Do we have a record of Jesus celebrating Succoth? Yes! It’s in John 7. Jesus did not go at first because of what we would call “security” issues. He was there secretly at first but then, “about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught” (7:10-14).
Some important truths were announced by Jesus
in 7:37-39 on what John calls “the last day, that great day of the feast.” This was not “Simchat Torah” which was the
day after the last day but was the day referred to as “Simchat (the rejoicing) beit
(at the place of) Hashoavah (the water drawing).” Each morning the priest would go to the pool
of Siloam, and bring water back up to the temple to be poured out as part of a
drink offering. In just the last few
years the path that connected the temple with the pool has been discovered and
excavated. In 2014 the Temple Institute
people did a reenactment of this ceremony.
It was always accompanied with great and joyful celebration. The ceremony was not commanded in the Torah but
was part of Jewish oral tradition and was tied to Isaiah 12:3: “Therefore with
joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
It was in the
context of this ceremony, on the last day of the Feast, that Jesus said, “If
anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will
flow rivers of living water.” John 7:39
tied Jesus' words to the Holy Spirit who would be given to all who believe after
Jesus was glorified (i.e. after His resurrection). The question is, why did Jesus use the Feast
of Tabernacles?
·
What Jesus said deals with the New Covenant
promised in the Old Testament. Succoth
is about the old (wilderness days) versus the new (being in the land). So that can make sense.
· It seems likely Jesus did this as the joyful procession returned from Siloam. What Jesus announced is news of great joy.
· And of course, there is the “living water” theme connected to the Holy Spirit.
Let’s review the connection of the New
Covenant with the Holy Spirit. Remember
that Moses acknowledged that the people of Israel were not equipped to keep the
law that they were committed to keep (Deut. 29:4). Even before they entered the land Moses
acknowledged the truth that would become the New Covenant: “The LORD your God
will circumcise your heart” (Deut. 30:6).
God revealed through
the prophets various details of this NC.
It would be an arrangement whereby Israel would be able to walk
faithfully with God, something they had never been able to do (Jer. 31-34). How would this be possible? Isa. 59:21 says that God’s Spirit and God’s
words would never depart from His people.
That, of course, is what Jesus is referring to in John 7. Ezekiel spoke of what the Holy Spirit and the
word of God would bring about:
·
There will be a newness of heart and spirit in
the believer (Ezek. 36:27-28).
· The believer will have a deep and true relationship with God (Ezek. 37:27-28).
· God’s face will shine on the believer (Ezek. 39:29).
All of that is the experience of believers
today, living in the time after the glorification of Christ. All of that was not the experience of the
people of Israel in the pre-Christ time.
Those kinds of blessings could not belong to God’s people until their
sins were atoned for at Calvary. “Oh the
power, of the cross!”
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