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As we enter the season of the High Holy Days – 5785 – for the first time in 2,000 years, 100 shofar blasts were made on the Temple Mount. This is a miracle.

Our beloved Yeshua observed the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot/Booths.

After some discussion with His disciples about attending the Feast of Tabernacles, all of them went up to Jerusalem, but separately.

¹ After this, Yeshua travelled around in the Galil,
intentionally avoiding Y’hudah because the Judeans were out to kill him.
² But the festival of Sukkot in Y’hudah was near;
³ so his brothers said to him,
“Leave here and go into Y’hudah,
so that your talmidim can see the miracles you do;
⁴ for no one who wants to become known acts in secret.
If you’re doing these things, show yourself to the world!”
⁵ (His brothers spoke this way because they had not put their trust in him.)
⁶ Yeshua said to them,
“My time has not yet come;
but for you, any time is right.
⁷ The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me,
because I keep telling it how wicked its ways are.
⁸ You, go on up to the festival;
as for me, I am not going up to this festival now,
because the right time for me has not yet come.”
⁹ Having said this, he stayed on in the Galil.
¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone up to the festival,
he too went up, not publicly but in secret.
~ John 7:1-10 (CJB)

In my walk with Yeshua, I have come to understand that the Seven Feasts in the Bible are not what some would call Jewish feasts, but rather the appointed times of the Lord – Moedim. These are special times in the Lord’s calendar when He invites us into what He is saying and doing at that time.

The High Holy Days are a huge subject, but today, I wish to focus on Sukkot. A Sukkah is a temporary dwelling similar to a gazebo, and Sukkot is the plural word. God came to dwell or “tabernacle” amongst us in Yeshua, and He will again “tabernacle” with us during His 1,000-year reign on Earth.

Sukkah Definition

A booth covered with branches: the plural stands for the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles (Levit. xxiii. 42, 43; Deut. xvi. 13).
A temporary dwelling or booth used by practising Jews during Tabernacles (Sukkot).
~ The Century Dictionary

Sukkot (סכות) is the seventh festival on the Lord’s calendar, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles.

Sukkot represented the end of the agricultural year and was followed by Shemini Atzeret. The Hebrew means the eighth day of the solemn assembly. It was a new beginning for the coming harvest. The next day was Simchat Torah, the end of the Torah reading cycle.

It is a time when fellowship with the Lord after Yom Kippur is restored after a time of national repentance.

In Sukkot, we are reminded of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and Solomon’s Temple that came afterwards. All of this comes together to demonstrate the Lord’s presence in the midst of His people.

⁴² You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra’el is to live in a sukkah,
⁴³ so that generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra’el live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.’”
~ Leviticus 23:42,43 (CJB)

It has always been Father God’s desire to have fellowship with His creation like when He walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening.

He was definitely with His people during the wilderness season, even though everything was not ideal.

Yeshua will come again to this world as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and set up His earthly kingdom where we will reign with Him for 1,000 years.  Many of us long to be in a secure place.  The Lord, His presence, is our secure or safe place.

Come near to God, and God will come near to you.
~ James 4:8 (NCV)

This year, Sukkot begins at sundown on 16 October and ends at nightfall on 23 October 2024.

Sukkot is a joyful celebration. It was a celebration of the harvest when they remembered God’s provision for them while they wandered in the desert for 40 years.

Sukkot, together with Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost), are the three pilgrimage holy days where a man was required to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem

There are many observances, but I will list a few:

• Sukkot is celebrated for eight days in Israel and nine days in the diaspora
• It is time to rejoice for God’s provision. (Deuteronomy 16:14-15)
• Charity, Tzedekah, is also a strong focus at this time
• Families and businesses erect Sukkahs, which can look like a tent or a gazebo outside of the main building. It is meant to commemorate how the Israelites lived in the desert. Some are decorated ornately.
• The Lulav is a combination of 4 species, palm, myrtle, willow and etrog. The Lulav is waved before the Lord.
• It is a time when they circle the synagogue, singing and reciting blessings.

The High Holy Days comprise:

• The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah/Rosh Ha Shanah/Jewish New Year), 2-4 October 2024
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), 11-12 October 2024
• Sukkot, 16-23 October 2024, which commemorates the sheltering of the children of Israel in the wilderness.

