Sukkot – Part one, explored the Feast of Tabernacles, a feast referred to throughout the Old Testament (Exodus 23:16, Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:34-43; Numbers 29:12-40; Deuteronomy 16:13-15; Ezra 3:4; Nehemiah 8:13-18). Because Tabernacles was the last of the seven Feasts of God, it completed the religious season. As the number seven in the Bible represents completion, this feast emphasizes the completed/finished work of God. However, this 7-day feast had an additional day, an 8th day, called Shemini Atzeret, on which rest from work was paramount. The number eight represents a ‘new beginning’ and we will see how this fits into our beautiful promised future.
Tabernacles commemorates when the Israelites lived in tents (sukkot) and were provided for by God, who dwelt among them in the 40-year wilderness trek. It also celebrates a future time when God will again tabernacle with us on earth, when Jesus returns to renew all things as we enter the Millennial Kingdom. This forward look was represented in the booths construction, with partially opened roofs so that they could see into the heavens. Such a view was to remind the Jewish people that they were pilgrims passing through this life. In doing so, a beautiful message from God is conveyed that He has an even greater rest for them in the future, when He would come and live among them permanently. This promise was clung to by Abraham (Hebrews11:8-10) and will be fulfilled by our Messiah Jesus. When we gaze at the stars, may such thoughts of promises permeate our hearts and minds, strengthening our hope and resolve.
In part two of our study on Sukkot, the lens zooms in on a specific custom that was very popular during the second Temple period, the water ceremony. Also called the rite of water libation, this ceremony was a man-made custom that is no longer observed today as there is no Temple. Every day for seven days, a priest would ascend the ramp leading to the bronze altar located in the Temple Court, and pour a pitcher full of water into a bowl that drained into the altar. The significant aspects of this ceremony was the place from where the water was drawn, and the spiritual meaning applied to the ceremony.
The water was taken from a fresh spring just to the east of the city of Jerusalem called the Spring of Gihon that flows through the Kidron valley. It was here that David’s son, Solomon, was anointed king of Israel (1 Kings 1:45). Sometime during his reign (~715 – 686 BC), King Hezekiah redirected the water of the Gihon into the city, through a long underground conduit called Hezekiah’s Tunnel (2 Chronicles 32:30). This tunnel can be seen in Jerusalem today.
As a result of Hezekiah’s redirecting project, within the walls of Jerusalem, the waters of Gihon flowed into a collection area called the Pool of Siloam. The water was fresh, not stagnant, and able to give and sustain life. The Pool of Siloam is where Jesus sent a man, blind from birth, to wash off the mud He had applied to the man’s eyes. After washing in the pool, the man received his sight (John 9:6–7).
Pool of Siloam, Jerusalem, Israel; Colston, 2017
The name Siloam is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Shiloah, which comes from the Hebrew verb shalah, meaning ‘to send’ or ‘sent.’ The Pool of Siloam not only held historical significance, but in Jewish tradition had a strong prophetic implication. First, the Scriptures speak of a time when water will be poured “on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground,” God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (Isaiah 44:3). Because the waters of Siloam were used to anoint the kings of the house of David, and that anointing was symbolic of the Holy Spirit coming upon an individual (1 Samuel 16:13), the living waters of Siloam became associated with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Second, this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is to take place during the days of the Messiah, the Anointed One, a descendant of King David, through whom salvation will come to Israel. Based on Isaiah 12:2-3, the Pool of Siloam became known as the “well of salvation” and was associated with the messianic age. Putting that all together, to the Jewish people of the second Temple era, pouring water, dipped from the Pool of Siloam, on the altar at the Feast of Tabernacles was symbolic of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the people during the days of the Messiah.
The water ceremony was therefore a jubilant occasion. The Mishnah (written collection of Jewish oral traditions) states, “He that never has seen the joy of the [ceremony of the water drawing] has never in his life seen joy” (Sukkah 5.1). As the ceremony took place and went into the evening, there was music and singing by the Levites and dancing with singing by the people in front of the lighted 75-foot tall candlesticks (another messianic reference as Jesus is Light of the World; John 8:12). As the ceremony progressed through the night, the priests blew the shofar three times. In the manner of joy described in Isaiah 12:3 the evening was characterized by exuberant exhilaration. It was a wonderful occasion that no one wanted to miss (click to see an artist’s rendition).
