Tag Archives: Sukkot

Chag Sameach Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles!

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Feast of Tabernacles Resources

Hello everyone around the world as we join the called out heir-apparent children the El Elyon and Kadosh YHVH Elohim (the Most High and Holy YHVH Elohim) to celebrate the biblical Feast of Tabernacles. A most joyous Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles from my family to yours!

This year Sukkot starts on the evening of Friday, October 2 and continues for seven days until Friday, October 9. Immediately on Saturday/Sabbath the next day (October 10), we will celebrate Shemini Atzeret or the Eighth Day (see Lev 23:33–43).

It is 6:42 AM Friday morning as my wife, Sandi, and I make the final preparations to vacate our home in Western, Oregon and leave for the high desert mountain region of Central Oregon to celebrate Sukkot 2020. Our little Subaru Forester (yes, this tree guy—in the business world, I’m known as “The Treevangelist”—has a Forester! Trees and the Bible are my two main passions in life besides my wife and family.) For Sukkot, we load up our sukkah on wheels (our travel trailer) and head for a state campground. However, due to all of the ravaging and destructive forest fires in Oregon this year and due to the fact that this is the opening weekend for deer and elk hunting season in our state, most of the State campgrounds are either closes or full. Therefore, our sukkah for this year will be a rented vacation home near a mountain river in a beautiful resort area in the mountains. There, three of our four children will be joining us along with a son-in-law. Our daughter and third child will be celebrating Sukkot with her husband in another state about 1,500 miles away from us. During Sukkot, I will also have the privilege of hangin out with several cousins along with their children and grandchildren. This will be the first time that nearly all of the cousins have been together for the Feast since 1974! Needless to say, I’m quite excited about this.

To help you celebrate Sukkot whether you are doing so with others or are by yourself, here is my Sukkot gift to you—some resources that will help you to have a more meaningful Sukkot. Yes, Sukkot is a time to have fun with family and friends, but most importantly, it is a time to draw closer to YHVH Elohim and to Yeshua our beloved Messiah. It is a time to celebrate and memorialize a soon coming future time when our King Yeshua will be ruling over this earth in truth and righteousness, when the Torah-Word of Elohim will go forth from Jerusalem like a river of life to the whole world, and when the glory of the YHVH Elohim will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and the bride-saints of Yeshua will be reigning over the world with their Heavenly King. Remember this: while the outlook around you in light of world conditions may be sick and disheartening, the upload is always glories!

Stay tuned for more timely information to follow on Sukkot. Unlike previous years, I will have wifi where I will be staying, so I will be making regular updates to this blog along with teaching articles and photos. See you around…

To help you to celebrate the biblical festival of Sukkot with understanding, please check out the following Hoshana Rabbah resources.

For an in-depth teaching article on Sukkot, go to https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/sukkot.pdf

Go to the Hoshana Rabbah YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/HoshanaRabbah?feature=mhee and check out the playlist on the Biblical Feasts and the Sabbath for many teaching videos on the subject of Sukkot.

How to Celebrate Sukkot By Yourself

Regularly for years I talk to people from all over the world who are alone and without a local fellowship or congregation. Many times I am asked how it is possible celebrate the biblical feasts when alone and disconnected from the greater body of Messiah. Here are some suggestions on how to celebrate the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkot) if you are alone or are only a part of a small group of people.

The first things to keep in mind is that YHVH expected his people to keep the biblical feasts forever wherever their dwelling place happened to be whether inside or outside of the physical land of Israel. I have given proof of this in more details elsewhere, but below are a few Bible verses that state this truth succinctly.

The weekly Sabbath and the seven biblical feasts are for YHVH’s people to celebrate forever and wherever they may be living whether in our out of the land of Israel. The Torah instructs the saints to celebrate the feasts in you dwelling places (d) forever (f)

Here are the biblical commands relating to Sukkot and how you can fulfil them if you are by yourself or with just a small group of people.

