The feast of
Tabernacles is the celebration of Gods glory living among His people. Do you
remember that beautiful verse in John 1:1-5, 14 that says:
“In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him
nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and
that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome it… 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We
have seen his glory, the glory of
the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
If that doesn’t make
you come undone, I don’t know what will. Seriously, read it again, “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
with God in the beginning.” “Through Him all things were made… the light shines
in the darkness… The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us…” I get
chills. He made His dwelling among us; His glory manifested on the flesh: the
ultimate expression of God, the living picture of God’s holiness, a sukkah of
the flesh, a magnificent spectacle of everlasting love and grace!
In Leviticus, God told His people to go out into the
country side and cut down palm fonds, leafy branches and poplars and to bring
them back to their homes to build tabernacles (23:40). In Hebrew, these
temporary shelters (tents, or booths) are called Sukkah, and the feast that we
are celebrating for seven days since Sunday, is called the Feast of Sukkot
(plural for sukkah), Feast of Booths, or Feast of Tabernacles. The Israelites
celebrated this to commemorate that God freed them from the enslaving hands of
Egypt and that they lived in tents while in the wilderness, but more than that,
they celebrated that God Himself resided on a tabernacle of His own among them, and that His glory was with them every step of the way, never forsaking them.
In the same way, we now celebrate the Feast of
Tabernacles to remember God’s glory: the Word that became flesh in Jesus, and
the blessings that he’s brought to our lives. In remembrance of the Lord’s
goodness in the past, and the present, we gather under Sukkahs or tents of our
own and we feast among friends and family, and we remember all the good things
that the Lord has done for all of us. It’s time to call upon the Lord to come
and dwell with us in our homes, in our lives.
God’s presence is tangible all the time, but this is
a special time to catch momentum because the Feast of Tabernacles is one of the
holiest feasts. In fact, it is the third of the appointed times each year to realign with him and his blessings. As the new year begins, this time is of extreme importance because it is a representation of our realignment with God and His purposes for our lives. We are breaking cycles of destruction that keep us from His blessings, and we look into the new year afresh. Leviticus 23:40 says,
Rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days…” and Deuteronomy 16:14-15
instructs, “Be joyful at your feast…for the Lord your God will bless you… and
your joy will be complete.” Now is the time to catch momentum into His
blessings, to celebrate His goodness, and to have a fresh experience of His presence in your life.
Bless the Lord. He HAS been good to us… In a minute
here, I will walk outside because I feel His call in my spirit. I need
to marvel at his goodness. I need to feel His presence. I need Him... I need Him.
Lift up
your eyes to the heavens with me. Marvel at His mystery, His tenderness… His
power! He, whom Isaiah 40:26 says, “brings out the stary hosts one by
one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty
strength, not one of them is missing.” I know what Isaiah meant… It is because of His
great Mystery that I exist; because of His great tenderness that I am the beloved; because of His great power that I AM FREE. And so are you, dear reader, so are you!
What a glorious day when
love overcomes darkness. Only God could have thought of that. Be exalted, Lord. Be exalted forever!
Keeping the Word Alive,
Kent.
