The Biblical Observance and Significance of the Feast of Booths

Five days after the Day of Atonement, on the 15th day of Tishri, the people of Israel were to celebrate the last of the seven feasts on Israel’s religious calendar. This feast goes by many names, including the Feast of Booths and the Feast of Tabernacles. Earlier in Israel’s history, it was known as the Festival of the Final Harvest (Exodus 23:16) or the Festival of Ingathering. Today it is known by its Hebrew name, Sukkot or Succoth, which can be translated as “booth” or “tabernacle,” and most often refers to a temporary shelter.

The Divine Mandate for the Festival

The scriptures provide specific instructions for this holy time. 33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

As recorded in the text, 37 “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38 besides the Lord’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

A Season of Harvest and Rejoicing

This seven-day-long festival came in the autumn, at the end of the harvest season, and was intended to be a time of thanksgiving and rejoicing. After months of laboring in the fields, orchards, and vineyards, the Israelites would have enjoyed the benefit of all their hard work. Their granaries would have been full, the threshing floors would have been busy, and all the wine and olive presses would have been operating at full capacity. It was at this time of fruitfulness and abundance that God called His people to spend seven days feasting and rejoicing in His presence.

The following table summarizes the schedule and requirements for the feast as outlined in the biblical text:

The Lord commanded: “You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.”

The Purpose of the Temporary Shelters

During the Feast of Booths, the Israelites were commanded to leave their homes and live in temporary shelters built within sight of the Tabernacle. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. These “booths” were to be constructed “from magnificent trees—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams” (Leviticus 23:40 NLT). 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

The Centralized Worship and the Tabernacle

The Feast of Booths was one of three major holy days that required the Israelites to gather “at the place that the Lord will choose” (Deuteronomy 16:15 ESV). This is a reference not only to the Tabernacle but to the location within the land of Canaan where the Tabernacle would eventually reside. Once they conquered the land of Canaan, the Tabernacle would cease to be a temporary or portable structure. It would be set up as a permanent sanctuary to the Lord in the land that He had promised to His chosen people.

Regarding the history of this location, after Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and began their conquest of the land, they erected the Tabernacle in Gilgal, there it remained for seven years. Later, it was relocated to Shiloh, where it remained until the period of the Judges. In time, it was moved to Nob and Gibeon and then, during the reign of King David, it was moved to its final location in Jerusalem. Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord.