Many people
who accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, whether they refer
to themselves as "Christian" or "Messianic," observe the
biblical Feasts and Holy Days, including the Feast of
Tabernacles and the Eighth Day Assembly, as times of worship, fellowship, and celebration. They believe
that these Feasts and Holy Days are shadows pointing to the
reality of Jesus. And they believe that there are valuable
spiritual lessons to be learned week by week and year by year through actually
physically setting aside these times as "appointments with God."
See
The 3 Rs
introductory article for an
overview of the three biblical principles of Refreshment,
Rejoicing, and Remembering as they apply to the observance of
the biblical Feasts and Holy Days.
The
rest of the articles in this series on The 3 Rs
provide specific, practical suggestions for
building those 3 Rs into these observances.
For
a general introduction to the biblical Feasts and Holy Days, see the article
Theme Times. This material on
The 3 Rs builds on concepts
explained in that article. If you are not familiar with the
cycle of these Feasts and Holy Days, you may wish to read
that article first.
See the
articles Roughing It
and On the Edge of
Eternity for an overview of the biblical
foundation of the observance of the Feast of
Tabernacles and the Eighth Day Assembly and
their significance for Christians. The material
below assumes a familiarity by the reader with
the information in those articles.
Refreshment
The Refreshment section
of each article in this series emphasizes the individual, the
family, and the home. Tips are offered on how to structure the
environment of time and space leading up to and during these
celebrations for maximum contrast to the stressful--but often
humdrum--world of daily life. Special foods and decorations,
developing family customs and traditions, special activities
including guests, and special family-centered fellowship
projects that focus on comforting, encouraging, and edifying one
another may be part of the suggestions.
Preparations
The preparations your
family will need to make for celebrating the Feast of
Tabernacles may depend on the customs of any group you
may be in regular fellowship with. If you are part of a
group that celebrates the Feast at a central Feast site,
much like a church convention, your primary preparations
will involve travel arrangements and accommodations for
the period of the Feast. See the section below for
information on such "pilgrimage"
Feast options.
If you are celebrating
with a group that keeps the Feast locally, or if you
have no group to fellowship with at all, you will have
to decide whether the idea of building a sukkah
at your home might be a way to enhance your family
observance. For more information on this see the section
below on traditional Jewish
celebration customs of the Feast. If you decide to
go this route, you will need to create building plans
and gather building materials for your sukkah, and
construct it in time for the beginning of the Feast.
Another option for a
one-family celebration might be a family camping trip
for the eight days, or even camping in the back yard in
a tent or trailer. If your family is not the "outdoor"
type, you will need to come up with some creative ways
to weave the themes of the Feast into indoor activities.
Environment
Many families find that
changing their home environment on the Feasts and Holy
Days adds to
the feeling of celebration and refreshment. This can
include:
- Special tableware
and centerpieces for one or more of the meals for
the day.
- Special lighting
such as candles or a fireplace.
- Special background
mood music that is themed to the observance.
- Special decorations
around one or more rooms.
See some of the
suggestions below for decorations and music for the
Feast of Tabernacles for group settings, and adapt them
to home use. It is particularly important to involve the
children in planning and creating these elements, as
that gives them an "investment" of their own in the
celebration.
Children's
Activities
Most of the suggestions
in the
Crafts, Games, and Other Special Activities for Children
section below on
group projects for children for the festival period can
be adapted to home use with just a little creative
adaptation.
Devotionals
Below
is a link to two “daily devotionals” for use for the
eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles. Each one has a
special Feast theme, and for each day provides relevant
scriptures to consider, inspirational thoughts, and
points for meditation or discussion. For those who
observe the Feast in their own home, these devotionals
will help keep a focus, each day, on this time of
celebration. For those who print them out and take them
to a Feast site, they can provide a very personal
emphasis to why you are there.
In
“Bringing in the Sheaves of Your Year” you are invited
to consider the spiritual harvest you have reaped in
eight areas of your life in the year just past. In each
area, you will be asked to reflect upon: Provisions the
Lord made for you to sow; seed that you sowed; the
harvest that you
reaped; and how you might improve next year’s harvest.
In “In
the Beginning” you are reminded that the story of
creation is not just some boring, outdated children's
story. It is the account of an awesome display of
creativity by the great God of the universe! And it
speaks to us today. The state of our earth in the 21st
century is just a faded reflection of what it once was.
