Old Testament Festivals
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… 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 23:34,42-43
On Tuesday (when we talked about The Day of Atonement) we mentioned briefly that each month began with trumpets, but the Seventh Month (Ethanim / Tishri) began with a Feast of Trumpets throughout the land. This feast was to present Israel before the Lord for His favor. It certainly helped the people to prepare for the great Day of Atonement (day ten). After the solemnity of the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Booths (days fifteen to twenty-two) was intended as a joyous celebration–a reminder that the people were forgiven and chosen by God. This was the third “required feast” of pilgrimage.
God gave this feast from Mt. Sinai one month after the Exodus. God supplied all their needs, as the people wandered in a desert wilderness for forty years. Today we still confess: “I'm but a stranger here, Heav'n is my home.” Even if “Danger and sorrow stand Round me on every hand;” we know that “time's wild wintry blast Soon shall be overpast;” so we “murmur not.” (TLH 660)
And Jesus will come again. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.” This trumpet will not be used to issue in a new month, but a whole new life. Not a one-day earthly feast, but an eternal heavenly feast. If you think that what Jesus did to upgrade the Old Testament to the New Testament is impressive, just wait until you see what He does for you in the new world!
Jerusalem the golden, With milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation Sink heart and voice opprest.
I know not, oh, I know not, What joys await us there,
What radiancy of glory, What bliss beyond compare.
The Lutheran Hymnal 613:1