Nehemiah 8:13-18 – Living life for God joyfully and faithfully

The Feast of Booth also known as the Feast of Tabernacle was one of the seven feasts God instructed the people to celebrate. In Deuteronomy 16:13-15, the people of God were specifically instructed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacle. They were told: “You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you will be altogether joyful. Its purpose was to commemorate the time God saw them through the wilderness wandering.”

This feast was to be a thanksgiving commemoration of the time God sustained his people through the wilderness. During the Feast of Tabernacle, the Jews would build temporary tents or tabernacles with palm leaves on their rooftops to celebrate this occasion for seven days. In Exodus 23:16, this feast was also referred to as the Feast of the Ingathering.

As Ezra read the Law to the heads of the household on the second day, they were taken by surprise in learning about this feast. They found out that “the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.” And this feast had not been celebrated since the days of Joshua the son of Nun. They had totally forgotten about this feast and had disregarded it for the longest time. Hence a proclamation was made asking the people to go to the nearby hills to cut and “…bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written” to commemorate this occasion.  

So enthusiastically, the entire assembly who had returned from the exile complied. So Nehemiah 8:16 said that “the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.” Each day for the week-long celebration Ezra read the law before the solemn day of assembly on the eighth day.  

In this Feast of Booth or Tabernacle, we cannot escape the call to live a joyful life of faith and obedience. It is a call to celebrate the goodness of God. This feast reminds us that we are on a journey. We need to know that earth is our temporary dwelling. Our destination is to be with God. While we journey toward our destination, our goal is to cultivate a life of faith and obedience leading to Christlikeness. As we journey, we must also take care of the needy and not leave them out. We must learn to live joyfully, obediently, and faithfully for God!