Let’s Party

“Hot on the heels of Yom Kippur [comes] next in a series of autumn Jewish holidays, Sukkot. After an entire month or more of soul searching, introspection, fasting, begging forgiveness, it’s time to party.” (Barbara Barnett)

“Later in the year at the end of the harvest, after you’ve finished threshing all your grain and making all your wine celebrate the Feast of Shelters for seven days.[i]Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your city.

Celebrate for seven days in honor of the Eternal your God, in the place the Eternal will choose. The Eternal your God will bless you with abundant produce; He will bless everything you do, and you’ll have a lot to celebrate.” (Deuteronomy 16:13-15, VOICE)

The Feast of Shelters [ii] is similar to the Lord’s Supper because…

1.   It reminds us of our Heavenly Father’s consistent provisions for His children in the past.

“Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. (Matthew 6:31-32, ERV)

“We can be certain that God will give us the strength and resources we need to live through any situation in life that he ordains. The will of God will never take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.” (Billy Graham)

2.   It reveals our Heavenly Father’s plan for our abundant life for His children in the present.

“You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.” (Psalm 16:11, CSB)

“God’s purpose gives life meaning.” (Woodrow Kroll)

3.   It reconnects us with our Heavenly Father’s destination for us in the future: Heaven.

“My Father’s home is designed to accommodate all of you. If there were not room for everyone, I would have told you that. I am going to make arrangements for your arrival.” (John 14:2, VOICE)

“Heaven will be the perfection we've always longed for. All the things that made Earth unlovely and tragic will be absent in Heaven.”    (Billy Graham)

 

“Judaism places a big emphasis on happiness. In fact, the holiday of Sukkot is centered [on] the concept of happiness. No wonder it is called “the time of our joy,” a time where we are supposed to be filled with happiness and thanksgiving.” (Rabbi Eliyahu Heller)[iii]

 

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[i] The Israelites are to make temporary shelters and live in them for a week to remember how they lived in temporary shelters when they left Egypt.

 

[ii] This feast is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths, or today as the Festival of Sukkot.

 

[iii] Inspired by the sermon “Fantastic Feasts: Our Shelter” (Installment three, final, part two) Sunday, September 24, 2017 Pastor Dave Jansen CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH.