Sukkot and the Savior
Sukkot, which occurred earlier this month (October 4-11, 2017), is one of the most important and joyous Jewish festivals and even one that we see Jesus celebrating in John 7, but it is one which few Christians know about and even fewer celebrate. While a week-long celebration of feasting and living in open air booths sounds like a lot of fun, it’s more important to focus on Christ’s activities before and during the Feast of Tabernacles which directly paralleled important ceremonies performed during the celebration and provides us with more prophetic proof of His identity as the Messiah.
At the beginning of John 7, Jesus was back in His hometown of Galilee and conversed with His half-brothers who had suggested that He go to Judea to celebrate Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) and try to rebuild His ministry. It’d been nearly a half year since the events of the previous chapter which took place just before Passover when Christ had fed the five thousand Jewish men with the five barley loaves and two small fish. The disciples saw Him walk on water before they returned back to his hometown to celebrate Passover. After He explained that His Body was the Bread and His Blood was the Wine of the Passover many of His disciples left Him believing He was advocating cannibalism. This led to hostility within the Jewish population and especially the Pharisees who felt they now had an excuse to execute Him.
Due to this open opposition, Jesus went to Judea for the Festival in secret after His brothers had already left. The celebrating congregation looked for Jesus and whispered amongst themselves asking where He was before He presented Himself in the Temple and began teaching. Jesus explained to the crowd that He had been sent from Heaven and taught what God had spoken to Him. The people are amazed at His knowledge and begin quarreling amongst themselves as to who He is with some rising up to try to overtake Him. On the last day of the feast Jesus cried out that if any man thirst, that he should come to Him and drink and if he believed on Him, then out of his soul would flow rivers of living water which was the Holy Spirit.
Jesus then went up to the Mount of Olives with Peter, James, and John to rest amongst the Jews sleeping in their Sukkot structures. Moses and Elijah appeared and Jesus became transfigured before the sleepy disciples and in his panic and confusion upon waking, Peter suggested that they build sleeping shelters for them. Early in the morning before the sun had risen, the adulterous woman was presented to Him within the Temple and they were asked what should be done to her. He ignored them and began to write on the floor with His finger while challenging that the one who was without sin should throw the first stone. They begin to leave after feeling convicted and Jesus instructs her to go and sin no more. Before the sun rose He declared that He was the Light of the World.
The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 Jewish men paralleled the Passover feast which was about to occur. This was further strengthened by the 12 baskets of food (Matthew 14:20, Mark 6:43, Luke 9:17, John 6:13) that remained after everyone ate, which represented the twelve tribes of Israel. Afterwards, the apostles saw Jesus walking on water as though it were dry land which imitated how the Jews crossed the Red Sea but also fulfilled Job 9:8’s declaration that only God can walk on the Sea. Christ referred to Himself as the Bread from Heaven (John 6:33) which the Jews would have connected to the Manna that God fed the Israelites. Despite being sustained by miracles since their departure from Egypt, the Israelites’ hearts were still hard and cold and when presented with difficult to swallow situations they chose to reject God and longed to return to the captivity in Egypt just as the congregation rejected Jesus and chose to return to the shackles of the Pharisees’ Laws.
During the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus taught in the Temple and He was tested by the listeners, who accused Him of being possessed. Jesus reminded them of how their Faith had flowed after they had seen Him heal the sick man. Just like the water that flowed from the rock of Massah (which means place of testing) after Moses had struck it, their Faith was only stirred when they saw a miracle. The crowd at the Temple argued amongst each other as to who Jesus was just as the Israelites argued what to do after their well began to dry up. At Meribah (the place of arguing), Moses failed to follow God’s instruction to speak to the rock and instead struck it twice causing water to flow from it. In Numbers 20:12 & Deuteronomy 32:51, God informs us that the reason why Moses will not be allowed into the Promised Land is because he failed to believe, act faithfully and sanctify God. Christ recalls this when He challenges the crowd to believe in Him so that Living Waters would flow from within them.
The grand ceremony conducted at the Temple was the morning water libations (Nisuch Ha-Mayim) where the high priest would draw water from the spring of Gohen (Isaiah 12:3), also known as the spring of Salvation, and pour water and wine out onto the alter as a way to ask for blessings of water to quench the thirst of the land, the animals and the people (Isaiah 44:3). The spring of Gohen was believed to be the same water source that was used to anoint Solomon king (1 Kings 1:45). It stood as an expression of the Holy Spirit coming upon those who believed (1 Sam. 16:13), satisfied the thirst of their souls, cleansed their sins and filled them with a new spirit (Ezek. 36:24-27). The water symbolism is doubly important since they were believed to be signs of the coming Messiah. When Christ stood up and loudly proclaimed to those watching the water ceremony that He was the source of the Living Waters, they would undoubtedly see the signs He was drawing to show that He was their Savior.
