As the sun set last night, Jews around the world ended their fast. The holiest day on the Jewish, Old Testament calendar drew to a close. "...on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins." Leviticus 16:30 NIVThis was the day on which the High Priest was commanded to step inside the Holy of Holies, behind the veil, to offer perfect lamb's blood on God's earthly Throne, the Mercy Seat. In doing so, the High Priest secured atonement for God's repentant people.*
"This shall be a statute forever for you...you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all..." Leviticus 16:29 NKJVWhile the High Priest sprinkled lamb's blood on the Mercy Seat, offering atonement for the nation, there was absolutely nothing for the people to do but fast and pray. Fervently. Their eternal standing before the Almighty depended on it.
And then, do you know what the people did when the ritual ended? What they did after the High Priest emerged in one piece, their atonement accepted by the Almighty?
The people went home and drove the first nail into their sukkah.**
Their what? What's a sukkah, you ask?
It's a booth. A flimsy hut. A tabernacle.
You see, five days after the most sobering day of the year, a day spent doing nothing but fasting and repenting, Jews celebrate Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles.
God commanded that His people spend seven days each year living in temporary huts. This was to remind them of the forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert. To remind His people that, through the journey of life, He is their true Shelter. That He continues to dwell among His people to sustain them and protect them.
So why is it significant that people drive the ceremonial first nail into their tabernacle as the sun sets on the Day of Atonement?
I think it's because, once a person has been made right with God, they experience true joy. That's actually what Jews call The Feast of Tabernacles: Zeman Simchateinu, the Season of Our Joy.
Once the debt of sin has been paid, once a relationship with God has been restored, He can come dwell among us! Joy above joys!
And isn't that the Gospel?
Nailed to the Cross, the Lamb of God paid for our sin, restoring our relationship with the Father. And because of that ultimate Day of Atonement, we can now abide in Him and He in us!
The Season of Our Joy, indeed!
God commands that people rejoice during the Feast of Tabernacles, and how can we not? The God of all creation - our true Protector and Sustainer - has atoned for our sin Himself and now dwells within us.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4 NIV
*To learn more about the Day of Atonement, read my previous blog entry.
**Pronounced "su-kah;" Sukkot (soo-coat) is the plural of sukkah, and is the name by which the Feast is most commonly called.
