Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
One beautiful correlation when celebrating Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) is recognizing its connection to marriage, specifically pointing to our future union with God. This festival not only commands us to rejoice, but it also carries deep symbolism that mirrors the joy and intimacy of a wedding celebration.
The tradition of celebrating under a huppah—a canopy used in Jewish weddings—bears striking resemblance to building a Sukkah for the feast.
Just as the huppah represents a covering and covenant between a bride and groom, the Sukkah symbolizes God’s sheltering presence and our anticipation of dwelling in perfect unity with Him.
The word “huppah” means “covering” but also, a “chamber” or “marriage room”. So the canopy is a reminder that the marriage chamber is the most important room in the house for a husband and wife because it’s the most intimate room. The huppah emphasizes marital intimacy and reminds us that even if we have the most luxurious mansion in the world, neglecting the place of intimacy spells deep trouble for our marriage.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he says this: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” In another place he says; “For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” In some profound and mystical way our relationship to Yeshua (Jesus) is powerfully portrayed by the marriage relationship between a man and a woman. This means that we have been created and redeemed for intimacy with our Lord. He deeply desires us to be close with Him just as a husband desires his wife. Without a place of intimacy, our relationship will become dull, stagnant and eventually turn cold and lifeless. Our spirituality will also become ritualistic, performance oriented and deeply discontented. This is not the Lord’s will, desire, or intention for us.
Renew the place of intimacy with the Lord during this feast of Sukkot, your spiritual “huppah”, with your Heavenly Husband; it’s the place where the fire of love burns – He’s waiting for you!
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Living in Israel all these years, I often encounter amazing stories of God’s deliverance and grow increasingly fond of listening to the fascinating ways He shows His power. During our tour in England recently, we met a man whose family experienced a great miracle during WW1. He tells this incredible story…
In this world we will face all kinds of obstacles, trials and tribulations and we should be wary of any doctrines or teachings that say we shouldn’t have to face these things. Why? Because the Lord said we will have tribulations. So the encouragement He is giving is simply this: You’re going to face trials, but GOD is greater than any problem you will face in this world!
When the prophet Jonah entered Nineveh, he gave a message of hopelessness — in 40 days your city will be destroyed! He did not say, Nineveh will be destroyed “unless”, but emphatically prophesied destruction to the people of the city — seeming to say their situation was hopeless. Yet hearing this message …
If you were to visit Paris, you could see the statues of two men, both named Louis.
The first is of Louis XIV, France’s absolute monarch. He represents one of the supreme achievements of greatness through power. His philosophy of life was that the whole nation and the world, should serve him.
Knowing He was about to depart, Yeshua (Jesus) left His disciples with a final command: stay in Jerusalem, and wait…for the promise. Of the thousands who had witnessed His miraculous ministry and heard His amazing teaching, and the hundreds that had actually seen Him after the resurrection, we read in Acts that only 120 stayed and tarried until the promise arrived. But these 120 were steadfast. They waited the full term…
I don’t know about you, but it seems that the tests we’re going through are getting harder and harder. Do you remember when you took tests in high school? At the time they may have seemed hard. But imagine if you had to take an elementary school test when you were in high school. You’d probably think – oh this is so simple.
Over the past month, it seems that we’ve been dealing with different internet issues … and hopefully, these issues will be resolved sooner rather than later. Being that the bulk of our ministry is based upon the internet, it can be problematic at times, especially when you’re suddenly disconnected from the web!