Showing posts with label 7. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7. Show all posts

Things the Messiah Said During Sukkot

What the Messiah had to say during Sukkot | Land of Honey


Did you know the Messiah had a lot to say during the Biblical holiday of Sukkot or Tabernacles? I believe this holiday is significant to the Messiah because at this time we remember that he dwelled with us and will once again come to live amongst us. 

If we study Scripture we can see that the Messiah did keep the feasts, including Sukkot. He would have spent time in a temporary dwelling, he went to the Temple to celebrate with others, and he taught there. We have this special glimpse into his life, because everything he did was within the context of obedience to Scripture. There is added depth to the words of the Messiah when we realize where and when those statements were made. Think of what Sukkot looks like; the temporary dwellings, the four species, and imagine Yahusha in the midst of that speaking these words.

John 7:37 | Land of Honey

Things the Messiah Said During Sukkot:

"If anyone thirsts, let them come to me and drink." -John 7:37
This is a beautiful verse with added meaning: if you wanted to come to the Messiah then and there you would have to come to the feast of Sukkot. And by coming to Sukkot he would refresh and revive you.

"Go up to the festival." -John 7:8
Here is an example of Yahusha verbally encouraging people to keep the feasts of YHWH. When he told his brothers to go up to keep Sukkot, it was not an abstract or simple idea. First of all, it's over 60 miles from the Galilee area to Jerusalem. And Sukkot is also an eight day festival. In essence he was telling them to take their time, money, and resources to honor YHWH. He didn't throw in, "if you want to," or "if it's convenient." The savior told them to celebrate Tabernacles.

"He that believes in me as the Scriptures have said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." -John 7:38
When Yahusha said this the only Scripture that existed is what we now call the Old Testament. He wants us to see that these writings - Genesis, Malachi, Chronicles, everything - are about him. They talk about him, they prophesy of him, they point to him. That includes the feasts. Why would we forgo a commandment of YHWH that points to the Messiah?

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." - John 7:24
Usually only the first three words of this verse are quoted. The Messiah expects his followers to use discernment when evaluating circumstances and relationships. He expects us to look at an action and be able to tell if it is something that lines up with Scripture or not. As with traffic laws, it is not my responsibility to toll out penalties for violating the rules. But still I can see that running a stop sign is a breach of the law. In the same way, if my friend is driving I won't give them a ticket for speeding but I can suggest they slow down. Yahusha expects us to use righteous discernment in our lives.

"Are you angry that I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath?" -John 7:23
The Messiah asked this question in response to accusations that he was demonically possessed. This is similar to popular responses to those who are seeking to live righteously by keeping YHWH's feasts and such. "You're crazy! You've been deceived into thinking observing the commandments is important." In John 5 he healed a man at another festival of YHWH (which was probably also Sukkot), on Shabbat. This was not a violation of the Torah, but an offensive to rules made up by men. Going against status quo is nearly always upsetting to others.

"The world hates me because I bear witness that its works are wicked." -John 7:7
If you're a Tabernacles celebrator you might feel a little bit out of place at this time of year. What do the neighbors think of the sukkah? Stores are decorated for Halloween. Your coworkers don't quite get the importance of this week for you. Choosing to keep the Biblical holidays points out to others that the typical holidays are not okay.

"My teaching is from the one who sent me." -John 7:16
Here he pointed out that he is teaching is consistent with what YHWH had already commanded throughout Scripture. This is significant because it tells us that Yahusha's instructions line up with YHWH. YHWH wants Sukkot honored, so does the Messiah.

The Messiah encouraged others to keep the Feast of Sukkot - John 7:8 | Land of Honey

Scripture points to the Messiah's birth being during Sukkot as well. Math can be done to figure out when John the Baptist's father served in the Temple, shortly afterwards Elizabeth was pregnant with John. We know that John was six months older than Yahusha, so the family likely had a Passover baby and a Sukkot baby that year. We also see that the Savior was literally born in a sukkah and that the wording of the angel's announcement to the shepherds was very Sukkot-centric.

The Messiah didn't tell us not to judge, but rather to judge righteously. | Land of Honey


Scripture also tell us that during Sukkot The Messiah:

-Went to the temple for Sukkot. -John 7:2

-Taught. -John 7:14

-Sent people to celebrate Sukkot. -John 7:8

-Went to the festival. -John 7:10

"The one who says he lives in him ought to walk as he did." -1 John 2:6


John 7:26 - The Messiah During Sukkot | Land of Honey

Menorahs in Scripture


How familiar are you with menorahs? Growing up in the Christian faith, I don't think I ever heard them mentioned. Sure, I read the descriptions of the Tabernacle and later the Beit Hamikdash but I don't think I ever paused enough to consider what that looked like. A candelabra with three branches on either side of one central branch, a place for seven lights. I know for sure I never saw one of these, in person or even a picture, at any of the churches we attended, the Christian camps I went to, Bible colleges I visited as a prospective student, or ministries I have worked for. 

Is that a big deal? If you believe that all Scripture is useful for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16), it matters that we are completely ignoring a symbol that YHWH gave us. While menorahs are mentioned more than 40 times in Scripture they actually appear far more often. Think of the unspoken details of cultural events in your world. A friend mentioning they were at a high school football game speaks volumes of details I instantly assume, without verbal communication. I know it would have been on a Friday night, it was probably very cold, the marching band played the school fight song, the stands are usually full, popcorn is for sale, what color jerseys our team wore, the layout of the place and so on. There is no need for my friend to describe these details because I know exactly how these games work. But if you aren't familiar with high school football, a lot of this is going to be lost on you. You might get the gist of the story and have a rough idea of what it was like but these details are going to go right past you.

