The Feast Of Sukkot - Day 8

Sukkot - The Feast of Booths

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Meaning of Sukkot – Water Pouring Ceremony.

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On each of the seven days of Sukkot, the High Priest took a golden pitcher and filled it with water drawn from the Pool of Siloam. It was brought into the Temple through the Water Gate (hence the name), and poured into a bowl at the Altar, alongside the pouring of the wine, during the daily burntoffering (Talmud: Sukkah 4:9). This water libation was performed only during Sukkot.

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The water ceremony was done during the seven days of the festival and on the eighth day it was in many respects the conclusion of the holiday. Everything has built to this day and this particular ceremony. The renowned men of Israel, every priest, teacher, scribe and leader was in the temple to observe this one ceremony. It was a rare moment in the life of Israel each year. The sequence of the water ceremony involved a single priest being dispatched from the temple down to the Pool of Siloam. Siloam means, "sent." The priest was "sent" from heaven (the temple mount) down to Siloam, the lowest part of Jerusalem (the earth). This point to Y’shua Who was sent from heaven and died for us. He was sent down with a golden pitcher to draw water from the pool. This water was called "Y’shua" which means salvation. It is the real Hebrew name for “Jesus”, if you don’t know. The priest would then ascend back up to the temple with the sound of a flute and joy. The flute was called “the pierced one” which points to Y’shua’s ‘crucifixion’. The prophet Isaiah wrote these words explaining the meaning of Y’shua’s’ name (YHVH is my salvation) and this water ceremony. ! ( +

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This process of descending and ascending was a prophecy fulfilled of the Messiah. The Messiah descended and ascended just like the priest did, who brought the "living waters" called "salvation" to the house of Elohim. The writer of Proverbs knew that this ascending and descending process was about YHVH and His Son. .

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As the priest with the water entered the court of Israel, the silver trumpets were sounded to focus everyone’s attention on the event. The priest and a companion (priest) walk up the ramp of the altar and position themselves at the top of the altar at the southwestern corner. The first priest carried the gold pitcher with the water; the second priest carries a silver pitcher with wine. Two funnel goblets were set at the edge of the altar with the drain spout letting the fluid flow down the side of the altar. One funnel was for the water; the other funnel was for the wine. In synchronous manner, the priests poured out their pitchers into the corresponding funnels. Beginning low and slow, the priest raised up the pitchers keeping aim on the funnels. This is done so all may see the "outpouring." Those witnessing the ceremony observed the parallel streams on the side of the altar of water and wine. When Y’shua died, water and blood came from His side and He fulfilled this prophetic action of the water pouring ceremony. The water and wine was poured on the western side of the altar. The blood of the animals was always sprinkled on the eastern side of the Ark (for Israel) and the western side was not used, West means ‘nations’ and east means ‘ancient or original things’. This water pouring ceremony foretold prophetically the salvation for the Gentiles in the nations. It is believed when Y’shua died, that His blood poured on the western side of the Ark, which was below the place where He was impaled (crucified). Blood and water flowed from His side representing His redemption by His blood and His washing of the water of the Word. This ceremony also symbolizes YHVH’s response to a prayer that has been prayed during all of Sukkot. The prayer is for YHVH to "save" us and "pour out" His Spirit upon us. The Apostle John records for us what happened with Y’shua at this ceremony.

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Y’shua was the name of the water they used and the water was called “ the waters of salvation" or “Y’shua”. This is the Name of YHVH’s redemption. This means that Y’shua is our redemption and our salvation. The outpouring of the water and wine symbolized YHVH’s Salvation (wine/blood) and the outpouring of the Spirit (water/Word). John qualifies Y’shua’s statement by saying that the Spirit was given later (at the Feast of Weeks - Pentecost). 3

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) * When blood and water flowed from the body of Y’shua, and it matched the witness of the water pouring ceremony where water and wine was poured. It symbolized Elohim’s redemption (the blood/wine) in parallel with the water (the outpouring of the Spirit/Word). Looking back to Y’shua’s entrance into Jerusalem, the people laid out palm branches. They cried out, "Hosanna, Hosanna!" which means "Elohim save us!" The palm branches and the cry of Hosanna come from the Feast of Tabernacles. This is how the celebration of booths led to the Passover - the Feast of Redemption.

Shemini Atzeret functions as the conclusion of Sukkot, but it is also a separate festival. Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, also called the eighth day, the rejoicing in the Torah. This day the Torah cycle ended for the year and the Torah was rolled back. It takes about 45 minutes to roll it back and the last part of Deuteronomy was read as well as the first part of Genesis, giving the cycle a complete circle. The thought of the day would be according to these two pieces of scripture ! > * read; “… %&'& …” This has a spiritual lesson for us as His “righteous people” to be available for Him to create through us other people’s lives so that they can also become righteous.

