Shabbat Chol HaMo'ed Sukkot
Torah : Exodus 33:12-34:26
Haftarah : Ezekiel 38:18-39:16

Thought for the Week:

The Apostle John uses a verb form of the same Greek word that is used to translate the Hebrew word for booth (sukkah) when he wrote, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us." (John 1:14) He tabernacled among us, and He will tabernacle among us again in the messianic future. The celebration of the Festival of Booths (Sukkot) celebrates the Messiah who once tabernacled among us, now tabernacles within us, and in the future will again tabernacle among us.

Commentary:

The last appointment on God's Leviticus 23 calendar is the Feast of Booths, a seven-day harvest celebration. The Hebrew name of the festival is Sukkot, a word that means "shelters, stables or huts." These temporary, tent-like structures are often translated as "tabernacles" in our English Bibles. The festival is so named because Israel is commanded to annually build such dwelling places as a reminder of the post-exodus years when they lived in huts and booths, following God in the wilderness.¹ Sukkot is a time of joy and celebration, a time to celebrate the har...