Reflections from Sukkot
A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard — Aaron’s beard — coming down on the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coing down upon the mountains of zion. For there Adonai commanded the blessing — life forevermore! Psalm 133:1-3 TLV
Though several weeks have gone by, I still look back at the Gospel Worth Dying For/Prophecy Vine Sukkot 2025 with such joy. As it has been for us the past three years, it was a wonderful time of fellowship, learning, and being out in Yah’s creation together. We’ve made such precious friends that feel like family. When we get together each year to celebrate this Great Feast on the creator’s calendar, it’s like a big reunion. It is truly a picture of what it will be like in the Kingdom — brothers and sisters dwelling together in unity while learning together, worshipping together, and sharing life together.
But in all honesty, I was not looking forward to Sukkot earlier this year.
With all of the strife and contention, arguments and judgment that we see on the online Torah community, my heart has been feeling a bit jaded. It seems that everybody has an opinion about something, and everybody thinks their opinion is right. Scripture can be interpreted 50 different ways, and rather than adopting the Hebrew mentality of truth unfolding, we’ve fallen into the Greek/western mentality of the need to be right, instead of seeing this walk of faith as our own unique journey: our of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
There are many contentions out there as to whether or not this or that part of the law is the most important. But thankfully, our Messiah showed us:
“But the Pharisees, when they heard that Yeshua had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together in one place. And testing Him, one of them, a lawyer, asked, “Teacher, which is thegreatest commandment in the Torah?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your Godwith all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first andgreatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””
Matthew 22:34-40 TLV
I like to think of those first two Commandments, as the coat rack, or pegs in the wall on which to hang everything else. Whether we focus on the calendar, clean eating, or any other part of Yah’s righteous instructions, they will not hold up if they are not hung on those first twoCommandments: love our Heavenly Father, and love his children.
In another version of this story, the lawyer asks Messiah, ”and who is my neighbor?”
“But wanting to vindicate himself, he said to Yeshua, “Then who is my neighbor?” Yeshua replied, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was attacked by robbers, who stripped him and beat him. Then they left, abandoning him as half dead. And by chance, a kohen was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came upon him; and when he noticed the man, he felt compassion. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oliveoil and wine. Then setting him on his own animal, he brought him to a lodge for travelers and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him. And whatever else you spend, upon my return I will repay you myself.’ Which of these three seems to you a neighbor to the one attacked by robbers?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Then Yeshua said to him, “Go, and you do the same.””
Luke 10:29-37 TLV
I know many of us have heard the story often, but it’s worth it to have another look. Both the Levi and the Kohen, who knew the law, acted upon it, and we’re esteemed highly in Israel, did not stop to help the man. Some say that perhaps they had good reasons, not wanting to become unclean. But we see that our Messiah was willing to touch the “untouchable “ and the “unclean“ to show them the love and compassion of the Father. But a Samaritan, who was literally an enemy of the Israelites, kept the most important of the laws. For those of us and Torah, we may compare this to the some of the Christian denominations we disagree with, or even a secular/political group with whom we hold offense.
But Yahusha used this as an example to show those who thought they were righteous in their own eyes that compassion and mercy are the closest to the Father’s heart. Keeping those first two commandments are essential and this Samaritan man did that better than the ones who were considered “holy.”
Paul puts it this way…
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I own and if I hand over my body so I might boast but have not love, I gain nothing.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 TLV
Our Elohiym is love! Not just a word, but in action. It’s meeting people where they’re at, and teaching them in patience and love. He is truly long suffering towards each of us, but sadly, we often aren’t to one another.
On the Last Great Day of the feast, we shared a time of testimonies, worship, and words of encouragement. One of our brothers got up and shared so eloquently the heart of what I had been feeling all week:
One day it won’t matter what calendar we’re on, or whether we do this or don’t do that, because one day we will all be one “ECHAD”. We will speak the same language and be in perfect unity.
“I pray not on behalf of these only, but also for those who believe in Me through their message, that they all may be one. Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory that You have given to Me I have given to them, that they may be one just as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me.”
John 17:20-23 TLV
This was one of the last recorded prayers that we have from our Messiah. It wasn’t that they might be on the same calendar, or agree on the same foods, or even keep the Shabbat perfectly. It was that we would be one.
