In the Time
to Come Gentiles will celebrate Sukkot along with Hebrews and Jews.
Zechariah 14
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh,
and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations
against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses
rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into
captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
These two
verses along with verse five indicate that the Battle of Armageddon and the
Return of Messiah happens all in one shot. Prophecy points to it being around
the time of Sukkot, possibly the last day when traditions says that the books
of judgment in heaven are sealed for the year and the fate of the world and
everyone on it is set for the coming year.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and
fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that
day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the
mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward
the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain
shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
These verses
speak of Messiah’s physical return to earth.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of
the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye
shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Survivors
and the Remnant flee to safety.
6 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall
be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at
evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that
living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea,
and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all
the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a
plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and
inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate,
unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's
winepresses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and
there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely
inhabited.
We take back
occupied Israeli Land and Jerusalem is safe and secure.
12 And this shall be the plague
wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against
Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume
away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay
hold everyone on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against
the hand of his neighbour.
14 And Judah also shall fight at
Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered
together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15And so shall be
the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all
the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
Here we see
Jerusalem smite their enemies and the enemy is plagued. Could be a flesh eating
virus or the result of radiation poisoning, or it could be entirely something
else. All we know is that no matter how you slice it, it doesn’t look good for
the bad guys.
16 And it shall come to pass, that
every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall
even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to
keep the feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will
not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the
King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go not
up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the
LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of
Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles.
20 In that day shall there be upon
the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's
house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in
Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice
shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be
no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
When Messiah
returns, goyim will convert and keep the festival of Sukkot. Those who don’t
will not get rain for the coming year and be plagued with famine and drought.
“Prophetically,
we learn that in the Messianic Kingdom Age (the Millennium), it will be a
biblical commandment for Gentile nations to observe Sukkot. The nations that
choose to disobey this commandment to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship
YHWH will be cursed with draught. In fact, instead of Judeophobia, we read:
"In those days, it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of
all the languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the kanaph of him
that is a Jew, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with
you.'" These Gentiles are literally grabbing hold of the tzitzit (ritual
fringes) of Jews. I would assume that these are Messianic Jews. It might be
good for Messianic Jews to have these fringes in order for a literal
fulfillment of this prophecy to take place.
For those
who "just want to be like Jesus," it should be noted that Yeshua
observed all the Biblical holidays, including even Chanukah, which is a Jewish
tradition, not a biblical commandment. It was at the Feast of Sukkot that
Yeshua's own unbelieving brothers mocked Him, urging Him to make Himself known
publicly. Presumably, they hoped to see their Brother arrested.” – Rick Aharon
Chaimberlin, Litt. D. “Sukkot: Feats of Tabernacles”
Not a fan of
Monte Judah, but I do like what he says about the Future Sukkot to Come:
“The
Scripture definitely says much about the Feast of Tabernacles and our future.
The reference to the tribulation saints described in the Book of Revelation is
about the Feast of Tabernacles.
After these
things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from
every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their
hands; Revelation 7:9
And I said
to him, “My Lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come
out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of
God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the
throne shall spread His tabernacle over them.” Revelation 7:14-15
The palm
branches reveal the setting for the tribulation saints. They are gathered for
the Feast of Tabernacles - the Feast of Ingathering. This is why the Lord’s
throne is spread like a tabernacle over them. This is confirmed by the prophet
Zechariah. He says the first event upon the Lord’s return to Jerusalem after
the Day of the Lord, is the observance of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Then it will
come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem
will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to
celebrate the Feast of Booths. Zechariah 14:16
That makes
sense because the Feast of Trumpets symbolizes the resurrection, and Atonement
symbolizes the Day of the Lord. It follows then that Tabernacles is the true
ingathering of all of His saints at Jerusalem.
Apparently,
God intends to use the future Feast of Tabernacles in the kingdom as the
reference counter for the number of years in the millennial reign. The Feast of
Tabernacles, therefore, will commemorate not only our ancestors’ exodus from
Egypt, but also our greater exodus (the tribulation saints - the final
generation) leading into the promised kingdom. This is consistent with God’s
promise concerning the kingdom of David. King David served as the king of
Israel for 40 years and held the greatest amount of territory in Israel’s
history. God’s promise is to raise up David’s booth (tabernacle) in the same
manner in the Messiah’s kingdom.
“In that day
I will raise up the fallen booth of David, and wall up its breaches; I will
also raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may
possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My name,”
declares the Lord who does this. Amos 9:11-12”
Even though
it is not required for the Goyim to dwell in a Sukkah:
Lev. 23:42 Ye shall dwell in booths
seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
Nonetheless we
see in Zechariah that Gentiles will convert and end up keeping Sukkot anyhow.
“The Talmud relates that in the
future, when the pagans will complain to God about His preferential treatment
of the Jews, He will tell them that this is because the Jews accepted and followed the Torah. They were
not so much the "chosen people," as the "choosing people,"
so to speak; they chose to follow God's law.
