Key Verse: "Live in booths for seven days: all native
born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had
the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I Am the Lord
your God."
Leviticus 23:42-43
What if every year we reenacted the crossing of the ocean on
the Mayflower or the landing at Plymouth Rock, to remember how hard the
Pilgrims’ life was as they sought to create a new country for the sake of
religious freedom? We do have vestiges of this in our Thanksgiving celebration
the fourth Thursday of every November. At Thanksgiving, we not only think about
what we are thankful for, but often, either at church or at school, we are
reminded of the Pilgrims, the Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving
celebrations that took place in gratitude for God's provision.
The Feast of Tabernacles performed a similar function for
the people of Israel. While they were still in Egypt, God promised that they
would eventually live in a land flowing with milk and honey. After He released
them from Egypt's grasp, God never allowed them to settle in any place along
the way. Their shelters were temporary. Even God's shelter was only a tent that
could be picked up and moved as the Spirit led.
It wasn't until they arrived in the Promised Land that they
were allowed to build permanent dwellings for themselves. They were given homes
and wells and land for planting crops. They became a settled people and as
such, their children could easily forget how, at one time, they were wanderers,
dependent upon God to provide for everything.
God's plan for their remembering was that after their crops
were gathered in, and they knew that they had provisions for yet another year,
God ordained this seven day feast for His people to remember their roots. They
were supposed to build temporary shelters on their roofs or in their yards and
live in them for seven days to remember their heritage and remember how God had
provided for them when they had no place to call home.
It was to be a time of celebration and thankfulness for all
God had done and it would serve as a time for parents to teach their children
the history of God with His people just as the Seder was intended to do. It was
to be a lesson that would be experienced, not a lecture that could be ignored.
The Feast would begin and end with a day of rest and every day in between,
thank offerings would be given to celebrate God's blessings. And plenty of time for telling the story to the kids. This feast of
Tabernacles would begin five days after the Day of Atonement. On that day, the
people would deny themselves, confess their sins, offer sacrifices and begin
again with a clean slate before God. The first act of worship then, after this
cleansing, was to remember God's faithfulness.
Just as we don't forget Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or
Easter, this Feast was to be celebrated annually. Why? Because God's people
need to remember God's goodness continually so that they will remain faithful
and in love with the God who loves them.
It also provides an opportunity to talk about how God
continues to provide for us today and, in heaven, He is providing a permanent
dwelling for those who love Him. "I go to prepare a place for you." (John
14:2) "And if I go, I will come again to take you to be with Me."
He remains the provider of not just the past, but of eternity.
Do you have any tradition like this either for yourself or
for your family in which you set aside a day, or a week to remember God's
goodness to you? It's never too late to start.
Hymn: "Count Your Blessings"
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