3rd Compass -> Group News and Articles -> Sukkot/Tabernacles 2022 Service 1 - How does this festival relate to the work of Christ?

Sukkot/Tabernacles 2022 Service 1 - How does this festival relate to the work of Christ? (Church Service)
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Minister Ty Alexander
(Ty Huynh)
  10/6/2022
The first of two Sukkot/Tabernacles Services was live-streamed.
You may watch the recording or read the transcript below...








This is the third service for the High Holy Days that started with
Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement.

For the first Sukkot service, I will discuss the traditional purposes for the festival week, and like the other High Holidays in this series, I talk about how God connects it with the life and ministry of Mashiach Yeshua - Christ Jesus.

Those who participated took part in Biblical prophecy,
so watch the service to find out how that happened.

Unlike the other High Holidays, which only have one day of service, the services for Sukkot will occur on two days because the Lord said to have holy gatherings on the first day and last (eighth day) (Leviticus 23:35,36).






Transcript 10/10/2022
Good day or evening, wherever you are, in the name of the Lord. I’m Ty Alexander Huynh, Elder Minister and Teacher of Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus. Welcome to this service for the first day of Sukkot [“soo-koth”]/Tabernacles. This is the third in a series focusing on the High Holidays or High Holy Days, which in Hebrew is called “The Days of Awe.”

If you don’t understand why I’m conducting services around what only seems important to Jews, then please watch the last service for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and learn why Christians need to have a knowledge of Old Testament holidays. There is a link on the page for this service. If you attended the Yom Kippur service, I hope it was of great benefit in learning about how to get healing, deliverance, and atonement in God’s kingdom under Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus.

Today, we start Sukkot or what is translated as the Feast of Tabernacles, Booths, or Ingathering. It is an eight-day remembrance, with seven days of feasting mandated in the Old Testament (Leviticus 23:33-43; Numbers 29:12-38; Deuteronomy 16:13-15; Exodus 23:16, 34:22). However, I plan for eight feast days, because the eighth day has a holy gathering and special meaning (Numbers 29:35).

Today, we honor Sukkoth’s first holy gathering, after which the first feast of the holiday week should be celebrated. The first and last days are meant to be sabbath days of rest as well, so may you not conduct your regular work today nor on the eighth or last day of Sukkot.

Sukkot is traditionally a harvest festival that celebrates the “ingathering” or harvesting of crops at the end of the growing season. This ingathering is why Sukkot is sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering. Sukkot is also related to another harvest festival that happens at the beginning of the growing season, called Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks or First Fruits. The church is more familiar with the timing of Shavuot because it is the holiday of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first came in power to the church after the resurrection of Mashiach – Christ.

Shavuot or Pentecost is meant to celebrate the first fruits of the growing season when the very first growth of crops were offered to the Lord and celebrated. This is why Shavuot is also called the Feast of First Fruits. Sukkot or Tabernacles, though, celebrates the final harvest at the end of the season.

Both holidays are of similar importance to the Lord, because the Jews were explicitly ordered to attend and make offerings for these holidays in what might be considered three national holidays of greater importance, the third holiday being Passover (Exodus 23:14-17, 34:23-24; Deuteronomy 16:16-17; 2 Chronicles 8:13).

Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Passover]; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Aviv, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. Also, you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the land, [which is Shavuot/Pentecost]; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field, [which is Sukkot/Tabernacles]. Three times a year, all of you shall appear before the Lord Yahovah, the God of Israel (Exodus 23:14-17, 34:23; 2 Chronicles 8:13).

Sukkot is also of greater importance because of how it’s mandated after Christ’s return, especially so that He is worshipped by those who fought against Him and Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:16-19). If peoples and families do not celebrate Sukkot and worship the Lord every year, then they are cursed with drought - 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, Yahovah of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahovah of hosts, there will be no rain on them… it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot (Zechariah 14:16-17).