The pagans will then plead,
"Offer us the Torah anew and we will follow it." "You foolish
people," God will answer, "he who prepares in advance of Shabbat can
eat on Shabbat, but he who made no preparations, what can he eat? Nevertheless,
I have an easy commandment called Sukkah, go and fulfill it..." Why is it
called an easy commandment? Because it has no expense. Immediately each one
will build a booth, a Sukkah, on his roof, but God will cause the sun to blaze
as if it were the summer solstice. Each one will then kick his Sukkah, and
leave... Thereupon God will laugh, as it is said, "He that sits in heaven
and laughs." (Talmud - Avoda Zara 3a)
Although this passage is difficult
for several reasons, I would like to focus on one of its main themes: that
pagans will not be able to keep the commandment of Sukkah. The reason this is
so strange is that of all the holidays, Sukkot has been perceived as the most
universal, encompassing all the nations of the world.
The Talmud teaches:
Rabbi Eliezer said: "Why are 70
offerings brought on Sukkot? For the (merit of the) 70 nations of the
world." (Sukkah 55b)
Rashi comments:
To bring forgiveness for them (the 70
nations which comprise the world), so that rain shall fall all over the earth.
The Sages stress that Sukkot has a
universal element which is clearly absent in the other festivals: Passover
represents the exodus from Egypt and the emergence of a Jewish nation; Shavuot
celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jews. It seems paradoxical to find
this expression of the inability of the pagans to relate to God specifically in
the context of Sukkot.
We may theorize that specifically on
Sukkot, when the Jews concerned themselves with the welfare of non-Jews, pagans
were expected to respond and to relate to God directly. There is, however,
another passage which makes this approach untenable.
This passage from the prophecy of
Zechariah describes the aftermath of apocalyptic battles, when the vanquished
nations will celebrate Sukkot. This heightens the difficulty of the story from
the Talmud quoted earlier. While the Talmud contains many explanations of
biblical teachings, it does not have a mandate to argue with the prophets. Our
question, then, is quite simple: How can the Talmud relate that in the future
the pagans will be unable to keep Sukkot - when the Prophet tells us clearly
that they will?
I believe that in the resolution of
this apparent contradiction lies the essence of Sukkot. There are two distinct
aspects to the holiday of Sukkot, represented by two commandments in the Torah:
"Also in the 15th day of the
seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep
a feast to the Lord seven days; on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the
eighth day shall be a Sabbath. And you shall take on the first day the boughs
of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven
days. And you shall keep it a feast to the Lord seven days in the year. It
shall be a statute forever in your generations; you shall celebrate it in the
seventh month. You shall dwell in booths seven days; all who are Israelites
born shall dwell in booths. That your generations may know that I made the
people of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of
Egypt; I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 23:39-43)
The Torah speaks on the one hand of
taking four species of fruit at harvest time, and on the other hand of sitting
in the Sukkah, as the people who left Egypt did. We therefore see two
commandments: 1) taking the four species, and 2) living in booths. One
commandment has an agricultural impetus, the other a historical one. The
agricultural aspect of the holiday is clearly universal, while the historical
aspect is particular to the Jews.” – “Sukkot: The Universal Holiday” – www.aish.com
Perhaps many
will immigrate to Israel proper also. There is a loose tradition that claims
that if you convert to Judaism you are considered born again as a native
Israeli; based on the Psalms.
Psalm 87
1 His foundation is in the holy
mountains.
2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken of thee,
O city of God. Selah.
4 I will make mention of Rahab and
Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this
man was born there.
5 And of Zion it shall be said, This
and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.
6 The LORD shall count, when he
writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.
7 As well the singers as the players
on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is
mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house
shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place
will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
Again,
greater due to the visitation of the Messiah, the Shekinah in human form if you
will.
Collectively
v.6-9 “God throughout this passage, is called “LORD of hosts” (Which literally
means, “Lord of armies”). What a comforting name for the people of Israel, who
felt that they were a tiny powerless province pf Persia! His Presence is
clarified as God confirmed that His “Spirit” was in their midst, according to
the original Covenant at Mount Sinai, by which they became God’s people (Hag.
2:5). Doubtless such “shaking” as is mentioned in this verse may have occurred
at that time in the Persian Empire; yet these words have a much greater
significance…” – Key Word Study Bible
May I remind
the reader that at Yeshua’s death it was this very Temple that was shaken and
the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two.
Matt. 27:45-54 Now from the sixth
hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that
stood there, when they heard [that], said, This [man] calleth for Elias. And
straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled [it] with vinegar,
and put [it] on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us
see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a
loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent
in twain 30 from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks
rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept
arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were
with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done,
they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
Also, in a
time to come all nations will be shaken with worldwide divine judgment.
Heb. 12:26-29 Whose voice then shook
the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the
earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the
removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that
those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a
kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.
Joel 3:16 The LORD also shall roar
out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth
shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of
the children of Israel.
Matt. 24:29-30 Immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
