Thursday, January 26, 2012

Nehemiah 8:13-18 Feast of Tabernacles

The Feast of Tabernacles

The people began reading the Word and realized that they should be celebrating one of the feast days. The Feast of Tabernacles was a time of remembrance. Tents or huts were made to remind the people of their time in the desert with just a tent or hut. The reenactment was to remind them of God's love and protection during the wilderness wanderings. They had rediscovered the God's command to remember and they wanted to start fresh in obeying God's Word. The feast days have always intrigued me with the food and object lessons. Can you imagine what it would be like as a child to build a hut and have it be your temporary home. The stories of God's provision and deliverance from slavery would be recounted. Even adults would be touched as they told of how Israel's needs were provided for in the midst of the hard ache they went through. Maybe you don't want to camp out for a week or so in a hut but there may well be some ways you can walk down memory lane and recall just how often God has met your need and helped you. Take some time today to examine God's goodness to you.


13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. 14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.” 16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. 17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. 18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.



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