Florida Feast of Tabernacles


"Fighting darkness by shining the light of Messiah!"



 
We were honored in 2019 to host our long time friend Mr. Brad Scott for what sadly turned out to be, his last Sukkot.  We dedicate this site to him. 
We will miss him dearly. 
But..we will see him at his NEXT Sukkot!  Zec 14:16

2019 featured:
Brad Scott, Phelan Jones "PJ", Dr. Scotti Thomas, Kevin Hornsby,
Lenny and Varda, Gabriel Perdomo and many more!  

 Come join us in rejoicing before the LORD (YHVH)


Come join us in celebrating together the Feast of Tabernacles in Melrose, Florida just East of Gainesville, .  Our camp offers RV sites, primitive camping and rustic summer camp rooms.  There is huge a spring fed lake with a ski boat for tubing, waterslides, the beach,  and family fun for your Feast pleasure.  There will be a number of gifted teachers, and musicians with Messianic praise and worship daily.  Enjoy dancing and hearty fellowship - all designed to bring us closer to the true meaning of the festival.  

 Yeshua observed this festival in Jerusalem.   His teachings were within the context of the first century Hebrew culture and traditions of His day.  To help illustrate one of His most important messages, we will re-enact the “Water Pouring Ceremony” that Yeshua participated in as He observed the festival in Jerusalem.  It was during this ceremony that He spoke the following:

Joh 7:37 " On the last day, that Great Day of the Feast, Yeshua stood and spoke aloud, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink"                                                 



Fall Feast Dates 2020

Day of Atonement is October 9th (begins Oct 8th at sundown) 


Feast of Tabernacles 2020!

Hosted by HaBiet Messianic Congregation and Torahboat.com

Beginning on Sunday evening October 13th at sundown,

 through Monday October 21st at sundown,

 break camp on the 22nd. 

The 14th, 19th and 21st are High Days.


And ye shall take you 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 ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.  (Leviticus 23:40)
 

Pictures of last years Feast! click "HERE"          

The Feasts of the Lord


(Genesis 1:14)  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:


This is where the calendar is started and the word ‘seasons’ means the "appointed times" (HaMoyadim)

  These are times when the Creator of the Universe, has requested we meet with Him and times that He has chosen to meet with us. This is not to say we cannot enjoy communing with God at any time we approach Him in faith believing that Blood of Yeshua/Jesus has given us access.  It says that God has a planned time to meet with us and He gave those dates and ways of observation to Moses at Mount Sinai. 

 

  His instructions are recorded in Leviticus chapter 23 and given to ALL of ISRAEL, which included the "Stranger/Gentile/Mixed multitude" (Ex. 12:38,49) who all joined Israel and came out of Egypt together. You wouldn't neglect an important date (eg: anniversary) to meet your wife or husband…would you?  Then why would you neglect an appointment with The God of Heaven who has scheduled a date with you on His calendar?  He will be there, the only question is... will you?


The Festivals of the LORD found in Leviticus 23* were given to all of us by God, so His people could understand the first and second coming of the Messiah  and the role that Messiah would play in redeeming and restoring both man and the earth back to God following the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. To understand these Feasts is to understand how God announced in advance how His Son would pay the penalty for man’s sin and how He will eliminate sin once and for all.


 
Yeshua/Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feasts to the very day and hour, which God’s people had observed  for hundreds of years.  However, the Fall Feasts have not been fulfilled yet.  The Fall Feasts represent His second coming. 


The Jewish people observed these Feasts, but few of them recognized the Messiah when He came. Why didn't they recognize their Messiah when He suffered and died during His appointed time (HaMoyadim)? They did not recognize their Messiah because they had added so many man-made rules and traditions to God's Law/Torah that they were consumed with their religiosity.  Have we done the same thing and added our own religious days in place of God's Holy days?  Will we recognize Him when He returns?  Yeshua stated in Mark 13:22:  "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect."  If you are not aware of God's appointed times, then you could be deceived. 







(Leviticus 23:39)  Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
 

The Feast of Tabernacles

Tabernacles speaks of the day when the Son of God will tabernacle among men, wipe away every tear, and bring in the "golden age" which men have dreamed of since time immemorial.

