How Can We Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles Today?

The feasts of the Bible are often misunderstood because they aren’t studied. The Feast of Tabernacles—celebrated the evening of October 16 through October 23, 2024—is the third and final major feast on the Jewish calendar for this year.

If you’re curious about why Christians acknowledge a Jewish feast that’s introduced and discussed mostly in the Old Testament, keep reading!

God’s Plan of Redemption

From the moment Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, God put His plan of redemption into motion. The whole Bible is the story of our need for redemption, God’s plan for providing it, and its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

Because imperfect people cannot fellowship with a holy and righteous God, He made a covenant of redemption to satisfy His requirements of a perfect blood sacrifice. This covenant was manifested in various ways throughout Scripture, but the completion came through Jesus the Messiah, the perfect, sacrificial Lamb.

All the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ as being the consummation of the Law and the Old Testament covenants. He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, as He explains:

Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose (Matthew 5:17 NLT).

The first Passover was a perfect picture for the Israelites of the Messiah’s coming redemption.

Since we’re unable to work toward our own sanctification after salvation, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. This is what we celebrate at Pentecost.

The Feast of Tabernacles reminds us of when the Lord led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years after He delivered them from the Egyptians. We see God’s faithfulness and protection over time while they lived in tents (tabernacles or booths).

The History of the Feast of Tabernacles

When God promised to bless Abraham and make his descendants into a nation (Genesis 12:1–9), He also promised him land. Although Abraham and his family did settle there in Canaan, four generations later, they sojourned to Egypt because of a famine in their own land.

Life was so good in Egypt that they stayed there … until they eventually became enslaved. Four hundred years later, God raised Moses to deliver His people and take them back to their Promised Land.

On their way there, Moses sent twelve spies to investigate their land. Despite having just been miraculously delivered from their oppressors, ten of the spies did not think that God would continue to take care of them and give them the strength to take possession of their Promised Land.

As a result of the Israelites’ lack of trust in God’s promises, they had to take a 40-year detour through the wilderness. During this time, God continued to show His faithfulness to them while they lived in tents (tabernacles, booths). He traveled with His people: “And He said, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” (Exodus 33:14 NKJV).

The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates God’s blessings to the Israelites as He fed them, made sure they had fresh water, and kept their clothing and shoes from wearing out:

You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 23:42–43 NKJV).

The Israelites were not to work on the first and eighth days of the festival. They were to bring offerings and celebrate by waving branches from four specific plants—etrog (citrus fruit), palms, willows, and myrtles (Leviticus 23:40).

Another name for the Feast of Tabernacles is Booths or Sukkot, which is a Hebrew word that means “booths.” People built and dwelt in sukkahs (booths) or tents instead of permanent houses during their time of wandering in the wilderness.

It’s also called the Feast of Ingathering because the fall is when the last harvest is brought in from the fields, orchards, and vineyards. The farmers celebrate the reward of their labors at the end of their agricultural year while we celebrate God’s present provision for us.

The Feast of Tabernacles is the only appointed time in which God commands the Israelites to celebrate and rejoice. That’s why it’s sometimes called the season of rejoicing or the season of joy:

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days (Leviticus 23:40 NKJV).

God’s Promises Are for Us Too

To receive these promises of God’s blessings, it’s crucial that you fulfill His conditions and not appear before Him “empty-handed” (Deuteronomy 16:16). At these three appointed times each year—the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles—the Israelites were to present their offerings to the Lord from the seeds they had sown and the harvests He had given them—and the same principle holds true for you today.

God promises that as you are obedient to His Word and faithfully observe Tabernacles, you will receive the seven blessings listed in Exodus 23:20–30.

1. 1. An angel of God will be assigned to protect you (v. 20).
   2. God will be an enemy to your enemies (v. 22).
   3. He will prosper you (v. 25).
   4. God will take sickness away from you (v. 25).
   5. You will not die before your appointed time (v. 26).
   6. Increase and an inheritance will be yours (v. 30).
   7. The Lord will return to you what was lost to the enemy (v. 29–30).

Before the Feast of Tabernacles, the fall feast season begins with the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). In between these two feasts are ten Days of Awe, which call God’s people to reflect and make amends.

Jesus—the Fulfillment of the Feasts

While Jesus and the apostles most certainly did celebrate the feasts, our main concern is that Jesus came to fulfill their prophetic elements: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17 NKJV).

The first fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles happened with the first coming of Jesus, as referenced in the Gospel of John: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

The word dwell in Greek is skenoo, which means “to reside,” as God did in the tabernacle as a symbol of protection and relationship.

Another way Jesus fulfills this prophecy is simply by His name Immanuel: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’” (Matthew 1:22–23 ESV).

The Feast of Tabernacles looks back at the Passover with the rescue from Egypt foreshadowing the Messiah as our perfect and final sacrifice for sin, which He accomplished at His first coming.

Sukkot also connects with Pentecost because Jesus promised that He would always tabernacle (dwell, be) with Christians in the form of the Holy Spirit, whom He initially sent to fill believers on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:4.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you (John 14:26).

God longs to dwell with His people. This longing is what we respond to during the Feast of Tabernacles.

How to Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles Today

The Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles are “holy convocation[s],” or rehearsals, foreshadowing God’s plan of redemption woven throughout Scripture (Leviticus 23:21), with fulfillment through Jesus the Messiah.

On the Jewish calendar, the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month (Tishri) and lasts for seven days. On our calendar, it usually falls near the end of September or the beginning of October.

One way we can commemorate this holy convocation is by reading specific passages of Scripture.

• • The book of Numbers details the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.
  • The book of Ecclesiastes cautions that our lives on earth are temporary, like the shelters the Israelites lived in for 40 years.
  • Psalm 91 reminds us that God is our shelter when we abide in His presence.

Traditionally, a sukkah is a three-sided shelter with plants and other organic matter for a roof. Jewish people today still build them and often eat meals, entertain guests, and even sleep in them. A sukkah can be decorated with fresh fruit hanging from the ceiling to symbolize God’s protection and prosperity.

Synagogue services today often include prayers and a ceremonial waving of the lulav bouquet, comprised of etrog (citrus fruit), palms, willows, and myrtles (Leviticus 23:40).

Today, God tabernacles with His people—believers—through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that faithfully celebrating Tabernacles (and God’s other appointed times) will bring God’s blessings into our lives in a greater way than we’ve ever experienced before.

Malachi 3:10 teaches us that 10% of our income—the tithe—belongs to God. But during the feasts, we are instructed to bring God an offering from the rest of our income … a special gift for Him from the 90% of our income.

What will you bring to God this Tabernacles season to claim His special promises for you this year?