Now lets move on to the birth of the Messiah. With the
celebration of Sukkoth having so many wonderful teaching in it for the Church
today. You would think that the New Testament would have reference in it
of Sukkoth. We read in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It says, the Word not only
was with God, but the Word was the very manifestation of God Himself.
Then we read in John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, and glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth”. What the Word of God says is,
“The Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw His Sh’kinah,
The Sh’kinah glory of the Father’ only Son full of grace and Glory. But
did you notice the word John used to described this event. He said “dwelt”
among His people. This word dwelt come from a Greek word “skene” and
the Greeks translated that from the Hebrew word “Tabernacle”. What
I am trying to get you to see is, John was describing the Holy Day of Sukkoth,
the Holy Day that celebrates the indwelling of God Himself. So the Word
says: And the Word was made flesh and Tabernacled among us,”
The celebration of December 25th as the birth
of the Messiah is pagan, and comes from the Roman Empire. The early Church
often “christianized” pagan days of celebration to accommodate the new converts.
And December shows this very clearly. This date was an ancient feast that
celebrated the return of the sun after the winter solatice. It has absolutely
nothing to do with the birth of Yeshua. Believers began to say there was
no real proof of the Messiah’s birth date so this would do. What they didn’t
consider was John’s description using the term “Tabernacle” or Booths or
Sukkoth. It is right there before us and so clear I can’t understand how
it has been so missed by so many who calls themselves Biblical scholars.
If the first Advent showed Yeshua’s death on the cross
on Unleavened Bread, buried on Passover, and resurrection of First Fruits,
and the pouring out of His Holy Spirit on Shavout (Pentacost). Do you think
that God would let such an important event as the birth of His only begotten
Son go unheralded?
Sukkoth shows that God would dwell “Tabernacle” in the
midst of His people, through the presence of the Messiah, Yeshua. There
is much more evidence as well, since we know that Yeshua died on Passover
and we also know His ministry lasted 3 ½ years we can backtrack and that
puts us right at Sukkoth as well. Nearly every serious Bible Theologian
calculates that His birth was in the fall, that also is Sukkoth.
One of the ceremonies of Sukkoth is the pouring of water,
and a time of prayer for water and rain in Israel. During the second Temple
period a Priest would take a water pitcher down to the pool of shiloach
(today called Siloam in the city of David) he would bring it back to the
Temple. Crowds of people would follow him dancing and singing the Hellel,
(Psalms 113-118) The highlight of this ceremony was when the Priest would
pour this water at the altar of the Temple. It became known as “Simcha
Bet-Ha-sho-evah” (The rejoicing of the House of Drawing Water)
The question is, why would there be so much rejoicing
at this pouring of water? It has to be more than rejoicing of the future
rain on Israel, as important as that might be. Because we read in Isaiah
12:3 “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”.
(Salvation in Hebrew is Yeshua, the name of the Messiah) GLORY TO
GOD.
It was much more than the pouring out of water at the
Temple, or even for the rain. The Simcha Bet Ha-sho-evah pointed directly
to the coming of the Messiah and the days of redemption when the water of
the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all Israel.
Now we can appreciate the Scripture that was recorded
on one day in the Messiah’s life and that day was on a Sukkoth. John
7:37-39 “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and
cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water. But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that
believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given: because
Yeshua was not yet glorified.) Think for a moment of the time and place
of these words being proclaimed by Yeshua. It was Sukkoth and it was the
time of the pouring of the water. The crowds were filled with those who
had expectation of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit He would bring. At the
moment of the time of the pouring of the water the Messiah stood and made
this bold proclamation. He was saying. I am the Messiah, do you truly want
the living water of the spirit of God? If you truly want the Bet Ha-sho-evah,
believe in me. I am the Messiah who will pour out the Holy Spirit on Israel.
After eight days of Sukkoth we will end this celebration,
and on the 8th day our Messiah was circumcised. And from here
volumes can be written over that event.
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