Sukkot

• The Festival of Sukkot begins on Tishri 15, the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is quite a drastic transition, from the most solemn holiday in our year to one of the most joyous.

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• Sukkot is commonly referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as Z'man Simchateinu, the Festival of our Joy.

• In fact we say things like “May you have good tidings of great Joy”

• Go ahead and say that to your neighbor

• It is also called The Festival of the Nations.

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• Why is it called the Festival of the Nations. Because it’s for everyone even the Goyim to come and celebrate.

• “Aren’t all the Feasts for everyone?” No they’re not.

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• Passover for example is only open to those who are Torah Observant. EX 12 43And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:

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•  44But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.

•  45A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.

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• Then why do we invite any and everyone to our Passover celebrations here at Beit Aveinu?

• We don’t… we invite them to a Passover demonstration. We do the real Passover at our homes.

• What about other Messianics who say they’re doing the real Passover with anyone. They’re in the wrong. Scripture is clear.

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• If it’s on the correct day, then it’s Passover. If it’s not, I’m doing a demonstration. I only do a real Passover with my family and friends who I know are Torah Observant.

• Otherwise, it’s a demonstration and isn’t real and may not even count as keeping the Commandment.

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• Now, the first few years at a new Synagogue we do everything together. It does count for you then.

• But after a few years, yeah, you gotta do some of these things. You’ll have to make your own Passover meal (unless you do it at a friend’s who is Torah Observant), build your own Sukkah (if possible or go to a Torah Observant friends house)

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• We try to make it as easy as possible because we realize a lot of people come from a Church background and I’ve actually had people say to me (not here) but they’ve said, “I went to Church why should I have to do anything else?”. So we try to ease people into it without putting so much on them that it would be a burden even our forefathers wouldn’t be able to bear.

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• Why are we so careful to do that because it says in Acts 15:21 10Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

• So we’re careful NOT to do that.

• Back to Sukkot.

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• Sukkot is the last of the Shalosh R'galim (three pilgrimage festivals) Passover Shavu'ot

Exodus 23:17"Three times in the year all your

males shall appear before the Lord GOD.” (NKJ)

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• Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which we were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters.

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• Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as Chag Ha-Asif, the Festival of Ingathering

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• The word "Sukkot" means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday in memory of the period of wandering. The Hebrew pronunciation of Sukkot is "Sue COAT," but is often pronounced as it is in Yiddish, “Sukkus”

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• The name of the holiday is frequently translated in the Bible as "Feast of Tabernacles," which, like many translations of Jewish terms, isn't very useful. This translation is particularly misleading, because the word "tabernacle" in the Bible refers to the portable Sanctuary in the desert, the…

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• precursor to the Temple, called in Hebrew "mishkan." The Hebrew word "sukkah" (plural: "sukkot") refers to the temporary booths that people lived in, not to the Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting).

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• Sukkot lasts for seven days. The two days following the festival, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, are separate holidays but are related to Sukkot and are commonly thought of as part of Sukkot.

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• The festival of Sukkot is instituted in Leviticus 23

• (SLIDE) No work is permitted on the first and second days of the holiday. Work is permitted on the remaining days. These intermediate days on which work is permitted are referred to as Chol Ha-Mo'ed (weekdays of the festival)

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• In honor of the holiday's historical significance, we are commanded in Lev 23 to dwell in temporary shelters, as those who followed G-d did this in the wilderness.

• It’s important to understand that this is about dwelling with G-d.

• At Yom Kippur we stand before Him in our sins and ask for forgivness of any sin we may have in our lives…

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• He then forgives us and we dwell with Him. If you’ve ever noticed, a sukkah can be thought of as His hands sheltering us. It’s got 3 sides that way, it’s a sukkah.

• We dwell with Him and He dwells with us.

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• (SLIDE) The Sukkah is great for the children. Building the Sukkah each year satisfies the common childhood fantasy of building a fort, and dwelling in the Sukkah satisfies a child's desire to camp out in the backyard.

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• The commandment to "dwell" in a Sukkah can be fulfilled by simply eating all of one's meals there; however, that may not be possible depending on your living situation, if the weather, climate, and one's health permit, one should spend as much time in the Sukkah as possible, including sleeping in it.

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• In ancient days, we didn’t have refrigerators, so we kept all our food in a stone box to keep it cool. It was called a “food crib”. That’s where the food was put in the Sukkah so we could eat there

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• A Sukkah must have at least two and a half walls covered with a material that will not blow away in the wind.

• The "walls" of the Sukkah do not have to be solid; canvas tied or nailed down is acceptable and quite common.