The name Sukkot means tabernacle or can be roughly translated as booths or tents commemorating the structures that the Israelites lived in while traveling through the wilderness. In John 8, Christ goes up to the Mount of Olives, with Peter, James, & John to rest where many others have built their ceremonial shelters of green limbs. (Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, Juke 9:28-36) His image is radiant as He is transfigured. Moses and Elijah’s presence confounds Peter but Christ’s heavenly glow matches Moses’ shining face (Exodus 34:30) when he comes down Mt. Sinai with the second set of Commandments just as Jesus was creating a new Covenant and Elijah’s fiery ascent into heaven (2 Kings 2:11) predicted Christ who fulfilled all of the remaining Messianic Prophecies before His own ascent.
When Jesus comes back down to continue teaching at the Temple He is presented an adulteress caught in the act just like the Israelites who were caught in idolatry worshiping the golden calf when Moses came down the mountain. Though Moses’ anger boiled over, Jesus sidesteps the sin and sets to writing within the stone floors of the Temple’s treasury with His finger, just like Moses carved the Law on a new set of stone tablets, before He told the adulteress to go and sin no more. The closing of Sukkot came just after this as Christ declared Himself the Light of the World, and that those that followed Him would not walk in darkness but would have the Light of Life. The multistory Sukkot candle lit the entire temple and most of the city, and stood as a symbol and sign of the coming Messiah. Christ fulfilled the prophecies which predicted the Christ would lead Israel as the Light unto all Nations (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; 60:19-20 & Zechariah 14:6-7).
Christ’s description of Himself as the Bread and Wine of the Passover ceremony helped early and now modern Christians understand the deep symbolism of His fulfilling prophecy which was maintained and remembered through the Passover traditions. The Sukkot rituals of water libations and lighting of torches were important reminders and signs of the coming Savior and Christ’s fulfilling of the Messianic prophecies. By understanding the Jewish symbols and their significance, we can have a deeper appreciation of the significance that by believing in Him and not through our actions, will we receive the Living Waters of the Holy Spirit within us and be able to follow the Light of the World.
Article by Eric Sepulveda, PMT AdministratorFor more prophetic media groups click here
Sukkot (Mwezi wa Mtakatifu) ni moja ya sherehe muhimu zaidi za Kiyahudi na ni moja ambayo Yesu anaisherehekea katika Yohana 7, lakini ni moja ambayo Wakristo wachache wanaijua na hata wachache zaidi wanaisherehekea. Ingawa sherehe ya wiki moja ya kula na kuishi katika vibanda vya wazi inaonekana kuwa ya kufurahisha sana, ni muhimu zaidi kuzingatia shughuli za Kristo kabla na wakati wa Sikukuu ya vibanda ambayo ilifanana moja kwa moja na sherehe muhimu zilizofanywa wakati wa sherehe na kutupa uthibitisho zaidi wa unabii wa utambulisho wake kama Masihi. Mwanzoni mwa Yohana 7, Yesu alikuwa amerudi katika mji wake wa nyumbani wa Galilaya na kuzungumza na ndugu zake wa kambo ambao walikuwa wamempendekeza aende Yudea kusherehekea Sukkot (Sikukuu ya vibanda) na kujaribu kujenga upya huduma yake. Ilikuwa karibu nusu mwaka tangu matukio ya sura ya awali ambayo yalifanyika kabla tu ya Pasaka wakati Kristo alipowalisha wanaume elfu tano wa Kiyahudi kwa mikate mitano ya shayiri na samaki wawili wadogo. Wanafunzi wake walimwona akitembea juu ya maji kabla hawajaenda