In today’s installment, I will be putting out to you what I have elected to call ten things Yehovah says in His Word that every Netsari, disciple of Yeshua Messiah, must do for Sukkot/Tabernacles.

 

Now, some of you will be acutely aware of many of these things that I will discuss with you here today. And, of course, there will be some of you who will find these Sukkot requirements to be new to you.

 

It doesn’t matter whether or not we are aware of these ten requirements for Sukkot. What does matter, beloved, is that we do them to the best of our abilities and understanding. Head knowledge is great, and to an extent, knowledge of Yehovah and His Ways is admirable (Hosea 6:6). But Yah also demands of His chosen ones their loving obedience to His instructions in righteousness (Romans 1:5).

 

The problem plaguing a large segment of our Faith Community, I’m afraid, is that we have a lot of knowledge about the ways and things of our Elohim. But like our wayward Jewish cousins, we find ways and excuses for not doing what Yah requires of us.

 

A condition of our covenant relationship with the Almighty is that we obey His voice and keep His covenant (Exodus/Shemote 19:5). And this is the crux of my teaching here today: That we identify and understand the things that Abba Yah has instructed us regarding Sukkot, and that we do them to the best of our abilities and understanding (2 Timothy 2:15).

 

That being said, beloved, I pray that none of us be offended by any of the ten things regarding Sukkot that we will discuss today. But instead, I pray that each of us is at a place in our walk-in Messiah where we can put on our big boy-big girl breeches, boldly hear and read the Truth, seek Abba Yah’s leading on each, and do what Yah expects us to do.

 

So, with that, let’s get into Yah’s Word today and learn and do that which Yah commands us to do for Sukkot/the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

I have drawn each of these 10 points from Abba-Yah’s eternal Word, which I will annotate and read for you so that you can conduct your own Berean-style study to determine whether the things I’m saying here in this teaching are so.

 

Unless otherwise specified, I will be using The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009) as the basis for each point.

 

Le 23:33–44.

 

34 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, saying, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh new moon is the Festival of Sukkot for seven days to יהוה.

 

Do #1—Know the dates and days of Sukkot/The Feast of Tabernacles 2023. Failure to know which day this 8-day Feast begins is essentially negligent and will lead to the Netzer’s disobedience to Yah’s Torah.

 

35’On the first day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.

 

Do #2—Plan on participating in a set-apart gathering of some sort on the first day of the 8-day celebration of Sukkot.

 

Don’t #1–Do no manual or servile work on the first day of the 8-day celebration/Feast of Tabernacles. It is essentially the equivalent of a weekly Sabbath.

 

36’For seven days you bring an offering made by fire to יהוה. On the eighth day there shall be a set-apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה. It is a closing festival, you do no servile work.

 

Do #3–Prepare some form of offering unto Yehovah for the period of the 8-day Feast. Since there is no operating Temple in Yerushalayim and no Levitical Priesthood operating at the Temple in Yerushalayim, we cannot render unto Yehovah burnt offerings. Regardless, the spirit of this instruction remains intact. It falls to Yah’s set-apart people to prepare and give some form of offering unto Yehovah during the week of the Feast. Most people who celebrate the Feast with an assembly or fellowship will give a financial gift or offering to the group hosting or putting on the Feast they’re attending. Those who, for whatever reason, cannot or are not attending a feast site with an assembly or fellowship may send financial offerings or gifts to a ministry that feeds them throughout the year.

 

Scripture teaches that our worship and spiritual offerings unto Yah may take the form of praises unto Yehovah, which is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to Yah’s Name (Hebrews 13:15). Our rejoicing and thanksgiving may be another form of sacrificial offerings unto Yehovah (Psalm 116:17). Consequently, such offerings should not nullify our giving of financial gifts and offerings unto those ministries that provide us spiritual nourishment.

 

Do #4—Plan on participating in a set-apart gathering of some sort on the final day of the 8-day celebration of Sukkot. This day is known as Shemini Atzeret.

 

Don’t #2—Do no manual or servile work on the first day of the 8-day celebration of Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles. It is essentially the equivalent of a weekly Sabbath.

 

 

37’These are the appointed times of יהוה which you proclaim as set-apart gatherings…

 

Do #5—We are commanded to proclaim this time of the year as a set-apart gathering–that is as a “qara kodesh miqra. In other words, this Feast must be treated by us for what it is: a holy convocation, a set-apart assembly, a set-apart time unto Yehovah. We are not to take this weeklong celebration lightly, nor treat it as any other secular celebratory occasion. It must be esteemed in our hearts, within our families, among our friends and co-workers, and acquaintances. People should know that this is a special time of the year for us. It should be an identifier of our way of life. I remember when I was working, my bosses and co-workers knew that I put in for vacation time during this time each year. They may not have understood what I was doing when I took this time off each year, but they knew that it was extremely important to me and they, for the most part, respected it.

