Messiah in Sukkot Chapter 8
- The Etrog is crowned with thorns and possesses no ‘inner’ beauty
- Messiah’s teaching possesses no hidden taint of evil
- The true beautiful tree is the Olive Tree
- “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches!”
- God’s Symbol of Light
- “Pure Olive Oil beaten for the Light”
- Fruit of the Light
The Etrog is crowned with thorns and possesses no ‘inner’ beauty:
Fall of One-third of the Angels: The anointed cherub Satan, although outwardly (disguised) covered in light (appearing to be good) is the corrupter of all that is good because he hides his deadly teaching (lies) under the cover of Abba Avinu’s righteous truth. It is the devil’s lies that have led to the fall of one-third of the angels.
God “bitterly” Rules over Evil: What the evil one has made: a kingdom of darkness. The anointed cherub Satan’s deceptive practices have led to the fall of all humanity. The Etrog of each worshiper, therefore, is carried in the left hand as a prophetic symbol of the Holy One’s “bitter” governance that must and does rule over all that is evil (kingdom of darkness).
God Joyfully Rules over Good: What God has made: a kingdom of light. In stark contrast the Lulavs in the right hand are a symbol of the Holy One’s “happy” (blessed) governance that gladly rules over all that is good (kingdom of light).
Ruling from Left to Right: We will conquer and rule (temporarily) over this kingdom of darkness first; the process complete after the Great White Throne judgment (ruling from the Left). Then we will rule forever in the kingdom of light after the Great White Throne judgment; in the new heaven and new earth where even the tainted memory of evil will be erased (ruling from the Right).
Messiah’s teaching possesses no hidden taint of evil:
Therefore, armed with Lulavs in their right hands and Etrogs in their left hands, the people of Israel are symbolically organized as surrogate rulers over both realms, good and evil, into three bands (three groups).
Remain in the Temple: First group, some (in Temple times) would remain in the Temple to attend the preparation of the Morning Sacrifice.
Go to Mozah: Second group, another band would go in procession below Jerusalem to a place called the Mozah (הַמֹּצָֽה) that has been identified with the Road to Emmaus; referred to in the resurrection account of the Messiah ben Yosef.
Adorn Temple altar with a canopy of Righteousness: Third group, at Mozah the people would cut down *willow-branches amid the priests’ blasts of the trumpets. They used these special species of cut branches to adorn the Temple altar. Therefore, the Temple altar was symbolically adorned in a leafy canopy of pure righteousness that unlike the Etrog fruit possessed no inner hidden taint of evil.
*The leafy branches are the true (real) goodly trees, not the citron tree fruit. They are the symbols of righteousness existing inside and outside without any (hidden) inner taint of evil.
The true beautiful tree is the Olive Tree:
And there was very great rejoicing!
וַֽיִּמְצְאוּ כָּתוּב בַּתֹּורָה אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה’ בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר יֵשְׁבוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּסֻּכֹּות בֶּחָג בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִֽי׃ וַאֲשֶׁר יַשְׁמִיעוּ וְיַעֲבִירוּ קֹול בְּכָל־עָרֵיהֶם וּבִירוּשָׁלִַם לֵאמֹר צְאוּ הָהָר וְהָבִיאוּ עֲלֵי־זַיִת וַעֲלֵי־עֵץ שֶׁמֶן וַעֲלֵי הֲדַס וַעֲלֵי תְמָרִים וַעֲלֵי עֵץ עָבֹת לַעֲשֹׂת סֻכֹּת כַּכָּתֽוּב׃ וַיֵּצְאוּ הָעָם וַיָּבִיאוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ לָהֶם סֻכֹּות אִישׁ עַל־גַּגֹּו וּבְחַצְרֹתֵיהֶם וּבְחַצְרֹות בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים וּבִרְחֹוב שַׁעַר הַמַּיִם וּבִרְחֹוב שַׁעַר אֶפְרָֽיִם׃ וַיַּֽעֲשׂוּ כָֽל־הַקָּהָל הַשָּׁבִים מִן־הַשְּׁבִי סֻכֹּות וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בַסֻּכֹּות כִּי לֹֽא־עָשׂוּ מִימֵי יֵשׁוּעַ בִּן־נוּן כֵּן בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד הַיֹּום הַהוּא וַתְּהִי שִׂמְחָה גְּדֹולָה מְאֹֽד׃
And they found written in the Torah, which Adonai had commanded by Moshe, 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 Yerushalayim, 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 Elohim, 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 Yisra’el had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing!
“Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches!”
Nehemiah 8:15 reveals that the Torah (“it is written”) actually identifies the goodly or beautiful tree to be the Olive Tree. The goodly tree is absolutely not the tree of the Etrog. This false beautiful tree actually represents the Tree of Death (the accursed tree):
צאו ההר והביאו עלי־זית ועלי־עץ שמן ועלי הדס ועלי תמרים ועלי עץ עבת לעשת סכת ככתוב׃
צְאוּ הָהָר וְהָבִיאוּ עֲלֵי־זַיִת וַעֲלֵי־עֵץ שֶׁמֶן וַעֲלֵי הֲדַס וַעֲלֵי תְמָרִים וַעֲלֵי עֵץ עָבֹת לַעֲשֹׂת סֻכֹּת כַּכָּתֽוּב׃
“Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches-leaves (עֲלֵי־זַיִת), branches of olive trees (עֵץ שֶׁמֶן-oil tree; i.e. olive oil tree), myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written…”
The Real Beautiful Tree and Fruit of Sukkot: The Tanakh reveals that the fruit of the olive tree is the true (real) beautiful tree. Its fruit is processed to make olive oil. Olive oil is what is used to produce the “fruit of light” in the Golden Lampstand located “inside” the Temple.
God’s Symbol of Light:
Ancient illumination: Historically, clear-burning olive oil was the primary fuel used to feed lamps and light homes, temples, and sacred spaces.
Sacred tradition: In biblical contexts, “pure beaten oil”—the highest-grade oil extracted from gently crushed first-fruit olives—was commanded for lighting the golden menorah in the Tabernacle.
Metaphorical meaning: The transformation of a dark, bitter olive into clear, luminous oil has long served as a spiritual symbol for drawing wisdom, resilience, and hidden light out of physical hardship.
Pure Olive Oil beaten for the Light”:
In the Hebrew Scriptures, God explicitly commands the use of “pure olive oil beaten for the light” to fuel the sacred Ner Tamid (eternal flame) and the Temple Menorah.
The “Beaten” Process: Rather than crushing olives under heavy millstones, the olives were gently hand-pounded in a mortar. This laborious process yielded very little oil, but it produced the absolute clearest, sediment-free, premium grade oil that burned cleanly without producing heavy smoke.
Spiritual Meaning: This “first press” represents absolute purity, sanctification, and the drawing out of spiritual light and resilience from periods of crushing darkness.
Fruit of the Light:
.הִתְהַלְּכוּ נָא כִּבְנֵי הָאוֹר, כִּי פְּרִי הָאוֹר הוּא כָּל טוּב וְכָל צְדָקָה וֶאֱמֶת
“Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light is all goodness, righteousness, and truth.”
Both the prophet Isaiah and Rav Shaul ben Benyamin (the Sheliach Paul) use the themes of light and fruitfulness to describe the developmental spiritual transformation of a person or community redeemed by God. While Shaul explicitly defines the phrase “fruit of the light,” his teachings directly build upon the prophetic imagery and promises established by Isaiah (11:2). More on this in the next chapter.