Tabernacles, Water, and Light - Week 9

John 7:1-53

Read John 7:1-53

1. Read Exodus 25:1-9; 35:1-19; 40:1-15; Deuteronomy 16:13-17, and Leviticus 23:33-44. What occasion does the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles celebrate?
(a) From the Book of Exodus:

1: The LORD said to Moses, 2: "Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me an offering; from every man whose heart makes him willing you shall receive the offering for me. 3: And this is the offering which you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4: blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen, goats' hair, 5: tanned rams' skins, goatskins, acacia wood, 6: oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7: onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8: And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9: According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. (Ex 25:1-9)

1: Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel, and said to them, "These are the things which the LORD has commanded you to do. 2: Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death; 3: you shall kindle no fire in all your habitations on the sabbath day." 4: Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded. 5: Take from among you an offering to the LORD; whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD's offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6: blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; goats' hair, 7: tanned rams' skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, 8: oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9: and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 10: "And let every able man among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded: the tabernacle, 11: its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12: the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; 13: the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14: the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15: and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; 16: the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the laver and its base; 17: the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18: the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19: the finely wrought garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests." (Ex 35:1-19)

1: The LORD said to Moses, 2: "On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3: And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. 4: And you shall bring in the table, and set its arrangements in order; and you shall bring in the lampstand, and set up its lamps. 5: And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 6: You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, 7: and place the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 8: And you shall set up the court round about, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court. 9: Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture; and it shall become holy. 10: You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar; and the altar shall be most holy. 11: You shall also anoint the laver and its base, and consecrate it. 12: Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water, 13: and put upon Aaron the holy garments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. 14: You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, 15: and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests: and their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations." (Ex 40:1-15)

13: "You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, when you make your ingathering from your threshing floor and your wine press; 14: you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. 15: For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place which the LORD will choose; because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. 16: "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; 17: every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you. (Deut 16:13-17)

33: And the LORD said to Moses, 34: "Say to the people of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the LORD. 35: On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. 36: Seven days you shall present offerings by fire to the LORD; on the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work. 37: "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD offerings by fire, burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day; 38: besides the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your votive offerings, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. 39: "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40: And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41: You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD seven days in the year; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month. 42: You shall dwell in booths for seven days; all that are native in Israel shall dwell in booths, 43: that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." 44: Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD. (Lev 23:33-44)

16: Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17: And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. (Matt 28:16-17)

27: But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." 28: And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29: He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; 30: but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31: Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32: And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33: And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matt 14:27-33)

9: Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10: She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11: But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. (Mark 14:27-33)

And you, Caper'na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. (Matt 11:23)

His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. (John 9:22)

581 The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people "as one who had authority, and not as their scribes". In Jesus, the same Word of God that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes. Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old. . . But I say to you. . ." With this same divine authority, he disavowed certain human traditions of the Pharisees that were "making void the word of God".

582 Going even further, Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine interpretation: "Whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him. . . (Thus he declared all foods clean.). . . What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. . ." In presenting with divine authority the definitive interpretation of the Law, Jesus found himself confronted by certain teachers of the Law who did not accept his interpretation of the Law, guaranteed though it was by the divine signs that accompanied it. This was the case especially with the sabbath laws, for he recalls, often with rabbinical arguments, that the sabbath rest is not violated by serving God and neighbor, which his own healings did. (CCC 581-582)

From the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests and scribes agreed together to destroy him. Because of certain acts of his expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the sabbath day, his novel interpretation of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners -- some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession. He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning. (CCC, 574)

But when the Pharisees heard it they said, "It is only by Be-el'zebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." (Matt 12:24)

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Ex 17:6)

10: And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" 11: And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. 12: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." 13: These are the waters of Mer'ibah, where the people of Israel contended with the LORD, and he showed himself holy among them. (Num 20:10-14)

1: Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2: Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. 3: Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. 4: Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins. 5: Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6: And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back along the bank of the river. 7: As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8: And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. 9: And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10: Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from En-ge'di to En-eg'laim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11: But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12: And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing." (Ezek 47:1-12)

6: This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. 7: And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8: There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. (1 Jn 5:6-8)

Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was a division among them. (John 9:16)

There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. (John 10:19)

42: Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (John 12:42-43)

Disclaimer: I do not wish to present myself as an expert in either theology, history, or scriptural interpretation. I am merely someone who is attempting to answer the call of Christ. The ultimate authority and interpreter of scripture is our Holy Catholic Church. If at any point I deviate from the teachings of the Church, please correct me, alfredo@nevarez.net, as this is my shortcoming and in no way meant to be an expression of my views superceding those of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.

San Jose Bible Study
Alfredo Nevarez
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