

"Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim.
So the whole congregation of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.”

The dedication of Solomon's' Temple also took place during this feast (I Kings 8:2). Later, Josephus referred to the Feast of Tabernacles as the holiest and greatest of the Hebrew feasts. 

We often quote 2 Chronicles 7:14, but few of us realize that the context of this passage was the dedication of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem that took place during the Feast of Tabernacles.  “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  

For Christians, Sukkoth can be a time when we rededicate ourselves as the temple of the Holy Spirit.  We are His people, called by His name.  If we want healing to come to our land, the Church must, individually and corporately, humble ourselves, pray and seek a deeper relationship with our heavenly Father.  We must turn from our wicked ways, such as fear, anger, self-righteousness and division.  Then God will hear from heaven and pour out His forgiveness and healing.  

Sukkoth, Feast of Tabernacles, celebrates the completed harvest.  The final crop, the fruit of the land, that has been gathered.  

The Feast of Tabernacles looks forward to the final spiritual harvest, the great revival to come.   The autumn harvest is a forerunner to that time in the Millennial Kingdom when all believers are gathered together and God tabernacles with us.  Sukkoth looks forward to the time when believers will rule and reign with Jesus.

Zechariah 14:16-19 is a prophetic word describing the celebration of Sukkoth during the Millennium.

^"And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." 

The following Psalm is one that God’s people sang as they passed through the Kidron valley and climbed the Temple Mount to worship during the Lord’s Appointed Times.

Psalms 122:1-9:  “I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord.'' Our feet have been standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together,
 Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the Lord, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the Lord.For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.
 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.'' For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, "Peace be within you.'' Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good.

During this holy time, O Lord, we rededicate our lives to You and rejoice for what You have done, are doing and will do.  Amen.

 Jesus Our Yom Kippur

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

 

Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement is the most solemn and important holy day of the Jewish calendar. In the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement was the day the High Priest made an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the people.

After the blood sacrifice was offered to the Lord, a goat was released into the wilderness to symbolically carry away the sins of the people. This "scapegoat" was never to return.

Truly, "Surely he hath borne our Griefs and carried our Sorrows; Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of GOD and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4)

Yom Kippur was the only time during the year when the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of all Israel. Atonement literally means The Tabernacle and the Temple gave a clear picture of how sin separates us from the holiness of God. In Bible times, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies by passing through the heavy veil that hung from ceiling to floor, creating a barrier between the people and the presence of God. Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest entered and offered a blood sacrifice to cover the sins of the people.

Atonement means "covering.” Under the Law, sin was covered awaiting the day of atonement, the day Jesus said, “It is finished.”

However, at the very moment when Jesus died on the cross, Matthew 27:51 says, "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;

Hebrews chapters 8 and 9 beautifully explain how Jesus Christ became our High Priest and entered heaven (the Holy of Holies), once and for all, not by the blood of sacrificial animals, but by his own precious blood on Christ himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins; thus, he obtained for us eternal redemption! As believers we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Yom Kippur, the final atonement for sin.

The disciple Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”

The atonement of Jesus Christ is absolutely the most precious gift God has offered us.

We must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God; that He came to earth as a man in order to live the sinless life that we cannot live; that He died in our place, so that we would not have to pay the penalty we deserve.

We confess our past life of sin -- living for ourselves and not obeying God.

We admit we are ready to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

We ask Jesus to come into our heart, take up residence there, and begin living through us.

The atonement of Jesus Christ brings us close to God.

Through the blood of Jesus, we enter into a covenant relationship with God.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:13:  Through Jesus’ blood, we have perfect peace.

Philippians 4:6-7: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The atonement of Jesus makes our sanctification unto God possible.

"Sanctification" means a separation unto God from evil things. The word of God is also said to sanctify (Jn. 17: 17). However, without Jesus' shed blood, sanctification would not be possible. Through Jesus’ atonement, we are justified before God.

Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast Justification is a declaration that we are right with God.

As a result of Jesus’ atonement, we can have forgiveness.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1: 7).

Christians are a forgiven people

I Jn. 2: 12: I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.

When God forgives, He forgets.

Acts 3: 19: Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Because of the atonement of Jesus, when we are obedient, God will supply all of our needs. Philippians 4:19:  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can come boldly before the throne of God. Hebrews 4:16: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Through the blood of Jesus, we have healing.  Human blood brings healing to the physical body. The white blood cells are the body’s first line of defense against bacterial invaders. When bacteria enter the body, white blood cells are produced in great numbers. They travel to the infection and surround the bacteria.

