Why are Christians Keeping the Feast of Tabernacles?
Click here for information about our feast site here in North Kansas City for 2025 https://firstcenturychristianity.net/fot-2025/
You may be hearing about Christians who keep the biblical festivals and are wondering what that’s all about. As it turns out, the first century church continued to observe the biblical holy days. In fact, both Gentile and Jewish people who accepted Yeshua, Jesus, as the Messiah, continued to fellowship in the synagogues for over a hundred years after Yeshua ascended. We see hints of this in the New Testament, notably at 1 Cor 5 when Paul reminds the Corinthians to continue keeping Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, the Spring biblical holy days, as an analogy for addressing some other problems in their assembly. Keeping these days were so not in doubt that Paul is able to use them as analogies, like we would use Thanksgiving or the 4th of July today. In other words, it is completely taken for granted that the gentile converts in Corinth are observing Passover that Paul is able to use that practice at a teaching tool.
What about the Feast of Tabernacles, also called Sukkot? This festival happens in the fall. It was ordained, just like Passover, as a memorial of the Exodus. The Israelites had to live in temporary dwellings for 40 years in the wilderness so this festival is a reminder of that. But it’s also a humongous celebration because they got to cross into the promised land and enjoy the food and freedom that came with living the way God intended in the land He set apart!
Passover is a memorial of the Exodus and crossing into the Promised land but we all know now that it was a prophecy of the Messiah, the Lamb of God, coming down from heaven to live a sinless life and bear our transgressions. Tabernacles follows this same pattern. It’s a memorial to living in temporary dwellings, called sukkot, the plural of sukkah. That’s a reminder that our time in this life is temporary, that there is something more out there. But there is a specific prophecy about this observance in the Old Testament book of Zechariah, chapter 14, verses 16-18. This prophecy states that at a future time, the entire world will either observe the Feat of Tabernacles. Those who don’t will die by famine because there will be no rain on their lands.
This is a future prophecy. Nothing like this has ever happened in history. Most who study prophecy and believe this will happen place the event in the 1000 year Messianic kingdom that begins when Yeshua, Jesus, returns. Whenever this happens, though, it’s a prophecy about all nations keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in the future. So many of us ask why not now?
Why are Christians Keeping the Feast of Tabernacles? Well, many Christians have returned to the practices of the first century church because it just makes sense. The bible is one story, from Genesis to Revelation, about God’s relationship with mankind and His desire to have a relationship with us. A big blessing in keeping God’s holy days is that our faith and our lifestyle become one. We who keep these days walk out our faith all year long, planning for the next set of holy days, enjoying the last ones, and living the way we believe all mankind will live when Yeshua, Jesus, returns.
We will be hosting the Feast of Tabernacles in North Kansas City this year (2025). This year, we are going to teach the basics of why the holy days apply to Christians. The dates are October 7-14 and we would love for you to join us whether you are local or coming from out of town. Please consider joining us and you can find the information and register at the FOT25 link on firstcenturychristianity.net. I will post that link wherever this gets posted. You may also join us each week for services, online or in person, every Saturday at 1pm central time.
Thanks for your time and may YHVH bless you and keep you, in the Name of His Son, Yeshua.