Chag HaSukkot (Tabernacles)
Leviticus (Vayikra) 23:33-44; Numbers (Bamidbar) 29:12-40; Deuteronomy 16:13-17

34- “Speak unto the children of Yisrael, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the
feast of tabernacles for seven days unto YHVH.
35- On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36- Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH: on the eighth day shall be an holy
convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH: it is a solemn
assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
39- Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye
shall keep a feast unto YHVH seven days: on the first day shall be a shabbat, and on the eighth day
shall be a shabbat.
40- And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees and the
boughs of thick trees and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before YHVH thy Elohim seven days.
41- And ye shall keep it a feast unto YHVH seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your
generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42- Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in tabernacles:
43- That your generations may know that I made the children of Yisrael to dwell in tabernacles, when I
brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am YHVH thy Elohim.
N12- 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 YHVH seven days
35- On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
D13- Thou shall observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou has gathered in thy corn and
thy wine:
14- And thou shall rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy
maidservant, 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 YHVH thy Elohim in the place which YHVH shall
choose: because YHVH thy Elohim shall bless thee in all thine increase and in all the works of thine
hands, therefore thou shall surely rejoice.
16- Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before YHVH thy Elohim in the place which He shall
choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and
they shall not appear before YHVH empty:
17- Every man shall give as he can, according to the blessing of YHVH thy Elohim which He has given thee.”
 

“And I that am YHVH thy Elohim from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in
the days of the solemn feast. I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and
used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.”
(Hosea 12:9,10)

“And it shall come to pass, that every one who is left of all the nations which came against Yerushalayim
shall go up from year to year to worship the King, YHVH of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
And it shall be, that whoever will not come up of all the families of the earth to Yerushalayim to
worship the King, YHVH of hosts, upon them shall be no rain.”
(Zechariah 14:16,17)

“And they found written in the Torah which YHVH had commanded by the hand of Moshe, that the
children of Yisrael should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: And that they should
publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Yerushalayim, saying, Go forth to the mount, and
fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of
thick trees, to make Succot, as it is written.”
(Nehemiah 8 :14,15)

 
“And Moshe commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of
release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Yisrael is come to appear before YHVH thy Elohim in the
place which He shall choose, thou shall read this Torah before all Yisrael in their hearing.” (Deuteronomy 31:10,11)
“At the commandment of YHVH they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of YHVH they
journeyed: they kept the charge of YHVH, at the commandment of YHVH by the hand of Moshe.”
(Numbers 9:23)
 

Sukkot Summary:
1. The Sukkah as a Similitude for Life’s Journey:
Even as the feast of Sukkot was to cause the children of Yisrael to look back to the days in which we dwelt on the proving ground of the wilderness, being readied to inherit the land of promise, so also does the annual commemoration point our hearts to the future. Those temporary tents of journeying so greatly epitomize the transient nature of our life here in these earthly tabernacles, our bodies. Even as the tribes needed to move as Shechinah began its move upward, as it is written in Numbers 24:2,
“And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes;
and the spirit of Elohim came upon him...”
and marveling over the profound and accommodating illustration of Yisrael’s ascent unto the land, over Jordan’s fateful banks, he continued with prophetic insight to esteem those succot in verse 5:
“How goodly are thy tents, O Yaakov, and thy tabernacles, O Yisrael!”
So, we, too, must be prepared to see these makeshift dwelling places torn down so that mortality may put on immortality. The readiness for His people to climb to higher ground has always been in the heart
of Him who dwells on High. This daily yielding to the pursuit of the heavenly realm needs reminding. And, it is this allegorical enactment of yearly residing in Succot which enables the covenant people to retain the foundations of our faith, that life is not about solidifying our hopes here on earth, and that for the people of YHVH, the only true and concrete refuge is in Him, as it is written in Isaiah 4:5-6:
“And YHVH will create upon every dwelling place of mount Tzion, and upon her assemblies,
a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory
shall be a defense. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat,
and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.”

2. The Sukkah’s Shelter in the Rain:
The glory of the succah is bound up in its ironic protection. While its temporary feature lends credence to its Eternal message, it is the roof of the structure which speaks an even deeper mystery.
Having a thatched feature, one in which branches of trees are used, allows the refugee to gaze through its seams and witness the heavens. Yet, it is the unsealed covering which enables the rain to descend upon the people below. Though some, may perceive this as a terrible inconvenience, the rain, itself, precipitates the expectancy of the feast. In Job 36:27-29, we are told of a more perfect covering, viz.
“For He makes small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapor thereof:
Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly. Also can any understand the
spreading of the clouds, or the noise of His tabernacle? Behold, He spreads his light upon it...”
Speaking in mystery of that ultimate restoration of which His Glory acts as the firmament of Genesis 1:7,
“And Elohim made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament...And Elohim called the firmament Heaven.”
It is on Sukkot when traditional prayers begin for the latter rains as the pilgrimage of the nations is mandated in the Messianic Age. Joel 2:23-28 and Proverbs 16:15 speak of this ultimate restoration:
“Be glad then, ye children of Tzion, and rejoice in YHVH your Elohim...He will cause to
come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain... the fats shall overflow
with wine and oil...I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten...And it shall
come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh.”
and,  “In the light of the king's countenance is life;

and His favor is as a cloud of the latter rain.”