The blood of Jesus does the same for the body of Christ. When Satan invades, the Holy Spirit stands ready to come to our aid and bring the needed healing. The Lord desires that we walk in divine health. If we stay in close communion with Him, we will find our spiritual man will not become sick and depleted, needing continual healing.

With the healing of our spiritual man, comes the healing of our physical bodies.

Chuck Pierce: “Without salvation, there is no restoration! There is no hope for getting back on the track God intended for us, both collectively and as individuals, from the foundation of the earth. God has an intended destiny for every human being. The first step to entering into that destiny is salvation through Jesus Christ—not just saying the Sinner’s Prayer and letting it go at that, but allowing the forgiveness, healing, prosperity and restoration to penetrate every part of our lives.”

Isaiah 53:5: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ, we can overcome.  Our Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) was completed on the Cross.

God’s love poured out in Jesus on the cross is our only hope to have forgiveness and change.  His love bought us out of our slavery to sin.  His sacrifice seals our covenant with Father God.

Romans 10:9,10:  "...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Our Rosh Hashanah and our Yom Kippur are the result of our being born again into the family of God. The Feasts of the Lord are all about Jesus.

 10 Days of Awe:  Meditating on the Atonement of Jesus Christ

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are called The Days of Awe.  During those ten days, religious Jews spend time in repentance believing that if they confess all their sins, their names will be written in the Book of Life for another year. 

Because Jesus suffered and died, was buried and rose again, the price of the believer’s atonement has been paid in full.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life for all eternity. Revelation 20:15 (NKJV) 

Our God is an awesome God.  Let’s spend time each day during The Days of Awe, mediating on the atoning work of the Cross.

1, The death of Jesus on the cross allows us to enter into a new covenant relationship with God.  Our covenant in Jesus is greater than the covenant God made with Adam because the Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us.   Because of God's new covenant with us, we can come boldly to the throne of grace.  (Hebrews 10: 19-23)

2.  Sin broke the covenant that the Lord had made with Adam and allowed unrighteousness, despair, disease and death to enter in.  When Adam ate the fruit of the tree of worldly wisdom and knowledge, he entered into a covenant with satan. In the Old Testament economy, when two parties entered into a covenant, they exchanged possessions.  Adam ceded his dominion of the earth in that covenant and received all that the enemy had.  Nothing of which was good.  Good things come from God. (James 1:17)

3.  Because God is holy, His holiness prevents Him from coming into covenant with anything unholy.   His holiness within us should prevent us from doing the same thing.  We are not to be unequally yoked. (2 Corinthians 6:14)

This evening is also the weekly sabbath.  In addition, it is also a sabbath Shuva.  This special sabbath occurs on the sabbath during the 10 days of awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  

The Hebrew word Shuva means "returning". It shares a Hebrew root with the word teshuvah, which is typically translated as "repentance". The connection between the two words makes sense, as returning and repentance are closely linked. Teshuvah literally means "return," as if turning back to something that has been strayed from or looked away from. In other words, turning back to where you once were. Have we turned 

away from our first love? If so, is a time for Shuva, for returning.

4.  God is also love.  He created us out of His love.  It is His nature to desire relationship with His creation.  Sin separates us from HIs love.  The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Romans 6:23) Jesus paid the wage of sin for us.  His atoning death allows us to enter into God's covenant.  When we accept His atonement, nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:38-39)

5.Jesus received our guilt and sin upon Himself. (Isaiah 53:4-6) It was our sin that sent Jesus to the Cross. When I think about this, I am overcome with His love, not only as a part of mankind, but for me as an individual.

6.  Jesus is the only acceptable sacrifice for sin.  In the covenant God made in Christ, His life is given in the place of our death and eternal separation from God; His righteousness is given in exchange for our sin. (John 3:16) (John 14:6)

7.  Jesus' blood had to be shed because our eternal life is in the sacrifice of His blood.. (Leviticus 17:11)  His blood sacrifice sanctifies our lives.

8.  We must understand fully what we have received in our salvation.  Not only have we been saved from the wages of sin, but we also have received the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), healing both physically and emotionally (Isaiah 53:4-6), and a plan and purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11).

9.  Jesus' resurrection is the most significant event in history.  Jesus' resurrection signifies Father God's acceptance of His sacrifice.  He is the first fruits of those who are raised from the dead.  (1 Corinthians 15:20)  Because He lives, we, too, shall live. (John 14:19)

10.  Jesus is coming again to receive us unto Himself.  He is the Bridegroom eagerly awaiting the time when He will receive His bride.