This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
For seven days you must present a gift to the Lord. On the eighth day there is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must present a gift to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly day; you must not do any regular work.
Leviticus 23:36
For those unfamiliar with the Biblical festivals, this can seem a bit confusing – Sukkot is stated to be a seven day celebration, yet there is an eighth day observance… and it is a sabbath. It’s as though it’s part of Sukkot and a separate observance at the same time.
What if I told you that’s exactly what God intended and that He did this as a prophetic statement? Personally, I see a pattern laid out in the sequence of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret that speaks of the past, present and future in a way that is almost tangible. Moreover, I know I’m far from the only one.
Yes, in your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday that quickly passes, or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.
Psalm 90:4
You may be more familiar with the principle this passage points to from the hand of Shimon Kefa – Simon Peter:
Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.
2 Peter 3:8
Have you ever really stopped to consider the implications of this passage? Some might say this is purely symbolic or poetic language pointing to the timeless nature of God, but I believe it’s more than that. Peter actually expounds upon the citation from the Psalms and, given the context of the passage, I contend that he does so in a literal manner in order to express a fundamental truth .
I’ve quoted Greg Hershberg of Beth Yeshua international on numerous occasions; “Text taken out of context is pretext for proof text.” With that in mind, let’s examine the context of 2 Peter 3.
This portion of Peter’s letter continues i theme from the previous section wherein he addresses false prophets and false teachers. He goes on here to address those antagonists to the faith who deny the coming of the King. He also makes a very telling statement regarding the creation:
For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water.
2 Peter 3:5
I don’t want to get into the creation debate as it’s not the point of this article, but I am encouraged in the knowledge that even then, this was an issue. It is not a product of modernity that men deny the creation of all by the Hand of God, nor the manner in which He did so. Their argument has changed an “evolved” over time (and continues to even now), but here we see that this is nothing new (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
I bring this up because it is integral to understanding the principle being discussed and to getting to grips with the prophetic nature of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. If the creation account is true (and it is), and the lineages and timings of scripture are reliable (and they are), then the Feast of Tabernacles ad the 8th Day Assembly take on a whole new dimension of depth and meaning.
If we utilize the information in scripture to create a timeline, we’re going to arrive at or around 6,000 years from creation to the present day. Opinions vary on this as there is some ambiguity with regards to some latter dates. The point however, is that scripture lays out a chronology for a far younger Earth than some would be comfortable with, but it says what it says.
How this correlates with Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret is revealed elsewhere in scripture…
Lord of the Sabbath
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick heads of wheat and eat them. But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry— how he entered the house of God and ate the sacred bread, which was against the law for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Matthew 12:1 – 8
I’ve heard and read numerous commentaries on this particular passage, but few if any take time to break down how Yeshua isn’t superseding the law… He’s clarifying what the Torah says and teaches in contrast to what the Pharisees taught. This again, isn’t the point of this article though – I want to get to the heart of what it means when Yeshua says that He (the Son of Man) is lord of the Sabbath .
Does this mean the seventh day Sabbath? Yes it does.
Would this not make the seventh day sabbath “the Lord’s day”? Yes. Yes it does.
Is this all that’s meant?
I contend that it is not; if a day to God is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day, and we know He himself was God (John 1:1) then would not the Sabbath itself represent and point to a thousand year period? Yes. Yes it would:
Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4
The Last Great Day
Shemini Atzeret, or the Eight Day is also referred to as “The Last Great Day”, primarily because it stands as the last of the Mo’edim for the year, but I believe it’s more than that.
If you haven’t put it all together yet, let me explain. We have seen that creation was seven days. If we accept the biblical chronology and apply the principle of 1,000 years is as a day, then we can see that God laid out a template for us to see the pattern of creation – 6 days, followed by a day of rest, a Sabbath.
This would therefore equate to 6,000 years from creation to the millennial (1,000 year) reign of Yeshua as the rightful King and Lord of the Sabbath.
So where does that put this connected, yet distinct eighth day?
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. And I saw the holy city—the new Jerusalem—descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.”
Revelation 21:1 – 4
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear; Shemini Atzeret points to the literal Last Great Day… the one that lasts forever.
חג שמח – Chag Sameach – Joyous Festival
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You