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The Feast of Tabernacles
Part two
Historical Feasts of Tabernacles
Transcribed from video
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“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. (Deu 16:13-14 NKJV)

We are going into Part 2 of the Feast of Tabernacles agenda and will look at the historical Feasts that we find in the scripture.

It turns out there are several, and the one main one that we will spend the most time on is going to be Solomon’s dedication of the Temple. Maybe you don’t know, but that event occurred on a Feast of Tabernacles during his reign. I have tried to find all of the remnants of the Feast of Tabernacles that are mentioned in the scriptures, and actually, the Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees have a couple which we will mention. We will take this chronologically as we go through the scriptures.

Historical Feast of Tabernacles?
This Feast of Tabernacles actually has a question mark behind it. It’s an interesting one and is found in the Book of Judges Chapters 20 and 21. This is an interesting story and it dates back to the time of the Judges but it isn’t clear to me when this occurred exactly, even within a 50 year period of time. It’s somewhere after the time of Joshua and before the time of Saul, the first king. That range of dates is around 1350 to 1080 BCE. I say this is likely a Feast of Tabernacles, and I think you will see why once we go through the account.

As it turns out, and you have to go backwards in the Book of Judges a couple of chapters to get the fullness of this, suffice it to say, that a Levite was traveling with his concubine and stayed overnight in a town in the area that the tribe of Benjamin was living. The local Benjamites came to abuse the Levite but the home keeper said that they could take his daughter and the concubine instead.

They took the concubine, and after abusing her all night she was left dead on the doorstep. The short story is that the Levite cut her up into twelve pieces and sent them to the twelve tribes. This caused incredible outrage with the tribes against the Benjamites who did this deed. The end result is that the eleven tribes ganged up against Benjamin and they killed most of them. There was a small group of 600 that were left that took refuge in a mountain area. The problem was that they didn’t have sufficient women or wives to carry on the tribe of Benjamin. As a few years passed, the rest of the Israelites felt sorry that they didn’t have wives so they were trying to figure out how they could get wives into the tribe of Benjamin so they could continue on and produce children. There was a complication and that was the eleven tribes had made a promise of vow that they would not provide any of their daughters to the Benjamites. It’s with that background that this account appears in Judges 21.

Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. (Even though some of the Benjamites performed this gruesome deed to the woman, The Levite responded gruesomely also. The remaining Israelites didn’t’ want to see this tribe go into oblivion) Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. (They couldn’t go back on their promise) Then they said, (The tribes of Israel) Behold, there is a feast of YHWH in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. (Jdg 21:16-19 KJV)

Dancing, joyous, festive: We know for certain that this is a Feast of YHWH and when you research it, you find most commentaries make this the Feast of Unleavened Bread or the Feast of Tabernacles. One of the two, but I think the evidence points to the Feast of Tabernacles for one reason. In any case, it is a Feast of YHWH and I would say technically, if you research the Feasts of YHWH, yes, collectively they are called Feasts but denotatively there are really only two feasts that are called Feasts and they are the Feast of Unleavened bread and Feast of Tabernacles. I feel comfortable knowing it’s one of those two, but the next part of the account gives us some clarity. There was dancing and joyous festive activities going on.

Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. (Jdg 21:20-21 KJV)

Pretty interesting workaround on how to get a wife, I don’t know how the women would have felt about this because it doesn’t say any more than what we see. In any case it was a festive time. The festive time relates to the Feast of Tabernacles. In the last part of this dialogue, at this point in the time of the Judges, the Israelites had forgotten about the law of YHWH and there are several scriptures that point this out. What makes sense to me, if there is one thing you would remember after you forget about the law of YHWH and about keeping his Holy Days; you remember the good times that you had. That gets passed along and it’s probably the Feast of Tabernacles festive occasion that has gotten passed on to this yearly dance event that is being mentioned.

Everyone does their own thing – was Israel keeping the Feast of Tabernacles?

The Israelites, in this period of time, weren’t keeping the Feasts. It’s notable that the Israelites, the eleven tribes, didn’t seem to know about the Feasts. It’s only the daughters of Benjamin that were having what became a dance festival but the rest of the tribes of Israel don’t seem to be thinking about it being a Feast. Only in the account is says that it is a Feast of YHWH. In Judges Chapter 21 going on we get a little more clarity.

And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Jdg 21:23-25 KJV)

Every man did what was right in his own eyes, this is an amazing statement. We could just lift that and say that every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes today. We sure see the evidence of that is some of the things that are happening in the news today.

Notably we will get to the Feast of Tabernacles in Nehemiah, but Nehemiah 8:17 said there was no feast like the one that Nehemiah did going back Joshua in terms of staying in booths.

Israel had forgotten the feast days in the book of Judges and there is a companion scripture in the early part of Judges that goes along with this thinking that I am presenting. In Judges Chapter 2 it talks about the time after the generation of Joshua and how that the children of the offspring were not taught the way of YHWH.

And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not YHWH, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. (It didn’t take long after the Israelites came into the Promised Land that they were no longer keeping the feast days) And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of YHWH, and served Baalim: And they forsook YHWH Elohim of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked YHWH to anger. And they forsook YHWH, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
(Jdg 2:10-13 KJV)

And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of YHWH; but they did not so.
(Jdg 2:17 KJV)

The fathers obeyed, the generation of Joshua was obedient but the generation after that turned away. When you put all of this together it’s interesting to contemplate who is doing what here. The Israelites themselves didn’t appear to be keeping the feasts but there was some little remnant of joyous activity and dancing that these Benjamites were keeping. I think this activity of the Benjamites point to the Feast of Tabernacles although I have to say everyone has to do their own homework.

Historical Feast of Tabernacles – The First Temple
The first Temple comes up next so we jump from 1100/1200 BCE to the time of Solomon.

I don’t find any indication of Feast of Tabernacles mentioned in between these two periods of time. The dedication of Solomon to the new Temple that he built is extraordinary being built around 960 BCE, so let’s take a look at the timeline of this.

We will use this timeline a few times because some of the feasts we will talk about rely on this chart. On the left hand side of the chart is the edge of David and Solomon, dating to 1000 BCE and to the 950 – 960 BCE era. It is notable, if you don’t know that there were two kingdoms of Israelites, we have the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. After Solomon is when the split occurred and we will get to Jeroboam and Rehoboam next because Jeroboam kept an unorthodox kind of a feast which we will talk about later. Suffice it to say that Solomon was the last king of the United Kingdom. After Solomon, Jeroboam and Rehoboam split as a result of a civil war over a tax issue.

Hopefully that helps to get an idea of when this occurred time wise. Solomon’s Temple was a project of such a massive size that I can hardly wrap my mind around the size and the magnitude, and I have been involved with large projects in the business world. I suppose if you work at the Pentagon you would be working on some pretty big military projects and I can relate to some of the financials to a couple of government projects. Building the Temple was a seven year long construction project and involved 180,000 laborers.

I did some research on this so I’m comfortable with all that I am telling you. You have to search this on your own to see if you see the same grandeur of scale. The scriptures point out everything that I am talking about. I won’t show all of the scriptures, just some of the highlights.

