Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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The One True Church
Chapter 26 – The Feast of Booths
As the Feast of Passover foreshadowed Jesus’ sacrifice, and the Feast of Unleavened foreshadowed the purity of His message, so the Feast of Booths foreshadowed His church.
I asked Google AI, “What was the biblical Feast of Booths about…and how did it relate to the other feasts of Israel? Here’s the first paragraph of its answer.
“The biblical Feast of Booths (known in Hebrew as Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles) was an autumn harvest celebration that also commemorated God’s protection of the Israelites during their forty years of wandering in the desert.”
The NASB 1995 translation usually calls it “the Feast of Booths,” but also uses the synonyms “the Feast of Ingathering” and “the feast of the seventh month.” This is generally consistent with modern literal translations. In the older literal English translations (such as the King James Version) you’re more likely to see “the Feast of Tabernacles.”
In any case, the underlying Hebrew word means booth, temporary shelter, hut, or canopy. The general idea is a temporary dwelling. And this fits with the focus of the feast, which was Israel’s time in the wilderness. This was the temporary period between their previous home in Egypt and their future home in the promised land.
Moses had established this feast. It was forgotten after Joshua, but then reinstated in the time of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 8:14 They found written in the law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.
Nehemiah 8:15 So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
Nehemiah 8:16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.
Nehemiah 8:17 The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing.
Nehemiah 8:18 He read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.
The Jews were still celebrating this feast in New Testament times.
The Feast of Booths foreshadows the church age in multiple ways. As Egypt was behind the Israelites and Canaan (the promised land) was ahead, so, for the church, the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel was behind and the kingdom of God was ahead. And as the Israelites had to spend one generation in waiting, so the church only had to spend one generation in waiting.
The church age (that is, the 1st century when the New Testament church existed), it was…
- …a time of transition. Bondage was giving way to freedom.
- …a temporary arrangement. No one wanted to prolong their time in the wilderness. They were eager for the promised land.
- …a time of thanksgiving. Slavery to sin was behind and the full grace of God’s kingdom was ahead.
- …a time of celebration and joy. Thanksgiving led to celebration and joy.
The New Testament church was the reality to which all the prior Feast of Booths had been pointing.
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