Category: Holidays

Surrounded by His Sukkah…

John J Parsons

The root idea of the word “sukkah” means to cover or surround, as in hedge of protection. The Hebrew root is used when Moses asked to behold God’s glory and the meaning of the name YHVH (יהוה), and God said, “Behold there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory overtakes you I will cover you with my hand (וְשַׂכּתִי כַפִּי עָלֶיךָ) until I have passed by (Exod. 33:21-21). The hand of God (יַד־יְהוָה) is our sukkah, and indeed the LORD writes our names upon his palms and sets us as a seal upon his heart (Isa. 49:16; Sol. 8:6). Likewise David affirmed that God would treasure you within his sukkah and elevate you upon the Rock that is Messiah: “For he will hide me in his cloud (sukkah) in the time of trouble he will conceal me in the secret of his presence (tent), on the Rock he will raise me up” (Psalm 27:5).

Psalm 27:5 Hebrew reading lesson (click):

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The LORD will conceal or “treasure you” (the word tzafan [צָפַן] means to prize as a treasure) in his Sukkah, that is, cover you with the Cloud of his Glory… in the day of trouble he will conceal you in his tent, that is, ba’makom – within his Dwelling place, under the shadow of his wings he protect you; he will elevate you upon the Rock which is Messiah (1 Cor. 10:4).

Since God’s Name (יהוה) means “Presence,” “Breath,” “Compassion,” “Love,” “Healing,” and so on, we are surrounded by his Sukkah at all times… In other words, you don’t have to be in a physical sukkah to be in His sukkah! May God open our eyes to see his glory! Sukkot Sameach be’Yeshua (סוכות שמחה בישוע) – Happy Sukkot in Yeshua!

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Sukkah of the Heart…

John J Parsons

The word sukkot (סֻכּוֹת) is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah (סֻכָּה), meaning a “booth” or “hut.” In traditional Judaism, a sukkah is a temporary structure used for “living in” (i.e., primarily eating meals or entertaining guests) throughout the week-long holiday. The purpose of the sukkah is to remind us of how God tenderly cared for the Israelites as they made their trek through the dangers of the desert. God spoke endearingly to Israel: “Follow me into the wilderness, into an unsown land” (Jer. 2:2).

The Scriptures state, “The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:14). It has been said that the word sukkah can be understood as an acronym formed from the words someikh Adonai (סוֹמֵךְ יְהוָה), “the LORD upholds,” kol (כָּל), “all,” and ha’nofe’leem (הַנּפְלִים), “the ones who fall.” This suggests that those who make a sanctuary within their hearts, trusting in God’s indwelling Presence, will be upheld and kept from falling (Jude 1:24). God knows many need this truth to be made real in this hour…

The Kotzer Rebbe said that the verse, “this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exod. 15:2), may be understood as, “this is my God, and I will make a dwelling for Him within me.” Though the LORD is forever enthroned in heaven as our Creator, King, and Deliverer, we still must make a dwelling within us. He stands at the door and knocks. “Where does God dwell,” it is asked, “but where He is given a dwelling place, a sanctuary, a throne within the heart?”

Psalm 145:14 Hebrew reading lesson (click):

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Shrine of the Heart…

John J Parsons

The sages have said that salvation may be likened to rebirth that delivers us from the “narrow places of Egypt” (i.e., from mitzrayim: -מ, “from,” and צַר, “narrow”) into newness of life… The first step of lasting deliverance (יְשׁוּעָה) is to receive the great revelation: “I AM the Lord your God” (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ) which begins our healing process (Exod. 20:2). We are set free from our bonds to surface appearances when we are made fully conscious of God’s Presence, since we then understand everything in holy relationship with Ultimate Reality, the Ground and Source of all life (Acts 17:28). As it says in our Scriptures: “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen: For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). Therefore God says in our Torah, “Make for me a sacred place (מִקְדָּשׁ) so I can dwell within you” (Exod. 25:8). Each of us is created to be a “mishkan,” that is, a dwelling place for God. Making a sanctuary of the heart means choosing to stay connected with reality, attuning the heart to hear the Voice of the Spirit, and consciously walking before the Divine Presence.

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Choosing to Believe…

John J Parsons

The Torah describes Sukkot (“Tabernacles”) as a holiday of joy and gladness: “You are to rejoice in your festival…. for seven days you shall keep the festival… so that you will be altogether joyful” (Deut. 16:14-15). Nevertheless we may wonder how we can celebrate in a world filled with suffering, death, and misery? Since God commands us to be joyful, however, we must therefore understand joy to be something more than temporal elation or fleeting pleasure, but rather as the result of the decision to believe in healing and life despite the appearances of this realm. “The world to come, the perfect world, we at least believe in; but this material world, this one here and now, how can anyone believe in it? The only thing to do is to run to the refuge of God” (Nachman). The joy of Sukkot, then, is the joy of hope, the conviction that “all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Darkness will be overcome by the light; evil will become undone; all that is untrue shall be made true; and every tear shall be wiped away… The sukkah symbolizes the “Clouds of Glory” that surround our way in the desert – the “Divine Presence” beheld in faith. We find joy as we choose to believe in the deeper reality of God’s sheltering love…

