Leviticus 23:33 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the institution of the feast of tabernacles, one of the three great feasts, when all the men were required to attend. It was kept with more joy than either of the others.

It was to begin on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, only five days after the day of atonement (Leviticus 23:34). We may suppose that, while not all were required to come for the day of atonement as they were for the three great feasts, many devout Jews came early enough to take part in it. In that way, the sorrow of the day of atonement prepared them for the joy of the feast of tabernacles. The more we are grieved and humbled over sin, the better prepared we are for the comfort that the Holy Spirit gives. And the joy of this feast made up for the sorrow of that fast, for those who sow in tears will reap in joy.

The feast was to last eight days, and the first and last days were to be kept like Sabbaths, with holy rest and holy gatherings (Leviticus 23:35-36, 39). The sacrifices for those eight days are set out in detail in Numbers 29:12 and following. During the first seven days, all the people were to leave their homes and live in booths made from branches of thick trees, especially palm trees (Leviticus 23:40, 42). The Jews treat the gathering of the branches as a separate act from making the booths. Nehemiah 8:15 says they made booths from branches of trees, and they may also have carried palm branches in their hands as a sign of joy and victory, as seen on other occasions (John 12:13) and echoed in Revelation 7:9.

Some people think the eighth day was a separate feast by itself, but John 7:37 calls it the great day of the feast. It was the day they left their booths and settled back into their own houses. Throughout the feast they were to rejoice before the Lord their God (Leviticus 23:40). Jewish tradition says they showed their joy by dancing and singing praises to God with musical instruments. Not only ordinary people, but also the wise men and elders of Israel were to do this in the temple court, because, as they said, the joy a person feels in obeying God is itself a great act of worship.

The feast was meant to remind them of their life in tents in the wilderness. That is explained here, so that future generations would know, not only from written history but also from this yearly practice, that God made the children of Israel live in booths (Leviticus 23:43). It kept before them the lowly start from which God raised them up. Those who now live in comfort should often remember how unsettled and lowly their former condition was, when they were small in their own eyes. It also kept alive the memory of God’s mercy to them. While they lived in tents, God not only set up his own tabernacle among them, but also spread a covering over them in tender care, even the cloud that sheltered them from the sun’s heat. God’s past mercies to us and to our fathers should never be forgotten.

The eighth day was the great day of the feast because then they returned to their own homes and remembered how, after long years in wilderness tents, they had at last come into a settled inheritance in the land of promise. They could then live in good houses. After seven days in booths, they would feel more deeply the comfort of their own homes and be more thankful for them. It is good for those who live in ease and plenty to learn at times what hardship means.

This was also a feast of ingathering, as it is called in Exodus 23:16. When they had gathered in the fruit of the land, both the harvest and the vintage, they were to keep this feast in gratitude to God for the year’s increase (Leviticus 23:39). Some think the eighth day had a special connection with this purpose. The joy of harvest should lead us to greater joy in God. The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it belongs to him, so every blessing we enjoy should bring him glory, especially when his mercy has fully provided it.

This feast also pointed forward to greater things. Many think our blessed Savior was born around this time. Then he left his home of glory above to live among us in a tabernacle, or temporary dwelling, taking on human flesh (John 1:14). New Testament worship is also described under the idea of keeping the feast of tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16). The gospel teaches us to live in tents, so to speak, and to hold loosely to this world, since we have no lasting city here. By faith, hope, and holy disregard for present things, we go out to Christ outside the camp (Hebrews 13:13-14). It also teaches us to rejoice before the Lord our God. Those who truly belong to Christ are the ones who always rejoice in him (Philippians 3:3). And the less we are tied to this world, the less our joy is disturbed.

God appointed these feasts, along with the Sabbaths and the freewill offerings (Leviticus 23:37-38). This teaches us that special calls to service do not cancel our regular duties. Even during the feast of tabernacles, at least one Sabbath had to be kept with full seriousness, as on any other week. It also shows that God’s commands leave room for freewill offerings, not for inventing new worship, but for repeating what he has appointed, and doing it gladly and often. God is pleased with a willing people.

Moses then declared these things to the children of Israel (Leviticus 23:44). He made known exactly what God had appointed, no more and no less. In that way, Paul later delivered to the churches what he had received from the Lord. We have good reason to thank God that the Lord’s feasts given to us are fewer, less burdensome, and less costly than theirs were. Yet they are more spiritual, more meaningful, and a better and sweeter sign of the everlasting feast we hope to celebrate forever at the final ingathering.