But there is still enough to inspire awe. You are
encouraged during the eight days of this annual
"appointment with God" to take some time to look beyond
your TV set and your four walls, and thank the Lord for
His mighty work of creation. May what you are reminded
of through this Devotional inspire you to use your
God-given creativity to the best of your ability. For
you were made in His image. This devotional also
includes lyrics to appropriate hymns for each day’s
meditation, and links to music midi-files on the
Internet that you can sing along with. And it has many
full-color photos of the beauty and majesty of God’s
handiwork, from the hummingbird to the heavens above.
Both
devotionals are suitable for one person to use alone,
two people to share with one another, or for whole
groups to use as a focal point for a group discussion.
If you are at home (or have a lap-top at a Feast site)
you can read the devotionals right on your computer
screen. You can also print out either of the devotionals
in black and white or color. “Bringing in the Sheaves of
Your Year” includes sections that require writing down
your thoughts, and thus this one in particular might
best be printed out so that you can make use of the
printed lines in the appropriate sections. If you like
the ideas in both, you could even print both out, and
use one in the morning and one at bed-time of each day
of the Feast.
The
Website link for these devotionals is
http://youall.com/oasis/dev/devlinks.htm
Rejoicing
The
Rejoicing section of each article in this series
emphasizes the importance of including larger group
worship and fellowship experiences whenever possible in
your observances. It is important for individuals and
families to spend part of their celebration times with
others—as many others as possible—to maximize the impact
of feeling part of something greater than yourself. This
may mean one or two other families, a small
congregation, or a big crowd.
Among
those Christians or Messianics who observe the Feast of
Tabernacles and the Eighth Day Assembly, there
are several distinct styles of observance. Below are
three typical ways that Christian or Messianic
congregations choose to celebrate. See the
Introductory article to this 3 Rs
series for an overview of each of these three types.
Varieties of Contemporary Observances
Traditional Jewish Celebrations
Some
groups, particularly those which label themselves as
Messianic or Hebrew Roots congregations, model their
Tabernacles (Hebrew: Sukkot) celebrations closely
on the traditional modern Orthodox or Conservative
Jewish customs for this Feast. They will, however, often
interpret these customs in ways that emphasize Jesus
(whom they may refer to by a Hebrew version of His name
such as Yashua or Y'shua) and the Gospel
of salvation.
Such
celebrations are local and community-based. Each
family builds a sukkah (small booth or hut) at
their own home, perhaps in the back yard or on a patio.
Family members eat their meals, study the Bible, and
perhaps entertain friends in the sukkah.
Family
members will each have their own esrog and
lulav to use throughout the Feast. (For a
description of these items, and details about this and
related Jewish customs, see
Jewish Feast and Holy Day Customs: Sukkot.)
A
congregational Holy Day worship service is held on the
Holy Day that begins the seven-day Feast, and for the
Holy Day of the "Eighth Day Assembly" (Hebrew:
Shemini Atzeret). Other social events and Bible
studies may be held on the other days of the eight-day
period, most often in the evenings. Special children's
activities are commonly included, both on the Holy Days
and at the other group gatherings.
All of
these activities will mirror closely the customs and
symbolism of contemporary Judaism. Decorations and
rituals, including traditional prayers, will be
distinctively Judaic.
Opinions among such groups may vary on whether
individuals are expected to take the full eight days as
a vacation from their regular jobs, or just take off on
the two Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath and continue
working on the other days, participating in the evenings
in the special Feast activities.
Non-Jewish Celebrations
Some
Christian groups which observe the Feast of
Tabernacles pay little attention to Jewish customs and
instead create their own style of Feast celebration.
Among such groups it is typical to focus on the
"pilgrimage" aspect of the Feast, and staying full time
in "temporary dwellings" for eight days, rather than on
having a sukkah in the back yard in which one just
spends a few hours a day. This most often takes the form
of gathering at central "Feast sites" in various parts
of the country. The size of such meetings can vary from
a few dozen people to hundreds or even thousands. The
emphasis is the communal experience of getting away from
the workaday world for the whole eight days (the Feast
itself and the Holy Day of the Eighth Day Assembly), and
spending all that time in regular fellowship with
others.
This
style of Feast would be more comparable perhaps to a
religious convention or conference. Daily gatherings are
typically held in a central convention facility, and
families stay in nearby temporary housing such as
motels, hotels, vacation rental homes, condos, cabins,
or campgrounds. Each morning, afternoon, and evening may
include one or more gatherings. Such gatherings
may include worship services, seminars and classes for
adults and youth, social events such as Ice Cream
Socials, amateur Variety Shows, sing-alongs, and more.
Some
groups prefer if possible to find a facility, such as a
State Park convention center, that allows all the people
in attendance to stay in the same building or complex of
buildings (and/or campgrounds), so that there are
constant fellowship opportunities at all times. Regular
group meals are also very important to some.