Another Biblical tradition of importance for Sukkot is that on the first day, we are supposed to pick choice fruit from trees, palm fronds, and leafy branches from attractive trees, like poplars, willows, olives, myrtle, and palms, to celebrate with the Lord during the festival week (Leviticus 23:40; Nehemiah 8:15). These gathered branches were traditionally used to make sukkahs or temporary canopies (Leviticus 23:42-43; Nehemiah 8:14-17) to live under during Sukkot or at least eat the festival meals there. God told His people to do this so that we would remember how He made the people of Israel live in temporary shelters when He brought them out of Egypt (Leviticus 23:43).

Under the light yoke of Christ, though, I do not concern myself with building or using a sukkah for Sukkot, and I have seen guidance from the Lord it is not the most important focus for this holiday. But certainly we need to remember the days when God’s people lived nomadic lives in the desert with tents or tabernacles, so remember that when you eat your festival meals.

Still, I honor the Lord’s command to gather foliage on this day by collecting choice branches and foliage locally and making one or more centerpieces or bouquets for the feast table. This way we don’t have to make or use sukkahs, but we can still rejoice before the Lord with local foliage as stated in Leviticus 23:40. So after service, you may want to go out and find some choice branches, fruit, and other attractive foliage to make your own centerpieces.

I also remember God made His people wander the desert for 40 years living in tabernacles, because they rebelled and didn’t want to take over the Promised Land (Numbers 13:1-14:35) –  Yahovah spoke to Moses saying, “Send out for yourself men, leaders from each tribe of Israel, so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the people of Israel.” Moses sent them to spy out the land, to see what it was like, and whether the people who lived in it are strong or weak, and few or many.

When they returned from spying out the land after forty days, they reported to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of Israel and said, ‘We went into the land, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey. But the people who live there are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large, and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there, men of great size. We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us. We became small, like grasshoppers, in our own sight, and so we were small in their sight.’

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and said, ‘It’d be better that we die in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is Yahovah bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and little ones will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’ Then they wanted to appoint a leader and return to Egypt.

Only two of the scouts sent to spy the land, Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, did not rebel and urged the people to not fear. But all the congregation wanted to stone them. Then the glory of Yahovah appeared in the tent of meeting to all of Israel, and God wanted to smite and dispossess them for their rebellion, saying, “How long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?”

But Moses prayed and begged the Lord to pardon the people and He relented, saying, “I have pardoned them according to your word, but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of Yahovah. Surely all the men who saw My glory and signs, which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet they put Me to the test and have not listened to My voice, they shall by no means see the land, which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.”

And so the Lord determined to send the people back into the wilderness and desert for forty years, a year for each day spent spying the land.

(Numbers 13:1-14:35)

Because of this rebellion and hardship, during the first seven meals of Sukkot, I eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (Deuteronomy 16:3). During the last service I shared a recipe for making flat bread, but you can use and buy any bread made without yeast or leavening.

Making and eating unleavened bread helps you experience the life of ancient Hebrews and think about why the people were made to live in tents and wander the wilderness for decades.

But also, I recall the Lord’s mercy and grace despite the people’s rebellion. After forty years, He told them, You shall remember all the way which Yahovah, your God, has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord Yahovah. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your feet swell these forty years. Thus, you are to know in your heart that Yahovah, your God, was chastising you, just as a man disciplines his child (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).

So despite being made to live in the wilderness, going hungry, and without ample supply, the people still had hope and a good future to look forward to, because the Lord’s promises are always sure. And like our guilt in many sins, the Lord remains faithful and still promises us a future, especially in the afterlife, with the promise of salvation in Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus.

This is how Sukkot aligns with the life and ministry of Christ. It connects with how God is still gracious and merciful despite our sins. Like the Israelites, just outside the lands of promise, we have rebelled at times to do as God wishes, and sometimes have suffered for it. Even if we did not participate in willful rebellion, like Joshua, Caleb, Moses, and Aaron, we sometimes have to endure God’s judgments because of others and the judgments upon our nations, communities, organizations, and families, just like those who did not rebel also had to live forty more years in the wilderness.

