Now you have already heard the story of Abraham’s sukkah which might have been the very first one ever built. https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/abrahams-sukkah-from-the-sukkah-stories-series-story-one/.
Also; you have heard the story of the sukkah that sheltered The Christ Child which started with the sukkah that Jacob might have designed long before the Christ Child came to earth; which might have been the most important sukkah ever built. https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/jacobs-sukah/
Now I must tell you of The sukkah of Moses; the sukkah which God proclaimed we should always remember to build at our feasts and festivals.
I’m sure you have heard the story of the child named Moses who was the baby that an Egyptian princess found hiding in the bulrushes of the river.
The horrid Pharaoh of the land of Egypt did not like the Hebrew babies. In order to protect him from the Pharaoh Moses’s real parents had to hide him in a homemade, waterproof cradle.
The cradle that Moses’ parents made to hide him in as he floated in the water of the river was sort of like a little sukkah. It was made from the branches of the local willow and myrtle trees. It was woven together like a basket. It had a covering with tiny holes in the top that remained partially open. It sheltered Moses but he could still see outside.
There were soft walls around little Moses to protect him as he floated in the water; but at night he could look out through the thatched covering and see the stars of the sky.
Moses’ Mother and Father did not want to let him go; but they feared for his safety if the evil ruler should find him living with them.
They whispered a prayer for God to protect him as they shoved his little sukkah-cradle out into the water.
A tear fell from his Mother’s eyes and his father turned his face away so that no one could see his great sadness.
Moses might have been afraid, being such a little baby and all alone floating down that great river; if God had not comforted him from heaven by showing him the beautiful fluffy pillow-like clouds by day and the shiny, fire-like stars by night.
Little Moses looked out into the skies and knew that God loved him.
He did not cry.
He trusted God and God commanded the water to take Moses to the right places.
Soon an Egyptian princess coming down to the river to bathe found Baby Moses floating in the water.
She was very surprised to see him!
She took Moses home with her to live as her son and there he grew up as an Egyptian child, though later Moses found out the truth of his birth – and that he had actually been born a Hebrew.
The Hebrews were slaves of the Egyptians at that time, and when Moses grew into a man God used Moses in a mighty way to lead God’s people out of the bondage of slavery and into The Promised Land.
The Promised Land was the land that Abraham had been promised so many years before Moses was born.
It was the land where God said Abraham’s descendants would be as many as the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea.
Moses understood about the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea and God’s promises to Abraham.
You may wonder how that could be; given that he was raised as an Egyptian.
You see; though Moses was raised as an Egyptian; he had heard the stories of the Israelis in his nursery as a young child. This was all because Moses’s sister, Miriam, had been watching from a distance when the Egyptian princess found Moses and she quickly recommended that Moses’s real mother come to work as a handmaid to take care of him for the Princess.
God had worked out a way for Moses to hear his people’s stories.
God had heard the prayers of Moses’s mother as she placed him in God’s hands and let him float away in that cradle that resembled a sukkah.
Now Moses was grown, and it was time for him to fulfill his destiny.
The timing of the birth of Moses had been very important to his people.
Moses was born a long time AFTER Abraham.
Moses was born a long time BEFORE Jesus.
By the power of God, Moses led the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt into the wilderness where they lived in temporary shelters, very similar to our sukkahs. They traveled out into the wilderness with God’s help so that they could be free to worship God in the way that God had asked them to.
In the wilderness they built a very large temporary shelter for God to come and dwell among them.
They called God’s temporary shelter a “mishkan” which was the Hebrew word for “tabernacle.”
Each day a cloud of glory hovered over God’s mishkan .
Each night A pillar of fire hovered over God’s mishkan .
In the day-time whenever the cloud moved, the people took down their temporary dwellings, packed them up, and moved with the cloud of God.
When the pillar of cloud stopped moving in the day-time; the people rebuilt their temporary dwellings (which were more like tents.)
They always arranged the doors of their tents to face God’s mishkan.
As long as they were facing the Mishkan of God they knew what to do.
It told them when to go and when to stay by the pillar of cloud.
In the night-time whenever the pillar of fire moved, the people took down their temporary dwellings, packed them up and moved with the pillar of fire from God.
Each night; whenever the pillar of fire stopped moving, the people rebuilt their temporary dwellings (which looked a lot like tents) and they made all the doors of their tents to face God’s Mishkan.
As long as they were facing the Miskan of God they knew what to do.
It told them when to go and when to stay by the piller of fire.
By night or by day; the people always followed the cloud and the fire.
They knew that was how God was leading them.
