Sukkot and the Great Harvest to come

I interrupt my trek through Matthew's gospel to bring you a holiday greeting. 

Happy Sukkot!  Happy Feast of Booths!  Happy Feast of Tabernacles!

A sukkah - a temporary dwelling during Sukkot.

Sukkot is the final of the seven appointed times of Yahweh.  The seven mo'edim (appointments in Hebrew, often translated as feasts) are a beautiful picture of the complete work of Messiah.

At our ladies bible study yesterday, we began with a conversation about gardening (probably because I have tomatoes and peppers all over my counters), which led to a conversation about biblical agriculture.  Scripture often uses agricultural stories, parables, and comparisons to express God's truths, because in those days, agriculture was central to survival. 

Costco did not yet exist.

The feasts of the spring - Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost - were fulfilled by Yeshua at His first coming, through His death, burial, resurrection, and sending of His Holy Spirit.  These appointed times took place during the barley and wheat harvests, respectively.

Spring: a time for grain in Israel

Then comes the long, hot summer between the spring and fall feasts, where the hard work of agriculture continues.  As the summer comes to an end, a great harvest begins to come in.  Not just the breadbox ingredients of the spring, but the extreme bounty of the final harvest.  Grapes.  Pomegranates. Olives. Dates. Figs. And many other fruits and vegetables.

Fall: a time of great bounty

Once, while in Israel, I was on a day trip to Hebron.  As our bus motored past Bethlehem (meaning house of bread), someone asked our Orthodox Jewish tour guide what the plants were in the various  fields that we were passing. She replied that the fields currently contained olives, grapes, figs, and other similar bounty, but that back in biblical times, these same fields contained wheat and barley.  

My mind was blown. But I don't think anyone else on the bus caught the significance of her statement.

What a picture of the return of Yeshua, when the harvest of the last days will be bountiful and great.  And if He fulfilled the spring feasts with such precision, it stands to reason that He will perfectly fulfill the fall feasts when He returns.

• Yom Teruah - Day of Trumpets.  The Messiah will be welcomed to earth with trumpet blasts.
• Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement.  All Israel will finally be redeemed.
• Sukkot - God will once again dwell on earth with mankind, as was His original intention in the garden of Eden.

Every tribe, tongue, nation, and people will be a part of this great harvest! Isaiah 49:6 reminds us, “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

People from all nations will worship Him in the kingdom

As I was pondering all these really cool biblical patterns and truths, a thought popped into my head.  When we celebrate communion, we are commemorating the death and resurrection of the Messiah. But with what do we remember? 

Communion features an element from each festal season - bread from the grains of spring, and wine from the grapes of the fall. And not only that, but every single Shabbat meal celebrated on Friday evenings by Jews today features... bread and wine.  It's like a dress rehearsal for His return!  In both cases, we have a complete picture of the work of Messiah Yeshua.