The Days of Awe, 2-12 October 2024
These 10 days of Tishrei, in Hebrew, are called Aseret Yemi Teshuvah – the 10 days of repentance. It is a time when people reconcile relationships, both with man and with the Lord, in the hope of having one’s name written into the Book of Life.

The Meaning of 5785

There are many commentators who comment on the meaning of 5785 and its prophetic significance. Some are calling this Hebraic year a year of grace, because of the five at the end. In the Bible, five represents the grace of God. In addition to the five at the end, there is also a five at the beginning. Because there are two fives, some are saying five fives are twenty-five, and so grace multiplied by grace is what I am understanding here.

Others talk about the sovereignty or Kingship of the Lord during this year: His rulership. He is not just crowning the year with His goodness, but He is crowning this year with Himself, His stamp of authority. To me, it means God is going to have His way.

In my lifetime as a believer in Yeshua, have seen these seasons before.  After a prolonged time of difficulty and pressure, He comes to visit His people, and many things prayed for and longed for come to fruition and fulfilment during such a time of visitation.

Yet another insight would be to do with the letter HEY –  ה – the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

The Ancient Hebrew pictograph depicts this letter HEY as a figure of a man with his arms raised. It can mean look or behold.

Beyond that pictograph, Jewish tradition mentions that HEY can represent the breath of God, divine revelation, and light.

I am seeing this breath like the breath of God in Ezekiel 37:5 (CJB):

To these bones, Adonai Elohim says, “I will make breath enter you, and you will live.”

• “The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. That’s how it is with everyone who has been born from the Spirit.” ~ John 3:8 (CJB)
• “The ruach (wind, Spirit) blows where it wishes, and the sound of it you hear, but you do not have da’as of where it comes from and where it goes [KOHELET 11:5]; so it is with everyone having been born of the Ruach Hakodesh.” [YECHEZKEL 37:9] ~ John 3:8 (OJB)

Israel has returned to the land, a physical restoration, and now it is time for a spiritual restoration with the breath of God.

You may wish to read my previous articles here:

• 2020 – High Holy Days/overview
• 2021 – The Jewish High Holidays/One New Man focus
• 2022 – The Jewish High Holidays/Yom Kippur focus
• 2023 – Prepare Ye the Way: The Jewish High Holidays/Feast of Trumpets

A “Now” Word

As I was seeking the Lord about the High Holy Days 2024, this word came to me:

Do not be dismayed.
I have not forgotten you
and the promises from long ago
for the redemption of My people.
The time is at hand, says the Lord,
when I am indeed doing a new thing for My Beloved Israel.

Now it shall spring forth; rivers in the desert.

Dreams from on high will be fulfilled. Joy will break out.
Refreshing streams will be available for My people from which to drink.

All is in My hand – I have graven you upon the palms of My hands.

I will never forget you, but will come to rescue you and be at your side
until your enemies are made to be My footstool.

Slowly and gently will I lead you into the new path.
My name will be glorified,
and you will know that I the Lord have done this marvellous thing.

“Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
None of My words will be delayed any longer;
whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”
~ Ezekiel 12:29 (NIV)

From Mourning to Joy

My husband Kym and I, together with other Christians, joined with the Jewish community at a synagogue here in Adelaide to commemorate October 7^th.

The service consisted of songs, poetry, prayer, and testimony.  One lady shared about the loss of her cousin in the massacre. It was a sombre time. We witnessed a grieving community as they mourned. May the Lord turn their mourning into dancing like this scripture says:

You have turned my mourning into dancing for me.
You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness.
~ Psalm 30:11 (HNV)

My prayer is for Israel is that in this season of the High Holy Days, especially Sukkot, that the mourning would turn to joy, that the hostages would come home, that Israel would experience a divine pause that the Lord would send from His heavenly sanctuary. May the Lord send His Ruach, His breath to bring the dry bones of Israel to life.

Like Psalm 51:12 (HNV) says,

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
This truly comes to each one who repents.

These High Holy Days are to do with the coming of the Messiah, who will rule the earth from Jerusalem. Some call it the Great Day of the Lord. We are expecting a national turning of Father’s Beloved Chosen People.  We are still in a time of preparation. Let us prepare our hearts.

God the Father has a unique way of turning the worst into the best, and may it be so in this season.

___

Image courtesy of Adobe.