Jesus and His Connection With The Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot)

Before we discuss Jesus in John 7, we must first come to see how integral the Festival of Tabernacles was in relation to the inauguration of the Temple in Jerusalem. 

1 Kings 8 tells us that King Solomon dedicated and inaugurated the First Temple in Jerusalem at the Festival of Tabernacles.This meant that the actual presence of God was now dwelling in the temple of Jerusalem. It says this in verses 10-12: “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.
Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

It was such an exciting time that 1 Kings 8:65 tells us they celebrated it not just for 7 days, but 14 days. In other words, it was a double celebration, not just for Tabernacles, but for the dedication of the Temple which is said to be where God’s presence dwelled. It was the culmination of many centuries in the making.

Later, after the Second Temple had been built and then defiled by the Seluecids, The Maccabees re-dedicated the Second Temple and it says they did so “in the manner of Sukkot” (2 Maccabbees 10:8-10)

So throughout the Israelites’ history, Sukkot is a symbol of God’s presence dwelling among them. And whether they have a Temple or not, living in the land of Israel or not, each year Jews continue observing this festival of Sukkot to remind them that God has dwelled among their people. Messianic Jews observe and celebrate this festival knowing that God dwelled among us in Yeshua (Jesus) and continues dwelling among us through the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus comes onto the scene. And what is the significance here? Jesus was also inaugurating a new Temple, and ultimately the Kingdom on Earth itself. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Hebrews all claim that the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn after Jesus went to the cross (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45; Hebrews 10:19-22). As fully God and fully human, Jesus now becomes the great mediator between YHWH and Humanity. We no longer need a temple with animal sacrifices because we now have the perfect temple of Jesus’ who has made the sacrifice once and for all that we may have forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body, and eternal life with God.

Then there’s John’s gospel who gives us a really interesting look into a very time-bound cultural event that took place during the Second Temple Period. 

Deuteronomy 16 tells us that there are three times every year that a pilgrimage festival to the Temple was supposed to occur: Unleavened Bread in the Spring, Weeks in the Summer, and Sukkot in the Fall. However, one of the more fascinating elements of the Gospels is that during Jesus’ ministry, he was never in Jerusalem until his final week of life. He apparently never made those pilgrimages except the book of John. John’s Gospel places Jesus in Jerusalem one time before the final week, and that is for the festival of Tabernacles.

So why does John have Jesus here and what does Jesus say?

According to John 7:37-38 Jesus said this, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

What does this have to do with anything related to Tabernacles? This whole sequence is so cool! Buckle your seatbelts everyone!

During the second Temple Period a ritual started popping up during Sukkot called the Water Libation (ניסוך המים). Because Sukkot is the last major festival before the rainy season begins, it’s likely this ritual was a way to seek God to bring a good rainy season. During this ritual, the High Priest would walk from the Temple down to the Pool of Siloam. It was about 1,000 feet and trust me, it’s a very steep walk down and not an easy climb back up. The High Priest would walk back up to the Temple where there were two basins that drained to the base of the alter. This festival was so popular, that it’s said the crowd would shout to the High Priest saying, “RAISE YOUR HAND!” The High Priest would raise his hand and pour out the water onto the base of the altar and the water would go into the ground.

I know it sounds crazy, but that’s pretty much all it was. Think about it this way. All of the people there relied on a good rainy season for good crops and for water. This ritual was designed to invoke God’s blessing on the upcoming rainy season. When we need God to provide, we do all sorts of things to receive His provision, right? Don’t tell me you’ve never said, “Dear God, if you will just do this one thing for me I’ll never do x,y,z again!” 

And so during the festival designed to remind us of God dwelling among us, Immanuel – God with us, shows up in John 7 and says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” So this isn’t Jesus just randomly speaking these words, he’s actually saying them at this Water Libation ritual. 

And what is Jesus referring to here? John makes it clear that Jesus is referring to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which would come later after Jesus ascended. H2O is essential for our physical survival. But for our spiritual survival, the Spirit is needed so that we can access the living God whenever we need and so that we can receive guidance and wisdom to navigate this chaotic and uncertain world. And what does Paul say our bodies are in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20? Our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit. 

Water was often associated with the Holy Spirit. And even more so, water is referred to in Ezekiel 36 as reception of the Holy Spirit. Remember last week when we talked about Yom Kippur and the importance of ritual cleansing and baptism? When Jesus is baptized in the Gospels, it says, “And John the baptist saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon him.” And what does a dove represent? We will most likely think back to Gensis 8 after the flood when the dove represented the messenger of a new world that was cleansed by water. 

I told, you this sequence is wild!

So Jesus establishes and becomes the new perfect temple. He inaugurates the Kingdom on Earth by pouring out the Holy Spirit on all of His followers who would become Temples (Sukkot) of the Holy Spirit. And now we wait for the dedication of the Kingdom of Heaven to come to Earth where God will one day restore earth as the new Eden and will dwell among us without any veil or building needed to hold Him.

Usually when I end my posts, I say, “Maranatha” which is an Aramaic phrase meaning, “Come, O Lord.” May He return quickly!

Maranatha!

-Justin

Here are a few extra links if you’d like to dive even further:

https://www.thetorah.com/article/water-libation-a-sukkot-rain-making-ritual

https://www.biblestudy.org/maturart/the-water-pouring-ceremony.html

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/stewart_don/faq/the-identity-of-the-holy-spirit/24-why-is-the-holy-spirit-compared-to-water.cfm

https://www.oneforisrael.org/holidays/yeshua-and-the-sukkot-water-drawing-festival/

https://www.jewishroots.net/library/holiday-articles/water_libation_ceremony.html