On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to give attention to the words of the Law. They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make booths”-as it is written.
So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.
Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
(Nehemiah 8:13-18 )
This ceremony is known as the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths), and it’s named after the small shelters that the Jews created to live in for seven days. The festival remembers God’s presence during the forty years the Hebrews spent in tents in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. It also has a second meaning, because it falls during harvest time (September-October). Also known as the “Holiday of Ingathering,” it celebrates God’s faithfulness to produce an abundant harvest. Christians view this holiday as a picture of Christ’s presence in us and his faithfulness to produce an abundant harvest of new believers to the church.
Technically, Nehemiah and Ezra skipped a step. The Feast of Tabernacles is supposed to be held from the 15th day to the 22nd day of the seventh month (Tishri). Before that, the Jews were supposed to celebrate Yom Kippur (or the “Day of Atonement”) on the 10th day of Tishri. On this day, there would be a blood sacrifice for the sins of the Jews, and the High Priest would carry blood into the Holy of Holies. He would sprinkle that blood on the Ark of the Covenant, which held the Ten Commandments. That way, when God looked down, He would see the sacrificial blood, which covered the Law inside the Ark. (For Christians, this is a picture of Christ dying for our sins.)
It’s possible that Nehemiah and Ezra didn’t observe the Day of Atonement, because the Ark of the Covenant had been missing since the Babylonian captivity. There would have been no place for the High Priest to sprinkle the blood. In any case, Chapter 9 describes the full repentance of the people, so the spiritual discipline of repentance was not ignored – just delayed.
In Nehemiah 8, we have an entire chapter devoted to describing the observance of a few Jewish holidays. God was a stickler about Jewish holidays (see Leviticus 23), because He knew/knows so well our fleshly nature. God ordained the feasts to make sure that His people remembered Him and what He had done for them. They also look forward to what He’s going to do, and that’s some exciting stuff! They are spiritual markers, designating key events and disciplines that God’s people must remember and observe. They have the effect of drawing Jews closer to God through confession, repentance and celebration.
The Church on average has largely boiled these spiritual markers down to Easter and Christmas, and I’m not sure we’re getting the spiritual mileage that God intended out of those celebrations. Our flesh doesn’t want to take time out to think about God, but our spirit yearns for it. Spiritual markers are important, because they put time with God on the calendar. And as we know, if something isn’t scheduled, it usually doesn’t get done. So, schedule some spiritual markers during your year. Even if your church isn’t observing very many of the Christian holidays, it doesn’t mean your family can’t. Strong walls don’t stay strong unless we roll up our sleeves spiritually and work on them regularly during the year.
