Leviticus 23:33-38: a reflection

33The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34“Speak to the children of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths for seven days to the LORD. 35On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. 36Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work. 37“‘These are the appointed feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day— 38in addition to the Sabbaths of the LORD, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free will offerings, which you give to the LORD.

The Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, was one of Israel's great annual feasts. For seven days the people would live in temporary shelters, booths, rather than their houses, to remember how their ancestors had dwelt in tents in the wilderness, dependent on God's provision as they journeyed. It was a feast of joy and remembering, recalling both God's care in the wilderness and their own status as a people who had been, and in a sense still were, pilgrims dependent on God.

Notice what living in booths was meant to teach. By leaving their settled houses for flimsy temporary shelters, the people were reminded, in their own bodies, that they were pilgrims, that their security was not finally in their houses and possessions but in God who had provided for them in the wilderness and provided still. The temporary shelters said: you are not as permanently settled as you think; you are a pilgrim people, and your true security is in God.

That is a truth worth remembering, though we do not keep the feast. We are prone to forget our pilgrim status, to sink our security into our houses, possessions, and settled lives as though they were permanent. The Feast of Booths gently punctured that illusion once a year: you are a pilgrim; your security is in God. Hold your settled life a little more loosely, remembering that you too are a pilgrim, dependent on God's provision, on a journey to a lasting home. And let that remembering fill you, as the feast did, with gratitude and joy for the God who provides along the way.

Lord, at the Feast of Booths your people left their houses for temporary shelters to remember they were pilgrims, dependent on your provision. When I sink my security into my house, possessions, and settled life as though they were permanent, remind me that I too am a pilgrim, on a journey to a lasting home. Help me hold my settled life loosely, depend on your provision, and be filled with gratitude for your care along the way.