This
type of centralized Feast site is most often attended by
the members of more than one congregation. There are
some denominations (groups that have a central
headquarters with oversight of multiple congregations)
that sponsor their own denominational Feast sites,
serving their own members. People from a number of their
congregations scattered around a section of the country
would join together at one of these central sites. It is
typical in this type of organization for all Feast
activities to be organized and administered by the
central headquarters leadership.
There
are other "ministries" (as opposed to "denominations")
that sponsor Feast sites that are designed deliberately to attract
anyone and everyone who would like to attend. The
ministry may do all of the planning, presentation, and
coordinating of activities at the site. Or it may
"sponsor" such a site and promote it, but leave the
planning and such to an independent group of people who
volunteer to provide that service.
One
example of a ministry that sponsors and promotes such a
Feast site, but leaves the coordination of the actual
planning, administration, and coordination of activities
to an independent "Festival Association" made up of
volunteers, is Christian Educational Ministries. The
Feast site sponsored by this organization attracts
nearly 1,000 people from all across the US and several
other countries each year to a Christ-centered Feast of
Tabernacles. In 2006 the CEM-sponsored site was in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2007 it will be on the Gulf
Coast of Florida on Okaloosa Island, east of Pensacola.
Information about the site sponsored by CEM can be seen
at
http://www.borntowin.net/2007tabernacles.aspx
Description from the website above:
For eight days in the fall of the year, Christians
in our tradition pause to observe "The Feast of
Tabernacles." We celebrate this festival because it
is commanded of God and because we see a powerful
Christian significance in the feast. For us, this is
not merely a Jewish holiday, but one of the
"Appointed Times of God," given to remind us every
year of an important part of His plan, and to deepen
our understanding of the work and ministry of Jesus
Christ.
...
Come and keep the feast with us. Everyone is
welcome, and no prior reservations are required. We
have plenty of room for you. Come and worship for
one day or eight, but come. You will grow deeper in
the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hybrid Celebrations
Some
groups, while borrowing some of the customs, rituals,
and symbolism of Judaism, are more experimental in their
inclusion of these. Rather than try to imitate the whole
package of the standard Jewish Feast of Tabernacles
celebration, they will pick and choose those aspects
which appeal to them, perhaps sometimes for spiritual
reasons because they seem to be deeply meaningful, and
at other times just because they are aesthetically
attractive or seem fun.
These
groups vary in custom also regarding whether they keep
the Feast as a local activity or at a central Feast
site. Some may choose to stay in the local community and
build one central, "symbolic" sukkah at their place of
worship rather than at their individual homes.
Their
worship services during the Feast may feature music with
a particularly "Hebraic flavor." Yet some may completely
ignore such customs as the esrog and lulav. Others may
include these items, but not necessarily follow all of
the detailed, traditional guidelines for their use
typical among Jews.
Those
who choose to create a larger, centralized site to which
people travel may include some variation of Jewish
customs there also. If the site is suitably rural, one
common activity is to have the children and teens
construct a single sukkah as a project for youth
classes.
Local
or regional gatherings both may include features
that are more "Messianic Jewish" than Orthodox Jewish,
such as the so-called "Davidic Dancing." This is viewed
as a form of worship, in which groups often dance to
Hebraic-flavored contemporary Praise and Worship music
in a style loosely based on Jewish folk-dancing mixed
with stylized dance moves reminiscent of ballet.
Toward
a New Celebration Paradigm
One of the goals of
this Times of Refreshing website is to
encourage individuals and groups to fashion a
celebration style that is uniquely their own.
The Bible truly gives us no "worship formula"
for the weekly Sabbath and annual Feasts and
Holy Days, beyond a very few basic guidelines.
Thus God has granted us the freedom to adapt
these few guidelines to the age and culture in
which we live, and to the 'group personality" of
those with whom we meet. Some will feel most
comfortable and joyful with a certain amount of
formality, old-fashioned majestic music, and
orderly activities. Others can best rejoice with
considerable informality, contemporary lively
music, and boisterously extemporaneous
activities. And quite a few may feel most
refreshed by a combination of elements of all of
the above. The following ideas and tips are not
offered as a blue-print that must be slavishly
followed. They are instead a potpourri of
possibilities to pick and choose from to use as
parts for you, and those with whom you worship,
to craft your own very special Times of
Refreshing.
"Setting
the Stage" for Celebration
The following
general comments about creating a celebration
environment are equally applicable to the weekly
Sabbath and any of the annual Holy Days and Feasts.
They are therefore repeated in each installment of the
3Rs section of the Times of Refreshing website. If
you have already read this material in another
installment, use this link to
jump directly to specific
suggestions for the Feast of Tabernacles.
