King Benjamin and Sukkot

סוכות‎  Sukkot ~ The Feast of the Tabernacles

All Israel celebrates 3 major feasts as prescribed by the Lord to Moses:  Passover in the spring; Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement - in the late summer; and Sukkot or The Feast of the Tabernacles - in the early fall.  Today, I want to talk about the last of these: Sukkot.  We read in Leviticus:
 
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord 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.  And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.  Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.  And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord. (Leviticus 23: 39-44)

סוכה‎ Sukkah ~ The Tabernacle

In the Hebrew language, the word for booth (seen above in Hebrew) also means tabernacle (hence the name, Feast of the Tabernacles) or tent (such as Moses' Tabernacle of the Congregation in the wilderness.)  The sukkah had to be made of organic materials and must have at least 2 1/2 sides.  The sides can be of fabric, but they must be staked firmly so as not to blow in the wind.  The open side or doorway had to be facing the temple.  The roof had to be made of branches, thick enough to provide more shade than sun during the daytime, but loosely woven enough that one could lie in the tabernacle at night and see the heavens.

King David used Sukkot as a time to address his people.  They would pitch their tents or booths with the open doorway facing the temple and David would talk to them about matters important to the kingdom.  Later on, the Jews used the time of Sukkot as a time of coronation so that as many people in the kingdom as possible could see the new king and recognize him (see yesterday's post.)

Several years ago, while I was on my mission, we had a guest speaker named Daniel Rona. Daniel is a Jew by birth, having been born in Palestine during World War II and raised in Israel until the age of 12.  At that time, his parents divorced and Daniel and his father moved to the United States.  Daniel's father was doing some serious soul-searching as to the identity of God and of his relationship with Him.  During that search, Daniel and his father found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  After months of intensive study and prayer, Daniel and his father were baptized.  Daniel is a licensed tour guide in the State of Israel and holds dual citizenship in Israel and the United States. 

King Benjamin and Sukkot

While studying the Book of Mormon, Daniel felt right at home as a Jew because the Book of Mormon is full of Hebraisms that he recognized immediately - things a gentile reader might miss.  One of those involved King Benjamin's tower speech.  We read in Mosiah:

And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another. And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them; (Mosiah 2: 5-6)

Daniel recognized this immediately as a celebration of Sukkot!

Like David of old, King Benjamin did address his people on matters important to the kingdom.  He also used that time when all of Zarahemla was gathered to announce the passing of the kingdom to his eldest son, Mosiah.

It's amazing what you find in the Book of Mormon when you know where to look!
 

Text copyright July 2103, Gebara Education

 

Pictures:

Moses from www.lds.org

A sukkah in the desert from www.baldwinpergolas.com

New archaeological finding of temple complex in Jerusalem, believed to be King David's temple, downloaded from the web

Kind Benjamin from www.lds.org