Leviticus
23:34-43
Speak unto the children of Israel,
saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of
tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
On the first day shall be an holy
convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Seven days ye shall offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy
convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the
Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
These are the feasts of the Lord,
which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by
fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and
drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
Beside the sabbaths of the Lord,
and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill
offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.
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 the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the
eighth day shall be a sabbath.
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 the Lord your God
seven days.
And ye shall keep it a feast unto
the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your
generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
Ye shall dwell in booths seven
days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
That your generations may know that
I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of
the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
a. The Feast of Tabernacles was one of the three
“pilgrim feasts”, (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles). They were referred to
those names because during the Feasts Israel was required to come to Jerusalem
to celebrate them.
1). Exodus 23:14-17 Three times thou shalt keep a feast
unto me in the year.
Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: thou
shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time
appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none
shall appear before me empty: (Passover)
And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy
labours, which thou hast sown in the field (Pentecost) and the feast of
ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy
labours out of the field.(Tabernacles)
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear
before the Lord God.
b. During the feast of Tabernacles there were a
particular set of sacrifices to be offered during the certain eight days.
1). Numbers 29:12-39 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 the Lord seven days:
13 And ye shall offer a burnt offering,
a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; thirteen young
bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without
blemish:
14 And their meat offering shall be of
flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen
bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams,
15 And a several tenth deal to each lamb
of the fourteen lambs:
16 And one kid of the goats for a sin
offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink
offering.
17 And on the second day ye shall offer
twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:
18 And their meat offering and their
drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be
according to their number, after the manner:
19 And one kid of the goats for a sin
offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering thereof,
and their drink offerings.
20 And on the third day eleven bullocks,
two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish;
21 And their meat offering and their
drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be
according to their number, after the manner:
22 And one goat for a sin offering;
beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink
offering.
23 And on the fourth day ten bullocks,
two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:
24 Their meat offering and their drink
offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according
to their number, after the manner:
25 And one kid of the goats for a sin
offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink
offering.
26 And on the fifth day nine bullocks,
two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:
27 And their meat offering and their
drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be
according to their number, after the manner:
28 And one goat for a sin offering;
beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink
offering.
29 And on the sixth day eight bullocks,
two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:
30 And their meat offering and their
drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be
according to their number, after the manner:
31 And one goat for a sin offering;
beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.
32 And on the seventh day seven
bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:
33 And their meat offering and their
drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be
according to their number, after the manner:
34 And one goat for a sin offering;
beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.
35 On the eighth day ye shall have a
solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
36 But ye shall offer a burnt offering,
a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord: one bullock, one
ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish:
37 Their meat offering and their drink
offerings for the bullock, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according
to their number, after the manner:
38 And one goat for a sin offering;
beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink
offering.
39 These things ye shall do unto the
Lord in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for
your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink
offerings, and for your peace offerings.
c. During the Feast of Tabernacles and possibly during
the other pilgrim feasts is when the Israelites brought their tithes and
offerings.
1). Deuteronomy 16:16, 17 Three times in a year shall all thy males
appear before the Lord thy God 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 the Lord empty:
Every man shall give as he is able, according to the
blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.
d. It was during the Feast of Tabernacles that Solomon
dedicated the newly built Temple.
1). 1 Kings 8:1-66
2). 2 Chronicles 5:1-7:10
e. The Water Libation Ceremony [The Feasts of the LORD,
Kevin Howard, Marvin Rosenthal, pp.138, 139] “During the Feast of Tabernacles,
the intense anticipation of rain came to be reflected in the Temple Services.
Each morning of Tabernacles, a water libation (sacrificial pouring out of a
liquid) was offered to the Lord as a visual prayer for rain. Shortly after dawn
each morning, while the many sacrifices were being prepared, the high priest was
accompanied by a joyous procession of music and worshippers down to the Pool of
Siloam. The high priest carried a golden pitcher capable of holding a little
more than a quart of water. He carefully dipped the pitcher into the pool and
brought it back to the Temple Mount. At the same time, another procession went
down to a nearby location south of Jerusalem known as Motza where willows of
the brook grew in great abundance. There they gathered the long, thin willows
and brought them back to the Temple. At the Temple, the willows were placed on
the sides of the altar so that their tops formed a canopy of drooping branches
over the altar. Meanwhile, the high priest with the water from the Pool of
Siloam had reached the southern gate of the Temple. It was known as the Water
Gate because of this ceremony. As he entered, three blasts of the silver
trumpets sounded from the Temple, and the priests with one voice repeated the
words from Isaiah, “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of
salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). The high priest slowly proceeded to the great stone
altar in the Inner Court of the Temple and ascended the right side of the ramp.
At the peak, he turned to the left where there were two silver basins which
drained to the base of the altar. One was reserved for the regular drink
offerings (libations of wine) and one for the water libations during this feast.
As the high priest raised the golden pitcher to pour the water offering, the
people shouted, “Raise your hand!” In response, the high priest lifted his hand
higher and poured, allowing the people to verify his action… As the high priest
poured out the water libation before the Lord, a drink offering of wine was
simultaneously poured into the other basin. Three blasts of the silver trumpets
immediately followed the pouring and signaled the start of the Temple music.
The people listened as a choir of Levites sang the Hallel (i.e., the praise
Psfalms 113-118). At the proper time, the congregation waved their palm
branches toward the altar and joined in the singing: “Save now, I pray, O LORD;
O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity” (Psalm 118:25). At the same time the
priests, with palm branches in hand, marched around the altar…The custom of
carrying branches and singing psalms during the Feast of Tabernacles is of ancient
origin. It dates back at least to the time of Maccabees, some 165 years before
Christ (Cf. 2 Maccabees 10:6, 7). The water-drawing ceremony is also form
antiquity. Although debate exists as to whether Isaiah alluded to the
water-drawing ceremony (Isaiah 12:3) or the ceremony was derived from the words
of Isaiah, it is known that the ceremony was in use at least 100 years before
the time of Jesus.”
f. Jesus celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. The whole
of John 7 loosely focuses on the debates among the Jewish leaders and the
people concerning Jesus, whether he was the Messiah or not.
g. It was on the last day of the feast and scholars
believe during the great Water Libation Ceremony that Jesus cried out the words
of John 7:37, 38.
1). John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me,
and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that
believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because
that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
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