For in the day of evil He hides me in His booth; in the covering of His tent He hides me; Psalm 27:5

Booth – The Hebrew word, sok, is the basic word behind the Feast of Sukkoth. This is the feast of the harvest, celebrated in the Fall, the fifteenth day of the seventh month according to Exodus 34:22 and Leviticus 23:34-36. For seven days the people move from their homes to temporary shelters called “Sukkah.” The action recalls the wandering in the wilderness. The central imagery surrounds the booth made from palm branches and poles. This shelter becomes the “tent” for the people and a celebration of the tent of meeting that God provided during the forty years. All of this imagery is tied to the Tabernacle, the visible presence of God among His people.

When David needs to run and hide, he knows where to go. He goes to God’s tent, the shelter God provided for His people in the wilderness. The pictograph adds to the imagery. The consonants samech-kof are the picture of support by an open hand. Furthermore, this imagery contains the picture of turning toward what is open or allowed or covered. In other words, sok is about coming into the presence of God’s shelter where I find His covering and care. If I really need to run and hide, there’s no better place than God’s tent. That’s the same imagery of the festival during Sukkoth. Every year, God’s people are required to remember His provision and protection, not only as a reminder of His intervention with the children of Israel following the exodus, but also as a reminder of His continuing grace each year of our lives. The festival connects us to the God who acted on our behalf with our ancestors and who is acting on our behalf right now. It is history repeated.

Perhaps one of the great tragedies of contemporary Christianity is the loss of historical reality. Yes, we have the stories of the Old Testament, but we no longer have the presence of the Tanakh. We left that behind when the church shifted its foundation from Israel to Athens. What a shame! To see the faithfulness of God in the present is to experience a celebration that connects us with the same God who cared for all those freed slaves. I think God knows how desperately we need tangible reminders. He knows that the pressures of this world and the pace of this life too often cloud our vision of His grace and goodness. So, He established a series of feasts to be repeated every year as a way of continually connecting us with His eternal care. Recovering that connection is vital to the growth of the Body. Five thousand years of reminders of God’s provision and protection certainly give us ample evidence of His reliability when we need it most. Spending a week in booths teaches everyone a great lesson. Apparently it is a lesson worth repeating.

So, next time you need to go fishing, remind yourself of camping for a week in God’s tent. Then you will be filled with the reality of His unfailing care. “I am the Lord who brought you out of the house of bondage.”

Topical Index: sok, Sukkoth, Psalm 27:5, Exodus 34:22, Leviticus 23:34-36