nyumbani kwake kusherehekea Pasaka. Baada ya Yesu kueleza kwamba mwili wake ni mkate na damu yake ni divai ya Pasaka, wanafunzi wake wengi walimwacha wakidhani kwamba alikuwa akipendekeza kula watu. Jambo hilo lilitokeza uhasama miongoni mwa Wayahudi, hasa miongoni mwa Mafarisayo, ambao walihisi kwamba sasa walikuwa na sababu ya kumteka Yesu. Kwa sababu ya upinzani huo wa wazi, Yesu alienda Yudea kwa siri kwa ajili ya Sikukuu baada ya ndugu zake tayari kuondoka. "Watu waliokuwa wakimwangalia Yesu walianza kunong'onezana, wakijiuliza, ""Yeye yuko wapi?"" kabla ya kuingia Hekaluni na kuanza kufundisha." Yesu aliwaeleza watu kwamba alikuwa ametumwa kutoka mbinguni na kuwafundisha mambo ambayo Mungu alikuwa amemwambia. Watu wanashangaa juu ya maarifa yake na kuanza kubishana kati yao wenyewe kuhusu yeye ni nani na wengine wakisimama kujaribu kumkamata. "Siku ya mwisho ya sikukuu, Yesu alitoa wito kwa kila mtu mwenye kiu, ""Aje kwake na anywe"" na ""Akimwamini, mito ya maji ya uzima yatatoka katika nafsi yake, ambayo ni Roho Mtakatifu.""" Kisha Yesu alipanda Mlima wa Mizeituni pamoja na Petro, Yakobo, na Yohana ili kupumzika miongoni mwa Wayahudi waliokuwa wamelala katika nyumba zao za Sukkot. Musa na Eliya walionekana, na Yesu akabadilika umbo mbele ya wanafunzi waliolala usingizi, na Petro, akiwa na hofu na kuchanganyikiwa alipomkumbuka, alipendekeza kwamba wajenge vibanda vya kulala. "Kisha, asubuhi na mapema, kabla jua halijachomoza, yule mwanamke mzinzi akawaleta mbele yake hekaluni, wakamwuliza, ""Ni nini kinachopaswa kufanywa naye?""" Lakini Yesu aliwapuuza na akaanza kuandika kwenye sakafu kwa kidole chake, akimsihi yule asiye na dhambi apige jiwe kwanza. Wanaanza kuondoka baada ya kuhisi wamehukumiwa na Yesu anamwagiza aende na asitende dhambi tena. Kabla ya jua kuchomoza, Yesu alitangaza kuwa yeye ndiye nuru ya ulimwengu. Mfano wa wale Wayahudi 5,000 waliokula ulifanana na ule wa Pasaka iliyokuwa karibu kufanyika. "Hii iliongezwa na vikapu 12 vya chakula (Mathayo 14:20; Marko 6:43, Luka 9:17, Yohana 6:13) vilivyobaki baada ya kila mtu kula, ambavyo vilionyesha makabila kumi na mawili ya Israeli.""" "Wakati huo, mitume walimwona Yesu akitembea juu ya maji kama kwamba ni nchi kavu, na hivyo kuiga jinsi Wayahudi walivyovuka Bahari Nyekundu, na hivyo kutimiza maneno ya Ayubu 9:8 kwamba ""Mungu peke yake ndiye anayeweza kutembea juu ya bahari.""" "Yesu Kristo alijiita ""mkate kutoka mbinguni"" (Yohana 6:33) na hivyo aliwafanya Wayahudi waamini kwamba mkate huo ulikuwa ""mana"" ambayo Mungu aliwapa Waisraeli." Ingawa waliendelea kuimarishwa na miujiza tangu kuondoka kwao Misri, mioyo ya Waisraeli ilikuwa imekaa imara na baridi, na walipokabiliwa na hali ngumu ya kumeza, walichagua kumkataa Mungu na kutamani kurudi uhamishoni Misri, kama vile kutaniko lilivyomkataa Yesu na kuchagua kurudi kwenye minyororo ya Sheria za Mafarisayo. Wakati wa Sikukuu ya vibanda, Yesu alifundisha katika Hekalu na akajaribiwa na wasikilizaji, ambao walimshtaki kuwa amechukuliwa na roho. Yesu aliwakumbusha jinsi imani yao ilivyomiminika baada ya kumwona akimponya mgonjwa. "Kama vile maji yalivyotiririka kutoka kwenye mwamba wa Mesha (maana yake ""mahali pa majaribio"") baada ya Musa kuupiga, imani yao ilichochewa tu walipoona muujiza." Watu waliokuwa hekaluni walibishana kuhusu Yesu, kama vile Waisraeli walivyobishana kuhusu kile walichopaswa kufanya baada ya kisima chao kukauka. Katika Meriba (mahali pa kubishana), Musa alishindwa kufuata maagizo ya Mungu ya kuongea na mwamba na badala yake akaupiga mara mbili na kusababisha maji kutiririka kutoka kwake. Katika Hesabu 20:12 na Kumbukumbu la Torati 32:51, Mungu