ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tu’apulelulu ‘Epeleli 27, 2023

סכות Feast of Huts

KATOANGA FALE LOU‘AKAU

LEVITICUS 23:34, 42-43

"ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH AND FOR SEVEN DAYS IS THE FEAST OF BOOTHS TO THE LORD... YOU SHALL DWELL IN BOOTHS FOR SEVEN DAYS. ALL NATIVE ISRAELITES SHALL DWELL IN BOOTHS, 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."

LEVITIKO 23:34, 42-43

34 Lea ki ha‘a ‘Isileli, ‘o pehē, ‘I hono ‘aho hongofulu mā nima ‘o e māhina fitu ko eni ‘e kamata ai ‘a e kātoanga Fale-lou‘akau, pea ‘e fai ia kia Sihova ‘o ‘aho fitu. 42 Te mou nofo fale lou‘akau ‘o ‘aho fitu; ko e kau ‘Isileli tupu‘i fonua kotoa pē te nau nofo fale lou‘akau; 43 koe‘uhiā ke ‘ilo ‘e homou ngaahi to‘utangata na‘a ku tuku ke nofo fale lou‘akau ‘a ha‘a ‘Isileli ‘i he‘eku ‘omi kinautolu mei ‘Isipite: ko Sihova au ko homou ‘Otua.

The third annual mass gathering of Israelites is the "roughing it" festival in the fall. No comfy beds in the Jerusalem Hilton, but makeshift sukkot were their homes for seven days. A sukka (plural: sukkot) is a hut or booth made from leafy branches. Living in these sukkot was Israel's way of remembering that their ancestors lived similarly when God brought them out of Egypt. By the first century, during Sukkot the high priest poured out water around the altar to commemorate God's gift of water during the wilderness wandering and to anticipate the profusion of life-giving water that the Messiah would outpour.

On the last day of Sukkot, Jesus made himself known as the Messiah (John 7:2, 37). Standing in the temple, he proclaimed, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (v. 37). From Christ, the embodied sukka of God, rivers of living water flow to all who believe in him (v. 38).

Lord Jesus, may we ever feast on the abundance of your house, and drink from the river of your delights (Ps. 36:8).