A
Sabbath, Feast, or Holy Day church service that resembles a college
class--with a few perfunctory songs thrown in--hardly
qualifies as a time of celebration and rejoicing! Many
groups have found that it is possible to maintain a
format for their gatherings that has sound teaching, but
add elements that make the gathering more than a passive
audience listening to a lecture.
One of
the most important elements in this transformation is
music. If the same group has been singing the same fifty
or so songs for the past two decades, and most still
find it necessary to bury their heads in the hymnbook
while singing, something is wrong. If most of these same
people sing along enthusiastically to their car radio
playing contemporary secular music, it is obvious that
the problem isn't that they can't immerse themselves in
music. It is more likely that they have separated
"religious music" into a class all by itself, as
something that is sung out of duty, rather than from the
heart. And the words have long since stopped
communicating thoughts and have become merely syllables
to be mouthed.
For
some people, the reason for this is that traditional
church hymns--most written a century or two or more
ago--seem like they are almost in a foreign
language. The historic culture that they came from can
seem unconnected to the thoughts, feelings, and emotions
of modern Christians. There are many ways that this
situation can be remedied. And in most cases the best
answer is to find creative ways to incorporate many
aspects of possible solutions.
One
thing that can help is for song leaders and/or other
speakers to actually spend some time talking about the
content of the hymns once in a while. There are books
and websites that provide a fascinating glimpse of the
history of many hymns, describing the authors, the
situations that prompted them to write a certain set of
lyrics, and some background of the cultural context in
which they were written. This can make the words come
alive in a way that they haven't before. Two samples:
Website
with hymn stories
Two Hundred Amazing Hymn Stories
Link to
Amazon.com info on two books of hymn stories
Osbeck's 101 Hymn Stories, volumes one and two
A
congregation that is made up of people of all age groups
will also find that it is usually beneficial to consider
incorporating newer hymns and other religious music in
some way into your group gatherings, so that everyone
can express themselves musically in ways that are most
meaningful to them. This can mean varying the music for
the usual worship service every week with a variety of
styles, featuring the newer music on certain weeks
during the month, or perhaps establishing a regular or
occasional alternative worship service, perhaps in the
evening, featuring newer music. This issue of
introducing variety into music has been a source of
conflict in many churches in recent decades, but with a
calm approach of creatively searching for satisfactory
compromises between people who hate change and people
who crave change, conflict can be minimized and all
needs met.
See the
section below on Meaningful Music
for more suggestions on music for congregational
worship.
Other
"celebratory" aspects to the activities for the the Holy
Days can include feasting together (see
Festive Food below), and special presentations
by children and youth, including choirs, plays,
pageantry, artwork displays, and even parades on
appropriate occasions (See Children's
Activities below).
The
most important consideration when "setting the stage"
for celebration on the Holy Days is to involve everyone,
of every age, in contributing to the planning and actual
celebration time together. In other words ... the stage
that is set isn't one that most people sit in the
audience and passively "view" ... it's a stage where
everyone joins the "performance"!
Meaningful Music
General Information
Hymns and group songs
Some hymns and other
types of religious songs may have a line or two
with which some people will take exception as not
reflecting totally sound biblical doctrine. Inclusion of
links to hymns or collections of hymns here is not an endorsement of every minor point
within the hymns at that link. If there is something that bothers
you in any given piece of music, you can either not use
it, or make a minor
adjustment to the wording to reflect your own doctrinal
perspective.
If your fellowship
group does not have music to sing from, local
and online Christian bookstores stock a wide
collection of basic hymnals in hardbound and
paperback formats, with everything from
classical church music of the 1700s and earlier
to the latest Praise and Worship choruses.
There are many
online sources of public domain congregational
music. Some may include sound files of
accompaniment music, lyrics, sheet music, and
perhaps even chord sheets for piano and/or
guitar. If you are looking for a specific hymn
or song, just type the name or a line of the
lyrics into a Google search box. Below are links
to some broad collections from which to choose.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org
Over 6,100
Christian hymns and Gospel songs. Includes
lyrics, scores, MIDI files, pictures,
history, choices to match specific
scriptural references, and more.
It is increasingly
popular in many religious settings to use lyrics
projected on a screen for congregational
singing, with still photos or video clips of
inspirational scenes of nature and so on in the
background. There are commercial packages of
such set-ups, sometimes including even audio
files of the music for those groups that don't
have musicians to provide accompaniment. Below
are links to just a sample of such products.
PLEASE NOTE: If
you are considering going this route, be sure to
check into the issues of copyright, by looking
over the material on the CCLI (Christian
Copyright Licensing International) website.
