Shemini Atzeret

Shemini Atzeret
"...on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein."

Lev. 23:36

         Now we come to the most enigmatic festival of the entire year. The festival season, which began with the beautiful picture linking the children of Israel being protected by the blood of the passover lamb and being brought out of slavery in Egypt, now becomes clouded by a mysterious day with no clear meaning attached to it. What, indeed, does this Eighth Day mean? Why is there so little information to be found concerning it in the scriptures, in the writings of the Jewish sages or among Christian writers?
         The answer may lie in part to the fact that many have been looking for answers in the wrong places.
         The Hebrew name for this day is Shemini Atzeret. Literally, the “eighth day of assembly.” The word Atzeret comes from the word atzar which means “to hold back” or “keep in.”

         Most Jewish scholars admit that they really do not know why God commanded this separate, eighth day, be celebrated after the close of Sukkot. Many just throw up their hands and say in effect; “We do not really know what it means, or why God gave it to us, but we observe it because He is our Creator God and He told us to do it.”
         Now there is nothing wrong with taking that position when you do not understand the meaning of the day. It is far better than saying; “I don't know why God gave us this day, so therefore I am not going to observe it.” Better that we err on the side of holiness than rebellion. However, the best approach to understanding, is to try and discern what God was communicating through the observance of the Eighth Day.
         Because Shemini Atzeret is an unknown quantity, it became a common practice to associate and recite the following verse on this day:

         The Jewish Talmud has this to say about Shemini Atzeret. “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, ‘My children, I know that during all seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles you have been occupied with offerings in behalf of the nations of the earth. But let this day be a day of rejoicing solely for you and Me. I shall not ask you for too burdensome an offering -- only one bullock and one ram.’” Pesikta Rabbati 52.7
         In this view, Shemini Atzeret is a special day just for God and His people, when God asks Israel to tarry, to hold back (atzar) one more day.
         Another view sees Shemini Atzeret as the completion of our rejoicing. Because we cannot rejoice perfectly in temporary dwellings, we must move into a permanent, comfortable home so that our rejoicing can be perfect and complete.
         Some have suggested that Shemini Atzeret was intended to be fifty days after Sukkot, just like Shavu’ot is fifty days from the Days of Unleavened. However, God had mercy upon His people and decided not to make them do a pilgrimage during the cold, rainy season. So He set aside the day after the Feast to be observed instead.
         It is common in the modern synagogues to offer a special prayer for rain on this day. Thus, the abundance of rain is associated with Shemini Atzeret just as it is with Sukkot and the Water Pouring Ceremony. However, in the time of the Temple, the Water Pouring Ceremony was not conducted on the Eighth Day, so this practice probably began at a much later date.
         Another interesting fact is that the Hebrew word chag, (khahg) which means ‘festival,’ is never applied to this day. It is always called yom (yohm) which means, simply, ‘day.’

         There is another celebration that is linked to Shemini Atzeret. It is called Simhat Torah, (seem-haht’ toe-rah’) and means ‘Rejoicing in the Law.’
         Each year, following the close of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish synagogues begin the reading of the Torah, starting in Genesis 1:1. The entire Torah is divided up into sections, and one section is read each week on the Sabbath. The final section (Duet. 33:1 - 34:12) and the first section (Gen. 1:1 - 6:8) are read on Simhat Torah. Thus, the cycle repeats, year in and year out.
         In addition to the Torah readings, there are also readings from the Prophets for each week of the year. This was why Yeshua was handed the scroll of Isaiah when he read in the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth, Apparently, the reading for that week included a passage from the scroll of Isaiah. While the passage He read is never used in the modern synagogue, it is possible, at that time, that it was the required prophetic reading, for that particular Sabbath, On the other hand, Yeshua may have skipped the standard reading from Isaiah, in order to announce to His hometown who He actually was.

         And so, Simhat Torah is an annual event during which the Jewish people celebrate their attachment to the Torah that was given to them by God, through Moses. In Israel, this celebration occurs on the very day of Shemini Atzeret. However, in the rest of the world, the Jews celebrate Simhat Torah on the day following the Eighth Day. In any case, it is not a biblical command to celebrate Simhat Torah, it is a festival of the Jewish people.
         In 1994, we were privileged to lead a tour to Israel during the festival of Sukkot. We were in Jerusalem on the Eighth Day. That evening, some of us went to a park in Jerusalem to watch the Simhat Torah celebration. Many of the local orthodox Jewish rabbis were there, they all had their Torah scrolls, and they danced around the stage carrying the scrolls. It is called ‘Dancing With the Torah’ and is an integral part of the Simhat Torah celebration. It was a very joyful and colorful event.
         The orthodox Jewish community believes that they are married to the Torah. The person(s) who dance with the Torah are considered to be the bridegroom(s), the Torah is the bride, it was the custom in Judea, during Yeshua’s time, for a bridegroom to attend synagogue on the Sabbath following his seven day wedding festival, and to receive a hero’s welcome there. He was given the seat of honor, special hymns were sung in his honor and he was crowned with myrtle when called up to read a special marriage section from the book of Genesis.
         Because of this connection made by the Bridegroom of the Law and the starting over of the Torah readings, Simhat Torah and Shemini Atzeret became thought of as a time of new beginnings. This is an important concept if one is to understand the Eighth Day.
         Let it be stressed once again, the celebration known as Simhat Torah is not a biblical command. This celebration was not instituted until about the tenth century C.E. However, the practice of reading the Torah and Prophets in the synagogue on the Sabbath is very ancient and predates Yeshua by a great many years.

