The harvest of the earth: The Feast of Sukkoth in the Book of Revelation.

Abstract

The Israelite Feast of Sukkoth (alternately Sukkot, Succoth or Succot), also called the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Booths, is the liturgical setting of Revelation. The author traces the development of Sukkoth through 135 CE, categorizing the literature as descriptive, prescriptive or predictive. The appearance of any one of several features can help to identify the pertinent passages: (1) one of the names of the feast, (2) one of the liturgical passages for the feast (e.g. the enthronement psalms), or (3) an otherwise unlikely combination of themes or practices from the feast. The first section concludes by reconstructing the celebration and interpretation of Sukkoth in the first century CE. The themes of the feast had long included harvest, light, water, creation, the exodus, fertility, marriage, rest and the presence of God, the Shekinah. Sukkoth is also the origin of the Day of the Lord, the source of Israel's eschatology. The popular interpretation of the feast in the first-century CE was heavily eschatological, as evidenced by the events surrounding Jesus' triumphal entry. This was due in part to the rebuilt Temple, the unstable times and the Roman promulgation of their own eschatology through the imperial cult. Sukkoth, with its historic link to Jewish independence, the enthronement of the Israelite king, and the Davidic messiah, was an obvious choice for Israel's counter-propaganda. Sukkoth is also the Sitz im Leben of Revelation, as evidenced by the appearance of its name, vocabulary, themes, liturgy and practices in the book. The author hypothesizes that Jesus deliberately used the messianic themes of Sukkoth, but his unexpected death forced his followers to use Passover as a motif for his ministry instead. They deferred their Sukkoth expectations to an anticipated second coming. Revelation uses Sukkoth as a motif because it portrays this second coming. The book challenges the Christians of Asia Minor to reinterpret their situation: the Romans are harvesting them, their blood is the wine of the festival libations and a heavenly celebration of Sukkoth is the soon-to-come end of this grim harvest.