CCLI information
And while you're
there, be sure to look into the issue of a
copyright license to use commercial video clips
in sermons and studies, and even for playing
whole movies for your congregation, through the
related CLVI (Christian Video Licensing
International.)
CVLI information
The annual fees for
both of these services are very reasonable.
Special Music
There are many
inspirational video collections that don't have
the lyrics on the screen, but rather provide
choral and/or instrumental performances of
standard hymns and other music backed by
beautiful photography. These would be suitable
for "special music" presentations for worship
services and other gatherings. Below are links
to a sample of such products.
33 "Best loved hymns" with
backgrounds of Thomas Kinkaide paintings
"The Joslin
Grove Choral Society presents musical
accompaniment to one hundred beautiful
images of Thomas Kinkade. Among the 70
minutes of hymns sung are: Amazing Grace,
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God and
The Old Rugged Cross. "
Hymns across the Holy Land
"... featuring the
sites of the Holy Land set to hymns performed by
David and the High Spirit. Songs include Amazing
Grace, Love Lifted Me, Just As I Am,
and more."
Music specifically for the
Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day Assembly:
Particularly appropriate would be congregational, solo, group, and
choral music emphasizing God dwelling among His people,
and millennial hopes.
Suggestions for appropriate hymns, group songs, and
special music for the Sabbath, as well as the annual
Biblical feasts and Holy Days, are gratefully
accepted for inclusion in this and related Times
of Refreshing web pages! Send your
recommendations to the email address at the end of
this page.
Decorations
The following
general comments about using decorations to enhance
your celebration environment are equally applicable to the weekly
Sabbath and any of the annual Holy Days and Feasts.
They are therefore repeated in each installment of the
3Rs section of the Times of Refreshing website. If
you have already read this material in another
installment, use this link to
jump directly to specific
suggestions for the Feast of Tabernacles.
Many
modern Christians reject the idea of some of the
traditional worship environments of the past ... cold
formal buildings with pews and stained glass, hushed
rooms with people talking to one another in hoarse
whispers if at all. A backlash against this type of
setting has sometimes led on the other extreme to drab
rooms full of metal chairs, bare walls, and constant
chaos. Or, on the other hand, some mega-churches have
huge meeting halls and stages more resembling a Las
Vegas show club than a place for families to meet
together and rejoice--as a spiritual family.
Most
people would not want to live in a house in which every
room looks like little more than a drab motel conference
room. We intuitively realize that "decor" can help us
enjoy our environment and our experiences in it, whether
it is wanting a peaceful "study," a lively "family
room," or a refreshing screened in porch with plants
that gets us more in touch with nature. We want our
homes to reflect our personalities and our interests.
The
same principle applies to church fellowship groups. It
would be good for all involved to sit down and discuss
just what it is in an environment that would enhance
what they expect to experience in that environment, and
what elements hinder it or distract from it. Most groups
seem to intuitively know that adding flowers at the
front of the meeting room improves the "feel" of a drab
room. But many seldom go beyond that.
So why
not discuss what could make the room--or whole
building--a home? And think about what would make it
particularly "spruced up" for the weekly Sabbath and
annual Holy Days.
The
basics to discuss can include choice of wall, floor, and
window treatment colors; decorative items on the walls;
furniture that is both functional and attractive; plants
and maybe even an aquarium or terrarium to bring some of
God's creation indoors; fountains or small waterfalls to
add to that effect; table settings and centerpieces for
festive occasions; attractive themed bulletin boards,
where youth projects can be displayed for special
occasions; perhaps even inspirational seasonal "banners"
to hang from the ceilings or as wall hangings.
Options may be limited if a group must rent a meeting
room, but even then there are "movable" items that can
be temporarily added to make the environment "homier."
Most buildings renting regularly to a group will provide
at least a small amount of storage space for their
regular equipment and supplies. A bulletin board on a
tripod can be used for those youth projects. Plant pots
with attractive artificial plants on coasters can be
rolled out to place around the room. Try brainstorming
and seeing what other options you can think of.
When
considering themed additions to your worship
environment, why not also brainstorm on what symbols
and scenes might be useful for banners, posters, centerpieces
and so on for the weekly Sabbath and each of the annual
feasts and Holy Days.
Some
suggestion-starters for the Feast of Tabernacles:
sukkahs
bountiful harvests
Thanksgiving-style
cornucopias of fall fruits and vegetables
Temple water ceremony
Temple light ceremony
"Peaceable Kingdom" kinds
of pictures
Edward Hicks 18433-34
Festive Food
Festive Activities 
Remembering
Adults
Teens
Children
Crafts
Games
Other
Activities