anatuambia kwamba sababu ya Musa kutoruhusiwa kuingia katika Nchi ya Ahadi ni kwa sababu alishindwa kuamini, kutenda kwa uaminifu na kumtakasa Mungu. Kristo anakumbuka hili wakati anapowaomba watu waamini ndani yake ili maji ya uzima yatoke ndani yao. "Mashariki ya Kati, wakati wa ibada ya asubuhi, kuhani mkuu alitoa maji kutoka kwa chemchemi ya Goheni (Isaya 12:3), na kuinyunyizia madhabahu maji na divai kama njia ya kuomba baraka za maji ili kutosheleza kiu ya nchi, wanyama na watu.""" "Mto wa Goheni ulidhaniwa kuwa chanzo cha maji kilichotumiwa kumtia mafuta mfalme Sulemani (1 Wafalme 1:45).""" "Hiyo ilikuwa ni ishara ya Roho Mtakatifu akija juu ya wale waliomwamini (1 Sam." 16:13), alitiisha kiu cha nafsi zao, akawasafisha dhambi zao na kuwajaza roho mpya (Ezek. 36:24-27) Ni nini kilichotokea? Mfano wa maji ni muhimu mara mbili kwa kuwa waliaminiwa kuwa ishara za Masihi anayekuja. "Kama Kristo alisimama na kutangaza kwa sauti kubwa kwa wale waliokuwa wakitazama sherehe ya maji kwamba yeye ndiye chanzo cha maji ya uzima, bila shaka wangetambua ishara alizokuwa akitoa ili kuonyesha kwamba yeye ndiye Mwokozi wao.""" "Jina Sukkot linamaanisha ""hema la kukutania"" au linaweza kutafsiriwa kwa maneno mengine kuwa ""hema za kukutania"" au ""hema za kukutania"" ambazo zilikuwa sehemu ya makazi ya Waisraeli walipokuwa wakisafiri jangwani." Katika Yohana 8, Kristo anapanda Mlima wa Mizeituni pamoja na Petro, Yakobo na Yohana ili kupumzika mahali ambapo wengine wengi wamejenga makao yao ya sherehe ya viungo vya kijani. (Mathayo 17:23, Marko 9:23, Luka 9:28-36) Picha yake inaangaza anapobadilishwa umbo. "Uwepo wa Musa na Eliya unamshangaza Petro, lakini mwangaza wa mbinguni wa Kristo unalingana na uso wa Musa unaong'aa (Kutoka 34:30) anaposhuka kutoka Mlima Sinai.""" "Kama ilivyotabiriwa katika kitabu cha 2 Wafalme 2:11, ""Mungu alitangaza juu ya Sinai na amri ya pili, kama vile Yesu alivyokuwa akiunda Agano jipya na Eliya alipopanda mbinguni kwa moto, Kristo ambaye alitimiza unabii wote wa Kimesiya uliobaki kabla ya kupanda kwake mwenyewe.""" Yesu aliporudi tena Hekaluni, aliona mwanamke mmoja akifanya uzinzi, kama vile Waisraeli waliokamatwa wakimwabudu ndama wa dhahabu wakati Musa aliposhuka kutoka mlimani. "Hata kama hasira ya Musa ilivurugika, Yesu anaepuka dhambi na kuanza kuandika ndani ya sakafu ya mawe ya hazina ya Hekalu kwa kidole chake, kama vile Musa alivyonyoosha Sheria kwenye mabamba mapya ya mawe, kabla ya kumwambia yule mzinzi aende na asitende dhambi tena.""" "Sukkot ilifanyika baada ya Kristo kujitangaza kuwa ""Nuru ya Ulimwengu"" na kwamba wale waliomfuata hawangeenda gizani bali wangekuwa na Nuru ya Maisha." Mwangaza wa Sukkot wa ghorofa nyingi uling'aa hekalu lote na sehemu kubwa ya jiji, na ukawa ishara ya kuja kwa Masihi. "Kristo alitimiza unabii uliotangulia kwamba Kristo ataongoza Israeli kama ""Nuru kwa mataifa yote"" (Isaya 42:6, 49:6, 60:19-20; Zekaria 14:6-7)." Ufafanuzi wa Kristo mwenyewe kama mkate na divai ya sherehe ya Pasaka ulisaidia Wakristo wa mapema na sasa wa kisasa kuelewa ishara ya kina ya unabii wake unaotimizwa ambao ulidumishwa na kukumbukwa kupitia mapokeo ya Pasaka. Maadhimisho ya Sukkot ya kutoa maji na kuwasha mienge yalikuwa kumbukumbu na ishara muhimu za Mkombozi anayekuja na kutimizwa kwa unabii wa Kimesiya na Kristo. Kwa kuelewa alama za Kiyahudi na umuhimu wao, tunaweza kuwa na uthamini wa kina zaidi wa umuhimu kwamba kwa kuamini kwake na sio kupitia matendo yetu, tutapokea Maji ya Uhai ya Roho Mtakatifu ndani yetu na kuweza kufuata Nuru ya Ulimwengu. "Eric Sepulveda, Msimamizi wa PMT: ""Kwa makundi zaidi ya vyombo vya habari vya unabii, bonyeza hapa."