Should modern Christians keep the Feast of Tabernacles?

The Feast of Tabernacles begins at sunset October 9, 2022.

The ”Feast of Tabernacles” is a 7-day Biblical pilgrimage festival, also known as the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles, or ”Tabernacles (it is immediately followed by an eighth day, so normally it is considered to be a pilgrimage of at least 8 days).

Can Christians keep it? Must it be kept in palm-branch booths in Jerusalem? How would Christians keep it now in the 21st century?

Jesus, His apostles, and their faithful immediate followers kept it. It is documented that it was kept for centuries by Christians after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Christians point out that Jesus kept the Feast of Tabernacles. This is discussed in detail in John chapter 7:

10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” 12 And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” 13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. 14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” 16 Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. 19 Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” 20 The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” 25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? (John 7:10-26)

Jesus kept the Feast and taught on what we tend to refer to as “the Last Great Day” (see also The Last Great Day: ‘Shemini Azeret).

The Apostle Paul, after the Christ’s death and resurrection indicated that it was important to keep the Feast in Jerusalem–and this may have been the Feast of Tabernacles. As it is noted in Acts 18:21:

21 I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.

So, the Apostle Paul traveled to keep the Feast. Jesus kept God’s Feasts (Luke 22:8,14-16) and traveled to do so (John 7:11-39).

Jude wrote “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”(Jude 3)–and keeping the Feast of Tabernacles was part of that original faith as even many Roman Catholic scholars have acknowledged.

In modern times in the 7th day Church of God groups, the Feast of Tabernacles is one of the most important holy days as it lasts the longest and normally requires a great deal of preparation and travel to be able to attend (see also Christians are to Be Strangers and Pilgrims?). But it is normally the physical and spiritual highlight of the year for those that do observe it.

The Feast of Tabernacles also helps give us a glimpse into the coming millennial Kingdom of God which motivates us to live as Jesus wants us to and to teach what Jesus wanted proclaimed. That Kingdom is closer than it ever has been before and will become reality in the 21st century.

The Continuing Church of God wants to mention the following sermon from its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:09:46

Christian Feast of Tabernacles

The ”Feast of Tabernacles” is a 7-day Biblical pilgrimage festival, also known as the Feast of Booths or simply ”Tabernacles” (Jews tend to call it Sukkot or Sukkah). It occurs in September and/or October each year on the Roman calendar. Should Christians keep it? Where is it kept? How is it financed? Did God partially create the moon to mark it in Genesis? Did Jesus and the Apostle Paul keep it? Does the New Testament show that Paul observed it and tied lessons in with it? Did early Jewish and non-Jewish Christians keep it? Does it have any relationship to the weekly Sabbath and the millennium? What about Nepos of Alexandria? What is the Feast of Tabernacles supposed to represent? Is the book of the law to be read every seven years at it, like 2006,2013, 2020, and 2027? Has any of that been done? What did Papias of Hieropolis, Polycarp of Smyrna, and Irenaeus of Lyon write about it? Did Methodius of Olympus teach that it was commanded and that those who did not keep it would not enter the Kingdom? What did Didymus the Blind and Cyril of Alexandria write about its importance? What did Jerome write that the Judeao-Christian Nazerenes taught about it? Was this festival kept by early, middle ages, and modern Christians? Should you keep it today? Dr. Thiel discusses these matters and more.

Again, here is a link to the sermon: Christian Feast of Tabernacles.

For those who would prefer to read about it, or get more written information, check out the article: The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time for Christians?

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time for Christians? Is this pilgrimage holy day still valid? Does it teach anything relevant for today’s Christians? What is the Last Great Day? What do these days teach? Two related sermon videos include Should Christians keep the Feast of Tabernacles? and Feast of Tabernacles from Israel.
The Last Great Day: Shemini ‘Azeret What is the ‘eighth day’ of the Feast? What does it help picture? A sermon on this topic is also available: Shemini Azaret: The Last Great Day.
Christians are to Be Strangers and Pilgrims? Should Christians sojourn? What does the Bible and Feast of Tabernacles teach? A related video sermon is titled Christian Pilgrims.
Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2022 This is information on the Feast of Tabernacles’ sites for the Continuing Church of God in 2022. The Feast Services for 2022 are to begin the evening of October 9th and run (including the Last Great Day) until sunset October 17th.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons: The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? A related sermon is titled The Millennium.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. To see how CCOG has done so far, here are links to two sermons Continuing Church of God (CCOG) first year anniversary: What has been accomplished? and The Continuing Church of God: Two Years of Proclamation. Here is a written link to a version of that sermon in the Spanish language: Aniversario del primer año de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios: ¿Qué se ha cumplido?
CCOG.ASIA We in the Continuing Church of God also have the url www.ccog.asia which has a focus on Asia and has various articles in Mandarin Chinese as well as some in English, plus some items in other Asian languages. 我们在继续神的教会也提供此网址 www.ccog.asia, 关注于亚洲并且有各种各样的中英文文章，其中一些用菲律宾语翻译的文章也正在进行中，准备添加到这个网站中。 Here is a link to our Statement of Beliefs in Mandarin Chinese 继续神的教会的信仰声明.
CCOG.IN This is a website targeted towards those of Indian heritage. It has a link to an edited Hindi translation of The Mystery of the Ages and is expected to have more non-English language materials in the future.
CCOG.EU This is a website targeted toward Europe. It has materials in more than one language (currently it has English, Dutch, and Serbian, with links also to Spanish) and it is intended to have additional language materials added.
CCOG.NZ This is a website targeted towards New Zealand and others with a British-descended background.
CDLIDD.ES La Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. This is the Spanish language website for the Continuing Church of God.
PNIND.PH Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. This is the Philippines website Continuing Church of God. It has information in English and Tagalog.
Bible News Prophecy online radio. This is an audio version of the Bible News Prophecy videos as well as some ContinuingCOG channel sermons. It is also available as a mobile app.
ContinuingCOG channel. Dr. Thiel has produced scores of YouTube video sermons for this channel. Note: Since these are sermon-length, they can take a little longer to load than other YouTube videos.