Moses was given directions from God about how to decorate and arrange the furnishings of the Mishkan they built for God’s temporary dwelling.
When God’s Miskan was ready; all of God’s people brought their gifts and talents and participated in decorating the inside of the Mishkan of God where they would often go to dwell and keep company with God.
We always remember Moses and his leadership in the wilderness during our Feast of Sukkot.
We think of and remember the freedom that Moses helped God to give to the people.
They were no longer slaves; they were free.
We think of the holy worship that went on between Moses and God in the wilderness, and we remember how that holy worship was shared with the people who were traveling through the wilderness.
They would worship in God’s Mishkan, which was God’s temporary dwelling place with mankind.
Every year now we build our own sukkahs in order to remember how God provided all that was needed for the People of God to live in the wilderness.
Today, inside our sukkahs we give thanks to God, just as the ancient people of God did for the blessings that God has given to us over the last year of our lives.
Just as Moses led the People of God to decorate their Mishkan, which was God’s temporary dwelling among them in the wilderness; we too will come to decorate our sukkahs.
What will you do to give beauty to our sukkah in a way that honors God?
What decorations will you make, or what special thing can you bring inside?
Moses brought his great leadership.
Miriam brought her joy and dancing.
Aaron spoke eloquently to the people; that was his gift from God that he shared.
All the people brought their treasures and laid them before God.
Perhaps someone has a poem, or a craft, or a picture to hang on the walls of our sukkah?
Perhaps someone has a special song to sing, or a special story to tell?
Even a tiny little baby can bring a cry or a smile!
Even a tiny little baby can look up at the stars like Moses did and know that God is with us!
Everyone has some way to decorate the sukkah with their gifts and their own unique presence.
We must bring God our best as we worship God in beauty and holiness inside the sukkah!
Just as the people of God traveled through the wilderness with faith; we too will travel to our feast; not knowing exactly what will transpire until we get there.
We are totally dependent on God for our blessings.
We go to the feast because God commanded us to go.
We take glad, thankful hearts and happy worshipful hands with us to the Feast of Tabernacles!
Sometimes, like the people who went with Moses whenever God said “Go,” we too go with no money in our pockets and no food in our suitcases; but God somehow provides exactly what we need whenever we arrive.
God gave the people in the wilderness with Moses manna from Heaven to eat!
For six days of the week it rained down Bread from Heaven!
On the sixth day they gathered enough for two days so they could rest and worship God on the seventh day.
God gave the Israelis pure water to drink that came right from a special rock that moved in a supernatural way right along with them as they traveled.
Our Rock is Jesus!
He moves right along with us as we travel too.
He lives inside our hearts.
He goes everywhere we go.
He will provide festival food and drink for us.
Everyone will be filled and satisfied with the Bread from Heaven named Jesus.
Sometimes God uses other people to bring his blessings to us at our feast. Sometimes strangers show up and we might not even be aware that they were actually sent to us from God.
Blessings are all around us at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The love and companionship that all the people bring is their decoration for the sukkah!
Did you know that smiles were decorations?
Yes; and so is laughter and so is love.
These are God’s favorite decorations for His house.
Sometimes people use their talent for cooking to bring festive foods into the sukkah. The food they bring is their decoration!
There are a million beautiful ways to decorate a sukkah and make it show the glory of God; either physically, spiritually or mentally. We all have SOMETHING beautiful that we can bring.
So, What will you bring?
As we enjoy the gifts of the sukkah and invite God to come and live within our sukkahs with us; we will be thinking and remembering all of the stories of God in our hearts.
Just as the stars keep shining and the waves of the sea keep brushing the sand on the shore, God’s blessings will keep pouring out to us by the acts of the people who love Him who come to worship Him at His feast.
Just as the pillar of cloud brought glory to God, the people with Jesus living inside their hearts who are celebrating Sukkot will also bring glory to God.
Just as the pillar of cloud hovered over the covering of the Mishkan of God, the glory of God will hover over us in the beautiful clouds that come to float in the skies over our sukkahs as we feast before God and give our thanks for the blessings of another year gone by.
Above all things we know that God is leading us to a very special place, just as He led the people of Moses to the Promised Land.
We know that God has a dwelling place in Heaven for all of us one day at the end of our earthly journeys.
This is yet another thing we celebrate in the time of our feast. It will be a glorious and good place; a place of no more tears, where we will dwell with God forever.
For now; we will enjoy the time God has gifted us with on our earthly journey in our own temporary sukkahs.
At each Feast of Tabernacles we are always thankful that:
GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES!
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