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• A Sukkah may be any size, so long as it is large enough for you to fulfill the commandment of dwelling in it. The roof of the Sukkah must be made of material referred to as sechach (literally, covering).

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• To fulfill the commandment, sechach must be something that grew from the ground and was cut off, such as tree branches, corn stalks, bamboo reeds, sticks, or two-by-fours.

• It’s imperative that you don’t put too much on the roof, you have to be able to see the stars through the ceiling.

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• This is a Jewish tradition that goes way back, even before the time of Yeshua.

• (SLIDE) Every Sukkah… even the Orthodox do it the same way every year, you have to be able to see the stars through the roof of the Sukkah.

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• (SLIDE) This is a nice sukkah.

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• (SLIDE) This fruit is too big!

Sukkot• (SLIDE) Just right!

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(SLIDE) Nehemiah 8:15“And that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy willow trees, to make booths, as it is written.’”

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(SLIDE) A lulov is made of a palm branch with small willow and myrtle branches tied to it.

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The lulov branches (held in the right hand) and an etrog (citrus) fruit held in the left hand, are waved before the LORD during the celebration. The closest relative we have here in the lemon.

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• On Shabbat we will wave the lulav and the etrog.

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(SLIDE) Cases and holders…

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(SLIDE) Cases and holders…

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(SLIDE) Cases and holders…

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(SLIDE) Cases and holders…

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• Sukkot is also about being thankful for what you have.

• It is the original Thanksgiving.• Being in the wilderness having nothing, reminds

us to not covet what our neighbor has.

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• (SLIDE) We do lots of different activities in Israel during Sukkoth, we do a lot of hiking like near Hebron or Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea anywhere in the desert regions to remind us of our time in wilderness

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• Sukkot is the harvest festival, we celebrate with a lot of different foods. In fact this tradition goes back even before the time of Yeshua.

• In the wilderness we only had mannah. Same food every day.

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• (SLIDE) When some of us complained about the food, G-d killed some of us… Numbers 111And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

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(SLIDE) So, ladies, next time your husband or kids complain about what’s on the menu remind them about Numbers 11.

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Sukkoth is also when Yeshua was born.

• (SLIDE) In order to make our calculations we first have to look at John the Baptist and his father Zechariah. in Luke 1:5 it tells us that Zechariah was a priest of the order of Abijah.

• Abijah can also be transliterated as Abia same name.

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• While Zechariah was performing his duties an angel appeared and told him his wife Elizabeth would have a son, Yochanan (John).

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• (SLIDE) 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. tells us about the order in which the priests performed these duties. The family of Abijah was eighth in line so he would've been performing his duties during the Feast of Succoth. Since a normal pregnancy is 9 months, that means John the Immerser (Baptist) was born during Pasach (Passover).

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• It makes perfect sense that John would’ve been born during Pasach because he was the one who came in the spirit of Elijah.

• Some of you may remember when we celebrated Passover. There was a cup that was poured for Elijah and then we had someone go and open the door to see if Elijah the prophet had come to announce the coming of the Messiah.

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• Jews do this every year because the Bible says that Elijah will come and announce that day.

• And that’s exactly what Yochanon the Immerser (John the Baptist) did.

• He announced the coming of Yeshua at the Jordan River.

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• (SLIDE) So now that we know when John the Immerser was born we have to look at Luke 1:36. There we see that John was 6 months older then Yeshua. So that would have put Yeshua’s conception at Chanuka and 9 months later the birth of Yeshua at the time of Succoth!

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• It’s not rocket science, it’s simple math.

• And this in itself is enough evidence to discredit a December birth.

• There’s no way that Mary carried Yeshua for an extra 3 months (+) to make it to December.

• But I have much more evidence… let’s take a look at that now.

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• You remember earlier we looked at each other and said “May you have good tidings of great Joy”? That’s a typical greeting that is said among Jews for Sukkot.

• And we also talked about how it was for all Nations, all the Goyim.

• We read in Luke 2:10 at the birth of Yeshua that an angel gives typical Succoth wording

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• ((SLIDE) Luke 2:10) "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all Nations. These are words used during Succoth. Matter of fact Succoth is the "Festival of Joy", and it is also known as the "Festival of the Nations". How appropriate.

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• There are other indications. The Hebrew word for "stable" is "Sukkah" and as we saw, a Sukkah is a booth that we make every year during the Feast of Succoth. So Yeshua was not only born ON Succoth, He was even born IN a Sukkah!

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• You also might remember we talked about a food crib inside of the Sukkahs in ancient days. In English that’s called a manger. That’s what Yeshua was born in.

• This manger wasn’t something that animals got food from, it was something that we got food from.

