In the month of Tishri, the 7th month, the Festival of Booths is celebrated. On the 1st day of the month is the Day of Trumpets (Lev. 23:23). This is also when the Jewish New Year known as Rosh Hashanah is celebrated. On this day begins the blowing of trumpets, or ram horns known as Shofar, announcing to all the coming Day of Atonement. On the 10th day of the month is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:26). This is the day when the blood of the perfect sacrifice was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant for the covering of the sins of the people. This action provided a way for Israel to once again be reunited with God. On the 15th day is the Feast of Booths (Sukkot) for a period of seven days (Lev. 23:33). This is an autumn harvest celebration which involves constructing a temporary dwelling outside, a “booth”, and eating and sleeping in it for seven days. It commemorates the forty years of wandering in the wilderness for the Children of Israel, and God dwelling with them in the Tabernacle during this time. During the Israelite's forty years of wandering in the wilderness, God instructed them to build a Tabernacle and institute the sacrificial system. The shedding of blood through animal sacrifices was the means by which the sins of the people were covered. This allowed God to dwell with them, with His Shekinah Glory filling the Holy of Holies.
The Festival of Booths is a prophetic type that is yet to be fulfilled. We are living in the time of silence between the Jewish festivals and the next Feast to be fulfilled is Booths. The Feast of Booths is a type that will be fulfilled during the Tribulation, the time of "Jacob's trouble" for the Jews. Just as the Feast of Booths is observed for seven days, this equates to the seven years of the tribulation occurring. During this time, just as when God dwelt in the Tabernacle with the Children of Israel during their wandering in the wilderness, He will once again dwell with them. Just as God used the wilderness period to teach Israel to rely on Him, once again during the Tribulation God will use this time of trouble to teach Jewish believers to trust only in Him.
There is an additional eighth day added on to the end of the Feast of Booths which is consecrated as a Holy Convocation (Sabbath) Day. The eighth day Sabbath is called Shemini Atzeret. The Hebrew word shemini means “eighth” and atzeret means "day of assembly.” This special Sabbath day is mentioned specifically in the Book of Nehemiah:
“Ezra read out of the book of the law of God every day, from the first day to the last. The Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day there was an assembly, according to the ordinance.” Nehemiah 8:18
This eighth day Sabbath I believe is symbolic or a type of the Millennial kingdom, the literal one-thousand year reign of Jesus the Messiah here on Earth. It is a period of rest, gathering together, and time to learn the laws of God and practice them.
The book of Revelation provides a confirmation that the last one thousand years of time here on Earth will be a time of peace during the Millennial reign of Christ here on Earth:
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years. He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the 1,000 years were completed.” Rev. 20:1-3
In the Bible we can see examples of this pattern of six periods of time followed by one period of rest (Sabbath). The first of these examples is in Genesis, with the creation account: “It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” Ex. 31:17
God’s institution of the Sabbath year of rest for the land follows the pattern: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the Lord. You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the Lord: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.” Lev. 21:2-4
As does the laws regarding the redemption of indentured slaves: “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything.” Ex. 21:2
When God called Moses to the mountain to give him the Commandments, the Law, and the instructions for the Tabernacle and sacrifices, the pattern was repeated: “When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.” Ex. 24:15-16
When the Israelites began to conquer the Promised Land, their first encounter was at Jericho where God once again repeated the pattern: “Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and it’s fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”” Joshua 6:2-5
During the Millennial Kingdom, Jerusalem will be the location of the temple of Christ and He will once again dwell (tabernacle) with mankind. God’s chosen people, Israel, will accept and worship their Messiah and God.
I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them. Rev 21:3
My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Ezekiel 37:27
Also, during the Millennial Kingdom of Christ's reign on earth from Jerusalem, all the inhabitants of the world will observe the Feast of Booths as a commemoration of what God did during the Tribulation period for Israel. It is written that all persons will come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
"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
"At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart." Jeremiah 3:17
As I have noted in other articles, it is amazing how the Torah readings on particular Feast Days correlate perfectly with what that Feast day prophetically symbolizes. As in this Feast day Torah reading where Solomon is consecrating the temple to the Lord in Jerusalem. As we know, the Lord will rebuild the temple in Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom and reign from there. Many of Solomon’s words to the Jewish people also foreshadow the purpose of the Millennial Kingdom. This passage from I Kings was chosen for the Torah reading for this Feast day because it occurred on that specific Feast Day, the eighth day Sabbath after the Feast of Booths. Following is the Torah reading for the Shemini Atzeret Feast Day:
“When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the LORD, with his hands spread out toward heaven, and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice: “Blessed be the LORD! He has given rest to his people Israel according to all he has said. Not one of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed. May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us so that he causes us to be devoted to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors. May my words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near the LORD our God day and night. May he uphold his servant’s cause and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires. May all the peoples of the earth know that the LORD is God. There is no other! Be wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.” The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the LORD’s presence. Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats. In this manner the king and all the Israelites dedicated the LORD’s temple. On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the LORD’s temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings. Solomon and all Israel with him — a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt — observed the festival at that time in the presence of the LORD our God, seven days, and seven more days — fourteen days. On the fifteenth day he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went to their homes rejoicing and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.” I Kings 8:54-66