 

 

39’On the fifteenth day of the seventh new moon, when you gather in the fruit of the land, celebrate the festival of יהוה for seven days.

 

Do #6—We are obliged to make plans to attend Sukkot in advance and make sure we attend it. It’s one thing to know when Sukkot is and what the Feast entails, but it’s an entirely different thing to follow through and attend the Feast in Spirit and in Truth.

 

If you keep the observational calendar this year as we do, the first day of Sukkot 2023 will begin at sundown on Sabbath, 9/30/2023, and conclude at sundown on S-nday, 10/8/2023.

 

For you who keep the calculated Jewish calendar, the first day of the Feast will begin at sundown this F-iday, 9/29/2023, and conclude at sundown on Sabbath, 10/7/2023.

 

Attending Sukkot is not a simple task. Depending on where we plan on attending and what group we plan on celebrating the Feast with, the logistics of attending Sukkot can be challenging some years. But it is a joyous challenge when the disciple of Yeshua realizes and walks in the joy of the beloved Faith and knows what the Feast is all about. They plan their attendance and celebration with joyous anticipation of great blessings and amazing fellowship that will flow out of their participation and engagement.

 

Like our ancient Hebrew predecessors, the days leading up to the Sukkot can be hectic and challenging. Back in the day, our ancient Hebrew cousins had to complete the entire harvesting process, store, prepare their family, pack up, and hit the road for Jerusalem in time for Day 1 of the Feast. Likewise, whatever vocation or daily activities define our day-to-day lives must be completed, our families gathered, packed, and our homes secured so that we may hit the road and securely leave our daily lives behind.

 

You see, beloved, Yehovah wants His elect ones to be at the place He has chosen to celebrate and keep His Feast at the appointed time, without any encumbrances of their everyday life to dampen their joyous celebration. These are His set-apart days, not ours. We are His guests, and He doesn’t want us worrying about things back home. He wants us to focus on Him and one another during this week of joy and celebration.

 

Furthermore, He wants us to attend this sacred gathering for the entire length of the celebration, not piecemeal it as many do. This is why planning for Sukkot each year as early as possible is essential.

 

40’And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of good trees, branches of palm trees, twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall rejoice before יהוה your Elohim for seven days.

 

Do #7—In preparation for our keeping of Sukkot, Yah instructs us to gather for ourselves fruit, branches from palm trees, twigs of leafy trees, willows of streams, and rejoice before Yehovah for the 7-days of the Feast.

 

Yah does not tell us what fruit, what types of palm branches, twigs from trees, or willows to gather. I believe He purposely left those choices up to us to decide.

 

I’ve read this verse every year for the last two decades of my time in this beloved Faith of ours. And it wasn’t until this year that I became convicted that I had not been keeping this commandment that is tied to Sukkot. For whatever reason, I’ve never kept this instruction. I’ve repented from this transgression, and I will have these items with us when we begin our celebration of Sukkot this year. And I encourage you all to do the same.

 

Orthodox Jewish tradition attempts to fulfill this instruction through the religious Jew purchasing and rejoicing with what are called “etrogs” (a citrus fruit akin to a lemon) and “lulavs.” These symbolic gestures by our Jewish cousins are, for all intents and purposes, rabbinic traditions that the rabbis have asserted are necessary to fulfill this commandment. Many within our Faith community will follow suit and purchase these items and parade about their assembly gathering with them. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as one doesn’t follow suit to satisfy the rabbis’ instructions. We are called to follow the commandments of Yehovah, not the dictates of the sages. Jewish traditions are all well and good until they become elevated to the level of Torah instructions. And this is why it behooves us always to assess why we do what we do as we keep and celebrate Yah’s Feasts each year.

 

41’And you shall celebrate it as a festival to יהוה for seven days in the year—a law forever in your generations. Celebrate it in the seventh new moon.

 

Do #8—As alluded to earlier, Yehovah expects the disciple of Yeshua to keep Sukkot for the entirety of the 8-day celebration. I realize that this verse says we are to keep Sukkot for 7-days, but we saw earlier that the 8th day of Sukkot is, in fact, a set-apart, convocational, no-servile work day that is attached to the very end of the weeklong celebration.

 

Many brethren feel that because the first and eighth days of Sukkot are no-work, set-apart days, they are free to do whatever they want for the intervening six days. Indeed, Yah gave no prohibitions for those six intervening days of Sukkot. However, He does say right here in this verse that we are to celebrate Sukkot for seven days. Therefore, if we find problems justifying keeping these six intervening days for whatever reason (e.g., we have to work; we want to spend those days goofing off or doing what we want to do), we must take it up with Yehovah. After all, these are His set-apart days, not ours.