There were 80,000 stone masons, some of them were probably carpenters, but 80,000 is a big work crew. There were 70,000 men that transported the unfinished goods from Lebanon and that was done in courses according to one of the scriptures that we see. There were 3,000 supervisors, 2 Chronicles 2:1-18; 1 Kings 5:15; all of 1 Kings are scriptures you can reference to.

And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. (Effectively he taxed the society 30,000 men, he had a draft) And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: (10,000 a month, next month 10,000, and the next month 10,000. That’s how they were rotating the 30,000 that Solomon brought into the work crew) a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy (So he’s the boss). And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens (70,000, that’s the transporters, the guys that were carrying the raw materials back and forth to build the Temple. It’s noteworthy that a lot of materials came from Lebanon. The Phoenicians were involved in this also as they lived in the northern coasts of what we call the land of Israel today. The Phoenicians were involved and helped in this project. David had a work arrangement with them and I believe Solomon did with the king of Tyre and Sidon also.), and fourscore thousand (80,000) hewers in the mountains (If you look up the word “hewers, it means cut, carve or split and it means mason. Some of these were cut and carve and to me that insinuates woodwork or carpentry); Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred (managers), which ruled over the people that wrought in the work. (1Ki 5:13-16 KJV)

The other part of this that is astounding is the amount of silver and gold that you see in the scriptures. I’ve done some comparison, not 100 percent, with the Septuagint, but the comparisons that I have looked at, the numbers in the Septuagint Version agree with the numbers in the Masoretic Text Version. Sometimes the Septuagint Version has a different amount of some quantity of something. Not in this case though, the specs for the raw resources of gold and silver are the same as far as I have seen. What is amazing is that when you read this, you may not think too much about it until you examine it. More than 100,000 talents of gold were used. When you add up the parts and pieces that means 90 million ounces, a talent is 75 to 90 pounds some place in that range. There are people that say that it may be as much as 100 but I tend to use the 75 lb. measurement for a talent. That adds up to 90 million ounces of gold, also more than a million talents of silver. You can see those scriptures that are in 1 Chronicles.

Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my Elohim, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my Elohim, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, (1Ch 29:3 KJV)

Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of YHWH an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver (million) ; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto. (1Ch 22:14 KJV)

And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. (2Ch 3:8 KJV)

In this time, silver was as common as stone and there was a lot of gold also.

And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. (1Ki 10:27 KJV)

Because of the abundance there was a lot of silver and cedar.

The Holy of Holy alone had 600 talents in it. If you multiply 600 X 75 it comes up to 22.5 tons of gold. I suppose it is possible that we don’t understand what a talent is, but it seems evident every place you turn there is consistency of what a talent is.

And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. (2Ch 3:8 KJV)

A cubit is about a foot and a half so this will be around 30 foot square, or cube room.

When you put a market price of gold and silver on this project with today’s values, this is huge as it is a huge project. The price would be at least 135 billion dollars. I’m just counting up the silver and gold, it’s not counting the other raw materials that would amount to several billions in today’s market price. If we use 1,300.00 an ounce for gold, (the price changes), and I figured silver at 20.00 ounce (that price changes too) these numbers are just a ballpark idea of what the value of this project is. 100,000 talents of gold X 75 pounds per talent is 7.5 million pounds and 12 troy ounces per pound equals 90 million troy ounces X $1,300 is 117 billion dollars just for the gold. If you were an accountant and looking for ROI (return on investment) you would say that 117 billion dollars is a lot of investment.

The other thing that goes along with this other than just the raw amount of cost in silver and gold are the amount of peace offerings that were given in one fell swoop. 22 thousand oxen and 120 thousand sheep it says in 1 Kings 8:63 and also 2 Chronicles 7:5.

I wanted to put a bracket around this cost and so I wondered what would that buy today? By the time you add the silver in you have around a 150 billion dollars so what would that buy? I put on my pentagon hat even though I’ve never worked for the Pentagon, and thought what that would by in military hardware. One of the pieces and perhaps one of the larger ones would be these Nimitz Class Aircraft Carriers that the United States has 10 of. A Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier in round numbers is an 8 to 8 ½ billion dollar war machine, and you could have 15 or 16 Nimitz units which is a sizeable navy. With 135 billion dollars you would have some money left over.

The other comparison that is interesting is the cost of airliners. If you wanted to start an airline you could buy around 300 – 747 Model Eight’s and the Model Eight is the most expensive one around. It cost around 400 million dollars a copy so you could buy 300 of these to start your airline. I just want to show you that this is a lot of money even in today’s standards. I suppose it is why so many invading armies wanted to overtake Jerusalem so they could have the gold. Of course, some of them did as Nebuchadnezzar was one, Antiochus Epiphanes was another, and Titus in the Roman Empire was yet another. They all desecrated the Temple to get the gold out of it because there was so much of it.

The magnificence of what Solomon had built and the glory that the Temple produced in these days overwhelmed the Queen of Sheba with what she saw.

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of YHWH, she came to prove him with hard questions…And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of YHWH; there was no more spirit in her (She observed quite a spectacle, words would not describe what was told to her and she had to come see it for herself. She was amazed). And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. (1Ki 10:1-7 KJV)

She was impressed to say the least. I am trying to give you a picture of the size of this Temple, the size of the project and the glory that surrounded it. Of course it was going to be the house where YHWH would dwell in for a number of years until he left in Ezekiel Chapters 9-11. I think you see YHWH’s Glory leave in Chapter 11. It went over to the Mount of Olives is what it says, but it was built up over the previous couple of chapters.

The Dedication of the Temple was somewhere in the 900 BCE time frame or 965 to 960 BCE and it’s interesting to note that the audience, or the people that were there are all men and all elders in Israel. I don’t see in the scriptures is says how many but we get some clues.

The Temple design itself is worthy of taking a look at. I found this drawing (Page 9) to do justice to some of the details that you see in the scriptures. The first one to mention is the sea that is mentioned. It is a bronze metal basin 15 foot in diameter and 7.5 feet high. It holds 12,000 gallons of water and is supported by twelve bronze oxen in sets of three. The dimensions are given in the scriptures.

You can run the equation of the metal sea and find out what it holds and it was a big washing vessel or utensil. There were also ten of the smaller seas or basins that were placed on the side of the Temple. There are five that we can see and only one on the other side but there would be four more that you can’t see in the picture. They are bronze wheeled stands of water to rinse off ashes from burnt offerings.

Inside the Temple you can see some steps, these steps lead up to the inner sanctuary. It is a thirty foot cube that was described in the dimensions. You can make out the the Ark of the Covenant sitting in the middle. In the instructions the two Cherubim sat upon it and faced each other. In this drawing it shows, and the scripture points this out, that when Solomon built the Cherubs, they were described as touching wings and touching the wall. The only thing I would say about this is that they were facing one another because the scripture says so. Just notice that from the original Cherubs that sat on top of the lid or the mercy seat as we have described it in Solomon and David’s time when Solomon constructed this we see the Cherubs have become much bigger according to what you see in the scripture.

