It’s Monday, the day after our big family vacation - the one we’ve been planning since about this time last year.
Only it’s not really after, because today is still part of our vacation - our celebration of the last of the fall feasts outlined in Scripture: Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles. (that’s the one where you spend a week “dwelling” in a סֻכָּה / sukkah - a “tabernacle” - a tent.)
Different folks celebrate this holiday different ways, but we Hazys are building a tradition of going camping for a week. Yesterday evening we got back into town from our camping trip, where we spent time with some good friends, camping at a deer lease in deep East Texas. It was a great time, and (of course) no one wanted to pack up and leave - no one ever wants to leave vacation when you’re having fun.
…which brings us to today, Shemini Atzeret - which is translated as the Eighth Day of the Assembly.
A friend and I were just talking about the strangeness of there being an eighth day in a seven day feast. As a father (and former kid myself) I get that part of it is that desire to “stay on vacation” or to “continue the party”. I think there’s also a forward-looking aspect to it - something like “take the party with you”… or, perhaps “the provision continues”.
I think this is what Jesus was talking about in John 7:37-38 when he revealed himself to be the deeper truth that this feast - and this extra feast day - was pointing to. Something like this: we didn’t just use up all of our vacation time and budget and food and resources while we were celebrating - we got leftovers to take with us, and more than that - this provision is the gift that keeps on giving from now into eternity, and really, the whole point of the holiday.
That’s stretching the metaphor, to be sure, and (as always with the things of God) there’s more to it than extra vacation days and leftovers and sleeping in tents. I would encourage you to read Leviticus 23 to get an idea of the founding of the feast, and also read John 7 to see how Jesus revealed the deeper meaning of this appointed time. Please don’t take my word for it - read the Word for yourself and see what God has to teach you about it.
I’ve also included a link to a really insightful article about this extra day if you’d like to know more.
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