Insight – When did Jesus come to dwell with us?

 

Hebraic Insight – When did Jesus come to dwell with us?

It is believed that the first American Thanksgiving was the Pilgrims’ way of celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles.  The Puritans were committed followers of Hebrew Scripture, using the Torah as a guide to living.  The Feast of Tabernacles was held after the fall harvest to remind the Israelites of the exodus from Egypt.  And it showed their thankfulness for their harvest and all that God had done for them.  The Puritans sought religious freedom in America and they identified with the Israelites, since they were wandering from the barren spiritual deserts of Europe to a kind of Promised Land, free of persecution.  Scripture encouraged them to give thanks for their deliverance by celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in their new homeland.

The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day autumn harvest festival (aka Feast of Ingathering, Booths, Sukkot or  “booths,” a reference to the temporary dwellings God commanded that we live in during this holiday as a reminder of how our ancestors lived in the wilderness.  The Feast was the final and most important of the feasts.  God said, “This is to be a lasting ordinance” and “I am the Lord your God”.  Tabernacles begins five days after Yom Kippur, a drastic change from one of the most solemn feasts in our year to one of the most joyous.  

Jesus came to dwell with us during the Feast of Tabernacles.  How do we know?

1. The shepherds were watching their flocks in the fields when Jesus was born.  The flocks around Bethlehem were normally brought into a “sheepfold” during the cold winter.  If it were winter, the shepherds would not be out in the fields. The flocks were in the fields because it was still “fall” season (the Feast of Tabernacles).

2.  Scholars calculate that John the Baptist was likely born on the Feast of Passover based on the schedule of priests serving in the Temple.  John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was on Temple duty when the angel appeared prophesying John’s birth.  Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, was six months pregnant when the angel appeared to Mary to tell her that she was pregnant with Jesus (Luke 1:26-31).  So Jesus was born six months after John the Baptist which would be during Tishri, the month of the Feast of Tabernacles. 

3. There was “no room for them in the inn” when Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem.  The fall Feast of Tabernacles was one of three feasts requiring men of Israel to appear before the Lord (Deut. 16:16).  Luke 2:3 speaks of a tax by Caesar where “all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.”  Roman authorities conduct the census & taxation when inhabitants of Judea were already traveling for the Feast of Tabernacles; so the surrounding area would likely be very crowded (Bethlehem is only 3-4 miles from Jerusalem), thus “no room for them in the inn”.

4. As Constantine unified the Roman empire and converted it to Christianity, dates of Christian feast-days were changed to accommodate holidays already celebrated by the Roman pagans.  Their supreme god was the Sun, whose birthday was December 25.  So instead of celebrating Jesus’ birth when the Jewish believers knew it occurred on the Feast of Tabernacles, in 440 AD the Roman church decreed His birth to be on a festival that was already celebrated by the Roman pagans (thus December 25) – a subtle anti-Semitic change.

What did Jesus say on His real birthday?  A custom on the Feast of Tabernacles during the time of Jesus was a ceremony of pouring water on the last day of the feast.  A priest would fill a water pitcher from the Pool of Siloam and carry it back to the Temple, followed by a procession of the people dancing, singing and chanting Psalms.  The procession circled the altar and the priest poured the water at the Temple altar while the people rejoiced.  It was at this time that Jesus made the declaration found in John 7:37-39a  “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’”  Jesus thus declared to the people that He is the fulfillment of the pattern of the Temple ceremony and that the Feast was a foreshadowing of things to come.

In Summary – How appropriate that Jesus (Immanuel, God with us) should dwell with us during the Feast of Tabernacles which means “dwelling place”.  

Points to ponder

When will He return to dwell with us again?

They were obviously Wise Men; they came seeking the “King of the Jews”.
Shouldn’t we all be Wise Men and be seeking Him today?

Hag Samach (lit. Feast Merry)    or  Joyous Festival     or   Happy Thanksgiving   or   Merry Christmas

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd            December 23, 2025 (also November 24, 2009 & December 19, 2017)

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”