Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Nehemiah 8: 13- 18 June 15, 2025

Message: “The Feast of Booths!”

by Pastor George Gnade

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Introduction:

1. As most of you know, we have been studying the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Last week, we studied Neh. 8:1-12. It was about a special meeting called by Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor to teach the Jews who had returned to their own land after 70 yrs. of captivity. 

a. Their desire was to help these Jews learn about the Law of the Lord so they didn’t make the same mistake twice. Because they broke God’s laws, they had gone into captivity. But while in captivity, most of the Jews no longer heard or remembered what God had commanded them to do. So the goal was to teach them all over again.

b. That can happen to us too. If families drift away from church, they may learn less and less until they practically need to learn the Gospel and what God desires of them all over again.

c. Today is Father’s Day. In the O.T., fathers played the most important roles. This passage was written to fathers to encourage them to get closer to the Lord. Many had drifted away. Ezra was calling them back. Father’s Day is a good day to get back closer to the Lord. Above all, it is good for our families. 

2. A special platform and pulpit was built for this occasion.

That way every one could see and hear Ezra as he shared God’s Word with them (Neh. 8:13). This could not be done in a day. To teach and clarify what God had said would take a lot longer than that. 

a. In the process, they learned about the Feast of Booths (vs. 14). This feast was intended to remind them how God had delivered them from Egypt and brought them through the wilderness to the promised land of Canaan. 

b. They had lived in tents and booths for 40 years. But God always provided for them. God did not want them to ever forget what He had done for them. So after arriving in their new land under the leadership of Joshua, they celebrated their first great Feast of Booths. 

A. Consider this Feast of Booths. Sometimes it is also called the Feast of Tabernacles. 

1. It began on a Sabbath Day, our Saturday, and ended 8 days later on the next Sabbath day (vs 18). In between Ezra shared God’s law with them. 

a. Since God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, every Sabbath was considered a holy day to remind them who created them.

b. Most Christians have been taught how Jesus was raised from the dead on the first day of the week (Sunday). He came and promised us that someday those who put their trust in Him will go to live with Him forever in a new creation that will be free from sin, suffering and death. 

c. That is why Christians now worship on the first day of the week. While we also believe God created us, we feel the Gospel and Jesus’ resurrection on the first day of the week is even more important. 

2. The Feast of Booths was to be held in the seventh month of the Jewish year (vs. 14). When Solomon built the first temple many years earlier, he chose to dedicate it during the Feast of Booths (I Kings 8:2).. So it was no accident that Ezra and Nehemiah chose this feast to celebrate the completion of the new temple and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

a. And when the people learned about this feast from Ezra, they all agreed to do this. And the word quickly spread until all the towns got involved (vs. 17). Everyone who had returned from exile built booths and lived in them for the whole week dedicated to the Feast of Booths.

b. While this feast had been celebrated a lot of times in the past, we are told that this feast was the greatest one of all since the days of Joshua (Neh. 8:17).

B. Now there were three primary feasts that all the Jews were required to keep.

1. There was the Passover that was a picture of how the angel of death passed through the land of Egypt in the days of Moses and only those who sprinkled the blood of a lamb on their doorposts were saved.

a. Of course, this was also a picture of how Jesus died for us. That is why in John 1:29 He is called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” 

b. Whoever spiritually speaking sprinkles his heart with the blood of Christ shall be saved.

c. The Passover was immediately followed three days later by the Feast of First Fruits. That is because Jesus rose from the dead three days after He died and is called “the first fruits” (I Cor. 15:20) of those who would believe in Him and someday be raised from the dead just as He was. 

2. The second feast they were all required to attend was called the Feast of Weeks. It began on Pentecost Sunday and celebrated the harvest.  Spiritually speaking, it also symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit, the beginning of the early church, and the harvest of souls.

3. The third feast was this Feast of Booths. As I said earlier, this feast is also called the Feast of Tabernacles.  It celebrates how God brought the Israelites through the wilderness into the promised land of Canaan. 

a. Most scholars believe this was also a picture of the first coming of Christ.  In John 1:14, it says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  While Christians arbitrarily celebrate Christmas in December, no one knows the exact date of His birth. Many believe He was more likely born during the Feast of Tabernacles.

b. That is because the word “dwelt” in John 1:14 could more literally be translated: “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” If Jesus was born during this feast, that would be more like September or October when the sheep were still in the fields (Luke 2:8).

c. The wilderness is often a picture of all the hardships of this life. When Jesus became one of us, He suffered and was tempted just like us. The only difference is He never sinned. Instead He suffered the most by dying for us on the cross where He saved us from our sins. 

4. But scholars believe the Feast of Tabernacles also reminds us of the second coming of Christ. While Moses with God’s help brought them through the wilderness into the promised land of Canaan, the Lord Jesus came and presently is leading us through all the hardships of this life until He brings us into the promised land of heaven with its new earth. What a wonderful day that will be.

In Conclusion: 1. I am reminded of the verse that says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).  This life is full of trials and no one likes going through all these trials. But we can always rejoice in the Lord who promises to take us through our trials and bring us into His promised land.

2. That is exactly why it says basically the same thing in Neh. 8:10. It says: “Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  That is the basic meaning behind this Feast of Booths that we studied about today. 

3. Finally, praise God for Christian fathers. May the Lord help each of us fathers to get closer to the Lord so that He can also use each one of us fathers to help our families get closer to the Lord.  Amen! 

4. Enjoy a “Happy Father’s Day” with your families.