  • Live in a temporary dwelling for eight days  (Lev 23:42). Some people live in a literal sukkah made of tree branches. This is may not always be practical for people living in colder climates. In the past during Sukkot, I have lived in a tent, a tent trailer, a rented house and a motel room. For the past several years, my wife and I have lived in our travel trailer during Sukkot. We will do so again this year in a campground in the mountains.
  • You shall celebrate and rejoice before YHVH Elohim (Lev 23:41; Deut 16:14).
  • Wave lulavim (Lev 23:40). Every year, my wife and I purchase a four-species lulavim from Israel consisting of an etrog (or a citron, which is lemon-like fruit), a willow branch, a palm branch and a myrtle branch. You can make your own lulavim by taking some tree branches and fruit from your local area.
  • Keep the High Sabbaths by ceasing your occupational work (Lev 23:35, 36).
  • Drink wine and strong drink (Deut 14:26).
  • Use your feast tithe to buy whatever your heart desires (Deut 14:22–27).
  • Meet together and fellowship with others on the first day of Sukkot and on the Eighth Day (Lev 23:35, 36)via phone, Skype, Facetime, social media.
  • Give a feast offering to those who minister the word of Elohim to you (Deut 16:16–17).
  • Read the Torah (Deut 31:9–13).
  • Sound the shofar (Ps 81:3).
  • Beyond that, when the saints come together, or you are by yourself, we are to read and study the Bible, pray, fellowship with others as we are able, eat good food, praise and praise and worship YHVH Elohim (Acts 2:42, 47; 1 Tim 4:13; Col 3:16; Eph 5:18–19), and allow the gifts of the Spirit to flow (1 Cor 14:26).
 

Back from the wilderness…

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My bride, Sandi, and I are back from Sukkoting alone in the wilderness of western, central and southern Oregon with each other for the first time in 20 years. Since 1998, we have spent Sukkot with other people—both large and small groups. All but two of those years, we were the event coordinators and spiritual leaders of our ministry’s regional Sukkot gathering. This year, however, YHVH spoke to my heart and told me to come away with my bride into the wilderness to refresh, renew and regroup. So that’s what we did.

I spent my time away from spiritual Babylon rejoicing, resting, walking and praying, taking photos, working on my new book that I hope to have published soon, doing pen and ink drawings of trees, cooking over a campfire, studying a college textbook on botanical biology and otherwise hanging out with and thoroughly enjoying my wife of nearly 29 years, who is my best friend and life partner and the mother of our four children.

Here are some photos I took…

 Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!  O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” (Song 2:13–14)

For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. (Isa 35:6)

The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, Gazing through the lattice. My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” (Song 2:8–10)

Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies’ sake. (Ps 31:16)

He leads me beside the still waters. (Ps 23:2)

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of Yehovah, and in His Torah he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. (Ps 1:1–3)

Natan geeking out on another BIG tree.
 

How to Celebrate Sukkot and the Eighth Day by Yourself

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Regularly for years I talk to people from all over the world who are alone and without a local fellowship or congregation. Many times I am asked how it is possible celebrate the biblical feasts when alone and disconnected from the greater body of Messiah. Here are some suggestions on how to celebrate the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkot) if you are alone or are only a part of a small group of people.

The first things to keep in mind is that YHVH expected his people to keep the biblical feasts forever wherever their dwelling place happened to be whether inside or outside of the physical land of Israel. I have given proof of this in more details elsewhere, but below are a few Bible verses that state this truth succinctly.

The weekly Sabbath and the seven biblical feasts are for YHVH’s people to celebrate forever and wherever they may be living whether in our out of the land of Israel. The Torah instructs the saints to celebrate the feasts in you dwelling places (d) forever (f)

  • The seventh-day Sabbath (Exod 31:17f; Lev 23:3d)
  • Passover (Exod 12:24 f)
  • Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exod 12:17f, 20d)
  • Feast of Week/Pentecost (Lev 23:21df)
  • Atonement (Lev 16:29f; 23:31, df)
  • Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:41f)

Here are the biblical commands relating to Sukkot and how you can fulfil them if you are by yourself or with just a small group of people.

  • Live in a temporary dwelling for eight days  (Lev 23:42). Some people live in a literal sukkah made of tree branches. This is may not always be practical for people living in colder climates. In the past during Sukkot, I have lived in a tent, a tent trailer, a rented house and a motel room. For the past several years, my wife and I have lived in our travel trailer during Sukkot. We will do so again this year in a campground in the mountains.
  • You shall celebrate and rejoice before YHVH Elohim (Lev 23:41; Deut 16:14).
  • Wave lulavim (Lev 23:40). Every year, my wife and I purchase a four-species lulavim from Israel consisting of an etrog (or a citron, which is lemon-like fruit), a willow branch, a palm branch and a myrtle branch. You can make your own lulavim by taking some tree branches and fruit from your local area.
  • Keep the High Sabbaths by ceasing your occupational work (Lev 23:35, 36).
  • Drink wine and strong drink (Deut 14:26).
  • Use your feast tithe to buy whatever your heart desires (Deut 14:22–27).
  • Meet together and fellowship with others on the first day of Sukkot and on the Eighth Day (Lev 23:35, 36)via phone, Skype, Facetime, social media.
  • Give a feast offering to those who minister the word of Elohim to you (Deut 16:16–17).
  • Read the Torah (Deut 31:9–13).
  • Sound the shofar (Ps 81:3).
  • Beyond that, when the saints come together, or you are by yourself, we are to read and study the Bible, pray, fellowship with others as we are able, eat good food, praise and praise and worship YHVH Elohim (Acts 2:42, 47; 1 Tim 4:13; Col 3:16; Eph 5:18–19), and allow the gifts of the Spirit to flow (1 Cor 14:26).
  • Here are some free Hoshana Rabbah resources to help you to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkot):

