Freedom to Feast
"You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor."- Exodus 23:16
"You shall keep the Feast of Booths sevens days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress." Deutoronomy 16:16
Also known as the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles, and Sukkot, this last feast of the Jewish calendar year is one of celebration that would traditionally occur after the last harvest of the year. It would be a time of thanks and joy to God for the bountiful harvest He provided to them as well as a time to remember and thank God for his provision and protection during the Israelites forty years of the exodus after He saved them from bondage in Egypt.Originally, the Jewish celebrators would stay in a tent for the seven days of feasting, as yet another memory of the exodus from Egypt. There were specific foods they were told to eat, different plants and wildlife that were incorporated into the celebration, all to reflect God and His mercy and glory.
"Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow od the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ."- Colossians 2:16-17
I am not Jewish and neither is my husband, but we got the chance to take part in this feast with our good friends ( who also aren't Jewish) and experience a taste of what God ordained His people to commemorate milenias ago. For our experience, the men put together a sukkah of PVC pipe, that formed a large structure which where draped with white curtains and topped with straw. We put a table and chairs underneath it, and bought our gathered feast outside, where our host gave a short lesson on the Feast of Tabernacles and we were able to ask questions and converse about it before enjoying a time of fellowship together.Since we live under the grace and love of Christs' sacrifice, not under the Laws of Moses as the early Christians had (those that were of Jewish descent that is), we are not obligated to celebrate the Feasts as the ancients Jewish did. However, as it was ordained by the Father God, and as we believe in a God who is three-in-one ( Father, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit) this celebration certainly can tune our hearts to Christ still and help us to understand our faith in a different way.As we sat under a (literally) rickety structure, we were reminded of how temporary our bodies are in our time on earth, but yet how even in our broken, sinful nature, God meets us and dwells in us once we accept His Son (as the Holy Spirit). We are reminded of how He provided for the Hebrews when they escaped from Egypt, and how he will provide and protect us as we live and wait for Jesus to return again, as he promised he would. This feast serves to remind us to prepare for that coming day when Christ will return again to judge the living and the dead, where everything will be made perfect once again, as it was made to be according to God. Lastly, when we remember the Feast of Tabernacles, we are encouraged because we are yet again reminded that when we die and go to heaven, or if Jesus comes back, we as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, will get to dwell for all eternity in the perfect sukkah.