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FEAST OF TABERNACLES
& THE LAST GREAT DAY
Most folks' favorite time of the year is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a most joyous celebration lasting an entire week and then the Eighth Day is the Last Great Day. That is also a special day for us to celebrate. We are actually commanded by Yahweh to go away for this spectacular time to dwell (or live) in temporary housing, meet with others of like faith, feast and have a blessed week out of the world we usually must live and function in.
Let's look at the Bible to see exactly what these days are all about and how we are to celebrate them.
We'll start in Leviticus where Yahweh had stated instructions for all His sacred, or special, days (Leviticus 23:33-43):
YAHWEH said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month YAHWEH's Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present offerings made to YAHWEH by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to YAHWEH by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work.
('These are YAHWEH's appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing offerings made to YAHWEH by fire--the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for YAHWEH's Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to YAHWEH.)
'So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to YAHWEH for seven days; the first day is a day of rest and the eighth day also is a day of rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before YAHWEH your Elohim for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to YAHWEH for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am YAHWEH your Elohim.'
Right off the bat, it sure sounds like a fun time to me! He says to "rejoice;" what do you think that means? The word "booths" means temporary dwellings, which of course, is what the Israelites lived in when YAHWEH brought them out of Egypt. In today's day and age, a temporary dwelling could be a hotel, motel, camper, tent, someone else's home, etc. Most people use this as a time to camp and enjoy all the bounty and blessings of YAHWEH's great outdoors. It is a time for special events including studying, of course, but also hayrides, cookouts, campfires and the like. Many organizations like Yahweh's Assembly in Messiah, Rocheport, Missouri, have events scheduled for the entire week including activities for the young and young-at-heart.
Many folks have discussed how long we are to keep the special appointed times of YAHWEH. He has stated on many occasions "for all generations," and "to be a lasting ordinance"-- The book of Zechariah is quite specific in this as we will read. Zechariah 14:9 states, "YAHWEH will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one YAHWEH and His Name the only Name," so we're going to assume what follows will be after YAHWEH is here with us on the earth. Now, let's continue with Zechariah 14:16-19:
Then the survivors form all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, YAHWEH Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, YAHWEH Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. YAHWEH will bring on them the plague He inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Kinda' sounds like we'll be observing this fun time of year even after YAHWEH returns to be with us here on earth, doesn't it? What a wonderful thing to look forward to. Just imagine "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from Elohim, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice form the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of Elohim is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and Elohim Himself will be with them and be their Elohim. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away," (Revelation 21:2-4).
Now that you have read a bit about this very, very special time, let's do some activities before taking a quiz to see what you have learned!
A Feast Train of Booths
Let's start with a "feast train of booths." Each of the booths below has someone in it who is providing something for the Feast of Tabernacles celebration. There are clues below the pictures to see if you can figure out who is in each booth and what each person is providing for the Feast. Write the man's name in the oval of each booth and write the food on the top of each booth. You might want to print this page, because when you're all done, you can color the whole picture!
Clue 1: Micah has the round-topped booth, to the right of the meat man.
Clue 2: David and Joel's booths are next to each other.
Clue 3: David's booth is right next to Micah's. David sells drinks.|
Clue 4: The veggie man's booth is not next to Micah's.
Clue 5: The bread man's booth has a round top.
Clue 6: Simeon's booth is the biggest.
Word Scramble
What should we do every day and, especially, on His Special Days?
K H N T A R O U E T R F H A H H W E Y A
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __, __ __ __ __ __ __.
Biblical Agriculture
There are many references to agriculture throughout the Bible. In fact, it seems as though His Special Days revolve around the agriculture cycles. We don't know for a fact if this is His plan, but there are plenty of references in His word to indicate how important the land is to Yahweh. Print this page and see how many of the words listed below you can find in this agriculture WordFind puzzle.
| A | G | G | N | I | H | S | E | R | H | T |
| C | V | N | A | Z | D | W | F | L | A | H |
| G | N | I | N | A | E | L | G | I | R | V |
| B | E | D | B | F | M | L | N | G | V | J |
| H | U | N | N | O | X | E | I | R | E | K |
| G | N | I | T | N | A | L | P | X | S | A |
| N | A | B | P | O | J | Q | A | R | T | Y |
| I | T | D | S | I | W | I | E | P | I | B |
| W | C | I | M | T | O | H | R | Y | N | C |
| O | S | V | G | A | J | K | D | A | G | P |
| L | O | N | Y | G | N | I | W | O | M | B |
| P | W | U | F | I | K | N | S | Z | W | Q |
| T | I | H | A | R | R | O | W | I | N | G |
| U | N | L | E | R | M | T | V | R | A | Z |
| S | G | G | N | I | W | O | N | N | I | W |
Here is your word list to find:
| Gleaning | Plowing | |
| Harrowing | Reaping | |
| Harvesting | Binding | |
| Irrigation | Sowing | |
| Mowing | Threshing | |
| Planting | Winnowing |
Feast of Tabernacles
and the Last Great Day Quiz
Let's see how much you remember about the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. As always, try to answer all the questions without checking back first. If you get too many wrong, you may have to go back and read it again! We're certain that you will do real well! When you're done, ask your parents to help grade your quiz.
1. When does the Feast of Tabernacles start?
a. The 1st day of the first month.
b. The 21st day of the third month.
c. The 15th day of the seventh month.
d. The 10th day of the seventh month.
2. How many days is the Feast of Tabernacles?
a. Seven plus the Last Great Day.
b. One.
c. Ten.
d. Three.
3. What did Yahweh say we are to do for this period of time?
a. Afflict yourselves (fast; do not eat or drink anything).
b. Work.
c. Live in temporary dwellings and feast.
d. Nothing special.
4. What time of year does this Feast occur in?
a. Spring when everything starts growing.
b. Near the end of winter.
c. Middle of summer so you can go swimming.
d. Fall, generally after the harvest is brought in.
5. How long will this Special Time be celebrated by His people?
a. No longer necessary.
b. Forever, even after He returns to earth and beyond.
c. Just until Yahshua returns.
d. Two more years.
6. After the Kingdom is established on earth, what will we no longer have?
a. Tears.
b. Happiness.
c. Pets.
d. Feasts and Festivals.
7. What is NOT an example of a "temporary dwelling"?
a. Tents.
b. The house or apartment you live in now.
c. A dog house.
d. Camper.
8. Which of the days during this time are we "commanded" to hold a sacred assembly? (Of course, you can be with people of like faith the entire time which is a blessing and you may hold meetings, services, study times, etc. the entire eight days as well.)
a. Second and Fourth.
b. No particular day.
c. Every day.
d. First and Eighth.
9. What does the word "tabernacle" mean?
a. "Hide from."
b. "Covering."
c. "Dwell" or "live" with.
d. "Fellowship."
10. What type of time should this be for His people?
a. Solemn.
b. Joyous.
b. Mournful.
d. Sad.
Extra! Extra! Extra!
Read Nehemiah, Chapter 8, to learn of the most joyous Feast of Tabernacles held from the days of Yahshua, son of Nun until that very day. The Israelites had settled in their towns and told Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses and they all listened attentively as it was read.