Leviticus 23:40
And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
On the first day the people were to gather boughs of goodly trees, palm branches, thick leafy limbs, and brook willows, and leave their houses to dwell for seven days in booths made from them. This was the closing seven-day festival of the year, kept from the fifteenth to the twenty-second of the seventh month after harvest as one of the three yearly gatherings at Jerusalem, with the law read daily from first to last. Dwelling in booths made it a memorial like the Passover, recalling tent life in the wilderness and God's protecting care, guidance, deliverance, and miraculous preservation in bringing Israel out of Egypt. It was also a thanksgiving for orchard and field and for God's goodness and mercy through the year, when the leafy branches served as tokens of joy while the people rejoiced before Him for seven days with waving branches and songs of praise. The outdoor dwelling fostered fellowship and hospitality toward Levites, strangers, and the poor that bound old and young to God and to one another, and it still calls His people to remember His bringing them from the world and error's darkness into grace and truth, as its water-pouring rite recalled His giving water from the rock.
Booths, Branches, and Timing
On the first day the command is to take boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, to leave houses and to live for one week in booths or arbors made from those green branches during the Feast of Tabernacles. The booths were set up on rooftops, in streets and courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and outside the city in valleys and on hillsides.
The feast is the seven-day closing festival and closing gathering of the year, held in the seventh month from the fifteenth to the twenty-second, with the law read each day from the first day to the last. It was one of the three annual religious gatherings at Jerusalem, intended as memorials to bring God to the minds of the people. Coming in the season after harvest, it allowed the people to set aside ordinary cares for sacred and joyful observance, and these observances were resumed when the Jews returned from captivity.
Remembrance, Thanksgiving, and Joy
Dwelling in booths made the feast commemorative, like the Passover, in memory of pilgrim tent life in the wilderness during the Hebrews' sojourn in tents. The leafy booths made from green boughs recalled the Israelites' tent life on that journey and remembered God's protecting care, guidance, and deliverance wrought for the fathers. The seven days of rejoicing before the Lord celebrated His miraculous preservation of Israel during their journeyings from Egypt.
The seven-day feast gave thanks for the harvest and for God's goodness, mercy, guidance, care, and provision for the year. It was the closing gathering of the year, when the people rejoiced before God for seven days and remembered the harvest blessings He had provided. The feast included offerings from orchard and field and a sacred memorial service that fostered gratitude to God for the year's provision and served as a time of education.
The leafy branches carried and gathered for the festival were tokens of joy and thanksgiving and signs of celebration. For seven days the people gathered before God with leafy branches and rejoiced before Him with thanksgiving and song. Worshipers waved palm and myrtle branches while singing praises to God for His goodness and enduring mercy, and the branches with the joyful celebration expressed thanksgiving for His goodness and mercy and for the harvest provided.
The week spent living in booths offered outdoor recreation and social life, with social gatherings and fellowship. Its joy was shared through generous hospitality to the Levite, the stranger, and the poor. The gathering of people from different quarters of the land encouraged the hearts of old and young in the service of God and strengthened the ties binding the people to God and to one another.
The same rejoicing calls the people of God at the present time to gratefully call to mind the ways He has devised for bringing them out from the world and from the darkness of error into the precious light of His grace and truth. Its ceremonies included a water-pouring rite that commemorated God's provision of water from the rock in the wilderness.