There is nice detail of this and it shows me that they took some attention to what they were doing. The storage rooms are the three level structures built around the Temple. The lower level is 7.5 feet wide, the middle being 9 feet wide and the upper level is 10.5 feet wide when you convert it to the measurement system or the cubit system to the English system. The only way you could do that would be by cantilevering these rooms out; at least that’s how I would view it. They show the cantilever on this wall and I think it’s a nice detail.

The hollow pillars that were at the entry way, Boaz and Jakin, as well as the bronze alter. The alter itself was 30 feet X 15 feet for burnt offerings and this comes into play because this alter wasn’t large enough for all of the sacrifices that were being performed in the dedication period of time that we are looking at. Hopefully this helps to give you an idea of the scale and the grandeur of it.

The Temple has been an interesting study for me. It’s something we have spent some amount of time on and if it interests you I would point you to two different websites. They are similar in name. One is http://www.templemount.org done by Lambert Dolphin who is considered an expert. He has done an extensive amount of research on the Temple, its location and of course there is a controversy about its location. Today we see the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim mosque that is there. Some believe that is where the Temple stood, but for me, probably not. When you start to look at it you will find there are about four alternatives of where it really did stand. They are: one north of the Dome of the Rock, one at the Dome of the Rock and two southerly locations. He would be considered a scholar.

Another website: http://templemountlocation.com/ is by a woman whose name is Norma Robertson. I have actually corresponded with her and like her work. She is not a scholar, as she was a housewife until the mid-nineties when she took an interest in the Temple. I think her work might be the correct view at least from what I have learned.

There is actually a third name, Dr. Ernest Martin who has done a lot of work on this. He was originally out of the World Wide Church of God and he is deceased. These alternatives may give you an idea where to look into and study if you have an interest. They give you alternatives as to where the Temple actually sat by comparison to what we see today.

Dedication of the First Temple – Preparation: The dedication of the Temple has several parts to it and the first part is the preparation and we are generally going to be reading 1 Kings 8, but the parallel part to this is in 2 Chronicles 6-7. They are very similar but there are some details in one that isn’t in the other that are useful so I’ve tried to stitch this together, there are some that we will read out of Chronicles, but it will be mostly from 1 Kings.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of YHWH out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of YHWH, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of YHWH unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when YHWH made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. (1Ki 8:1-9 KJV)

Verse with commentary: Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of YHWH out of the city of David, which is Zion. This in itself is a study, Zion itself is controversial but I would say that you would get an idea if you look at some of the resources just listed. Zion was a sharp pointed hilltop mountain apparently to the south and a little west of the city of David. Off to the south and west of the Temple Mount itself. It isn’t there today because apparently it has been mowed or taken down rock by rock by invading armies. The Valley of the Cheesemongers is what it is called today. Apparently that was a mountain top that was called Mt. Zion and that is where David’s house was. All of that is conjecture.

And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim. You see four months mentioned in the scriptures that have names before the Babylonian exile. Ethanim is one; Bul, Ziv and Abib are the rest of them. You can find all of these in the scriptures. After the Babylonian exile Ethanim became Tishri. It’s the seventh month.

And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of YHWH, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. They are sacrificing and I would suggest that these are burnt offerings independent of the 120 thousand peace offerings that were given. This is the offering that I believe YHWH came down and took up the offering. He accepts the offering and I think this is the one being talked about.

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of YHWH unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. I want to mention the fact of the staves and which way they faced. It would appear that the Ark faced east and west because when they drew out the staves the end of the staves were seen out in the Holy place before the Oracle.

What I think we know is that there was a curtain there so the curtain would not have been open. The only way they would have been able to see the staves is if the staves were pulled all the way out, but they wouldn’t have taken them all the way out because by command the staves were to stay with the Ark. They pulled the staves out far enough that the ends of the staves pushed on the curtain. I think that’s what’s going on here, that’s why the people outside could see the staves. They actually didn’t see the staves; they saw the imprint of them pushing on the curtain. Perhaps that is wrong, perhaps when they opened the curtain people outside could see in. I’m not sure if that was allowed.

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone. We know that Aaron’s rod and the pot of manna were not a part of this. In Hebrews it’s easy to conclude that those other items were in the Ark, but they were next to it or by it. Moses put the tables of stone in at Horeb.

when YHWH made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Dedication of the First Temple – Solomon’s prayer to YHWH and that is what comes next in the order of scripture.

And Solomon stood before the altar of YHWH in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: And he said, YHWH Elohim of Israel, there is no Elohim like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Therefore now, YHWH Elohim of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. And now, O Elohim of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. But will Elohim indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my Elohim, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. (1Ki 8:22-30 KJV)

Verse with commentary: And Solomon stood before the altar of YHWH in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: There were stairs that went up and Solomon stood before the altar and spread his hands toward heaven. You have to imagine, there must have been hundreds of thousands if not upward of a million and maybe more people in Jerusalem for this event. It said all of the men came and all of the elders from all of the tribes.

And he said, YHWH Elohim of Israel, there is no Elohim like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Therefore now, YHWH Elohim of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. And now, O Elohim of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. But will Elohim indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my Elohim, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. It’s noteworthy that this comment that is made in his prayer that says There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; This is part of the Davidic covenant and throne which is really a part of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Solomon is going on:

When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
(1Ki 8:33-39 KJV)

Solomon continues, and keep in mind he is standing at the Temple with all of the people in the area that are listening to his prayer: If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto YHWH toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance (1Ki 8:44-53 KJV)

Solomon continues on in 2 Chronicles:

Now, my Elohim, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, O YHWH Elohim, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O YHWH Elohim, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. O YHWH Elohim, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
(2Ch 6:40-42 KJV)

Dedication of the First Temple and Solomon’s Blessing to Israel: and then, the next part is when Solomon finishes his prayer to YHWH and then he turned to the people:

And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the YHWH, he arose from before the altar of YHWH, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be YHWH, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. YHWH our Elohim be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before YHWH, be nigh unto YHWH our Elohim day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: That all the people of the earth may know that YHWH is Elohim, and that there is none else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with YHWH our Elohim, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before YHWH. (1Ki 8:54-62 KJV)

Dedication of the First Temple – YHWH’s Glory – Putting the chronology of this together, if you go back to 2 Chronicles, this appears to be the time that YHWH’s Glory comes down.

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; (It’s noteworthy that it’s the burnt offerings and sacrifices.) and the glory of YHWH filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of YHWH, because the glory of YHWH had filled YHWH’s house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of YHWH upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised YHWH, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. (2Ch 7:1-3 KJV)

It’s interesting they said that because if you look at Psalm 136, that is what that says. Psalm 136 doesn’t have an author, it’s anonymous but it’s likely it was David, Solomon’s father. I don’t think it’s provable that David wrote it but it’s likely.

One thing that is important is that the sacrifices that were accepted were burnt offerings and sacrifices. When you look at the sacrifices in the Levitical system most of the time what you see are sin offerings or trespass offerings that are offered first. They are mandatory atonement for sins so when there is a sin or a trespass that offering goes first. After the atonement of the sin or trespass offering occurs, then burnt offerings are oftentimes included. Burnt offerings are voluntary atonement for sins or in other words, an extra amount of an offering. And also burnt offerings are used for worship and surrender to YHWH.