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• This was obviously all during the featival of Sukkote.

• As I mentioned before Sukote is one of the shalosh regalim. It’s when all the males have to appear at the temple.

• It’s the 3 busiest times in Jerusalem.

• Bethlehem and Jerusalem are right next to each other. Both cities would’ve been packed top the gills.

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• (SLIDE) Of course all the inns were full. But the inns also had Sukkahs.

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• The Sukkahs back then, weren’t much worse then the actual buildings. So it’s not like they were put out in a tent or something when she was pregnant. It wasn’t first class but it wasn’t out in a cave either.

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• She then had the baby and the Sheppards at that moment had an angel appear to them and it says they then “made haste” to Bethlehem, which is right next door to Beit Sahour, AKA the Sheppards Fields and then it says this…

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• (SLIDE) In Luke 2:16 And they came with haste , and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

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• So now people began to realize who this woman was, she was princess Miriam and then no doubt they were given better accommodations.

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• This also tells you something about the deep humility of this young lady (12 years old by most counts). She obviously didn’t come in to the inn spouting off who she was and tell the inn keeper “You better find me the best room in the place!” Amazing humility and the act of a gentle princess.

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• I also want to remind you that the Sukkah’s roof was not solid, you had to be able to see through it and see the stars. The wise men were Jewish, when do you think they saw the sign of the son of man? Probably at night when they were laying down in their Sukkah the year before.

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• We also have another good clue that Yeshua was born on Sukkot, The Brit Hadasha tells us that when Yeshua was born there was a tax and a census going on. Sukkot would’ve been the best time for Herod to impose both of those.

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• It was then (the shalosh regalim) when all the males had to come to Jerusalem. He’d have done it on either Passover, Sukkote or Shavuote. Chanuka or December 25th wasn’t a tax time or a census time.

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• (SLIDE) I also mentioned that Sukkoth is a time when G-d dwells with us. In Hebrew that is Imawnuel (Immanuel). It isn’t G-d with us, it’s G-d dwells with us and we see the angel say in Matt 1 to Joseph “He shall be called Immanuel”. This is a quotation from Isaiah 7:14 talking about the Messiah.

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• (SLIDE) What does the 1rst chapter of John say in verse 14?

• John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh (He was born), and dwelt among us.

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• He tabernacle with us… he made Sukkot with us. In fact Hebrews tells us He’s the perfect Sukkah… (SLIDE) Hebrews 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle (Sukkah), not made with hands, that is to say , not of this building;

• It’s all there if you open your eyes folks.

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• If one continues to hold on to their Pagan December Christmas, G-d will allow them to hold to that deception… and eventually… He will turn them over to their own deception.

• One can’t continually hear the truth and reject it, without consequence. Consequence is inevitable for those who refuse to listen to G-d’s Word.

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• Another interesting point is that Yeshua was conceived on Chanuka. This is actually when Yeshua, The Light came into the world. He is even called The Light of the World

• Chanuka is all about light. It’s even called the Feast of Lights.

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• Even though Chanuka isn’t a feast mentioned in the Old Testament, that doesn’t mean that G-d didn’t ordain it.

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• Chanuka was the time Yeshua saw fit to come to us and I can only imagine what He was thinking when He came to the Temple on Chanuka in John 10. That very same day when he came to earth, there were people years later there in John 10 who tried to kill Him. (SLIDE) John 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

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• On the same day that He came to earth, people tried to send him away… on Chanuka. It’s ironic!

• Chanuka is a blessed day and I think there’s much more to Chanuka that we don’t even know yet.

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• You know how I always say that if you don’t understand Judaism, you can’t understand the New Testament.

• Today I’ll go a bit deeper and tell you… If you don’t understand the Feasts of the L-rd you’re not going to understand the New Testament.

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• You may think you can, but you can’t.

• Everything in Scripture is tied to G-d’s appointed times and Feasts.

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• Solomon was very well aware of that he wrote…(SLIDE) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted – Ecclesiastes 3:1-2.

• He nails it there. He wasn’t called the wisest man to ever live for nothing.

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• As we go deeper and deeper into G-d’s truth you’ll find, and many of you already see this I know, but you’ll find that everything is tied to G-d’s appointed times. The past, the present and the future.

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• The feast of Sukkot is fulfilled prophetically in the Millennium, this is when Yeshua comes and makes Sukkot with the world for a thousand years.

Sukkot(SLIDE) Fulfillment

Revelation 20:4I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

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• This is the fulfillment of Sukkot in the Last Days

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• (SLIDE) THE END

• Chag Sameach (KHAHG sah-MEHY-ahkh)

Happy Holidays