A city, east of the Jordan River in the territory of Gad, about 30
miles north of the Dead Sea, is a very important little piece of land. It is
important because, it is a part of Bible history. On the way back to Canaan,
after Jacob had ended his exile from his family, in fear of his brother Esau’s
anger against him from Jacob having stolen his birthright; Jacob built himself
a temporary place to live and made booths for his cattle, and he called the
place Succoth. Succoth was not a place that Jacob intended to stay forever. But
to only dwell for a short time, until he could make amends with his brother
Esau, for having wronged him. Succoth appears in a number of places in the
Bible, as a physical location, and even as one of the Feasts that the Children
of Israel were commanded to keep and celebrate throughout their generations.
Today, the place that used to be known as Succoth is part of the country of
Jordan. There is a two-fold meaning for this little name; Succoth. It has both
a spiritual and a practical meaning to God’s people. Because of its importance,
it was a Biblical Mandate to remember it and celebrate it as such. The
exodus from Egypt by the Children of Israel is probably the most significant
event in the history of the Israelite people. In fact, many Judaic festivals
owe their origins to this event. After the Children of Israel departed from
Egypt in route to the Promised Land, they wandered in the wilderness for 40
years. During their nomadic wanderings, they too dwelt in these small temporary
booths and shelters like the ones in Succoth.
For the child of God today,
Succoth should represent to us, and be a physical reminder that this world is
not our home. We are only here for a very short time. It should also remind
us that Succoth has a spiritual aspect as well, and remind us that we
should consider the places that we often end up at in our lives, as little
plots of Succoth. Temporary places that were not intended for permanent
dwellings or places to stay. Just temporary places, until the Lord opens up for
us clarity to move on from the place we may be for a time. Because of the
hardness of their hearts where they ended up in the dessert, many Jews died
there, never seeing the promised land that was intended for them, while others
eventually moved out, and into the land that God had promised.
You see Succoth
represents to the believer that our time frame is not always Gods, and it is
always best to stay at the place we may be at, until God instructs us to move
on to the next phase of our lives. Like the patriarch Abraham, Gideon also was
a great example of waiting on God. Gideon stepped out of his comfort zone where
he was, as Abraham did, not having all the answers he may have wanted and
obeyed God, even though he may have been a little skeptical about what he was
ask to do. When we step out of our comfort zones at the leading of the Lord, He
doesn’t expect us to remain comfortable; that’s the whole point. If it wasn’t
uncomfortable then we’ve merely stepped from one comfort zone into another. The
idea is that we do uncomfortable things in faith. That is what faith is. So
never think, that you aren’t demonstrating sufficient faith when facing a
grueling challenge, and you have fears and worries along the way.
If you ask
any soldier who has ever been in combat if they were afraid, they will tell you
“absolutely, they were!” What they had to learn was to control that fear in
order to function, not dismiss it. Even so, Gideon would have to appear sure
and confident among his men because, nothing frightens soldiers more, than to
have a wavering leader. We can trust God’s leading, for He never wavers and our
faith in Him will move us from our temporary places to the places of better
dwellings.
As I said, we should always consider the places that we oftentimes
end up at as little plots of Succoth. Simple places that were not intended for
permanent dwellings or places to stay. But temporary places until the Lord
opens up for us clarity to move on from the place we may be for a time. Into a
better place, a place of promise!
Hold Fast,
Bren
