Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Israel, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to Adonai.”-Leviticus 23:33-34
We now arrive at the final Biblical Feast of SUKKOT, otherwise as the “Feast of Tabernacles”.
Sometimes it is also called the “Feast of Booths” or the “Feast of Ingathering” in reference to the final harvest of the year.
This is a 7-day long feast that starts every year on the 15th day of TISHRI (the 7th month).
This would be around September-October according to our modern calendars.
The original Hebrew term for this feast is HAG SUKKOT.
Do you recall what HAG means?
It means “pilgrimage”.
Therefore, this was one of the feasts that required all male worshippers to make a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem to observe it.
There are two points I need to make clear.
First, notice I bolded and underlined the word “male”.
The whole family was NOT required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Only all males over the age of 13 had to go.
Second, notice it says you are to “bring an offering made by fire to Adonai“.
So the real issue was not going to the city of Jerusalem but going to the temple.
However, since the temple was in Jerusalem, obviously you can’t separate one from the other.
Now what’s interesting is that even today there are those who believe that males are still required to go to Jerusalem for these feasts in order to be obedient to God.
Is this true?
I would say NO.
Because the whole point of making a pilgrimage was to make a sacrifice on the Temple Altar.
However, is there a temple today?
No.
Hence, it is impossible to follow this Law.
And finally, do not the apostolic Scriptures tell us that Yeshua’s atoning death is now the once and for all substitute for all time?
Hence, there is no more sacrificial element that can be fulfilled today.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“And by that will we have been sanctified
through the offering of the body of
Yeshua the Messiah once for all.
And every priest stands daily at his service,
offering repeatedly the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins.
But when Messiah had offered for all time
a single sacrifice for sins,
he sat down at the right hand of God,
waiting from that time until his enemies
should be made a footstool for his feet.
For by a single offering
he has perfected for all time
those who are being sanctified.“
-Hebrews 10:10-13
I would like to reply to this by posting a writing, it’s not exactly on this topic but in a way it is. This may cause you to re-think some of your view.
Understanding The Sacrifices
This is based off teachings found within the Messianic movement.
I present this as my understanding and belief and hope it may bring clarity.
In my opinion, the sacrifices―animal sacrifice and Messiah’s sacrifice― is one of the most misunderstood topics in the Bible.
It has actually been taught that people before the Messiah’s death and resurrection obtained salvation by keeping the Law and bringing animal sacrifices.
The Bible teaches us that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews10:4)
The Bible also teaches us that there is only one way for salvation, and that is through Yeshua (Jesus) (John 14:6).
I would like to explain this topic by starting with why there can and will be animal sacrifices during the thousand-year millennial reign of Yeshua (Jesus).
Animal sacrifice functions
Animal sacrifices represent or act as an example (type and shadow) of the Messiah’s sacrifice (the innocent dying for the guilty). The animal sacrifices point to Yeshua (Romans 10:4 For Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes). During the millennial reign, the animal sacrifices will act as an example and point to the real Lamb of God just as they did in the past.
Animal sacrifices also provide (which is still a type and shadow) ritual purity which can also be referred to as temporal atonement (Heb 9:13). To take part in Temple service one would be required to be ritually clean. Another example is when someone wrongs someone and needs to make it right with the person they wronged, they would need to bring a sacrifice (guilt offering) and then there could be atonement made on an temporal basis (man forgiving man) as we find in Leviticus 6:1-7. We also find Yeshua further instructing on this in Matthew 5:23-24.
God ordained that this temporal realm be governed by the Levitical priesthood, which is a temporal priesthood. The Levitical priesthood provides temporal atonement through animal sacrifice through the tabernacle or temple which are also temporal. When Yeshua returns He will be returning to this temporal earth; remember that Yeshua says in Matthew 5:18, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” So as long as we are on this temporal earth it will be governed by the Levitical priesthood; this earth has not passed away nor has any part of the Law. This is how there can and will be animal sacrifices during His thousand-year reign.
When Yeshua returns He will build the final temple (Zechariah 6:12) (I believe this will be Ezekiel’s temple). The Levitical priesthood (Zadok, descendant of Levi) will continue their priestly duties (Ezekiel 44:15), including the animal sacrifices.(Zechariah 14:21).
You must realize that all this will take place because God’s Law has never been abolished. The reason there are no animal sacrifices, no Temple, nor functioning priesthood today is because Israel is still in exile, since 70 AD. I’m not sure what the development of Israel in 1948 was, whether it was caused by or allowed by God’s sovereign will. But it is not the complete gathering of His exiles and the restoration of their nation. I believe this will only happen when Yeshua returns.
Yeshua’s sacrifice function
Yeshua’s sacrifice has one ultimate function.
This function is eternal atonement; unlike the animal sacrifices which have to be performed over and over again and the priests themselves who have to be replaced, Yeshua’s atonement is eternal (Hebrews 7:23 -27).
God has ordained that the eternal realm be governed by the Melchizedekian Priesthood (Psalm 110:4 – Hebrews 7:17.)
This priesthood is an eternal priesthood; unlike the temporal priesthood, it provides eternal atonement through Yeshua’s once-and-for-all-time sacrifice, through His body which is the eternal temple (Revelation 21:22).
This is why we find the book of Hebrews stating that if Yeshua were on earth He would not be a priest. It is not that Yeshua ceases from being a priest (He will forever be a priest after the order of Melchizedek); it’s that He will not function as a Levitical priest on earth because He is not of the temporal Levitical priesthood. What the writer of the book of Hebrews is showing us is a contrast between the temporal realm and eternal realm.
( Hebrews 8:4-5)
Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
Because nothing will pass from the Law until all is accomplished, when dealing with the temporal, matters are handled through the Levitical priesthood. But when dealing with the eternal, there is a change in the priesthood, a switching over to the Melchizedek Priesthood and from the Law that governs the temporal to the Law that governs the eternal.
(Hebrews 7:12 ) For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
Yeshua’s sacrifice is not for taking part in temple service; it is not for temporal atonement or ritual purity. Yeshua’s sacrifice is how someone’s sins are forgiven on an eternal basis; it is how one enters into eternity, from the moment one truly receives salvation to the glorification of the body and eventually the transition from this temporal world into the new eternal world.
The Temporal and Eternal contrast put simply…
(Temporal realm)
It is through the animal sacrifices by the Levitical priesthood that one is made ritually clean (temporal atonement) and by doing so enabling them to take part in Temple service.
(Eternal realm)
It is through Yeshua’s sacrifice by His Melchizedek priesthood that one is made eternally clean (eternal atonement) and by doing so enabling them to enter into eternity.