Lev. 23:33-43, Let’s Go Camping (Succoth, 1)

My family, growing up, went on camping trips every year.  My family, with my wife, pretty much did the same, other than a couple of travel vacations.  Now it’s just the two of us and we still enjoy getting out into the woods for a few days at a time.  My dad designed and built a tear-drop trailer that was pretty amazing.  But it was small (by definition) so in my teen-age years he came up with a travel trailer which made camping for mom a lot easier.  In my own family it was a similar evolution: from tent camping to the VW Westphalia to a travel trailer.  My uncle also had a tear-drop so quite often we camped with our double-cousins and maybe grandparents or other clan members.  For us these days, the major campout each year is with our kids and grandkids.  What great times.

God planned into Israel’s year a national camping trip.  It was called “Feast of Tabernacles” or “Booths” or “Succoth” (Hebrew).  From today’s reading we see that it was in the 7^th month (Fall), after the gathering of the fruit of the land, and it lasted 8 days with the first and last days being Sabbaths.  The plan was that the people would gather poles and branches and make a covering or temporary dwelling (tabernacle) and live in it for the week.  The purpose was to remember the years after leaving Egypt when they dwelt in tents in the wilderness, and to remember how God cared for them during that time. 

Numbers 29 describes, in essence, and pardon if you think this is disrespectful, a giant national barbecue (note the invitation for the Simchat Torah BBQ; it makes sense.)  The animals were offered as sacrificial offerings, but they were the types of offerings where everyone shared the meal together.  If you read through the entire chapter with it’s detailed listing of offerings for each day, you will see that every day was the same except that the number of bulls was reduced by one each day, from 13 to 7 on the 7^th day, with only one on the last day as part of a holy convocation.  My theory on why the reduction in the number of bulls is that, as time went on, it took less beef to fill up the hungry Israelites. 

Besides the memories of the wilderness days, Deut. 31:10-13 indicates Succoth was about the reading of the Law. Thus, the purpose of the feast was four-fold:

·       To give thanks for the harvest and the blessing of being in the land.

·       To remember God’s care in the past.

·       To thank Him for how much better it is now.

·       And to review the Law.

We have been in Israel on Succoth, and for many it is still a time for a family camping trip.  At Gideon’s Spring, around 8AM, we had to walk through the campground to get from the parking lot to the spring, and it was just like home.  We were certain there was the waft of bacon in the air.  What a great God to “require” the people to go camping every year as part of their relationship with Him.

 Booths for Succoth at Megiddo and Haifa