Song of Songs 2:4 Hebrew reading lesson:

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Getting Ready for Sukkot…

John J Parsons

On the Torah’s calendar, there is a quick transition from the somber time of the Jewish High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur) to the week-long celebration of the festival of Sukkot (called “Tabernacles” in the Christian tradition). If the High Holidays focus on the LORD as our Creator, our Judge, and the One who atones for our sins, then Sukkot is the time when we joyously celebrate all that He has done for us. Prophetically understood, the seven days of Sukkot picture olam haba, the world to come, and the Millennial Kingdom reign of Mashiach ben David. If Yeshua was born during Sukkot (i.e., conceived during Chanukah, the festival of lights), then another meaning of the “word became flesh and ‘tabernacled with us” (John 1:14) extends to the coming kingdom age, when He will again “sukkah” with his people during the time of his reign from Zion.

Since it represents the time of ingathering of the harvest, Sukkot prophetically prefigures the joyous redemption and gathering of the Jewish people during the days of the Messiah’s reign on earth (Isa. 27:12-13; Jer. 23:7-8). Indeed all of the nations that survived the Great Tribulation will come together to worship the LORD in Jerusalem during the Feast of Sukkot (Zech. 14:16-17). The holiday season therefore provides a vision of the coming Kingdom of God upon the earth, when the Word will again “tabernacle with us.”

The festival of Sukkot is celebrated for seven days (i.e., from Tishri 15-21) during which we “dwell” in a sukkah — a tent or “booth” of temporary construction, with a roof covering (schach) of raw vegetable matter (i.e., branches, bamboo, etc.). The sukkah represents our dependence upon God’s shelter for our protection and divine providence. We eat our meals in the sukkah and recite a special blessing (leshev Ba-Sukkah) at this time.

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Sukkot is called “z’man simchateinu,” the “season of our joy.” Indeed, in ancient Israel, the joy of Sukkot was so renowned that it came to be called simply “the Feast” (1 Kings 12:32). Sukkot was a time when sacrifices were offered for the healing of the nations (Num. 29:12-40), and it was also a time when (on Sabbatical years) the Torah would be read publicly to all the people (Deut. 31:10-13).

From a spiritual perspective, Sukkot corresponds to the joy of knowing your sins were forgiven (during Yom Kippur) and also recalls God’s miraculous provision and care after the deliverance from bondage in Egypt (Lev. 23:43). Prophetically, Sukkot anticipates the coming kingdom of the Messiah Yeshua wherein all the nations shall come up to Jerusalem to worship the LORD during the festival (see Zech. 14:16). Today Sukkot is a time to remember God’s Sheltering Presence and Provision for us for the start of the New Year.

 

Naming the Sacred…

John J Parsons

I had mentioned that on Yom Kippur the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and there present the sacrificial blood upon the cover of Ark of the Covenant to make atonement for Israel.

During this solemn ritual the priest would invoke the sacred name of the LORD (i.e., יהוה) while saying his prayers for the people. Since this was the only time the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and utter “shem ha’gadol,” the great Name of God, Yom Kippur also came to known as the “Day of the Name” (יום השם).

Perhaps because the Yom Kippur ritual is so mysterious and exciting, the question naturally arises as to how the priest would pronounce the sacred name YHVH (יהוה). Is YHVH pronounced “Yahveh”? or “Yahweh”? or perhaps “Yehovah”? (the morpheme YAH is clearly attested). Consulting the original manuscripts does not settle the issue because they were written without vowels, and the scribes who later added the vowel points (i.e., nekudot) changed the pointing for YHVH to avoid saying it in vain. Christians sometimes feel a bit frustrated or anxious when they consider this, especially because various religious cults claim to have discovered the phonetics of God’s “real” name and use it a sort of “shibboleth” or password for acceptance into their societies…

To seriously attempt to answer the question about God’s name, however, requires thinking a bit about the philosophy of language, and in particular understanding that a name (of any kind) is a symbol intended to point to a reality. Every name (spoken, written, or otherwise represented) is a sign that is intended to signify something. Names “point” to things, and every name (or term) encapsulates a cluster of ideas that summarize, describe, and define what that thing is as opposed to other things (genus and difference). The Name for God, then, would point to or signify the Reality the name stands for, though in the case of God who is the Supreme Being, no one name can fully express the Reality signified since God is Infinite and beyond our full comprehension. That is why Yeshua has a name that no one knows but himself (see Rev. 19:12). Indeed the name YHVH (יהוה) is derived from the Hebrew verb hayah (היה), meaning “to be,” which implies that the Reality signified transcends spatio-temporal categories and therefore is “ein sof” (אין סוף), beyond all reckoning and therefore ineffably mysterious (2 Chron. 6:18; Psalm 40:5; 145:3; Job 9:10, Rom. 11:33, etc.).

