Tehillimandpoetry

The festival of Sukkot (knows as “booths,” or “tabernacles” is an eight-day harvest festival, and the culmination of all the feasts on God’s redemptive calendar (Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:34-43; Deuteronomy 16:13-15).

It consists of seven days of joyous celebration, followed by a solemn assembly on the eighth day. Because of its place in the biblical calendar, by the time of Solomon this festival had become most important, and was simply called “the Feast” (1 Kings 8:2, 65). There are many festive traditions in a contemporary Sukkot celebration, but when the Temple stood there were unusual ceremonies that today are no longer conducted. One was the water pouring ceremony. Each day a priest proceeded from the Temple down to the pool of Siloam carrying a golden pitcher. He was followed by lulav-waving pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot. The priest would fill the golden pitcher with water from the pool of Siloam and return to the Temple, followed by crowds chanting “with joy we will gather water from the wells of salvation” and “Hoshia-na” or Hosanna. The priest would then circle the altar in the Temple one time, pouring out the water. As he poured, he would pray for the water of life, even the Spirit of God, to be poured out upon the people.

He would do this each of the first six days of the feast, but on the 7th day Hoshanna Rabbah (the Great Salvation), the last day of the celebration, the priest would circle the altar seven times. With each circuit the crowds would grow louder and louder in their cry for the provision and salvation of God (in the Talmud, Sukkah 34a, 54b, 48b, 51a; Rosh Hashana 16a).

One reason for this ceremony might be seen in the need for God to provide rain for the next growing season. But the issue is much more profound. Regarding this harvest festival, Zechariah provides vital information on how the first century worshipper would look at Sukkot:

Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. (Zechariah 14:16-17)

I’m not sure of all that we’ll be doing in the Kingdom of Messiah, but we will be celebrating Sukkot! In this feast, all will celebrate Yeshua as He reigns upon His glorious throne in Jerusalem. Therefore, to the first-century Jewish worshiper, Sukkot became identified with the King and the Kingdom. Along with this idea came one of the most longed for aspects of the Kingdom as found in the Hebrew Prophets:

For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants.”(Isaiah 44:3)

This is the very truth which the New Covenant declares to be fulfilled in Messiah (see Acts 2:17, 18, 33, 10:45; Romans 5:5).

THE HOPE OF SUKKOT

Every Sukkot while the Temple stood, the water-pouring ceremony symbolized the Spirit being poured out, even as the prophets predicted. At the height of the celebration, on the last day of the feast, Yeshua Himself was at the Temple in Jerusalem. At this crucial point, He declared the fulfillment of the promise of God, the true hope for Sukkot.

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).

Perhaps you can picture it: the priest has finished his 7th circuit around the Temple altar. As he is pouring out the water, praying for God’s provision, thousands of people are crying for the salvation of God. Suddenly Yeshua proclaims loudly above the din of the people, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink…”

The Greek word for “come” is a present, on-going tense: as you come and keep coming, He will fill and keep filling. The circumstances we go through, whether relational, health, or financial problems, are more than enough to dry us out spiritually and leave us feeling like a desert. We are to come to Him, recognizing and relying upon Him for the grace that He alone can provide, sufficient for all our wilderness experiences.

Did you notice Messiah’s promise for those who come to Him? He promises that “out of his innermost being will flow rivers (literally, “torrents” of living waters.” Initially, this speaks of Yeshua’s ascension to the right hand of the Father, and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (John 7:39; Acts 2). But in our personal lives, when Yeshua is glorified, the Spirit is given.

Where I live we just had a good rain, but we’ve been in drought so long that after the rain stopped there weren’t any puddles. Why? There wasn’t enough rain to saturate the ground, much less produce any excess or overflow. Not only is Messiah’s grace enough for your life, but there will be an overflow, indeed torrents of living water, to you and through you into the lives of those around you! In fact, you’re probably in those tough situations now just so the Lord can use you to water a few dry hearts in your community, family, school, or workplace.

We are all going through our share of afflictions. That’s why we are to come to Him, living in His all-sufficient grace, so that we might overflow into lives around us. Are you presently coming to Him? You may believe in Yeshua, but does He reign as King in your heart? Sukkot reminds us that when the King reigns on the throne, God’s provision is there for His people. As Yeshua is glorified, the Spirit is poured out.

http://www.wordofmessiah.org/8/post/2013/09/sukkot-and-the-living-waters.html