We haven’t seen the term peace offering clearly yet but that’s what the offerings for the 120 thousand sheep and 22 thousand oxen or calves, so that was offered as a peace offering. The peace offerings aren’t done in the Levitical system until the other offerings are done. The peace offering is a voluntary offering; it’s about fellowship and thanksgiving. Incidentally, the peace offering is the only offering that involves the use of the sacrifice for a communal meal including all of the Israelites. In other words, the peace offering isn’t just for the consumption of the priests and the Levitical system; the peace offering can be used as a communal meal. I’m bringing this up because we see this offering of these thousands of other animals labeled as a peace offering.

Dedication of the First Temple – The Peace Offering

Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before YHWH.(I think this is chronologically stitched together correctly, do your own assessment of that) And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of YHWH. And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of musick of YHWH(They had a band there), which David the king had made to praise YHWH, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood. (Can you imagine the spectacle of upwards of a million people on the Temple Mount; I don’t know how so many people could fit) Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of YHWH: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat. (That brazen altar wasn’t big enough see the picture of the Temple page 9) Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt. (Those from way north to way south maybe as far as the Nile or a tributary of the Nile, Solomon had a vast territory that he had overtaken by this point in time. His territory went up to what we call central or northern Syria. He had outposts at Palmira. Palmira was the ISIS stronghold where they recently blew up a lot of it. If you search the scriptures you will be able to see that Palmira was a place where Solomon had a horse stable) And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly^{H6116=atsarah=from H6113=hold back, refrain, withhold self}: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents ^{H168=ohel=covering, dwelling (no sukkah mentioned)}, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that YHWH had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people. (2Ch 7:4-10 KJV)

The dedication of the Temple seems to have preceded the feast but it’s at that time so it’s a fourteen day event. The twenty third day would have been after the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This was quite an event and there are a couple of points here. On the eighth day they made a solemn assembly. The solemn assembly is seen three times associated in the scriptures. It’s the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Hebrew word is atsarah. It comes from a base word that means to hold back, refrain or withhold self. I have thought for some few years that this is trying to show us that the tenor or the personality of this particular day is different than the personality of the first seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles.

You see “atsarah” noted as a solemn assembly and you will also see that the eighth day is noted as “atsarah” H6116 are in a couple of places in the scriptures. It’s noteworthy to see that the seventh day of the spring festival, the Days of Unleavened Bread, that seventh day is also referenced as “atsarah”. It’s for your consideration, actually most don’t pay too much attention and I don’t know if I’ve seen anyone that has paid much attention to this solemn assembly as being noteworthy. It is a different Hebrew word and it’s in a few places. Do your own word search on H6116 and it’s actually mentioned one place as a fast.

The other thing I want to mention is that he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry. The tents that are talked about are “ohel”, they aren’t sukkah. You would think that this would be a grand Feast of Tabernacles at the dedication of the Temple, and it was. When you get to Nehemiah it says there was no feast that included the sukkah or the tabernacle or the tent that was used for a covering in Nehemiah’s time and it’s a different word used there than this word here “ohel”.

The final point on this particular scripture is that there were 120 thousand sheep and 22 thousand oxen offered and it says that it was offered a sacrifice in 2 Chronicles 7:4, and if you look at the parallel to this in 1 Kings 8:63, you will see it’s labeled as a peace offering. This was a peace offering that was given. As I got to thinking about this, I wondered why this peace offering was here. Originally I had thought that this was what YHWH came down and took as the offering as his acceptance. I don’t think that anymore, I think this peace offering was given because it was a communal meal. How many people could you feed with this number of sacrifices? 120 thousand sheep, in preparation for the first Passover, Exodus 10-12 you see that families gathered together for a sacrifice. For example, if there were ten for a sacrifice, it would be easy to figure this out and say it was easily a million people who could participate in this communal meal that was offered on this particular meal. There are a few things to unpack in this section of the scripture and so again you have to do your own homework and research on these things.

Dedication of the First Temple – YHWH appears to Solomon – The conclusion to this is that Solomon was at home and has finished his work. I think this scripture is one of the common one-line scriptures that a lot of people know is 2 Chronicles 7:14. We often use that scripture as a standalone scripture but it’s in the context of this dedication of the Temple and this Feast of Tabernacles that followed the dedication. The context of it is associated with what we have just discussed.

Thus Solomon finished the house of YHWH, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of YHWH, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. And YHWH appeared to Solomon by night, (I’m not sure if this was some time later but it has that context of what we just talked about) and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. (It seems like this is associated with this dedication event) If I shut up heaven that there be no ¹ rain, or if I command the ² locusts to devour the land, or if I send ³ pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (Notice what happens here that YHWH is giving a 3 series of “ifs” and three series of types of pestilence, rain locust and pestilence and if the people will humble themselves. Notice too that these pestilences have to do with the land) Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. (2Ch 7:11-18 KJV)

This is the reference that we see here is to the Davidic covenant that goes back to 2 Samuel.

And thine house ^David’s and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. (2Sa 7:16-17 KJV)

This is the foundation of the Davidic covenant that is embedded in this scripture. The Davidic covenant has everything to do with the Millennium. When the Millennial reign occurs and David is resurrected, there are a number of scriptures that support this, when Yahushua comes as the Messiah. Yahushua was in the line of succession and was the offspring through David and Solomon. This whole subject has significant number of legs to go investigate. We are through the one big dedication event on the Feast of Tabernacles that has the most scripture associated with it until we get into the New Testament. After that Yahushua goes to the Feast in Jerusalem toward the end of his ministry in John 7 – 9.

Historical Feast of Tabernacles – Jeroboam’s Counterfeit – After the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam was next in the line of succession to become the new king. He wanted to raise taxes so he got counsel from the elders that had advised his father Solomon. These older men said to be kind, and not to be aggressive in raising taxes. Rehoboam didn’t like that answer so he went to the young counsellors that told him to raise taxes which he acted upon. This decision by Rehoboam resulted in a civil war which led to a split of the kingdom and ultimately the end of the United Kingdom.

Because Solomon had not kept the commandments of YHWH, after Solomon’s death YHWH gave 10 tribes to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. To keep his promise to David, and for Jerusalem’s sake, YHWH gave one tribe, (Judah and Benjamin were counted as one) to Rehoboam. This made Jeroboam king of the Northern Kingdom and Rehoboam king of the Southern Kingdom, both of which went into exile because of idolatry.

The unorthodox Feast observed by Jeroboam around 930 BCE. Jeroboam was an interesting character as he set up a counterfeit holy day and called it the Feast of Tabernacles. He also set up a substitute altar and it was one month late.

If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of YHWH at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their sovereign, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, (This is Jeroboam saying this. He didn’t want any of his people to go to Jerusalem and then come back and kill him and start following Rehoboam) and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt (It’s interesting that it’s two calves, it shows they had not forgotten their idols.) And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, (He went up to the asherah groves and started to worship false gods and the priests didn’t have to be Levites anymore) which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense. (1Ki 12:27-33 KJV)

This fake feast that Jeroboam set up was not a good start to the Northern Kingdom as he did evil in the sight of YHWH.