Read more “Naming the Sacred…”

Rosh Hashanah Seder…

John J Parsons

Though there are technically four “New Year Days” on the Jewish calendar, two are most widely recognized: the New Year of spring (i.e., Nisan 1 and the time of Passover) and the new year of fall (i.e., Tishri 1, the time of the High Holidays). The New Year celebration of the fall begins before sundown, just before the start of Tishri 1. The main event consists of a special simcha (festive) meal, somewhat similar to a Friday evening Shabbat meal, with the addition of some special food, blessings, and listening to the shofar blast. The celebration begins with the lighting of candles (symbolizing the transition from profane to sacred time) and the special blessing thanking God for enabling us to reach this season (i.e., the Shehecheyanu).

After starting the celebration, ritual “appetizers” called simanim (סִימָנִים) are often served. These are symbolic foods used as an occasion to offer first blessings for the New Year. Traditionally we eat round challah to remind us that life is a circle (a cycle of seasons) and also to remind us of the Kingship (Crown) of God; we taste apples dipped in honey as a token of our wish for a sweet year, and so on. We also eat some specialized foods just for Rosh Hashanah. For example, we eat leeks, called karsi in Aramaic, as a play on the Hebrew word karat – to cut down – i.e., “may our enemies be cut down.” We also eat pomegranates to remind us of the sweetness of the Torah and to remember God’s commandments, and so on. Doing all this adds fun to the occasion and helps us sanctify the main meal. After finishing dinner, we are ready for the climatic event of the evening: the sounding of the shofar!

To make it easier for you to participate, I have created an “Easy Rosh Hashanah Seder Guide” that includes step-by-step procedures for holding your own Rosh Hashanah home celebration. The Seder Guide includes English transliterations along with the basic Hebrew blessings, so now everyone can join in! Celebrating Rosh Hashanah is both joyous and spiritually significant, especially from a prophetic perspective. I hope you find this helpful, chaverim. L’Shanah tovah u’metuka b’Yeshua – “to a good and sweet year in Yeshua!”

 


Note:  Regarding observing the holidays, always remember that what most important is not rituals based on tradition, nor even getting the date and time exactly right, but understanding the prophetic significance of the holiday and learning more about how it reveals the glory of Yeshua. It does the soul no good — and the LORD God surely isn’t impressed — if you’re 100% kosher and keep all the holidays down to the exact minute but have a hard heart that is proud or that doesn’t understand God’s desire to save a lost and dying world.

The Prophetic Calendar…

John J Parsons

The spring festivals (i.e., Passover, Firstfruits, and Shavuot) have been perfectly fulfilled in the first coming of Yeshua as Mashiach ben Yosef, and the fall festivals (Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot) will be fulfilled in His second coming as Mashiach ben David. Since the first advent fulfilled all of the spring mo’edim to the smallest of details, we believe that His second advent portends similar fulfillment as revealed in the fall mo’edim.

After the summer of harvest (John 4:35), the very first fall festival on the Jewish calendar is Yom Teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה), which is a picture of the “catching away” of kallat Mashiach (the Bride of Messiah) for the time of Sheva Berachot (the seven “days” of blessing that follows the traditional marriage ceremony). Then will come the Great Tribulation and Yom Adonai – the Day of the LORD (יוֹם יְהוָה). The heavenly shofar blasts heard at Sinai will be reissued from Zion. First will be the gathering together of those who follow the Messiah (i.e., those declared tzaddikim because they trust in the merit of Yeshua’s sacrifice), and then God’s war against Satan and the world system will begin, culminating in the long-awaited coronation of the King of King of Kings – Melech Malchei Ha-Melachim (מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים).

Read more “The Prophetic Calendar…”

Divine Absence and Teshuvah…

John J Parsons

From our Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah (i.e., Vayeilech) the LORD foretold Moses’ death and the people’s subsequent apostasy from the faith: “This people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them” (Deut. 31:16). The Lord then continued: “And then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured…. And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods” (Deut. 31:17-18).

The phrase hester panim (הֶסְתֵר פָּנִים) means “hiding of the face.” It is often used when discussing the Book of Esther, where God’s Name isn’t mentioned even once, yet the hidden Presence is realized in the outcome of the story. In this sense of the term, hester panim is somewhat like the sun on an overcast day: Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. God’s providential care for us is at work at all times, whether we perceive it or not.

Read more “Divine Absence and Teshuvah…”

Teshuvah of Seeking…

John J Parsons

In the Torah portion for Rosh Hashanah (i.e., parashat Vayeilech), Moses announced his impending death and transferred the leadership of the Jewish nation to Joshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ), a type of Messiah who would bring Israel into the promised land. Moses continued his speech, and foresaw that despite his appeals the people would turn away from the covenant, which would cause God’s face to turn away: “And hiding I will hide My face on that day, because of all the evil they have committed” (Deut. 31:18). The sages note this verse is grammatically unusual because of the double use of the word “hide” (i.e., הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי). God hides the fact that He is in hiding… If you do not know that God is “hiding,” you will not seek for Him; and if you feel within your heart that God is hiding, you are invited to return to Him, as King David said, “For you have said to my heart, ‘Seek my face;’ and my heart has said to You, ‘Your face, O LORD, will I seek.’

Read more “Teshuvah of Seeking…”