 

I get that life often gets in the way of our keeping the Feasts of Yehovah as maybe we’d like to or the way that we believe Yah would have us do it. And when life gets in the way, we need to do at least two things: (1) Take the matter up with Yehovah; tell Him our problem, which He already knows, He just wants to see if you’ll bring to His throne of mercy and lay the matter at His feet. (2) Plan to keep the Feast in Spirit and in Truth each biblical calendar year, which means, if we work for a living, to put in for the time off ahead of time. Granted, many of us work jobs that grant us only so much time in a calendar year to take off as vacation time. Well, when we give ourselves over to Yeshua as one of His disciples, the things we used to hold dearly in life may have to be tossed to the side, such as family vacations. For instance, family vacations to the beach or visiting family in the Hamptons might need to be replaced with the attending of Sukkot and the keeping of the other set-apart days.

 

Our keeping of the Feasts of the LORD are non-negotiable elements of our covenant relationship with Yehovah, including our keeping of Sukkot. And that’s because these set-apart days belong to Yah, not to us.

 

So important are these days to Yehovah our Elohim, especially Sukkot, that the following will happen to the nations who don’t keep this Feast:

 

16And it shall be that all who are left from all the nations which came up against Yerushalayim, shall go up from year to year to bow themselves to the Sovereign, יהוה of hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot.

17And it shall be, that if anyone of the clans of the earth does not come up to Yerushalayim to bow himself to the Sovereign, יהוה of hosts, on them there is to be no rain.

18And if the clan of Mitsrayim does not come up and enter in, then there is no rain. On them is the plague with which יהוה plagues the nations who do not come up to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot.

The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Zec 14:16–18.

 

My point here is not to create any unnecessary stress or turmoil in your life but to inform you what thus saith Yehovah from His Word. I would be remiss and I would be held accountable to Yehovah if I did not tell you that you are obligated to keep the Feast of Yehovah in accordance with His instructions and to do so in Spirit and in Truth. So, please hear me and do what is required of us. And again, if situations make keeping Yah’s Feasts impossible for you, take it to Yehovah in earnest and heartfelt prayer. He knows what you’re going through, and He will work everything out for you. I promise. He might not work these things out in accordance with your expectations and timeframe, but He will work your problems out.

 

42’Dwell in booths for seven days; all who are native born in Yisra’ěl dwell in booths,

 

Do #9—We are commanded to dwell in booths for the seven days of Sukkot.

 

This commandment states that native-born Yisra’elites are required to dwell in booths throughout the duration of Sukkot. And the question must be asked: What constitutes a native-born Yisra’elite? There are no tricks attached to this verse. A native Yisra’elite is a natural-born citizen of Israel, even a biological descendant of Ya’achov or Jacob (whose name was changed to Yisra’el by Yehovah–Genesis/Beresheit 32:28) who is of the Land of Promise. And so, most would conclude that this mandate to dwell in booths for the duration of Sukkot applies only to our Jewish cousins residing in the Land of Yisra’el. Yah does mandate the native-born Yisra’elite dwell in booths during the eight-day celebration of Sukkot:

 

43so that your generations know that I made the children of Yisra’ěl dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim.

 

Thus, Yah established a memorial for our Hebrew brethren as a reminder of their ancestors’ Exodus journey.

 

But what about us, who are not biological or converted, religious Jews residing in the Land of Promise? Are we required to dwell in booths during the eight days of Sukkot? And my answer to that question is yes and no. In fact, more yes than no. And I have a couple of reasons for my answer.

 

In terms of my yes answer: If we are disciples of Yeshua Messiah, we naturally identify as Nazarene Yisra’elites. In Romans 11, the Apostle details how we came into this beloved Faith of ours as wild olive branches (that is, we were foreign to Yehovah and His Ways) that have been grafted into the commonwealth (i.e., the cultivated olive tree) of Yisra’el, whereby we partake of the root and fatness of that cultivated olive tree which is true, remnant Yisra’el (11:16). Thus, being grafted into the commonwealth of true, remnant Yisra’el, we are every bit a native Yisra’elite (absent physically dwelling in the Land) as even the most hardcore believing, biological or converted Jewish citizen residing in the nation-state of Yisra’el. We are of Yisra’el, which means that Yah would technically require us to dwell in booths for the duration of Sukkot.

 

We’ve kept the Spirit of the True commandment to dwell in a temporary abode, be it a hotel or someone’s home near our feast site, instead of staying in an actual Sukkah in the great outdoors. We know, as I’m sure you know as well, of brethren who do erect a sukkah and dwell in it throughout the 8-day Feast, while others come close to the sukkah thing by dwelling in tents and other camping-type arrangements that are local to their feast site.

 

I would like to see our family eventually graduate to more of a camping-type, sukkah-like set-up in the coming years, as I seek, with my family, to obey Yah’s instructions in Torah through Yeshua Messiah as our guide to the full extent of my understanding and ability.