Hezekiah reigned from 716 to 687 BCE. Hezekiah was one of the Southern kings and had a co-reign with Ahaz and going back to around 730 BCE. He was a good king in the middle of two evil kings, his father Ahaz and his son Manasseh. Manasseh was worse than any before him. It would appear from reading the accounts he was idolatrous and reinstituted child sacrifice.

Hezekiah was in the middle of a period of time that was particularly unfavorable and unrighteous in YHWH’s eyes. Hezekiah was a reformer, in 2 Chronicles 29 we see an account:

He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of YHWH, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of YHWH Elohim of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of YHWH our Elohim, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of YHWH, and turned their backs. (2Ch 29:3-6 KJV)

The feast days were reinstituted in a short period of time according the 2 Chronicles 31.

And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of YHWH. He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of YHWH. (2Ch 31:2-3 KJV)

We don’t see a specific mention of the Feast of Tabernacles but if you read through this account what you do see is the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread that is mentioned in chapter 30.

The Feast of Tabernacles is mentioned connotatively because he is going to set all the feasts together. Certainly the Feast of Tabernacles is included in this revival or this reform period.

Historical Feast of Tabernacles – 2^nd Temple – Zerubbabel – and in jumping forward a couple hundred years or so, we are in the time of Zerubbabel. By this point in time, both North and South Tribes have gone into exile and they are now returning by the decree of Cyrus in 539 BCE.

The Temple in Jerusalem was totally destroyed being razed in 587 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Some of the remaining residents in Judah were exiled to Babylon. There were actually four deportations that you see in the scripture. Three of them associated with the seizure of Jerusalem, the third was to destroy it. There was one small deportation after that and you can find it later in Jeremiah Chapter 52:4.

The decree of Cyrus was in 539 and allowed the Israelites, particularly the tribe of Judah to go back to Jerusalem. I don’t think it was the Jews only but what you see they are the primary ones.

Return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple – In Ezra 1 you see that the decree of Cyrus resulted in Zerubbabel going back as the governor. Zerubbabel set out immediately to restart the Temple worship process, you see this in Ezra 1.

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, YHWH of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (I suppose Cyrus thinks he’s the one. Of course YHWH told him to go make this happen). Who is there among you of all his people? his Elohim be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of YHWH Elohim of Israel, (he is the Elohim,) which is in Jerusalem. (Ezr 1:2-3 KJV)

You seldom see in the scriptures where YHWH uses a Gentile king as he does Cyrus. You will also see that Nebuchadnezzar wrote chapter 4 in Daniel. You know that it is Nebuchadnezzar that wrote it because Chapter 4 starts “I Nebuchadnezzar”. Of course there is a lot of background of why Cyrus did this; probably the main reason is that Isaiah 45 prophesied that Cyrus would come. This would happen 130 years later. Cyrus was shown this scripture perhaps by Daniel. I think that is the Talmudic tradition that Daniel showed Cyrus this scripture in Isaiah 45 that said that Cyrus would be the coming king of Persia. Cyrus was impressed by the way he was written about so many years ago.

Governor Zerubbabel returns to Jerusalem with about 50 Thousand (cf. Sheshbazzar) –
You see the name Sheshbazzar when you read through this account. I suspect Sheshbazzar is Zerubbabel and is his Persian name. Zerubbabel means born in Babylon so he is an interesting person. To get our feet on the ground from where we have moved, as we see we have moved across this timeline and are now in 530 BCE in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were contemporary with them.

In Ezra Chapter 2:

The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women. (Ezr 2:64-65 KJV)

Zerubbabel set out to have this Feast of Tabernacles, and I’m thinking this is about 538 BCE; it seems accurate that 539 was the decree of Cyrus. A lot of scholars have looked at it and 539 is a consistent agreement. This Feast would have been in 538 BCE we see that by some of the linkages of the events and how they fit together. The king’s tenures fit together, not only Judah’s kings, but also the Gentile kings and how they fit together. We reason not only when this happened but also how long it would have taken to travel. It turns out that this was probably a Sabbatical year.

Alter constructed, Feast of Tabernacles re-established- ca. 538 BCE Sabbatical

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua ^{H3442=Yahshua=he will save, from H3091=Yahoshua=YHWH saves/saved} the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of YHWH the Elohim of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of Elohim. And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto YHWH, even burnt offerings morning and evening. They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required; And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of YHWH that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto YHWH. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto YHWH. But the foundation of the temple of YHWH was not yet laid. (Ezr 3:1-6 KJV)

We are talking about the month of Ethanim and will be called Tishri here on out. Tishri is not found in the scriptures, at least what I can find. You see Ethanim once in 1 Kings but here it says it’s the seventh month.

There are a couple of points, they built an altar, there was no Temple so they could only construct an altar to have the sacrifices on and that is significant. The precedent is set here in this scripture, and YHWH seemed to have accepted this reverent service. It would appear that an altar is what is required for sacrifices. There is a lot of controversy today about a Temple on the Temple Mount. The Temple Institute is operational today with a Sanhedrin ready to go today, actually they have the Sanhedrin but it’s not operational in terms of legislation. There has been some talk that all they need is an altar to start the sacrificial ceremonies. Some people are expecting a Temple of some sort to be built even though it may be modest. It doesn’t look to be necessary to me.

Ezra only had an altar, and I find it stunning that when you read through these accounts, you oftentimes see a guy named Jeshua. After the exile it’s pronounced Jeshua in the Hebrew. Hebrew was probably affected by the Aramaic at this point in time and this is a different Jeshua Hebrew word than H3091, but it’s interesting how it’s pronounced. H3091 is Joshua from the Book of Joshua, that man’s name was Yahushua and is the same name as Jesus. Jesus’ name is really Yahushua from H3091 which is his true Hebrew name. After the exile we see the name Yahushua rather than Yahoshua. It looks to me that after the Babylonian exile is where Yahushua came from and note that it’s a Strong’s Hebrew word. It goes from Yahoshua which is H3091, and embedded here, shows that this guy is a priest. He is Levitical and certainly when Yahushua came he was of the Melchizedek order but his background was as a Levite. It’s interesting to see that this name is here. We will see it again in the time of Nehemiah some one hundred years later.

The sacrifice was done at the altar only in this early Feast of Tabernacles that was immediately after the exile and the freedom that was given by Cyrus the Great. The problem with the return to Jerusalem by the exiles was that they went back to rebuild the Temple, that is what Cyrus said they were to do and he also gave them a government grant. Zerubbabel went back with money in hand to pay for the labor costs and buy the raw materials needed to rebuild. The Temple reconstruction was continually sabotaged and thwarted by the locals, the non-Israelites that had taken up habitation there. Some of them would likely have been the Edomite’s who lived off to the south. This would have been about the time of the Nabateans were pushing the Edomite’s out and westward into the southern areas of Hebron in the land of Israel as we know it today.