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! In addition, during this festival of Sukkot and this time, in the court of the women of the temple between the four posts of light, the accusers brought to Y’shua the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-11). 3 &

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This all happened on the day after the feast or the eighth day of the feast. The eighth day means new beginnings and this day is used to turn back the Torah and it was a turn back of her life as well. The life of the woman, changing from an adulteress woman to a righteous woman in one day just as the Torah scroll was turned back from the history of sin’s effect to the beginning to how it was meant to be. This is a very good example of the restoration work that the Messiah Y’shua, the Word, is doing in all our lives in the World. Y’shua forgave the woman and proceeded to write a message on the ground. What did Y’shua write? The answer might be in Jeremiah 17:13. 0 >

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The accusers of the woman were also to blame for not believing in Y’shua and they will not inherit eternal life. In these things, we can see that Y’shua taught the people the messages of the festivals during the festivals.

What is seen here is that Y’shua stooped down and became “small” when people are accusing each other of sin. Do you want Y’shua to be “small” or great in your life? A Judgemental spirit will shrink Y’shua in your life and being humble, will raise Y’shua to His rightful elevated place of honour in your life. Lucifer is the accuser of the brethren, and he accuses them rightfully, when they sin. There is a place to speak up against sin but it should not be your lifestyle. We need to learn to embrace wrong doers so that they can come into the Kingdom, so that they can be at a place where the truth is spoken and then the Word will change them. Stop doing Satan’s work “poking” people with your sword (Word), accusing your brothers and sisters. You earn the right to correct others if you have learned to love them and have the ”environment” to speak into their lives.

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This feast takes place at the end times where all the nations will go up to Jerusalem, to keep the feast of Sukkot. Why are we taught that the festivals have fallen away, if it is mentioned here, in context of the end times? The feast of Sukkot was the time to pray for rain, and when the feast is over, they believed that the rain would start. The eighth day was seen as the first day of the raining season, the day of new beginnings. It’s on this day that Y’shua encountered the adulteress woman. This day was also a day of new beginnings for her. It was on this day that she encountered Y’shua’s grace (rain) that washed away her sin, and just like the Torah scroll is turned back and started anew, so her life had a new beginning.

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Your life is like a Torah Scroll. What is written on your scroll? When the people brought their sacrifices to the Temple, the animal is skinned and the inside is burned on the altar. The skin of the animal belonged to the Levite that sacrificed the animal, and he used it to make a Torah scroll and write the Torah on it. Did you give your life, your flesh, as a living sacrifice, so that YHVH can record His Word on you? This day is a perfect day to give your life and flesh to YHVH so that He can start writing His Torah on your life, all from the beginning again. Y’shua wrote in the dust with His finger. Dust

“ayfer” is always a symbol of death. The

eye (ayin), the mouth (pey) and human reasoning (resh) are the three things that cause death in people’s lives. When rain falls on the dust, it brings life. The rain (life) of Y’shua fell on her life that was full of death and it changed her into a new creation.

% There are three women in John. The first woman is Mary, His mother, the second is the woman at the well, and the third woman is the adulteress woman. If we look at these woman and compare them with each other, we get a deeper insight into the wisdom behind these events recorded in Scripture.

The first woman was His mother who asked Him to do something about the wine shortage at a Marriage Festival. The wine mentioned here, is for celebrating and enjoying a Marriage feast where a bride and a bridegroom are unified. This theme started with the initial “marriage” between Adam and Eve, and it ends with the marriage between the Bride (us) and the Bridegroom (Y’shua).

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It is like bringing the end back to the beginning, to the original state and intent of YHVH’s Plan. The marriage Feast where Y’shua did His First miracle underlines this Plan of Restoration between YHVH and man.

! Every Shabbat is also celebrated with wine called “Kudush” meaning the cup of holiness or set apartness. Our marriage with Y’shua means that we are set apart, as His Bride, only for Him. Y’shua is referred as the vine and we are the branches. To think about it in a sense of how grapes are produced out of water and the ground, the ground forms part of the process and the water is used through the vine to produce the grapes. These grapes are separated from the vine (blood) and then pressed to produce the grape juice (wine/joy). Without separation there cannot not be re-uniting. The juice is then isolated to mature into good wine that can be used in the feast. Another interesting thing about the branches of the Vine is that they need to have a structure to secure it self to and to grow up against in order to bear fruit. If you do not give the branches supports, it will grow on the ground and will not bear any fruit. The “Support” the “Branches” need is the Torah that gives structure and allows the branches to grow up against so that it will bear much fruit.

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Mary is a mother and she is seen a s a good person that can be called righteous. Her main attribute was to serve at the marriage festival. She was a mother that had brought children into the world. Many believers fall into this category, they are spiritually matured and have brought people into the Kingdom and are their spiritual “mothers”. “Mothers” can serve when they are equipped with the Gifts of the Spirit for the uplifting and building up of tehpeople s

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The second woman mentioned in John is the woman at the well. She was married to five husbands and lived with the sixth, without being married. It is speculated that she was barren and that was the reason for her many husbands. She is not seen as a righteous woman because of her “unholy” lifestyle. The issue discussed between her and Y’shua is where to worship. Within the context of marriage, intimacy can be similar to worship and it is an expression of your deepest feelings and how you open yourself up to your partner. Some believers find themselves in this relationship with YHVH. They have this longing and striving towards intimacy, but they lack the righteous living part, which holds them back. You should realize that true intimacy with YHVH is build upon His Word and knowing Him. It is also based upon the right lifestyle, so that you do not damage the relationship you are trying to build, by doing things that may offend your partner. It is the same with YHVH, you cannot try to have a intimate relationship with Him if you keep on offending Him with an ungodly fleshly lifestyle.

