Sukkot

Sukkot is one of the biblically Appointed Times set apart by God.

Many times in our lives, we put our hopes and faith in things that give us security such as careers, finances, the stock market, and insurance. These things, however, do not last and many times we are disappointed and even discouraged. We convince ourselves that we are secure and nothing can shake us; but in reality, we are very vulnerable, very unprotected, and very weak.

Yeshua is the only one that can provide protection. He is the only one that can provide a shelter that no one can break down and no one can move. We have a covering that is forever, a covering that gives us eternal security and lasting shalom. God wants us to remember during sukkot that we are vulnerable without Him in our lives. By temporarily building a sukkah to live in for seven days, we are reminded that we are open and exposed to hurt, bad experiences, tribulation, sickness, being lost, and emotional pain. We also learn during Sukkot that tribulations in our lives are also temporary. Even though they seem to last a long time, it will eventually pass. Yeshua puts an end to uncertainty, to wandering, to fear, and provides love and protection. He is a shelter in time of trouble, a shelter that never fails, a shelter that lasts for eternity. With Yeshua by our side, we are victorious.

Why Celebrate Sukkot?

It is a commandment. He made the appointment.

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 says, “¹³ You are to keep the festival of Sukkot for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing-floor and winepress. ¹⁴ Rejoice at your festival – you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, the L’vi’im, and the foreigners, orphans and widows living among you. ¹⁵ Seven days you are to keep the festival for ADONAI your God in the place ADONAI your God will choose, because ADONAI your God will bless you in all your crops and in all your work, so you are to be full of joy!” CJB

Why Build a Sukkah?

It is a commandment.

Leviticus 23:39-43 “³⁹ “‘But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of Adonai seven days; the first day is to be a complete rest and the eighth day is to be a complete rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of Adonai your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You are to observe it as a feast to Adonai seven days in the year; it is a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh month. ⁴² You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra’el is to live in a sukkah, ⁴³ so that generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra’el live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.’” CJB

Nehemiah 8:13-18 “¹³ On the second day, the heads of fathers’ clans of all the people assembled with the cohanim and L’vi’im before ‘Ezra the Torah-teacher to study the words of the Torah. ¹⁴ They found written in the Torah that Adonai had ordered through Moshe that the people of Isra’el were to live in sukkot during the feast of the seventh month; ¹⁵ and that they were to announce and pass the word in all their cities and in Yerushalayim, “Go out to the mountains, and collect branches of olives, wild olives, myrtles, palms, and other leafy trees to make sukkot, as prescribed.” ¹⁶ So the people went out, brought them and made sukkot for themselves, each one on the roof of his house, also in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the open space by the Water Gate and in the open space by the Efrayim Gate. ¹⁷ The entire community of those who had returned from the exile made sukkot and lived in the sukkot, for the people of Isra’el had not done this since the days of Yeshua the son of Nun. So there was very great joy. ¹⁸ Also they read every day, from the first day until the last day, in the scroll of the Torah of God. They kept the feast for seven days; then on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.” CJB

Therefore, the next time Sukkot comes around, consider making your sukkah saying “Yes!” to His appointed invitation.