The eighth day was very important in the worship of God during the Tabernacle and Temple period. A study of these ceremonies can help to bring us to a better understanding of the meaning of Shemini Atzeret.
The following ceremonies were all completed on the eight day:

It becomes apparent, from reading the above list, that the eighth day was the day on which a person started over. Whether it was being cleansed, being circumcised or being released from a vow, the eighth day was significant as a new beginning.

An ancient Jewish teaching holds that the weekly cycle pictures God's plan for man on the earth, The first six working days represent six thousand years, during which time all men will do things their way, and be under man's governments. The Sabbath pictures the last one thousand years. It is to be the great Millennial reign of King Messiah over all the earth. During this time, man would be under the government of God. The apostle Peter seems to support this view.

If the total time allotted to man is seven thousand years, and each of those thousand year periods is as a day to God, what takes place on the eighth day?

Let us pick up the story as the last one thousand years begins. This is pictured by the Sabbath and is the time when Yeshua will reign on the earth. First of all, Satan the devil is bound for the full one thousand years and cast into the bottomless pit. (Rev. 20:2-3). Next, those who have a part in the first resurrection will begin their reign with Messiah for that same thousand year period. (Rev. 20:4).

Revelation chapter twenty then tells us that at the end of that thousand year period four things take place:

         1.) The rest of the dead are resurrected back to physical life. (Rev. 20:5 and Ezek. 37).
         2.) Satan the devil is loosed from the bottomless pit for a little season to deceive the people. (Rev. 20:3).
         3.) Satan the devil is cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:10).
         4.) The Great White Throne judgment takes place. Those not found written in the Book of Life are cast into the lake of fire. Those who have been moved into the Book of Life are now made immortal. The final cleansing has now taken place. (Rev. 20:11-15).

These events are all part of the final cleansing ritual that takes place on the eighth day. Once they are accomplished, God is now ready to focus on a new beginning. Actually It is the old beginning told of in Genesis chapter one, but now there is no Satan (HaSatan) to deceive, and there are no physical humans left that can he deceived. All are now either Spirit, just like their Father and their brother Yeshua, or they are dust and ashes from being burned up in the lake of fire.

Once the great cleansing ritual has been completed, we are now ready for our permanent home. The Groom (Yeshua) and His Bride (the Church) are fully married (that took place at the beginning of the Millenniurn) and they have completed their thousand year wedding celebration, as pictured by Sukkot. What is left is to move into their new home.

The purification is now complete. all of the wicked and unclean have been either destroyed or cleansed. The Bride of Messiah dwells in complete purity with her husband the King. He was clean and sinless from the beginning (except for that brief period of time when He voluntarily took His future Bride’s sins upon Himself so that she too could live). Now His Bride is also clean and sinless, for her uncleanness and sin has been removed. She is not like the house of Israel and the house of Judah whom God betrothed in the wilderness. They were sinners from the beginning. Yet we have come full circle, because, in fact, the Bride is the whole house of Israel.

         What is most remarkable, is that God revealed this entire story to us back in the book of Genesis. When Ya’akov (Jacob) wrestled with the ‘man’ at Peniel, it was the evening of Yom Kippur. It was here that he said: “...for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Gen 32:30). The phrase “face to face” is a Hebrew idiom which stands for the Day of Atonement, for that is the day the High Priest had to go into the Holy of Holies and perform rituals before the Ark of the Covenant.
         The next day, when Ya’akov met Esau, it was still the Day of Atonement. But Esau had never encountered God the way his brother had done. So Esau, representing the hairy Azazel goat, returned to his wilderness, Seir (a shaggy goat) and remained there carrying his sins on his head. (See the previous article.)
         Meanwhile, Ya’akov goes on to the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) where he builds Sukkot for his cattle. But he also plays out another role while he is there. He builds temporary dwellings for the cattle, but he builds a permanent house for himself. (See Genesis 33:17). This house represents the permanent house to be built for the Bride of Messiah, and it follows immediately after the temporary dwellings of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is the new Jerusalem that is brought down from heaven and in which the King and His Bride will dwell in all eternity. It now becomes clear why the Jews have the tradition that Ya’akov (Jacob) was the first man to celebrate Shemini Atzeret.
         Let us all rejoice at the Feast, for we know what a wonderful life and home that God the Father and Yeshua HaMashiach have planned for us.
         Like the apostle Paul, (Sha’ul) we pray that each one of you will be blessed with enlightenment from God, so that;

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