But still, in our hardships, the Lord is faithful to guide and keep us towards that Promised Land, with His rod and staff to comfort us, and His unfailing promises to hold us secure for the day of renewal and resurrection, which like in the first seven days of Sukkot, when we remember living in tents and the people’s sufferings, we should have God’s promises of renewal on mind when we reach the last, eighth day of the festival.

Remember this great hope in God and Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus, because the seven days of feasting under temporary shelters is meant to remember afflictions and sin, yet God is gracious to those who try to do His will and be righteous, and to those who endure trials and sufferings with the hope of the Lord’s renewal in mind.

This time of trial and affliction especially goes with our times now, at the end of the age, when so much more tribulation hits all people of the world and all believing communities, great trial and tribulation that will come to finality in that final seven prophesied by Daniel and affirmed again by the living, resurrected Christ through the Apostle John (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 13:3-10).

So as you eat with the Lord during Sukkot on these first seven days, recall why the people endured 40 years in the desert, and know why all communities are enduring the harsh judgments of God now, yet keep the great hope we have in God’s infallible promises, especially under the New Covenant in Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus, for His promise of eternal salvation is true and sure, and as I spoke last time for Yom Kippur, His temporal atonement and help in this life is also granted to those who would leave sin and change for the better, to those who God considers His own, to those of His sons and daughters He adopted into His kingdom through Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus. We are heirs of promise in the eternal covenant granted through Abraham and his line in Isaac and through King David from whom came our promised Mashiach – Messiah, Yeshua – Jesus.

God ordained through Jeremiah, The Lord Yahovah will create a new thing on the earth; a woman will encompass a man… And just as I have watched over My people to uproot, tear down, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant them… The days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 31:22).

O rebellious daughter Israel, how long will you waver? Adonai Yahovah, the Lord your God has done what He promised – the new thing and new covenant came through Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus over two thousand years ago. He brought the eternal covenant to the house of Israel and to Judah, but most of His people rejected it and Him.

The New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant in which He made with your forefathers, but with it He created a new thing, for truly a woman encompasses a man, as the Bride of Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus, the church founded by the Lord Yahovah, our God, through Mashiach Yeshua- Christ Jesus, encompasses all who believe and acknowledge His blood atonement and promise of heaven.

It is no accident the number eight represents renewal and resurrection and that the last day of Sukkot, the eighth and Last Great Day, called Shemini Atzeret ["she-mee-nee at-zehr-reht” or "at-sah-rah"] in Hebrew, meaning the Eighth Assembly Day (Numbers 29:35), also coincides with the work of Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus to bring God’s prophesied new thing and New Covenant. He was also resurrected on the “eighth” day of the week, which is also the first day, Sunday.

This was God’s show of the first fruits of the resurrection that is promised to all who believe and maintain public loyalty to Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus. Let us now stand and worship our God, like will be done after His return when He mandates the peoples to honor Him on Sukkot every year (Zechariah 14:16-19).

The Lord Yahovah, our God, did as He promised – He has watched over and planted us. Don’t go away after worship. The service will continue afterwards.

[Song of the Messiah]


[Hosanna]


Praise the Lord Yahovah and His Son, Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus, for all His great works!

In announcements for today’s service, I said you would participate in Biblical prophecy. How did it happen?

There are ten Biblical songs or “shirot” in Jewish tradition that are noted with importance, such as Ha’azinu, the Song of Moses in his final address to the people (Deuteronomy 32:1-52), Shirat Chana, the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10), and Shir haShirim, Solomon’s Song of Songs. All but one song is acknowledged by Judaism to have been sung and fulfilled.

