Everyone Do The Wave!
Leviticus 23 has more of the specifics
for celebrating this festival.
Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak
to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month
is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD. On the first day is a
holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. For seven
days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the eighth
day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to
the LORD; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work. These are
the appointed times of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy
convocations, to present offerings by fire to the LORD-burnt offerings
and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day's matter
on its own day- besides those of the Sabbaths of the LORD, and besides
your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you
give to the LORD. On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month,
when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the
feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a
rest on the eighth day. Now on the first day you shall take for
yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of
leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the
LORD your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to
the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute
throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh
month.
You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born
in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I
had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the
land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'" So Moses declared to the sons
of Israel the appointed times of the LORD. Leviticus 23:33-44 NASB
Believers are children of Isra'el
Notice that in the reference at the head of this article (Deuteronomy
16:13-17) that everyone is to be involved. In the reference immediately
above (Leviticus 23:33-44) it says that all native-born Isra'elites are
to live in the booths. However, in verse 33 it says "children of
Isra'el." If all believers are not "children of Isra'el" then I don't
know who is. The branches mentioned can, I believe, be any tree branch
that is both beautiful to look at and leafy (pretty much including any
tree branch). Palm and willow are just mentioned as examples of what God
has in mind. These branches are used for decoration, and for waving as
part of rejoicing. Think about the sounds and smells when hundreds or
thousands of people wave bunches of beautiful scented branches and
rejoice!
At three feast times each year all Isra'el was to travel
to Jerusalem -
Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzot),
Weeks (Pentecost or Shavuot), and Booths or tabernacles (Sukkot).
They were not to appear empty handed, meaning they needed to bring
freewill offerings.
"Three times in a year all your males shall
appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the
Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of
Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every
man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your
God which He has given you." Deuteronomy 16:16,17 NASB
And as I've mentioned before, we can either dismiss this because
there is no Temple, or we can ask, "Where has He put His name now?
Directly on us, the stones of His Temple?" So far this is my
understanding, unless you can show me something different. We are all
strangers and aliens here, and we are traveling by faith to the place
God has told us to go, dragging these old tents around with us and
waiting for our new dwelling.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed
by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and
he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an
alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents
with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was
looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder
is God. Hebrews 11:8-10 NASB