And I couldn’t have said it better myself. Sukkot is a time to truly live the Kingdom now, and that means living in unity and love with one another. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we can be humble, learning to listen, and sharing what the Father is showing us in humility.
And that’s what I love about this group. The core members/leaders walk in it so well. Rather than saying “this is the way it is” we can say things like “this is what I’m learning”. Or “this is what the Father is showing me.” And learn to listen to others by saying things like “I didn’t know about that, tell me more”. Or, “that’s an interesting perspective. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
Our Messiah was great at asking thought-provoking questions, and listening: leading others to truth without forcing them. And this is why I think the crowds flocked to Him so much. He was relatable. He wasn’t high and mighty like the Pharisees and temple leaders. He was gentle and patient. Yes, He did rebuke when it was needed, but He was long-suffering and full of love, like a good Shepherd.
“This is My commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: that he lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:12-13 TLV
Are we willing to follow His example? Are we willing to lay down our need to be first, right, and exalted? How can we in humility value others above ourselves? It’s in the small interactions and encounters. It’s in the things that we post on social media, or don’t post. And it’s in the arguments that we are willing to let go of to hear another side.
Yahusha answered “no the sapling will grow strongly. From the tree will arise another teaching and come out of this, a confusion of beliefs, each striving for its own advantage. There will be unprofitable, doctrines and viciousness, cruelties, and intolerance, with many persecutions, all done in my name. They will corrupt and falsify my teachings to serve their own ends. (Matthew 24:10-12, Mark 13:21- 23.) Hypocrisy will rule in the hearts of men, and you will even follow the beliefs of their own hearts. These things must be, for they reside in the natures of men. But under the rule of Elohim, they will be changed.” The Book of the Natsarim 22:82
One of my friends and I sat around the campfire during midrash one of the last evenings and conversation came up about what’s missing in the Torah community. My friend asked why I thought we didn’t see signs and wonders in the Torah movement like they did another ones. And quite bluntly, I said, because we’re not great at love. Love is the first two Commandments, and from it truly flows the power and movement of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Holy Spirit). These other groups that see signs and wonders, and we have been a part of them in the past, lived in such love and admiration for the Father and one another, that the spirit was able to move. We truly enter in like innocent children.
Sadly, we can be focused so much on correcting the righteousness of others and living by the letter of the law, that we forget the spirit of the law, which is love.
Years ago, the Holy Spirit spoke to me so clearly and said “you can’t argue anyone into the Kingdom, you can’t convince them into the kingdom, you can’t persuade them into the Kingdom. The only way you can get other others into the Kingdom is to love them. You can love people into the kingdom.”
That hit me like an arrow to the heart. And it’s been something that I go back to again and again to correct and remind myself the purpose of it all.
The more we are unified, the greater works we will see. This doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything, but we can with one heart and one mind pursue the most important things, the weightier matters of Torah, which is compassion, mercy, grace, and love. We see what a unified community can do both in the tower of Babel and in the Book of Acts.
There are many parts, but one body. And each of us have a piece of the puzzle. Some of us are really good at eating clean and abstaining from any questionable foods. Some great at staying out of “Babylon’s system” or stewarding the resources they have so that they are only used in ways to glorify the Father. Some of us are great at hospitality and service. Some have a heart for evangelism and helping the poor and needy. But none of us have it all right, and all of us need each other to be complete. This is what we need to get right in order to really walk in the power of the Set Apart Spirit.
As our brother Vince said “one day we will all be ECHAD”. The Messiah will straighten us all out, one way or another. But in the meantime, we have an opportunity to align with the heart of the Torah, and live the Kingdom now. Sukkot is a taste of that life to come and our dear brother Jay encouraged us all on the last day with that message. To take the heart of the Kingdom, the heart of the fellowship and love of Sukkot with us into our day-to-day lives.
I still have a small memento from the week sitting in the middle of our dining room table. It’s a vase with the leafy branches and lemons in it. We are living Tabernacle, and precious stones, being built up as a fortress of safety and security that others can run into.
As we enter into the winter season, a time of rest and reflection, may we pray and ask Yahuah to purify our hearts and align them with his Kingdom.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up—just as you in fact are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 TLV
