The Biblical Calendar and Sukkot, the Festival of Shelters

<p>To begin with, these events were to be remembered symbolically by living in <i>sukkot</i> for a week once a year to remind them of those desert wanderings and the provision of God. The sukkot or shelters served as a reminder, not only of the shelters they lived in during that time, but of the shelter and protection of God during the desert wanderings.</p><p>Additional symbols of this week include the command to rejoice in that which God has provided. This is a harvest festival after all, sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering.</p><p>Along with celebration in the provision of God is the theme of rest, with the first and last days being Sabbaths, or days of rest. The rest after a great harvest provides a deep sense of satisfaction and joy, as it is the completion of all of the hard work that has occurred throughout the spring and summer months. </p><p>Each day was also to have an offering made by fire, which as we have seen in other studies as being representative of complete consummation in service to God. Even through the rejoicing in the hard physical work which has been completed, there was always to be a remembrance of who was ultimately responsible for their bounty, and their undivided devotion to his purposes.</p><p>Besides the celebratory aspect of the waving of the branches, this command in Leviticus comes on the heels of the previous verse which states to celebrate the holiday “for seven days <strong>after you have gathered the produce of the land,</strong>” (Leviticus 23:39). This produce of the land would naturally include the fruit of the various fruit-producing trees of the land as well.</p><p>Ultimately, Yeshua claims to be the very source of the true branches and fruit in which believers can rejoice for all time:</p><p>John 15:5 – “<strong>I am the vine; you are the branches</strong>. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.</p><p>So if we are to carry the themes of the First Exodus with Moses into this Second Exodus beginning with the