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This woman was caught in the act of adulatory. She was due to be stoned to death. This tells us that she was not married yet, because a married woman committing adulatory, were to be strangled. She is the woman that is the most unholy and considered a “bad” person. This woman does not have a husband and shows us that she can be compared to an unbeliever or sinner.

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When an unbeliever is confronted with Y’shua, (the Word), and he/she repents, his/her whole life will be turned back, just like the Torah Scroll, and she starts all over again. This as if you get the chance to go back into your mother’s womb so that you can be “born again”. This is what Y’shua explained to Cornelius that if you repent and accept Y’shua, you are “born again” and you have another chance to life and a “new beginning”. After her encounter with the Messiah, she became a “wife” who was crafted into the family of YHVH and she had to undergo the cleansing process to build het relationship with Him.

*+ These three examples of the woman in John, shows us the progressive steps towards YHVH in our relationship with Him. Unbeliever - We start off with the “adulteress woman”, an unbeliever, and when we repent we become the “woman at the well”. Immature Believer – The next stage we enter into is what Paul refers to as a “babe” or immature believer. You are not aware of all the things of YHVH and is in a learning curve that will take you to the next level of maturity. You will learn how to have a relationship with Him, washing yourself with the water in the well (Torah/Word). Mature Believer - Lastly be become the “mother” who bears “children” into the world as we have increased intimacy with Him and make disciples for Him. We help to nurture these children till they grow up into maturity. We can gain valuable information and understanding on “how to” have a solid good relationship with Him. These women show us the downfalls and high points to look at and we should be honest in evaluating where we are at, and apply the wisdom portrayed through their lives!

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At the end of the first day of the Feast, three eighty foot high golden candlesticks were set up in the Temple’s Court of Women. Four golden bowls were placed on each candlestick, and four ladders rested against each. A youth of priestly descent stood at the top of each ladder, pouring oil from a ten-gallon pitcher into the bowl (Talmud: Sukkah 5:3) The worn-out liturgical garments of Priests were used for wicks. The light from these candlesticks was so 1 bright that it was state, " @ (Talmud: Sukkah 5:3). Y’shua spoke publicly on Sukkot, saying, "! )*

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* Messiah’s birth, about AM 3750 - 3756 (10 - 4 BC), was expectantly awaited (Matthew 2:1- 18) because within about 40 years Daniel’s prophecy concerning Him must be fulfilled. The prophet Micah wrote that He was destined to be born in Beth-Lechem (Bethlehem) — the House of Bread (Micah 5:2). (Elohim called Him the Bread from Heaven (John 6:32-36), though men say Manna (Exodus 16:31) — What is It?)

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It was because of this prophecy that King Herod had the children of Bethlehem killed, to protect his throne against the coming promised king. The rabbis who translated the Septuagint taught from the prophet Isaiah that He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) and would be called Immanuel — Elohim with Us. In the expected time and place, on the Festival of Sukkot,* in a succah (tabernacle, temporary dwelling) where Passover lambs were raised in the city of the shepherd David, a Son was born to a virgin descended from that Messiah David (Matthew 1, Luke 3:23-38). At an angel’s command (Matthew 1:21), He was named Y’shua, meaning " Salvation." Elohim would dwell with us in a sukkah of humanity that would be bruised by the serpent, then crush that old serpent! The apostle Yochanan (John) tells us that the Word (of Elohim) became flesh and "dwelt in a sukkah" (tabernacled) among us (John 1:14). The author views Sukkot as figurative of Messiah"s coming to dwell among His people; this reference is not submitted as proof of a dogmatic date. When Zekharya (Zechariah) was ministering in the temple, he received an announcement from Elohim of a coming son. The second course of Abia,12 when Zekharya was ministering, was a week in the middle of Sivan. If Zekharya’s promised son Yochanan (John the baptizer) were conceived soon thereafter, then Y’shua’s conception, which was six months later, would be late Chislev to early Tevet, near Chanukah (the Feast of Dedication); His birth would thence be at mid Tishri, the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). The month of Tishri (in the fall) also fits with the season of shepherds being out with their flocks by night, as they were when Y’shua was born; during winter the lambs are kept indoors. Later in His life, Y’shua went on a high place with three of His disciples (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:1-10). This happened on the Festival of Sukkot where Moses and Elijah, from centuries past, representatives of the Torah and the Prophets, appeared and talked with Y’shua. One disciple, Kepha (Peter), suggested building three sukkot for Y’shua, Moses, and Elijah, because it was required for the Festival, but he did not understand (Mark 9:6) that these three were fulfilling that which the festival symbolized: they were dwelling in their sukkot (temporary tabernacles) of flesh, awaiting their eternal resurrection temples.

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