 

In terms of my no answer: We cannot keep the Feast of Yehovah as presented to us in our bibles. But Yeshua told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well: 23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship Him. 24 “Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.” The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Jn 4:23–24. We New Covenant believers keep Yah’s instructions in righteousness in the Spirit in which Yah intended them to be kept while ensuring that we guard and obey each and every Word to the best of our ability and understanding. Yah’s Spirit dwells within His chosen ones, and Yah’s Spirit works within us to help us worship the Father as He would have us worship Him. So, we dwell in booths, temporary dwellings, for the duration of Sukkot as a memorial of our ancient forefathers cousins dwelling in booths and tents during their Exodus out of Egypt and during their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness.

 

Now, some define “booths” as the tents they dwell in at Sukkot gatherings or at a campsite. Others, such as we have done for the past two decades, define “booths” as places that are not our homes, such as hotels and other temporary lodging facilities. And still, others take this commandment literally, which I believe is the best and most accurate way to keep this commandment, and they build a sukkah and occupy that sukkah throughout the week of the Feast.

 

An ancient sukkah was a flimsy structure made of various natural materials such as boughs of trees (Jonah 4:5). As stated, it was meant to serve as a temporary shelter from the elements. Scripture tells us that sukkot were erected to shelter cattle (Genesis/Beresheit 33:17); and as shacks for watchmen of a city or town (Job 27:18; Isaiah 1:8; 24:20). In the nation of Yisra’el, and in various Jewish communities throughout the world, religious Jews erect actual sukkahs to dwell in during the Feast of Tabernacles. Some of these structures are quite modest, offering only a few conveniences of modern living. These are simply flimsy, rectangular structures with tree branch boughs for roofs, maybe plastic or lattice framework to keep the structure erect, and maybe even plastic sheeting for the structure’s walls. Other sukkahs are quite elaborate, firm in their integrity, and contain modern conveniences such as electricity, lighting, fans, tables, chairs, and so forth.

 

The point is that we want to please Yehovah in all that we do for Him. And so, out of obedience to Him and His instructions, we are compelled to dwell in a sukkah, be it an allegorical sukkah or an actual one, all out of obedience to the Faith and the spirit of the Feast requirement.

 

10And Mosheh commanded them, saying, “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time, the year of release, at the Festival of Sukkot, 11when all Yisra’ěl comes to appear before יהוה your Elohim in the place which He chooses, read this Torah before all Yisra’ěl in their hearing. 12 “Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your sojourner who is within your gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn to fear יהוה your Elohim and guard to do all the Words of this Torah. 13 “And their children, who have not known it, should hear and learn to fear יהוה your Elohim as long as you live in the land you are passing over the Yarděn to possess.”

The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Dt 31:10–13.

 

Do #10—We read the Torah during Sukkot.

 

This instruction is rarely followed by Yah’s set-apart people at Sukkot. And I guess the reason for that is that most of us get caught up with this commandment being tied to the Sabbatical Year or the Shemittah and Jubilee years. And given that the Shemittah and Jubilee are connected exclusively to the Land of Yisra’el and that no one truly knows when the Shemittah or the Jubilee is since it has been lost to antiquity, most feel that any such instructions are null and void.

 

But since we worship Yehovah in Spirit and in Truth, especially during His moedim–His set-apart days, Yah’s original intent behind this instruction must be understood and kept to the best of our abilities and understanding.

 

Yah saw the Feast of Tabernacles as a prime opportunity, having their full attention for eight days, to learn to fear Him and to guard/keep/honor His Word. Sukkot also offered a tremendous opportunity to expose our children to Torah.

 

Undertaking such a task is a challenging feat. Reading the entire Torah takes several hours, and depending on the set-up of each Sukkot gathering, reading the whole Torah may be difficult if not challenging, at best. But if we, who are called by His Name, take Yah’s feasts seriously and we want to please and obey Him, we can find a way to do. It’s just a question of how badly we want to keep Sukkot in Spirit and in Truth.

 

The returning Jewish Babylonian Captives came across this passage in their refamiliarization with Torah through Ezra the Scribe. Their story is quite compelling, and it is as follows:

 

14And they found written in the Torah, which יהוה had commanded by Mosheh, that the children of Yisra’ěl should dwell in booths in the festival of the seventh new moon,

15and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Yerushalayim, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

16So the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the House of Elohim, and in the open space of the Water Gate and in the open space of the Gate of Ephrayim.

17And the entire assembly of those who had come back from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths, for since the days of Yěshua son of Nun until that day the children of Yisra’ěl had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.

18And day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Torah of Elohim. And they performed the festival seven days. And on the eighth day there was an assembly, according to the right-ruling.

 

The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Ne 8:14–18.