Have you
every wondered why Succot’s seventh day is not a day of rest, while ‘Shmini
Atzeret,’ (Eighth Day) the day that follows the Feast, is a Shabbton which
seems to be actually separate from the seven days of the Feast. “Also
on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit
of the land, you shall keep the feast of YHVH for seven days; on the first day
there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest” (Leviticus
23:39). Why, contrary to Pesach for example, is Succot’s seventh day not
a Shabbaton? As the feast days are prophetic of things yet to come,
(see Colossians 2:17) Succot, being the last mo’ed, is symbolic of the Last
Days and it therefore behooves us to seek YHVH for a clearer understanding of
this Shabbaton discrepancy. The answer to this question may also give us
a better handle on the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel and the
millennial reign of Messiah.
The
Israelites were commanded to live in a “succah” for seven days. What does
the succah represent? The imagery used in Psalm 139:13, as applied
to us, humans, may help us discover the meaning of the “succah”: “You
formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.” The
Hebrew term which is used for “covered” (“te’sukeni”) in this instance is more
like “you have made a succah of me,” that is, ‘You formed me as an outwardly
temporary dwelling.’ If we take this idea one step further, adding it to
Succot’s seven days, “You shall dwell in succahs for seven days. All
who are native Israelites shall dwell in succahs” (Leviticus 23:42),
it could imply that man was destined to live in his succah - “flesh body” - for
seven days. Bearing in mind the concept of a day being as a thousand years (ref
2 Peter 3:8), what would the seventh day, and then the eighth, represent?
As
pointed out above, if we are still in our ‘temporary dwellings’ on the seventh
day of Succot, then 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (“But we shall all be
changed -- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet...
death is swallowed up in victory”), for example, would not be applicable.
If we are still in our flesh bodies, then death has not yet been swallowed
up. So how are we to view Succot’s seventh day? Could it represent the Millennial Kingdom,
when Yeshua the Messiah of Israel will rule the nations with a rod of iron
(Revelation 19:15) through the united House of Jacob and set up His everlasting
Kingdom for a thousand years?
As we
know, Elohim declared the seventh day of Creation to be a day of rest. It may
be assumed that when creation (all that has been created) comes to its full
rest then, Yeshua and the Father also cease from all their work. Yeshua,
however, pointed out that He and the Father are (presently) at work (ref. John
5:17). This would indicate that we are still in the sixth day of
Creation. But if that is the case, with Adam having been around for over
5777 years (according to the Jewish calendar, so what does that say about the
sixth day? We must conclude, therefore, that there are seven
thousand-year ‘eras’ within the sixth day of Creation, which means that the
seventh millennium is just ahead of us. If that indeed is so, it would
explain why the seventh day of Succot is not a rest day, as Yeshua and the
Father will still be working during the seventh millennium, which is within the
sixth day (of Creation).
To reiterate: If we look at the seven days of Succot from the perspective of “a day is as a thousand years,” then Messiah’s millennial reign would start in the last day, or in the seventh millennium of the sixth day of Creation, which would not be a rest day. Thus the Father and Son will complete their work through the restored nation of Israel, and bring all things into subjection to Messiah’s dominion. Therefore, like Succot’s seventh day, it will not be a day of rest. The following day, however, called the Eighth Day, is a Shabbaton and would actually represent, or be the fulfillment of the seventh day of Creation (the “Shabbat”). It is on that day that Yeshua will return everything back to the Father. How will He do this? As the High Priest He must offer up this present creation as a burnt offering. “But the day of YHVH will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10). Thus on the eighth day we will see the fulfillment of the following scripture "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind" (Isaiah 65:17).