If you sang the Shir haMashiach – Song of the Messiah with us, then you can report to the brethren and all in Judaism – all ten shirot have been sung, for the Shir haMashiach, the Song of the Messiah, the song they’ve been waiting to be fulfilled and sung is fulfilled.

We took part in the prophecy of Isaiah 26 where it says, On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah… (Isaiah 26:1). Brethren, we are in that land of Judah – the spiritual New Jerusalem, and that day, is today, for I was guided by the Lord to prepare it for today. In recent years, He revealed to me how the prophesies of Isaiah 24-28 were unfolding now – In 2020 I talked about how the pandemic fulfilled Isaiah 24 and Isaiah 26:20-21. It, and all the turbulent, harsh events we’re seeing throughout the world now, continue to fulfill those scriptures.

And in my walk with God, He has shown how my fights with the dark spiritual powers of this world – that Leviathan, the gliding, twisting serpent (Isaiah 27:1) – and with the habitually drunk priests of today’s spiritual Ephraim, the false teachers and prophets of today (Isaiah 28:1-29), these struggles have fulfilled and continue to fulfill parts of Isaiah 27 and 28.

You might have noticed I didn’t note Isaiah 25 coming true in that sequence of chapters, but it too is fulfilling, as the Lord continues to turn the fortified cities into ruins. It will be complete after the Lord’s return, when He will destroy the covering over all the peoples, the veil woven over all the nations (Isaiah 25:7), for the mystery of the Gospel and of Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus will be done when He comes forth from heaven and stands in Jerusalem to vanquish the armies surrounding it (Zechariah 14:3-4, 14:12-13; Revelation 19:11-21).

God’s wedding banquet will be made on the mountain at Jerusalem, that very banquet prepared for His Bride, His People under Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus (Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 8:11, 22:1-14, 25:10; Luke 12:35-48, 13:28-29), and the tears and disgrace of Her who stands with Him will be wiped away (Isaiah 26:8), for God’s anointed and resurrected will be with Him, just as we just sang in the Song of the Messiah, Your dead will live! Their corpses will rise!... And the earth will bring forth her dead (Isaiah 26:19). That will be the fulfillment of Isaiah 25:8 where God says, He will swallow up death forever.

And now, my brethren, in singing Shir haMashiach – Song of the Messiah, we have done as the Lord said would be in this day. Did you think you would partake of His prophecy like on the first Pentecost for the church? When Peter proclaimed to the crowd that gathered, the wonders of the Spirit working in power upon them was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy through the prophet Joel where God said, It shall be in the last days that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind (Acts 2:14-17; Joel 2:28-31). God fulfilled His promise through Joel many hundreds of years after His words were spoken, but the whole of that prophecy continues to fulfill even now, over two thousand years after Peter proclaimed it had begun.

Likewise today, all the prophecies I have referenced in Isaiah 24-28 continue to fulfill, so be sure of our hope in Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus that all will come to completion. Holy and true are the words of the Lord, and praise Him for using us to bring them to fruition.

Tell all our brethren in Judaism who continue to wait for their Mashiach – Messiah, He already came, as we sang in the Song of the Messiah, and He waits still for His first daughter Israel to acknowledge Him. How long will you waver, Daughter Israel?

That brings our service to an end. The last service in this series will be on Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day of Sukkot, next week on Monday, October 17th. I will speak more about how that relates to Christ as well.

Thank you all for taking part today. Before you sign off, I’d like to remind you to support our work for God’s kingdom and help the needy with a donation.

You may use the QR code on the screen or go to 3rdCompass.org/donate. There is a link on the page for this service. Your help will be much appreciated with gratitude and blessings in the name of Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus. Amen.

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to comment on the YouTube page for this service or send a message through the 3rdCompass.org website. Thank you again and your Sukkot feasts and days be most blessed, through Mashiach Yeshua – Christ Jesus. Amen.



3rd Compass -> Group News and Articles -> Sukkot/Tabernacles 2022 Service 1 - How does this festival relate to the work of Christ?


 


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