The menorah is a detail like this. Yahusha would have seen its light each time he was at the Beit Hamikdash. It would have been nearby when he spoke the words, "My sheep know my voice." It was there when he cleansed the Temple. Many could have heard his teachings while looking at the light of the menorah. I missed that for a long time.

We should note that the appropriate number of branches for a menorah is what YHWH instructed: seven. Of the limited menorahs we see today, I would estimate that 75% are the nine-branched Hanukkiahs that were created for the man-made celebration of Hanukkah. While that is similar to YHWH's design, it is not what he commanded. Since YHWH's thinking is far above ours we can be certain there is a reason he chose his light to be represented in sevens.

The menorah is significant enough to YHWH that he had it put in the Tabernacle and weaved the significance of seven and light throughout his word. Yahusha spoke of it often as well. Let's get better acquainted with it, shall we?

15 Places we see Menorahs in Scripture:

1. Exodus 25 is where YHWH first orders a menorah to be made and described what it looked like. Can you imagine how beautiful that must have been? Made from one piece of gold with details of almond blossoms on it. This provided the light for the priests in the Holy Place.


2. The first sentence of Scripture goes like this in Hebrew, Beresheet bara Elohim et hashamayim va'et ha'aretz. The phrase is seven words and contains a beautiful picture. The first three words refer to YHWH (the one who was in the beginning, he created), and the last three refer to earth (the heavens and the earth). If you picture these words taking either side of the menorah, you are left with the word et in the middle as the main branch that brings them together. What is the word et? In Hebrew it is simply spelled aleph-tov, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Most of us are familiar with the Alpha and Omega translation of this word that is used as a title for Yahusha. When we pair each word of the first sentence of Scripture to the branches of the menorah we can see that Yahusha is what connects us to YHWH.

3. Luke 4:16-21 - When Yahusha read the prophecy of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue something very significant happened that modern readers don't see. The tradition of synagogues in that day was to have three elders on other side of the reader standing in the bema seat. So when Yahusha began to read, "The Spirit of YHWH is upon me," the picture in front of those in attendance was that of a human menorah, where once again Yahusha was in the center.

4. Revelation 1:4 - Did you know that there are seven spirits of YHWH, not just one? This verse tells us that he has seven spirits standing before his throne. It's not a far leap to see the parallel of the seven spirits in Heaven where the seven lights of the menorah were in the Beit Hamikdash.

5. John had a vision of seven menorahs in Revelation 1:12, and Yahusha decoded this for us. The seven menorahs that you saw are the seven Israelite congregations. There is crazy significance to Yahusha using the symbol of the menorah to represent his people!

6. Revelation 2:5 - I will remove the menorah from you unless you make teshuvah. If we don't repent he takes the symbol from the faith from us. Do you see a lot of menorahs in faiths that supposedly follow YHWH? In Judaism 'menorahs' are falsely represented as nine branched for the most part. This passage also leads me to believe that if we have repented of our sins and turned to YHWH that the menorah would be with us, in the spiritual sense of Yahusha's light, but also physically.

7. Yahusha makes mention that he walks in the midst of menorahs in Revelation 2:1. We can see the allegorical sense of his presence with his congregations, but we shouldn't stop it there. Yahusha surrounded himself with menorahs the many times he visited the Beit Hamikdash and has menorahs before him in heaven.

8. The Seven Feasts of YHWH can also be seen as a menorah. If you take their chronological order, Shavuot falls in the center. Significant events that occurred at this feast are the giving of the Torah and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Another picture of Heaven connecting with earth like in Beresheet 1.

9. Zechariah 4:11 - YHWH showed two menorahs to Zechariah in a vision to teach him the deeper truth of the two houses of Israel.

10. John 8:12 - When Yahusha said, "I am the light." There are two significant pieces here. Firstly, the root of the word Torah is or, meaning light in Hebrew. I can't help but think he made a little play announcing that he is the living Torah. And second, the Greek word that is used here is phos, which of course means light but also speaks of the lamp that is emitting said light. Now if he said that he was the lamp that emits the light, which lamp do you think he had in mind? There was and is no light of more significance than the menorah. Could he have been saying, "I am the menorah,"?

11. Yahusha did many things in sevens. The book of Yochanan contains seven instances where Yahusha said, "I am." Scripture records him healing seven times on Shabbat.


12. When Jerusalem is sieged by King Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonians carried off many temple items including the menorahs, in Jeremiah 52:19. Made of solid gold these were incredibly valuable (millions of dollars each in today's money), but the spiritual loss was more devastating for the people of Judah who had disobeyed YHWH.

13. Revelation 11:4 - The two witnesses in the last days (houses of Judah and Ephraim) are likened to menorahs before YHWH. 

14. Isaiah 11:2 - Attributes seven ruachs to the Messiah. Of YHWH, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, and of the fear of YHWH.

15. 
Matthew 5:15 - A parable hidden in good advice. You wouldn't put a menorah under a basket. Yahusha using this terminology shows us that he expected his followers then and now to be familiar with what a menorah is.

There is a lot to be learned from each of these Scriptures but what really gets me is that last one. Yahusha intentionally spoke in ways that could be understood by those in his day as well as for the next thousands of years. His agricultural allegories show us this. We can understand the Parable of the Sower because gardening and food production is more or less still works the same. Him using the menorah in a parable clearly shows us that he didn't want us to get rid of them. And like he communicated to John in Revelation he sees his people as menorahs.