Messiah in Sukkot Chapter 15
- The Creator sent a second (new) Adam that He tented in
- Eternal High Priest of the procession
- The Hallelujah
- Chanukkah to Sukkot Connection (Chag Urim):
The Creator sent a second (new) Adam that He tented in:
Remember the Almighty One is omnipresent. He can dwell (tabernacle, tent) in all His fullness in one place and in every other place at the same time. The Father of Eternity (Avi’ad) initially tented in the first Adam. However, the first Adam opened his ears to the false teaching of Satan, who is a False Teacher, whose teaching is the false-torah of death. The Creator, thereafter sent the Messiah (the New Adam) that He might reignite the light of His Life back into redeemed humanity (Adonai’s Temple).
Eternal High Priest of the procession:
The Messiah is the sinless Lamb of Adonai who led the procession of the Holy One (i.e. Chag) away from a state of sin and separation back into a state of righteousness and intimacy with the Righteous Father. The Father who dwells in heaven has taken His Spirit that resides in the Messiah our Redeemer and “poured” His Spirit upon, in and through all who put their faith in His Messiah. The Father of Mercies has done this so that all the world might once again be filled with His Life and Light.
The Hallelujah:
Immediately after the pouring of water, in Temple times, the Hallel was sung antiphonally with the accompaniment of the flute (a wind instrument; think of the Breath of Life).
Give Praise to God #1. As the Levites sang the first line of each Psalm, the people responded by repeating the first line. Each of the other lines the people responded to with “Hallelujah” (Praise Adonai!).
Give Praise to God #2. In Psalm 118, the people not only repeated the first line, “O give thanks to Adonai,” but also these: “O then, work now salvation, Adonai;” “O Adonai, send now prosperity;” and at the close of the Psalm, “O give thanks to Adonai.”
As the assembled repeated these lines, they shook towards the altar the Lulav which they held in their hands as symbols of their reason for praising Adonai and as reminders to Adonai of His promises. At this critical moment the offering was made of the special sacrifices that had been prepared for each day, including the drink-offerings and the reading of the Psalm that had been designated for each day.
Note: There was always wind instrumental accompaniment to the Psalms and at the end of reading the three sections of each Psalm the priests blew a threefold blast, while the people bowed down in worship.
Universal Redemption:These services closed with a procession “around” the Altar. This represents encircling the whole earth (universal redemption) symbolized by the priests repeatedly petitioning God, “Work salvation now, O Adonai! O Adonai, send now prosperity.”
At the closing of the special sacrifices, on the last Great Day of the Feast, the Priests made the circuit around the altar, not once but seven times.
Encircling the Altar Seven Times: In making the circuit around the altar seven times the priests were engaging in prophetic role play. Symbolically the priests were encircling the entire Gentile World in prayer and faith (i.e. Judaism is supposed to be an intercessory-missionary outreach of Adonai (through Israel) to all of the Gentile nations and peoples of the world!).
The Judaism of Adonai is a Missionary Faith: This manner of worship reminds us that Sukkot is an International Festival. The Jewish faith is a missionary faith (the faith of fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Aaron, Moses, David). We are not isolationists. The Temple courts reserved a special court for the Gentiles as an evangelistic outreach to them. Israel is called to be a nation of kings and priests (servant leaders) to the whole world.
“Savior of the World”: This is why Moshia HaOlam sent his Jewish emissaries (shlichim) out into the world to make talmidim of all of the nations. This outreach to all of the nations is very much a central part of the evangelistic nature of the Festival of Sukkot.
One People, One Faith, One God: Adonai has promised that through the people of Israel (His children) He would tear down the walls of the world that divide Jew and Gentile. He will one day make of us all one nation and one people, who are united as one faith. It is the responsibility of the Jewish people to become an effective nation of Servant Leader-Evangelists and in so doing one day establish permanent Messianic rule upon the entire earth.
Giving thanks for our Redemption: When the people departed from the Temple each day, they made certain they paid homage to the Holy One with words of thanks for His redemptive work that was symbolized through the ritual that had occurred at the Altar. On the Last Great Day of the Feast, however, the people shook off the leaves on the willow-branches around the altar and beat their palm-branches to pieces.
Time to Move-in to the Permanent Shelter: On that same afternoon the “temporary shelters” (booths) were taken down and the Feast of Sukkot was ended, then it was time to move into the permanent shelters.
Chanukkah to Sukkot Connection :
By virtue of their related ceremony Simchat Beit HaShoeivah (Sukkot) and Festival, Chag Urim (Chanukkah) both the seven day fall Festival of Sukkot (Tishri 15-21) September-October and the eight day winter Festival of Chanukkah (Kislev 25-Tevet 2), November-December, are identified as a celebrations of the Light of God. These fall and winter festivals both celebrate the Eternal Light of God being relit both inside (Chanukkah) and outside (Sukkot) the Temple of Adonai.