The Feast of Tabernacles is the seventh and final Feast of the LORD. It occurs five days after the Day of Atonement on the fifteenth of Tishri . This Feast is also called the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16; 34:22), the Feast to the LORD (Leviticus 23:39; Judges 21:9), the Feast of Booths, or simply "the Feast" (Leviticus 23:36; Deuteronomy 16:13; I Kings 8:2; II Chronicles 5:3, 7:8; Nehemiah 8:14; Isaiah 30:29; Ezekiel 45:23,25) because it was so well-known. 

After the return from Exile, Ezra read the Torah and led the Israelites in acts of penitence during the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:13-18).   The dedication of Solomon's' Temple also took place (I Kings 8:2) during this Feast. Later, Josephus referred to the Feast of Tabernacles as the holiest and greatest of the Hebrew Feasts. 

On the first day of the Feast, each participant had to collect branches of myrtle, willow, and palm in the for construction of their booths (Nehemiah 8:13-18). These "huts" or "booths" were constructed from bulrushes as joyful reminders of the temporary housing erected by their forefathers during the Exodus wanderings (Leviticus 23:40-41; Deuteronomy 16:14). The "booth" in Scripture is a symbol of protection, preservation, and shelter from heat and storm (Psalm 27:5; 31:20; Isaiah 4:6). The rejoicing community included family, servants, orphans, widows, Levites, and sojourners (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). 

Besides the construction of the booths, other festivities included the ingathering of the labor of the field (Exodus 23:16), the ingathering of the threshing floor and winepress (Deuteronomy 16:13), and the ingathering of the fruit of the earth (Leviticus 23:39), Samples of the fall crop were hung in each family's booth to acknowledge God's faithfulness in providing for His people.

 Since in Israel the rains normally stop in March, there is no rain for almost seven months! If God does not provide the rains in October and November, there will be no spring crop, and famine is at the doorstep. There is a ceremony, conducted on the 8th day of the Feast, that was intended to invoke God's blessing on the nation by providing life-giving water, and it's fruit.

On the eighth and final day, called the "Great Day" of the Feast of Tabernacles, the High Priest of Israel, in a great processional made up of priests and tens of thousands of worshipers, descended from the Temple Mount to pause briefly at the Pool of Siloam. There, a priest filled a pitcher with water from the pool of Siloam, and then the procession continued a different route back to the Temple Mount.   Here, in the midst of great ceremony, this priest joined another priest who was carrying a pitcher of carefully prepared wine and these two priest then ascended the Great Altar.  There, these priests poured the water and wine from their specially made silver pitchers so that the water and wine trickled down the front of the Altar in sight of all Israel. It is likely that it was at this point during the ceremony when Yeshua stood up 
(John 7:37-38) and said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water".

  Then, Yeshua died on the Cross, Jn 19:34 records that "blood and water" flowed down His side, just like the water and wine which was a symbol of blood flowed down the Altar,  signifying that His body was now the true Altar where sins were removed forever, and that He was the source of life and living water.

Other ritual enactments that provide a likely background for Yeshua's words during the Feast of Tabernacles, included the lighting of huge Menorahs at the Court of the Women. This is the probable background for Yeshua's statement: "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12). 

The water from the rock and the "pillar of light" provided during the wilderness wandering (when people all dwelt in tabernacles) was temporary and in contrast to the eternal water and light introduced by Yeshua during this Feast, which commemorated that wandering period. 

The prophetic visions speak of a time when all nations will come to worship at Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16-21).   This Feast paints a picture of Yeshua's reign during the millennial Kingdom.  The last day, called the "Great Day" (Jn. 7-37), is a prophetic picture of the beginning of eternity, days without end, a time without the curses of sin.  In that day, the earth will give her full bounty, all animals will be docile (Isaiah 65:25), armies will no longer march, every man will sit under his own fig tree (Micah 4:4), and righteousness will become a reality in the earth. 

The Feast of Tabernacles is eternal and for every believer, and it was to be kept forever, "These are the Feasts of the LORD" (Leviticus 23:3, 41)  And ye shall keep it a Feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.