Joining the Jewish People in Celebrating!
Yael Eckstein | September 27, 2021
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. — Zechariah 14:16
Today Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles,ends. Please enjoy this devotion, which was prepared for you in advance, about this joyous holiday that immediately follows the High Holy Days.
One of the most difficult aspects of the pandemic for those of us who live in Israel is the lack of visitors. Tourism remains one of the most important parts of Israel’s economy, employing more people than any other industry. The past few years before the pandemic saw new records broken each year for number of visitors to the Jewish State.
And as the leader of The Fellowship, whose goal is to unite Christians and Jews around support for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people, I miss seeing the busloads of Christian pilgrims that have been a feature of Israeli life for as long as I can remember.
Joining the Jewish People in Celebrating
It’s especially hard not to think of Israel’s Christian friends during this season of the year. For the past few decades, multitudes of pilgrims from all over the world have journeyed to Jerusalem to join the Jewish people in celebrating Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Each year, there is a parade through the streets of Jerusalem with thousands of Christians marching in groups by country and waving their nations’ flags.
I would watch the parade and think about the verse in Psalms, “When the LORD restored the fortunes ofZion, we were like those who dreamed” (Psalm 126:1). I felt like I really was in a dream! What would the centuries of Jews who suffered through the exile have thought if they could see what I am seeing? Multitudes of Christians, praising the God of Israel in the streets of a rebuilt Jerusalem at the time of the ingathering of the nation of Israel!
It is exactly what the prophet Zechariah said to the nations in our verse today — to join us in Jerusalem for Sukkot to worship our King.
I pray that we soon return to a world where that vision can once again be a reality.
Your Turn:
Even if you can’t be in Israel, join the Jewish people in celebrating Sukkot. Praise God by reading Psalms 113-118, the psalms of praise for the festival.