Since there was a lot of harassment of the Israelites and the Jews that came to rebuild the Temple, but what they really needed was the protection of the city walls of Jerusalem in order to continue to build the Temple and be protected. They were not able to do that until Nehemiah came along. Governor Nehemiah appears around a hundred and twenty years after Zerubbabel and if you are a student of Nehemiah and Ezra you will very quickly know that those books are not in chronological order. The first few chapters of Ezra are, but Ezra doesn’t show up on the scene physically until the period of time when Nehemiah comes around 445 BCE.

Referring to the timeline on pages 4 and 22, we see that the books of Nehemiah and Ezra include the time period going back to Cyrus in 539 and Nehemiah goes a little further into the future into some of the events he goes into. This would be 425 BCE or so but we see that Ezra and Nehemiah were contemporaries because Ezra was at the same set of events that Nehemiah was at. Ninety years after Zerubbabel puts us around one hundred and forty years after the fall of Jerusalem and the initial exile by Nebuchadnezzar.

Also of interest is that Artaxerxes was the Gentile king during the time of Nehemiah (see Timeline chart) and Nehemiah was the cupbearer to Artaxerxes and it appears Nehemiah was born in captivity in Persia. First it was Babylon and then became Persia after the Persians took over that territory. Artaxerxes father was Xerxes so this part of history has some disagreement in the scholar ranks, I’m not one but I see there is some controversy about Darius Xerxes and Artaxerxes and the exact order. The order that I have them is what I believe to be the correct order but know there is controversy.

The point of this is that Xerxes was Artaxerxes father and that there is a King named Ahasuerus during the time of Esther, Haman and Mordechai. You also know from reading Esther that Xerxes got a new queen during this period of time and Esther was that new queen. One of the conjectures that you can easily come to is that Xerxes and Esther probably had children. If they did, we know that Artaxerxes was the son of Xerxes but it’s not clear who the mother is from the study that I have done. Is it possible that Esther was the mother? I don’t know but Artaxerxes was favorable to Nehemiah by letting him go back to Jerusalem. This conjecture is only for your consideration.

Nehemiah was able to gain a leave of absence from his responsibilities to King Artaxerxes. This term cupbearer is a person that tastes the food for poison, so Nehemiah was a trusted servant.

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.(This is the king saying this, and when he said that Nehemiah said) Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: (I suppose that would be a good response if the king wasn’t happy with the fact that Nehemiah wasn’t happy) why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? (He is telling the king that Jerusalem is in shambles)Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the Elohim of heaven. (Nehemiah is asking for wisdom from YHWH) And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. (Neh 2:1-5 KJV)

The short of that is that it happened; if you read the other accounts associated with this the bottom line is that the city wall was finished.

So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul (the sixth month), in fifty and two days. (Neh 6:15 KJV)

They are coming up on the month of Ethanim; the seventh month is what this is showing us. I’ve said that 445 BCE was a Sabbatical year. My wife and I have done work on the Sabbatical years and find that the cycle is on 50 years, not on a 49 year cycle. Yes there was a 49 year cycle late in the second Temple period during the time of the Maccabees and in the first century there was a 49 year cycle. There is evidence that you can see there was a 49 year cycle but they had forgotten the Jubilee. The Jubilee is on the 50^th year and is intercalated year in addition to the 49 year count. This figures into the study we have done that this also was on a seven year boundary which is that in 445 BCE was a Sabbatical year and also it makes sense that given the event that is about to happen that it would be.

Historical Feast of Tabernacles – 2^nd Temple – Nehemiah’s Reform and Nehemiah assembled the people.

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which YHWH had commanded to Israel. (It’s noteworthy that Ezra is here and it’s also mentioned that Ezra the priest. We also see that Ezra is a scribe and the book of the law is here also) And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. (Obviously this is the Memorial of Trumpets) And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. (Neh 8:1-3 KJV)

Ezra the Scribe/Priest continues on reading the Torah – Searching the Scriptures

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up: (This starts an interesting scripture) And Ezra blessed YHWH, the great Elohim. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped YHWH with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, ^{H3442=Yahshua=he will save, from H3091=Yahoshua=YHWH saves/saved} (I think the Spirit is putting this here to tell us that Yahushua is represented in the priesthood. He was represented in a number of other places also. You will see Yahushua mentioned in the Book of Yahushua referring to the Book of Judges is the same name. You see this name throughout the scriptures so it’s not a one-time event so when we get to the New Testament it’s no surprise that the true Savior’s name would be Yahoshua) and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of YHWH distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. (Neh 8:5-8 KJV)

Going on in this account : And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law which YHWH had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. (Neh 8:13-15 KJV)

This scripture obviously got carried forth to the time of Yahushua and onward to today. People make sukkahs today in Israel as you see them on balconies and streets and in the paths. They put up sukkahs with this scripture in mind.

This Feast of Tabernacles being a Sabbatical this particular year in 445 BCE also has another part to it.

Feast of Tabernacles 445 BCE – Sabbatical ^{446-445 BCE}

So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of YHWH, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths ^{H5521=sukkah=hut, tabernacle} : for since the days of Jeshua ^{H3442=Yahshua=he will save, from H3091=Yahoshua=YHWH saves/saved} the son of Nun (Yahushua is now changed to Yahshua and the difference is because of the captivity and the Aramaic influence on the Hebrew.) unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. (They had not made booths and in all the accounts we have gone through previously in this presentation, especially in Solomon’s account that was grand experience. It was on a scale that we would probably have a hard time imagining. This account says they didn’t make booths like they did in this account dating back to the time of Joshua) And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of YHWH. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, ^{H6116=atsarah=from H6113=hold back, refrain, withhold self} , according unto the manner.
(Neh 8:16-18 KJV)

One of the other indicators that this is a Sabbatical either known about by Nehemiah and Ezra or not, I am not sure if they would have known it would have been, but the Sabbatical was the year that the Israelites were to read the law. It says so in Deuteronomy 31.

And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, (When all debts are forgiven) When all Israel is come to appear before the YHWH thy Elohim in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear YHWH your Elohim, and observe to do all the words of this law: (Deu 31:10-12 KJV)

This dates back to the time the Israelites were at Moab just before they went into the Promised Land and YHWH told them to read the law at the Feast of Tabernacles at the end of the seventh year. When you see that this has a potential for being a Sabbatical just from the calculations and the interaction of other events, other kings and when you add all of this together, what they were doing was reading the law and it would appear that this would be a Sabbatical year. This is additional evidence that YHWH was having them do this and read this law as a marker that it may be a sabbatical year.

Johnathan Maccabee – Kept the feast- High Priest 152-142 BCE
There were a couple of other feasts that are in the apocryphal books of Maccabees and we jump forward another couple of hundred years before we see any mention of this. This one is in the days of Johnathan Maccabee that dates to the family of Mattathias.

You can locate John Maccabee in the 152 to 142 area. He was the High Priest and he was involved in this scripture.

