Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles)

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The Feast of Tabernacles is commonly referred to as the Festival of Booths, Feast of Harvest or Feast of Ingathering.  It is also referred to as Succoth -- the Hebrew word meaning "booths".  The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the ingathering of the fruits, vegetables and grains of the ground (the produce of the land).   It actually marked the end of the agricultural year for Israel.  It was, therefore, a time of rejoicing and thanksgiving for all the blessings Yahweh had given in the fruitage of all their crops. 

The Feast of Booths is celebrated at the end of the summer when the harvest has been gathered in.  Throughout the Holy Scriptures the Feast is described as a holy convocation (coming together) to worship and praise Yahweh through rejoicing and thanking Him for another year of divine guidance, care, and love.  It commemorates the promise Yahweh made to Abraham (Gen. 15) hundreds of years before Israel's bondage in Egypt --  his (Abraham's) seed would be strangers in a land that was not theirs and that He [Yahweh] would deliver them from their afflictions.

INSTRUCTIONS ON THE OBSERVANCE OF THE FEAST CAN BE FOUND IN THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS:

  • Lev. 23:34-35; 39-43: "And Yahweh spake unto Moses saying [v34] "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto Yahweh. [v35] On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. [v39] Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast to Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a  Sabbath. [40] And ye shall take ye on the first day the boughs of the fruit trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook: and ye shall rejoice before Yahweh your Elohim seven days. [41] And ye shall keep it a feast unto Yahweh seven days in the year; it shall be a statute forever in your generation; ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. [42] Ye shall dwell in booths seven days, all that are Israelites-born shall dwell in booths. [43] That your generation may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your Elohim."
  • Numbers 29:12: "And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto Yahweh seven days."
  • Deut. 16: 13-15: [v13]"Thou shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn, and thy wine. [14] And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast; thou and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. [15] Seven days shall thou keep a solemn feast unto Yahweh thy Elohim in the place which Yahweh shall choose because Yahweh thy Elohim shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all thy works of thine hands; therefore, thou shalt surely rejoice."

The Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated in the month of Ethanim (September or October) and ends with a solemn Assembly or Sabbath on the eighth day.

The Israelites were required to dwell in booths for seven days during the Feast.  Booths were erected in houses, on rooftops, in the country yard of the temple, in public squares and on roads within a Sabbath-day's journey of the city.  These booths were made of the fruit of trees, branches of trees, and palm fronds.  We as commandment keepers observe his holy festival by decorating our Assembly and homes with tree branches, fruit, vegetables, and leaves.  For the commandment keeper it is also a time of giving gifts to Yahweh (offerings), our [natural] family, and our church family.  During this period, we should rejoice in our hearts and thank Yahshua for our prosperity and abundance of fine things that did not come through our own power.  We should bless Yahweh through our precious Savior Yahshua for His mercy and grace that sustain us.

The day of the fourteenth is a day of preparation, unless it falls on a weekly Sabbath. If that be the case, preparations should be made earlier.  The distinguishing mark of the Feast of Tabernacles and its primary nature is joyful thanksgiving.  Yahweh's desire is for His people to rejoice in Him through His Son Yahshua who shed His blood for us.  "You must rejoice before Yahweh your Elohim."

"And ye shall keep it a Feast unto Yahweh seven days in the year.  It shall be a statute forever in your generations. Ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. (See Lev. 23:41). We are commanded to observe the Feast forever in our generation.

In this new Covenant Age, Yahweh sent Yahshua to the earth for the fulfillment of the Law (Matt. 17, and Isa. 42-21) and to atone for our sins through His blood and life (Romans 5:8-11).  As followers of Yahshua, we who walk by faith must keep the feasts that He kept.  In John chapter 7, we read that Yahshua walked in Galilee and taught in the temple on the Feast of Tabernacles.  In [v27] we read: "In the last day, that great day of the Feast, Yahshua stood and cried saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. [v28] He that believeth on Me as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. Therefore, we are required to observe the Feast in this age.

The spiritual significance of the Feast commemorates the yearly celebration of Yahshua's ingathering -- now and through the end of the age -- of souls unto Yahweh's harvest.  As a natural seed is sown, nourished, grows and dies, to be replanted the following year, so are they who fall asleep in Yahshua, when they come forth in the Resurrection.

 

The following questions accompanied by reference chapters and verses should further aid the reader in studying the Feast of Tabernacles.

  • Who must observe the Feast of Tabernacles? Deut. 16:16; Acts 18: 18-21
  • What time of the year must the Feast be observed? Lev. 23:33-44
  • What are the three annual Feasts that Yahweh requires us to observe? Lev. 23
  • How should we observe the Feast? Deut. 16:11-15; Neh. 8:13-18
  • What does the harvest mean spiritually? Matt.13:24-30; 36-43; Rev. 14:14-20
  • What is the true tabernacle? Hebrews 8:1-5
  • Where does the Spirit of Yahweh dwell? 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; John 14:20-23; 2 Cor. 4:7
  • Are earthly tabernacles permanent? 2 Cor. 5: 1-10; 2 Peter 1:13-18; Matt. 16:28; 17:19; 1 Cor. 15: 44-53
  • Where will the Kingdom of Yahweh's tabernacle (dwelling) be? Rev. 21: 1-5; 22-28; 1 John 3:2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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