A few weeks ago, I celebrated the Jewish holiday of Sukkot with some friends from church. One of the girls, Suzy, is a Messianic Jew, and she hosted the party at her apartment.
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. "Now on the second day the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, 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 Jerusalem, 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 God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. So the whole congregation 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 Israel had not done so. And there was a very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly according to the prescribed manner." Nehemiah 8:13-18
Suzy and her boyfriend, Sergio, built a sukkah on the rooftop of her apartment, and we decorated it (see the paper chains in the background). Sergio did all the readings of the prayers both in Hebrew and in English.
Angela and I ate in the sukkah.
The view of Manhattan from the rooftop - it was such a gorgeous fall night in late September.
Michelle, Me, Suzy and Angela.
Bill and Michelle
The Old Testament principle of building the sukkah on an annual basis looks forward to the New Testament and our bodies being an earthly "tent" that will one day be destroyed when we are forever in heaven (2 Corinthians 5: 1-8). Maranatha!
1 comment:
Hello!
You wrote: “The Old Testament principle of building the sukkah on an annual basis looks forward to the New Testament and our bodies being an earthly "tent" that will one day be destroyed when we are forever in heaven“
I want to comment, and it will be quite lengthy in order to make it understandable.
[To differentiate,] The historical person Mashiakh (“Messiah”) was named Ribi [similar to rabbi] Yehoshua.
It is highly relevant for Christians whom want to follow the historical first century Ribi Yehoshua to know what was written in his authentic teachings. His authentic teachings were later redacted into the “gospel of Matthew”. In his true teachings one finds that he taught – just what is written in the Torah – that humankind are required to do their utmost to keep the directives in Torah [“the books of Moses”] non-selectively. Ribi Yehoshuas followers were and are named the Netzarim. [note 2]
Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah - was a human, not an incarnate man-god; and the Netzarim never accepted the “NT” since it contradicts Torah [note 1].
Regarding Heaven:
Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah - lived and kept Torah – i.e. kept the directives in the “books of Moses” - with the sincerest of his heart, died innocently and became a sacrifice. Because of this the Creator can give His forgiveness for the shortcomings in keeping the directives in Torah of everyone doing his/her sincerest to keep His Instructions found in Torah; and to everyone turning away from their Torah-breaches to instead starting to do their sincerest to keep the Creators’ Instructions in Torah. This is perfectly in accordance with Yekhezeqeil [“Ezekiel”] 18 and Yeshayahu [de-Judaized to “Isaiah”] 1:17-18 in Hebrew.
Thus, those whom live in that way will according to Yekhezeqeil 18 enter into the Realms of the Heavens when they die; while don’t whom live in that way don’t get the forgiveness of the Creator in His loving kindness; and thus won’t enter into the Realms of the Heavens. Thus, “NT”-followers won’t enter into the Realms of the Heavens, since “NT” contradicts Torah. [This is possible to prove also with logic if any non-theists are reading - see this link]
Relating to the Creator exactly in the same way Ribi Yehoshua did – i.e. observing the Creators directives in the Torah – leads oneself into an intimate relationship with the Creator, which is very meaningful!
Notes:
1.: Proof of some of the contradictions in this link of a post in my blog.
2: All these statements are proven from the Jewish Bible and Scholarly research on the website Netzarim
Anders Branderud
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