Now Alexander ^{Balas-King of Syria – proclaimed son of Antiochus Epiphanes} the king heard of all the promises which Demetrius ^{1Soter – Seleucid ruler} had sent to Jonathan, and men told him of the battles that Jonathan and his brothers had fought, of the brave deeds that they had done, and of the troubles that they had endured. So he said, “Shall we find another such man? Come now, we will make him our friend and ally.” And he wrote a letter and sent it to him, in the following words: “King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting. We have heard about you, that you are a mighty warrior and worthy to be our friend. And so we have appointed you today to be the high priest of your nation; you are to be called the king’s friend” (and he sent him a purple robe and a golden crown) “and you are to take our side and keep friendship with us.” So Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of tabernacles, and he recruited troops and equipped them with arms in abundance. (1Ma 10:15-21 RSVA)

When you read through this Alexander is a king in Syria not Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was a couple hundred years prior to this. Jumping into the place where it says: So Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of tabernacles. He had his army on his mind and he recruited troops and equipped them with arms in abundance. Just to mention you will find this also in Josephus Antiquities 13.2.1-4.

Other Feast of Tabernacles – There is another feast that is alluded to in Maccabees and it is when we see that they were keeping the Feast of Booths in the month of Chislev.

The Jewish brethren in Jerusalem and those in the land of Judea, To their Jewish brethren in Egypt, Greeting, and good peace. May Elohim do good to you, and may he remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants. May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a strong heart and a willing spirit. May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and may he bring peace. May he hear your prayers and be reconciled to you, and may he not forsake you in time of evil. We are now praying for you here. In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred and sixty-ninth year, we Jews wrote to you, in the critical distress which came upon us in those years after Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom and burned the gate and shed innocent blood. We besought YHWH and we were heard, and we offered sacrifice and cereal offering, and we lighted the lamps and we set out the loaves ^{Hanukkah-Kislev 25}. And now see that you keep the feast of booths in the month of Chislev ^Kislev – ^{9th month}, in the one hundred and eighty-eighth year. Those in Jerusalem and those in Judea and the senate and Judas, To Aristobulus, who is of the family of the anointed priests, teacher of Ptolemy the king, and to the Jews in Egypt, Greeting, and good health. (2Ma 1:1-10 RSVA)

It appears in this account that the Maccabees that were writing this from Jerusalem were talking about keeping Hanukkah. We besought YHWH and we were heard, and we offered sacrifice and cereal offering, and we lighted the lamps and we set out the loaves. And now see that you (That live down there in Egypt) keep the feast of booths in the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and eighty-eighth year. Those in Jerusalem and those in Judea and the senate and Judas, To Aristobulus, who is of the family of the anointed priests, teacher of Ptolemy the king, and to the Jews in Egypt, Greeting, and good health. (They say this even though they are keeping the Feast in what is now the 9^th month.)

Yahushua and the Feast of Tabernacles – Traditions of the Elders – Rabbinic traditions performed during the Feast of Tabernacles. Again we are jumping forward a couple of hundred years to the first century. This is probably 29 CE although I think there is a possibility that it is 28 CE. What is important to get at this point in time is that in the time of the first century when Yahushua walked the earth there were a number of rabbinic traditions performed during the Feast of Tabernacles. In the past few years as I have studied into this each festival season, it seems like I find one or two more and this year is no different. I have found a significant tradition that I didn’t know about until recently. First there is this menorah lighting ceremony, and there were either two or four, the accounts are not clear. They were something like 75 ft. tall and were erected in the Women’s Court at the Temple. These menorahs are picturing the Messiah would come and be a light to all humanity. We see that written in the Mishnah – Sukkah 5 which is about the Feast of Tabernacles as Yoma is about the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

There was also a water libation tradition at this point where they filled a golden flagon with three logs of water, and I think that’s about a quart and it was drawn from the Pool of Siloam. This was a daily morning event during the first seven days of the feast. The priests would parade to this Pool of Siloam and draw this quart of water with the golden flagon and they would then return to the Temple and make an offering. The Temple alter had a pipe going through it down to the Kidron Valley. The thought was that eventually the Kidron Valley would drain into the Dead Sea if there was enough water. Well, that will probably happen eventually when the stream of living water comes from Jerusalem. It’s talked about in Revelation 21 and 22.

Ceremonially this pictured bringing new life and healing and the pouring out of YHWH’s Spirit. The Pharisees morphed into what we call the rabbinic priesthood today, and they were the ones that were holding to these traditions.

One of the new understanding of the tradition that I have come to this year was the Hillel where they sang Psalms 113-118. They recited that every day as thanks giving to YHWH. Also was the Lulav and Etrog ritual where they would use the three types of branches and they would add one type of fruit to it. They found this instruction in Exodus and they had a waving ceremony that they did.

There was a ritual that I had seen before but never was able to put it altogether until I really looked into it. It is called the Hoshana Rabbah ritual. This term means Great Hoshana and it has to do about the last Days of Judgment and it begins at Rosh Ha-Shana and culminates on the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles. That to me is noteworthy is that it is the seventh day not the eighth.

Psalms and Deuteronomy were read and there was a ritual of making seven circuits around the Temple. Today modern Judaism they make seven circuits within a Synagogue and they still use the four species. Again this is found in the Mishnah – Sukkah 4-5.

With these traditions that are going on, and there are a number of them. The feast had become a platform of all of this ritual and tradition. Yes, it was probably grand and a happy time but picture all of that going on at what is really even a grander Temple than what Solomon built. The remodel project that Herod did of the Temple Mount is again by itself worthy of study and this was quite an area that had been redeveloped after the razing of the Temple by the Babylonians. Of course the period of time that Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt it was a spartan Temple. Small in scale and grandeur by comparison to Solomon’s until Herod came along and rebuilt it. He had a major public works program and he thought of it as a way to gain the approval of the Jews that lived there because he claimed himself to be King of the Jews.

With all of that Yahushua shows up at the Feast of Tabernacles in 29 CE I see it could have been 28 CE but this was just after the transfiguration account that we see in Matthew 17 and the parallels in Mark and Luke. Two weeks previous which was on or near the Feast of Trumpets so the transfiguration has some argument that you could make that it was around the Memorial Day of Trumpets. Perhaps it was around Atonement but Atonement only allowed a few days for some of the people to get to Jerusalem. Yahushua didn’t come until the middle of the Feast and he came incognito.

But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret…Now about the midst of the feast Yahushua went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Yahushua answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of YHWH, or whether I speak of myself. (Joh 7:10,14-17 KJV)

That is a good marker by the way. We know if a doctrine is correct today because Yahushua speaks of it. Perhaps someone speaks of themselves of it. Yahushua witnesses credentials during his attendance to this feast.

Then cried Yahushua in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me. (Joh 7:28-29 KJV)

Obviously the Pharisees and some of the Jews were skeptical about who Yahushua really was. There were some believers but most were skeptical.

So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. (Joh 7:43-44 KJV)

This is a model of the Temple during the time of the first century. This is actually an interesting work and if you have visited or plan to visit Jerusalem one of the places that most everyone goes to is this model called the “Holy Land Model of Jerusalem”. It was developed in the 1960’s and is a well thought out and well researched model. It is about 150^th scale that you can see and you can see the size of the Temple and the magnitude of the courtyard around it and then the associated city as it would have been during the time of Yahushua. Of course it would be the time of the Roman Empire around the first century. This is useful to try to put yourself. The front door of the Temple faces east and the backside is facing west. On the south is the Antonia Fortress off to the left and north would be off to the right. The Antonia Fortress may be suspect in terms of accuracy. If you study into this period of time and the Temple itself, the Antonia Fortress had to house five thousand Romans so it seems it should be larger. I’m not sure if this building if it is to scale as it is shown here, how it housed five thousand of the Roman army or not. Perhaps Josephus has his account wrong as another alternative.

