Sukkot: The Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Family Celebration)

(Prepare to build a sukkah for your family, or set up a tent in the backyard. Have a meal in the sukkah and read through the following with your family, allowing all readers to participate.)

Reader 1: Today begins 8 days which God told the Jewish people (also called Hebrews, Israelites, or Jews) to set aside as special. These days are called the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot (pronounced sue coat).

Reader 2: What does "tabernacles" mean?

Reader 1: It means habitation or dwelling, a place to live. It's not like a big house, though, but more of a shed or hut or booth. The first one recorded in the Bible is found in Genesis 33:17, "And Jacob left for Succoth. He built a shelter for himself and sheds for his livestock. That's show the place came to be called Succoth."

Reader 2: What is God trying to communicate to people through this festival?

Reader 3: When the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Colossians he explained to the Church of Jesus that all the holy days of God were shadows cast before what was to come in the future. In other words, the holy days were like rehearsals or practice for the real thing. All the holy days pointed to Jesus the Messiah and were to prepare God's people to receive what God was going to do through His Son.

Let's read what God first told the Jewish people to do. "God said to Moses, "Tell the People of Israel, God's Feast of Booths begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. It lasts seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; don't do any ordinary work. Offer Fire-Gifts to God for seven days. On the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and offer a gift to God. It is a solemn convocation. Don't do any ordinary work.... So, summing up: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have brought your crops in from your fields, celebrate the Feast of God for seven days. The first day is a complete rest and the eighth day is a complete rest. On the first day, pick the best fruit from the best trees; take fronds of palm trees and branches of leafy trees and from willows by the brook and celebrate in the presence of your God for seven days -- yes, for seven full days celebrate it as a festival to God. Every year from now on, celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days -- every son and daughter of Israel is to move into booths so that your descendants will know that I made the People of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am God, your God." (Leviticus 23:33-44)

(Ask an older child) Can you tell us a little about how the Jewish people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, living in booths?

Older Child:

Reader 1: Remember that God's holy days were to communicate to His people something about the past, something about the present, and something about the future? Why do you think God wanted the ancient Jews to remember that they lived in tabernacles, or booths, in the wilderness?

Older Child:

Reader 1: Very soon we're going to build a sukkah.

Reader 2: What's a sukkah?

Reader 4: It's another word for the booth. It's just a fragile hut with a leafy roof, the most vulnerable of houses. It's vulnerable in time, where it lasts for only a week each year. It's vulnerable in space, where its roof must be not only leafy but leaky - letting in the starlight, and gusts of wind and rain. I think God may have wanted people to do this precisely because the sukkah is so vulnerable. For much of our lives we try to achieve peace and safety by building with steel and concrete and toughness. What are some great, secure buildings people have built throughout history to protect themselves and show their own greatness?

Children:

Reader 5: Perhaps the sukkah was to remind the people that they were not to trust in anything but the Lord God to protect them and to meet their needs. Americans tend to feel invulnerable and safe. The oceans protect us from other countries. Our wealth makes us powerful. Our military power has made us feel like we had an invulnerable shield. There have been times in our country when we were afraid of nuclear weapons, but no harm came to us. Yet on September 11 of 2001, God's message came to America: We all live in a sukkah. Not only the targets of attack, the World Trade Center towers in New York City, but also the instruments of attack were among our proudest possessions: the sleek transcontinental airliners. The greatest oceans do not shield us; the mightiest buildings do not shield us; even riches and the most powerful weapons do not shield us. God has always wanted people to trust in Him alone. The sukkah will help us remember that, just as it helped the ancient Hebrews to remember it.

Reader 1: There is another thing God wanted His people to remember through this festival. (Child) Can you tell us what you know about the first tabernacle that God told the Jews to build? What was it? How was it made? For what was it used?

Child:

Reader 6: I think God wanted His people to remember that He loved them and wanted to dwell with them. He had them build the tabernacle so He could be with them. He was preparing them for the day when God would send His only Son, Jesus, in human form to dwell with them on earth. The apostle John explained what happened when Jesus was born in the first chapter of his gospel: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The Word was Yeshua who came to communicate God's message. "He dwelt among us" is the same as saying He "tabernacled" among us. He is also called Emmanuel, which means "God with us."

Reader 2: Is there any message in the festival for us today?

Reader 6: Yes. We can rejoice that after Yeshua died and was resurrected and after He ascended back to the Heavenly Father, He didn't leave us alone. He still dwells with all who believe in Him through the Holy Spirit. He sent us a comforter to dwell not just with us, but in us. That way we are never separated from Him.

Reader 2: Is there any message in the festival about the future?

Reader 1: Yes. God will ultimately build his habitation with his people when Jesus comes back to the earth to rule over the earth as King. Then God will dwell with His people on the earth for 1000 years of peace and security. During the time when Jesus reigns as King on the earth, all the nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Zechariah 14:16-17 read, "All the survivors from the godless nations that fought against Jerusalem will travel to Jerusalem every year to worship the King, God-of the Angel-Armies, and celebrate the Feast of Booths. If any of these survivors fail to make the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship the King, God-of the Angel-Armies, there will be no rain."

After that God will dwell forever with His people in a new heavens and a new earth that He will create. Revelation 21:1-3 reads, "I say Heaven and earth new- created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: 'Look! Look! God has moved in the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good -- tears gone, crying gone, pain gone -- all the first order of things gone.'"

Do you have any questions?