the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Voice of the Lord
We have a permanent building from God ...to house us in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:1).
Perhaps the most obvious symbol of the feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) is the flimsy hut called the sukkah (tabernacle). For seven days out of the year, our people are commanded to dwell in the sukkah to contemplate certain spiritual lessons. The very nature of the hut is a graphic reminder about life itself. The structure is purposely designed to be frail, with substandard walls and a roof that one can see through!
The spiritual lessons learned during Sukkot serve as a yearly reminder of the frailty of life and our absolute need for God himself to be our dwelling place. Indeed, Rabbi Sha'ul (Saul; i.e., Paul) notes that our earthly bodies are a type of temporary sukkah. Despite some short-term delusions from our youth, our outward person is often weak and deteriorating. Our culture, for the most part, is in a battle to build up this sukkah with hopes that it will show limited wear.
While it is commendable to keep ourselves in good physical shape, the Scriptures often remind us that the physical world is temporal and passing away. The believer in Yeshua looks with a tempered realism at this life and with an optimistic hope towards the things that are eternal.
As we consider the tabernacle during Sukkot, may we reflect on the permanent building of God which is coming—the Kingdom of Messiah.
...place greater value on the things of God's Kingdom than on the things that will pass away with this world.
BK
The Voice of the Lord, Copyright © 1998 by the Lewis and Harriet Lederer Foundation, Inc. Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers, Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. No part of this article may be reproduced in print or on the web, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of the publisher.
