How to Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles

Before I explain how to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, I want to ask why.

Why we should keep God’s feasts?

The simple answer is because God tells us to. God has given us His commandments for our good (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

God created His feasts for all people, as can clearly be seen in Zechariah 14:16-19 and Isaiah 56:1-8. He didn’t create two religions—one for the Jews, and another one for everyone else. If you do a careful study of history, you will find that Christmas, Easter Sunday, and Halloween—and the traditions associated with them—aren’t really Christian because they all have roots in pagan festivals. They aren’t God’s feasts.

God’s feasts are in the Bible. The Israelites kept them. The original Church of God kept them. And soon the whole world will keep them.

The Feast of Tabernacles is the most exciting feast of the year for most families. Since the time I was a very young child, I always looked forward to going to celebrate this feast. It is a joyful time. A time to grow closer as a family. A time to build new friendships and renew old ones. A time to enjoy good food. And most importantly, a time to learn about God and grow closer to Him.

The Feast of Tabernacles is a wonderful time. Those who say that God’s feasts are a burden don’t know what they are talking about. As the Bible says in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

How to Keep the Feast of Tabernacles

You can find instructions for the Feast of Tabernacles and the feast of the Eighth Day in Leviticus 23. Let’s read what it says:

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. (Leviticus 23:33-34)

This feast lasts seven days. Here is how to celebrate the first day:

On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. (verse 35)

On the first day we should avoid work (other than preparing food, as mentioned in Exodus 12:16), and we should gather together with God’s people for God’s “holy convocation” (a special meeting).

For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. (verse 36)

There is not temple in Jerusalem now, and we do not do any offerings by fire at this time, and the instructions regarding the offerings were only for the priests. We are only responsible for the parts that we are able to do.

But notice here that the eighth day is also a holy convocation, a sacred assembly. We already read that the Feast of Tabernacles is only seven days long. So the Eighth Day is not part of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a separate feast, with its own meaning and purpose, which I will explain in a separate article when the time comes.

‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 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. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.’ (verses 39-41)

What are all of the branches of different kinds of trees for? You’re supposed to use them to build a small booth or hut to stay in:

“‘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.’” (verses 42-43)

Here we find that the instruction about living in booths was specifically for the Israelites, to remind them of the 40 years they spent in the wilderness. However, these booths also have another meaning for all people, as I will explain in another article. So even if you are not an Israelite, you can learn an important lesson from living in a temporary booth or hut for seven days. And these booths, also called “tabernacles,” are where the Feast of Tabernacles gets its name.

Now let’s see how the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah:

And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. (Nehemiah 8:14-17)

As you can see, the Israelites didn’t always fully follow the instructions God gave in the Bible for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. But when they did, they rejoiced.

Notice the way in which they celebrated all seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles and the feast of the Eighth Day:

Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner. (verse 18)

Every day they listened to Ezra and the other teachers as they read and explained the Bible. And that is what we should do too. The six days in the middle are not holy days, so work and other activities are allowed. But the whole feast is a time of learning.

We find more instructions for this feast in Deuteronomy:

“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.

This should be a time of rejoicing (I’ll explain why later), and a time of sharing, so that everyone has enough.

Where to Keep the Feast of Tabernacles

The Bible also tells where to keep the Feast of Tabernacles:

Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

Where is the place God has chosen?

…Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. (1 Kings 11:36)

Jerusalem is also mentioned as the central place of worship after Jesus Christ establishes the Kingdom of God on earth:

And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16-19)

But although when Jesus returns to the earth, Jerusalem will be the center of worship for the whole world, it will not be the only place of worship. As much as everyone may want to go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, it will simply be too far for most people—and you also can’t fit a billion people into one city!

So in the future, God will also designate other, closer, locations where the feasts may be kept. Notice the prophecy about this in the book of Isaiah:

In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. (Isaiah 19:19-21).

Since the disciples of Jesus are scattered throughout the world at the present time, it is not possible for us to all keep the Feast of Tabernacles in one central location. But we can follow the principles we find in the Bible to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in an appropriate way. Those principles include leaving our homes, going up and gathering together in a designated place, and living in some kind of temporary dwelling for seven days. That “tabernacle” could be a tent, a hotel, or any other temporary place that you don’t normally live.

If you want to know a location near you where people are gathering together to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and hear God’s words, you can tell me your general location, and I’ll send you info about a festival location near you.

(If you don’t have my email address, join the list below to get timely email updates from me about God’s feasts.)

How Can We Afford to Celebrate These Feasts?

How can we afford to leave our homes, travel to another place, rent a temporary room, and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for 7 days (and celebrate the feast on the 8th day too)?

The answer is in Deuteronomy 14:22-26:

“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

As you can see in your own Bible, God tells us to save a tithe (10% of our increase or income), and use it to celebrate His feasts.

Now if you are familiar with tithing, you may ask, doesn’t the Bible say to give our tithe to God?

Yes. You can read about that in Leviticus 27:30, Malachi 3:8-10, and other places.

So many people are confused. How can you give all your tithe to God, and then use the same tithe to celebrate God’s feasts? Obviously you can’t.

The simple answer to this apparent contradiction is that these are two different tithes. The first tithe is for God. The second tithe is for you to celebrate the feasts.

Now if you think it would be impossible for you to give 10% of your income to God, save another 10% for celebrating God’s feasts, and still have enough left to survive—you may be right.

Sometimes God tells us to do impossible things in order to test our faith.

For example, Jesus told Peter to walk on water. And Peter did the impossible. He walked on the water. But when he saw the wind and the waves, he was afraid and began to sink. What did Jesus say to Peter? “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). And that is what He will say to you if you doubt that God can and will provide enough for your needs if you tithe. God actually promises to bless those who tithe (Malachi 3:10). God will keep His promise. He always does. The only question is whether you have enough faith to obey Him and trust Him to provide whatever you lack.

What God actually does when you tithe is to provide for you needs. If you only make enough to survive before you start tithing, after you start tithing you will still have enough. And you will also have the money you need to celebrate God’s feasts.

Now if you’re just learning about these things, then you probably haven’t saved any second tithe, and you might not be able to afford to go up to the Feast of Tabernacles this year. But you can study these scriptures and prove to yourself what God wants you to do and what He has promised to do for those who obey Him. And then, if you are faithful in these things, next year you will have enough to go up and celebrate God’s feasts.

Perhaps the best you can do this year is to set up a tent or build a small hut with a few branches behind your house, and study God’s word.

But if you can find a way to go up to a location where God’s people are gathering and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles—by all means do it!

An Opportunity to Build Faith

Of course, if you leave your job for eight days, you may come back and find that you have lost your job. If you leave your classes for eight days, you may be persecuted by your teachers. Yes, these things have happened to people who have kept God’s feasts. But they are no reason for concern, because God is diligent to bless those who diligently seek Him. As Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

If you lack the faith you need to leave everything behind at home and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, read these scriptures to help you build your faith in God and His promises:

• Hebrews 11:6
• Exodus 34:24
• 2 Samuel 22:21-25
• 2 Chronicles 15:1-7
• Psalm 19:7-11
• Isaiah 56:1-8

I think that covers the basics of how to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day. The best way to learn all the details is to just join with those who are already keeping God’s feast days.

Have a great Feast!

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The MEaning of the Feast of Tabernacles