Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
Israel celebrates seven feasts yearly. The first three of the feasts, the spring feasts, have already had their New Covenant fulfillment. Jesus Himself fulfilled them in His death, burial, and resurrection. The summer feast was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell upon the 120 in the upper room.
As one Jewish historian said, “These were four blockbuster events in the covenant history of Israel. From the precedent set by these earlier four feasts we can know for a certainty that the next three feasts, the fall feast will rock our world as well.
They already are rocking our world. The last feast, the Feast of Booths is being celebrated from Wednesday evening October 12 thru Thursday evening October 20. Some Jewish historians refer to this very special time as “the season of our joy”.
For us, at least right now, it is a celebration of the kingdom of heaven coming upon earth (Matt. 4:17). It is a celebration of the open heaven we already have in Christ (Heb. 10:20). It is a time when the Father reminds us of who we are and what we now possess as His children. That is why it is the season of our joy.
Approximately thirty percent of the gospels are about Christ’s activities and sayings that occurred during the Feast of Booths. Jesus did the first of His miraculous signs, turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-12) during the feast. He was glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-13) and gave the message on the Holy Spirit River of living waters (John 7:37-39) during the feast. So even Jesus had unusual spiritual activity during this time.
Some of the ways the Hebrews traditionally celebrated this feast also speaks volumes. During the first seven days of the feast, all of Israel lived in booths outside to show that they were pilgrims, that the earth wasn’t their home. It is a picture of living outside under an open heaven; living from heaven to earth.
And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:51
To me this verse sums up the Feast of Booths for us in this time. Jesus promised us an open heaven and the cross makes it a reality (Luke 23:45). The phrase “most assuredly”in this verse is more literally translated verily, verily. Whenever Jesus used this phrase He was declaring an emphatic truth that should not be questioned because God cannot lie. This has the power to change our lives if we trust Jesus to tell the truth. And the words for “you” in this verse are plural it is literally you all. It wasn’t just for Jesus’ audience of that day. It is for all of us today!
Jesus is telling us He is Jacob’s ladder connecting earth to heaven. The angels going up and coming down shows us that not only will we go to heaven through Him, but we can also bring heaven to earth through Him. This is the Feast of Booths, the season of our joy.
Many Blessings, BW