Understanding this context helps me to envision what a remarkable and joyous celebration this ceremony was, leading up to a crescendo on the last night of the feast. Now cue in Jesus, the fulfillment of this feast, who took the implication of the water ceremony to a whole new level! The Gospel of John informs us that Jesus observed this feast. At the time of Jesus’ ministry, Israel was spiritually baron and the Jewish people were suffocating under ruthless oppression of Rome. They were looking for a military messiah; Jesus clearly did not fit that bill. Also at that time, God’s Shekinah glory was no longer in the Holy of Holies. The Temple, like the spiritual condition of Israel, was empty and dry. The water ceremony on that last day of the feast was not just a plea for physical rain for the next harvest cycle, but a desperate and heartfelt cry that God would pour out His Spirit – the living water they longed for, or what I refer to as the ultimate harvest!
On the last day of the feast, the climax of the entire week, at the very height of this ceremony when the celebration was at a feverish pitch of singing, dancing, shouting out to God, Jesus made one of His greatest proclamations:
“… Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone
John 7:37-38
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
What an abounding and patient love He has for us. Numerous times I have closed my eyes, trying to imagine the sites and sounds of this incredible scene. Jesus did not merely speak this softly to those who were near Him. He wanted everyone to hear…He desires salvation for us all! The Apostle John points out that Jesus stood (perhaps from an elevated location where He could be seen) and He ‘cried’ or shouted this proclamation so that all could hear the good news. The stunned crowd did hear, and they knew exactly what He meant (John 7:40-44). To the first-century Jewish mind, pouring the water on the altar at the Feast of Tabernacles symbolized the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the days of the Messiah. Jesus was therefore declaring that He was the Messiah, and everyone who would believe in Him would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the “living water.”
Yeshua, Jesus, the name which means ‘salvation’, was telling them the solution to their spiritual drought is found in Him – the true water of life. I pray these words do justice to what that scene would have been like. Praise God for His Spirit-breathed words of Scripture that preserves these truths for us. What a comfort knowing that the Feast of Tabernacles looks to a future time when God will again tabernacle with His people on earth, not just Jewish believers, but all of us…the bride of Christ (Revelation 21:3-4). Jesus will celebrate with a great feast – the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) in fulfillment of ‘His Father’s kingdom’ that He longed for.
While many who heard Jesus’ proclamation at the Feast of Tabernacles believed in Him, He was rejected by the religious establishment. The result has been 2000 years of restless wandering by, and horrific atrocities committed against, the Jewish people. Satan knows God’s plan but not the timing, therefore the enemy of our souls has relentlessly tried to annihilate God’s chosen people, arrogantly and foolishly thinking he can thwart God’s plans. God promised that this will change and it has already begun. We are living in exciting times my friends.
God is faithful. We have a blessed future promise on earth for the 1000-year reign of Jesus, the Millennial Kingdom. Yet, that is not the final rest that God has in store for us. Remember that 8th day of Tabernacles, Shemini Atzeret? This is the day that connects to the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1-6). Eternity will be with God in our midst, the final rest we are longing for as we endure the trials of this fallen and dark world (Revelation 22:1-5).
While we wait, may we embrace the rest He offers us now. Let us not seek things from Jesus rather than Jesus Himself. He is our portion; He is our blessing. He is our current rest if we allow Him to fully dwell in us as Lord and Savior. Hold tightly to God’s promise to tabernacle with us, for His Shekinah glory, to be in the divine presence of our precious, victorious, Living Water, Light of the World, Adonai Yeshua. He will again dwell among us. What could possibly compare to the glorious riches that are found in Jesus, the Son of God (Philippians 4:19)? The answer to this rhetorical question is absolutely nothing!