In any case this is a useful model to have your mind upon to think of what was going on in the first century.

The courtyard of the women is located in the center of the larger yard and is the courtyard where the two menorahs were positioned.

Yahushua makes major proclamations -The water and light ceremony that are part of the ritual are capitalized by Yahushua.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yahushua stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (Joh 7:37-38 KJV)

I used to think the last great day of the feast was the Eighth Day, but now know it’s called Hoshana Rabbah. If you didn’t know of this ceremonial background you wouldn’t know why he was talking about rivers of living water. The water libation ceremony as the main event that was going on for the Jews figures into the response that Yahushua is providing.

Also the light because of the Menorah that were there, but these aren’t mentioned in the scripture. They are mentioned in the Mishnah and Talmud.

Then spake Yahushua again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (Joh 8:12 KJV)

Also a miracle was performed on this day.

When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. (Joh 9:6-7 KJV)

What else happened in the Pool of Siloam? This is the water libation ceremony, this is where they went. The irony of all of this is that Isaiah prophesied of these days.

And in that day thou shalt say, O YHWH, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, Elohim is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for YHWH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise YHWH, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto YHWH; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
(Isa 12:1-6 KJV)

YHWH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation, the first century rabbis, the Pharisees thought that is what they were doing with this water libation ceremony. They were drawing water out of the wells of salvation. That is the highlight with the Feast with Yahushua.

Paul Kept the Feast of Tabernacles – Chronology – controversial may be Passover or Pentecost
ca. 50 CE ^baseline Paul travels from Asia to Europe preaching the Gospel at Philippi.

There is a scripture in Acts that says Paul wanted to go keep the feast. It doesn’t say which feast though; it doesn’t say the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the Feast of Tabernacles. When you read commentaries most suggest that this is Passover or Pentecost. I think when you examine it in detail; you see that it leans to the direction of the Feast of Tabernacles.

One order of business is to say it’s at Pentecost is probably not accurate because Pentecost isn’t talked about in the scriptures as a Feast per se. It is the 50^th day and I don’t see that there is any reference to the Feast of Pentecost. Certainly there is a Feast of Unleavened Bread so the alternative is, and I think this account that I’m about to go through is about the Feast of Unleavened Bread or about the Feast of Tabernacles. I will show you why I think Paul is talking about the Feast of Tabernacles because what we have done here is gone from very early in the history of the scriptures to the time of Paul and looking for evidence and we have surveyed when we find Feast of Tabernacles or tracks to them.

This is approximately 50 CE so it doesn’t matter if it’s even to 55; the time of year is what the baseline is. Paul traveled from Asia to Europe preaching the Good News at Philippi and spent several weeks there and at Macedonia which is in northeastern Greece. We see that in Acts 16.

And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. (Act 16:12-13 KJV)

This gives us a clue because if you look into this term in the Greek, “on the Sabbath”, you see that it really means a” hemera ton sabbaton” and that is a reference to day of weeks. It would appear that this reference to ton “sabbaton” particularly the “hemera ton sabbaton” has reference to the time of the count of the weeks to Pentecost, or the Day of Weeks, the first of the seven weeks or the second of the seven weeks and so forth. In any case, it appears that it’s the Pentecost season when you see that terminology, let’s say between the Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost. I don’t think that this is provable that this is the case but the evidence seems to point to this. Just know that this is a premise that it’s during the springtime.

Paul moved to Thessalonica, Berea and Athens in Macedonia which is northern Greece. We see that in Acts 17,

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: (Act 17:1 KJV)

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. (Act 17:10 KJV)

And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
(Act 17:15 KJV)

Again, our baseline is 50 CE so it’s later in 50 CE that he departed Athens and arrived at Corinth.

After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; (Act 18:1 KJV)

We see that he spent several Sabbaths at Corinth.

And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. (Act 18:4 KJV)

He met at a house of a guy named Justus which was at Corinth and he stayed there for a year and a half.

And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus ^{at Corinth}, one that worshipped YHWH, whose house joined hard to the synagogue…. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of YHWH among them. (Act 18:7, 11 KJV)

After a year and a half after the fall, if our baseline is 50 CE it would take you to the spring of 52 CE.

And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence ^toward into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. (Act 18:18 KJV)

Then Paul came to Ephesus and it is Pricilla and Aquila being talked about.

And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if YHWH will. And he sailed from Ephesus. (Act 18:19-21 KJV)

He spent some little time there at least a few weeks. This would probably take it to later in the summer in 52 CE. He would have sailed to Caesarea, Syria, you see this in his journey mapped out, it is well known. It would be 600 miles by ship, and it took maybe 2 weeks or so. He is either talking about the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Unleavened Bread. There is a problem if he is talking about the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It’s because that is travel in the Mediterranean. I suspect it was the Feast of Tabernacles that was approaching.

Here is what you find out when you take a look at the maritime activity in the Roman Empire in the first century. During the time of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor Caesar, what started at 20 BCE through the time of Emperor Tragan which ended in 117 CE, so the whole first century, the time of Yahushua is included in this and of course the time of Paul, they had a closing of the Mediterranean for shipping in the winter months because it wasn’t safe. It doesn’t mean that people didn’t go out, but the Romans apparently took precautions in the winter months. They called it “mere clausum” versus “mere liberum”.

The mere clausm was the closing of the Mediterranean in the winter months, November through March. Mere liberum was open the rest of the time. They used that terminology you can find that if you search on Roman Empire and maritime or shipping activities. You will find that this is well documented. I suspect what has happened is that it couldn’t have been in the winter or going into spring because Paul wouldn’t have been able to travel at least readily on any commercial ship. I suspect this is talking about the Feast of Tabernacles. But again, this is conjecture and you need to do your own homework.

Do Your Own Homework

And this I (Paul) pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve ^{G1381=test, discern, examine} things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Messiah. (Php 1:8-10 KJV)

For we have not followed cunningly devised ^{G4679=Sofidzo=to render wise with deliberate deception, continue plausible error=sophist} fables, when we made know unto you the power and coming of our Master Yahushua Messiah, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2Pet 1:16 KJV)

Sophism (Merriam Webster) – an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially such an argument used to deceive.

All scripture is given by inspiration of YHWH, and is profitable ^{G5624= helpful advantageous} for doctrine ^{G1319=instruction, learning} for reproof ^{G1650=admonish, conviction} for correction^{, G1343=equity of character or act, justification}. (2Ti 3:16 KJV)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy ^{G5385=Jewish sophistry} and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rediments of the world, and not after Messiah.
(Col 2:8 KJV)

There is probably a lot a person can examine in this study and there are legs to this presentation to look at as well.

Transcribed from video
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