Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand…
John 7:2
The Feast of Tabernacles was a feast Yeshua and His disciples celebrated. It was so ingrained in the people of Israel since its establishment that every year they would go up to Jerusalem to celebrate it.
That is why the disciples assumed that it would be during this important feast when Jesus went with them up to Jerusalem that He would reveal Himself to everybody.
But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”
John 7:10,11
People, as well as religious authorities and rabbis were looking for Jesus in Jerusalem on that Sukkot, because they were used to Him always being there for the biblical feasts.
Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
John 7:14
The feast of Tabernacles is a seven day long feast. Half of the feast Jesus was no where to be seen during the celebrations in Jerusalem. However in the middle of the feast, He went up to the temple courts and stayed teaching.
Jesus stood and taught about Sukkot in the middle of the feast, and his final message was a powerfully prophetic one that is still changing our lives even today.
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
John 7:37
What happened on that last and greatest day of the festival?
On the last day of Sukkot until today, the entire nation of Israel prays for rain!
Today we have water solutions, like the Lake of Galilee, desalinization, etc. Yet we still depend greatly on rain. Back in Jesus’ time all they had was rain. It was crucial for life.
The last day of Sukkot was crucial and it was the day of prayer for rain. It was a ceremony done with great joy and singing, and people would bring buckets of water and pour it over the altar.
At that moment, when the nation was praying for rain, pouring water over the altar, forming streams of water that flowed from the altar, Jesus stood up and said: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to ME and drink. Whoever believes in me… rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
The water that flows from Jesus becomes LIFE. We become a source of water because of our faith in Him. His living water flows from Him and through us.
That was Yeshua’s powerfully prophetic message for the last and great day of Feast of Tabernacles. It is all about the power of the Holy Spirit in us, flowing out like living waters.
We’re not only vessels that receive salvation and are filled with the Holy Spirit, we also become carriers of salvation to people around us. We become sources of joy and life in Jesus.
On this last day of the Feast of Tabernacles I want to encourage you to think about who you are in Christ and to share His life with those around you.
That is Jesus’ message for the Feast of Tabernacles we are celebrating today.
