The Prophetic Significance of the Lord’s Feast: Rest and Rejuvenation During Sukkot

Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, is a joyous occasion. It is the last of the Lord’s Feasts and is a culmination of remembrances. We commemorate God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt and our ultimate deliverance from our sin-nature through Yeshua. 

We also remember His continued protection and provision over His people past, present, and future. Discover the prophetic significance of the Lord’s Feasts!

What Does the Bible Say About Sukkot?

A deep dive into God’s instruction for this appointed time gives us insight into God’s purpose and promises for this festival.

“‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.’”

—Leviticus 23:4 (emphasis added)

• Moed means appointed time in Hebrew
• An appointed time is a particular time and place to meet for a specific purpose
• God instructed His people to keep and observe this “set apart” time for gathering in His presence

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.”’”

—Leviticus 23:33-35 (emphasis added)

• The Lord provides instruction because He loves us. “For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”—Proverbs 3:12
• Holy convocation refers to “set-apart gathering.”
• In Hebrew, the word “convocation” is “miqra.” The word means “rehearsal”—the act of practicing preparation for an event.
• The term “miqra” also means to “read and understand” the laws of God.

“Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.”

—Leviticus 23:39 (emphasis added)

• Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, starts and ends in rest. The festival is about remembrance, restoration, and renewal.
• The moeds were gatherings, great social events where God instructed us to rest from the very beginning.

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

—Genesis 2:2-3

• God’s consistent, never-changing instruction is the same then as it is today for His appointed times—His moeds.
• God desires for us to be rejuvenated by rest in Him. He should be the center of our work and rest.

“And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”

—Leviticus 23:41-43 (emphasis added)

• The number 7 symbolizes divine perfection and wholeness.

“‘You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’”

—Leviticus 23:41-43 (emphasis added)

• God keeps His promises because He does not change.

“For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”—Malachi 3:6

• Now the Lord dwells in us.

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”—

1 Corinthians 6:19 (emphasis added)

• When we understand the Jewish roots of our Christian faith, we see the significance of the Jewish feast, Sukkot.
• Our bodies have become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Therefore be joyful!

God Has a Purpose and Destiny for You!

“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”—2 Corinthians 5:20

God’s Word tells us here that we are ambassadors of Christ. We are to be a people set apart—holy—from the nations. We are set apart to be a mirror of Him, as ambassadors, so that the other nations might be gathered to Him!

You have a divine calling. He knows the number of hairs on your head and He has knitted you together. Never doubt He has a calling for you as unique as you are.

When you meet Him during these appointed feasts, as He originally instructed, you are entering into His presence. Your walk with Him becomes deep and His vision for you becomes clear. You rely on Him more and position yourself for an increase in blessing.

Sukkot points to the rest and rejuvenation you have in the Lord. It is a time that directs you to look at what is ahead when He gathers His people to Himself for all eternity. When we come together as One New Man, we align with His will and we wait in anticipation for the day we dwell in His Kingdom everlasting!

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”

—Ephesians 2:14-16