Teaching articles on Sukkot: https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/teaching.html#feast

YouTube videos on Sukkot: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5EzE5DQnrHfWWbczzkRo6IOnglxhbRfM

Hoshana Rabbah blog articles on Sukkot: https://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/?s=Sukkot&submit=Search

Printable biblical calendars to know when to celebrate the biblical feasts: https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/calendars.html

Have a joyous Sukkot wherever you may be around the world, and we’ll talk to you when my wife and I return from practicing what we’ve just preached above!


 

Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot Resources

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Joyous Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles from my family to yours! We will be celebrating Sukkot with a few like-minded believers in the wilderness mountains of Central Oregon.

To help you to celebrate the biblical festival of Sukkot with understanding, please check out the following Hoshana Rabbah resources—

For an in-depth teaching article on Sukkot, go to https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/sukkot.pdf

Go to the Hoshana Rabbah YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/HoshanaRabbah?feature=mhee and check out the playlist on the Biblical Feasts and the Sabbath for many teaching videos on the subject of Sukkot.

 

A Feeding Trough, Manger or Sukkah?

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Luke 2:7, Manger. (Gr. phatne) The Greek word phatne literally means “feeding trough” and according to the word’s etymology and lexicology as stated in The TDNT, there is no indication that this manger is anything but a standard feeding trough or manger.

Nevertheless, this manger may have been a sukkah or tabernacle, which is the flimsy little hut that Israelites build during the biblical Feast of Tabernacles (Heb. Chag Sukkot) as commanded in the Torah (Lev 23:33–43). We see the connection between a manger and a sukkah in Genesis 33:17 where Jacob built booths (or tabernacles; Heb. succot or sukkot is the plural form of sukkah) for his livestock showing us that the Hebrew word sukkah (pl. sukkot) can also mean “livestock barn or manger” as well as a temporary habitation where Israelites dwell during the biblically commanded festival of Sukkot.

This raises the possibility that Yeshua was born in a festival sukkah during the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot and not just in an animal barn as Christian folklore would have us believe.

The LXX Greek word for sukkah in Gen 33:17 is skenas meaning “habitation, dwelling or tabernacle” and is the same word used in John 1:14 and Rev 21:1–3 in reference to Yeshua tabernacling with his people.

Putting all the pieces together, Yeshua may have been born in a sukkah-manger prior to or during the Feast of Tabernacles with a human sukkah (or body, of which the physical sukkah during Sukkot is a metaphorical picture) in order to redeem man from sin, so that Yeshua might tabernacle with redeemed men forever in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:3).

 

Greetings from Sukkot 2017 in NW Washington State!

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This blog has been quiet the last week or so because I’ve been celebrating Sukkot with my wife and some of my kids in NW Washington State in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island on the shores of the Salish Sea on the border between Washington and Canada near the San Juan Islands.

My internet connection has been spotty at best in the RV park where we’ve parked our travel trailer for the past week and several days, so I haven’t been able to post anything. Plus I’ve been busy with Sukkot activities, including helping to lead the celebration and doing a considerable amount of teaching.

Hope your Sukkot festivals have been blessed to the max whether you’ve been alone, at home or with a group somewhere. Although none of us is able to keep Sukkot in the exact way the Torah prescribes and the ancient Israelites did in the land of Israel, YHVH in his merciful grace honors the baby steps his scattered children are taking to obey him and to reconnect with the pro-Torah Hebraic and apostolic roots of their faith. He rejoices when the hearts of his children are inclined to serve, love and obey him as best they can, while trekking through the wilderness en route to the Promised Land of our spiritual inheritance.

Here are a few pics of some of our activities at our Sukkot here. Please enjoy.

Natan teaching the small group gathered at Oak Harbor in Washington State.

Natan and Sandi at Rosario Beach near Deception Pass on Whidbey Island.

Natan filming the sunset at Rosario beach.

Natan and Sandi on a killer whale or orca watching expedition. Yes, we spotted lots of orcas and we’ll be posting videos and photos of them soon. So stay tuned!

Natan was honored to be able to baptize a young lady (Dianna) in Cranberry Lake. The previous day during one of our ministry times, weeping and repenting, she came forward to accept Yeshua and was subsequently baptized in the Spirit with the evidence of overflowing joy and the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues. The next day, I baptized her for the remission of sins. Praise Yah!

Natan blowing the shofar after having baptized Dianna.