Let's Have A Feast (Part 3)

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. Zechariah 14:16 KJV

definition

feast[1]

noun

1. a: an elaborate and usually abundant meal often accompanied by a ceremony or entertainment : BANQUET
   b (1): something that gives unusual or abundant enjoyment
   // a visual feast
   (2): ABUNDANCE, PROFUSION
   //an unprecedented feast of corruption, gargantuan in scale — Neil Sheehan
2. : a periodic religious observance commemorating an event or honoring a deity, person, or thing

Feast of Tabernacles

• Leviticus 23:33-44
• Nehemiah 8:13-18
• Zechariah 14

• Starts on the 15th day of the 7th month (roughly September)
• Lasts 8 days
• Description/Instructions
  • The first day is a holy convocation and a treated as a Sabbath (no work)
  • The last day is a holy convocation and a treated as a Sabbath (no work)
  • Offerings were to be made the first 7 days
  • Dwell in "booths" (tents) for 7 days
• Connection to the past
• The Israelites lived in booths during the Exodus
• Symbolic of time to commune with God
• God provided everything during this time and was bringing them to something better
• Connection to prophecy
• Symbolic of the transition between this world, and the new world in which no evil exists
• Possibly the birthday of Christ[2][5]
• Possibly representing the time during the end where God's people will have to depend on Him due to heavy persecution

Purim

• Esther 9:18-32

• Occurs on the 14th day of Adar (roughly in March)
• Commemorates the Jews triumph over Haman in Persia
• God miraculously delivered them from being killed by their enemies

definition

חֲנֻכָּה (Hanukkah)[4]

noun

dedication, consecration

Hanukkah

• 1 & 2 Maccabees (Apocrypha)
• John 10:22

• Celebrated for 8 days starting Kislev 25 (roughly the beginning of December)
• Commemorates the time when one day's supply of oil lasted for 8 days
• This is the only winter feast and thus must be the feast mentioned in John 10:22 (also, Hanukkah means dedication)

References

1. "Feast". Merriam-Webster; March 17, 2020
2. Matthew Ervin. "The Seven Feasts of Israel are Fulfilled in Jesus". Apple Eye Ministries. March 7, 2014
3. "What Is Hanukkah?". Chabad.org; visited March 31, 2020
4. "2598. chanukkah". Strong's Concordance via Bible Hub; visited March 31, 2020
5. Dan Hardin. "Was the Birth of Christ During the Feast of Tabernacles?". Gateway Anabaptist Church. November 13, 2017
6. "5521. sukkah". Strong's Concordance via Bible Hub; visited March 31, 2020