Sukkah: Living in Joyનમૂનો

Sukkah: Living in Joy

“‘Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters.’” — LEVITICUS 23:42

The air is turning crisp and the days are growing shorter in Israel, as in most areas of the world. We say goodbye to the warmer days of summer and prepare for the colder days to come. As most people leave the great outdoors for the safety and comfort of their warm homes, it is precisely now that the Bible commands us to do the opposite and move outdoors into what basically amounts to as shacks.

The Bible commands us to “Live in temporary shelters for seven days.” We are directed to spend an entire week living in temporary huts, in Hebrew known as a sukkah, which is a stable but simple booth topped with a thatched roof.

This seven-day period is known as the holiday of Sukkot, literally “booths,” and also as the Feast of Tabernacles. During this observance, we recall how God sheltered His people in the desert after the Exodus.

Interestingly, the holiday of Sukkot is known as “the time of our joy,” as we read in the Bible: “and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days” (Leviticus 23:40). Certainly, this holiday is meaningful and an appropriate way to conclude the holiday season as we symbolically take God with us from the synagogue into our everyday lives where we eat, sleep, and live in His presence.

In this Bible study, we will explore the secrets of the sukkah and explain how living in this rickety shelter can teach us about what it means to live in joy. We will discover what really brings a person happiness and what qualifies as mere illusions devoid of true joy. Living in the sukkah, we don’t have much in the way of “creature comforts,” but we have everything that matters: family, friends, a nurturing meal, the Word of God, and the presence of God.

In our world of plenty, we often lose sight of what we truly desire and need. Perhaps there is no generation more in need of the teachings of the sukkah than our own.

•Unless otherwise noted, all Bible verses in this plan are from the New International Version (NIV).