The Mystery of Shemini Atzeret -- the "Eighth Day"
What is
the real, true meaning of the one day festival
that occurs at the close of the Feast of Tabernacles --
called Shemini Atzeret in Hebrew, or "the Eighth Day"?
The awesome
significance of this final festival day in
God's Plan
has gone unnoticed, misinterpreted, and mis-
understood by millions!
It does not picture the "Great
White
Throne" judgment at the close of the Millennium,
as thousands have assumed -- but something far greater
than that! Here the
truth is made plain!
William
F. Dankenbring
In the book of Leviticus we read a
description of all the annual holy days of God, beginning with Passover, Feast
of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the seven
day Feast of Tabernacles or "Ingathering" of the harvest
(Lev.23:1-36). Then, at the close of the Feast of Sukkoth or Tabernacles, in
the fall, we read:
". . . 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).
This one-day festival occurs right
at the end of the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, which pictures the Millennial
Reign of Christ (Rev.20:4; Isa.11). The
last or seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the FINAL DAY OF
HARVEST or INGATHERING -- that is, the final time of spiritual harvest which is
pictured by the Great White Throne judgment, when all those who ever lived are
resurrected and "judged" according to their works
(Rev.20:11-15). This "seventh
day" of the Feast is also called "the great day of the feast"
(John
Since the seventh day of the Feast
of Tabernacles completes the "harvest festival" of the great fall
harvest -- and therefore represents the FINAL DAY of "harvesting" and
"ingathering" -- the COMPLETION of the salvation process, and God's
Plan with mankind -- what is the meaning and purpose of the ONE-DAY festival
that appears to be "tacked onto" the end of the Feast of Tabernacles?
What is the hidden, unrealized meaning
of "Shemini Atzeret"
-- or "the eighth day"?
Shemini Atzeret
in Jewish Lore
Before seeing what the Scriptures
tell us about this subject, let's review briefly the teachings and concepts
which Rabbinical Judaism has put forth concerning this ancient festival. The Jews have been observing this day, along
with all God's festivals, for the past 3,500 years, since the time of
Moses. Therefore, their insights ought
to be instructive and meaningful.
To understand the full meaning of
this final holy day, it will help us to compare -- and to contrast -- it with
the Festival that precedes it, the Feast of Tabernacles. As The Jewish Book of Why explains:
"Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
["the rejoicing of the Law"] are holidays totally
independent of the Sukkot holiday.
"In
is a full holiday, on which one is to abstain from
work. The next five days are Chol
Hamoed,
Intermediary Days, which are considered half-holidays. The seven and last
day of Sukkot is Hoshana Rabba, also a
half-holiday. The day after Hoshana Rabba
is a separate holiday called Shemini
Atzeret. Simchat Torah is not observed as a
separate holiday. It
is observed as part of Shemini Atzeret.
. . .
"The
seventh and last day of Sukkot was endowed with
special sanctity by the last of
the Prophets: Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi. Coming at the
beginning of the rainy
season, it became known as a Day of Judgment for Rain. (A special service for rain
became part of the Shemini Atzeret service held on the next day.)" (p.254-255).
This Jewish authority goes on to explain further:
"Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly, is often
thought of as the
eighth
day of Sukkot.
Actually, it is an INDEPENDENT HOLIDAY. The Rabbis
refer
to it as regel bifnay
atzmo, a separate holiday, and required that the Shehe-
cheyanu prayer be recited when the candles are lighted and when the Kiddush
is
recited. (This would not be required if Shemini Atzeret were not an
independent
holiday.)
"Shemini Atzeret is a ONE-DAY
HOLIDAY marking the conclusion of the festi-
vities and observances of Sukkot,
and NONE OF THE SUKKOT CEREMONIALS
APPLY
TO IT" (p.256).
Further enlightenment concerning this holy day of God is
provided in the book The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays, by Rabbi
Irving Greenberg. He relates:
"When the seven days of Sukkot end, the Bible decrees yet another holiday, the
Eighth
Day of Assembly. The Rabbis interpreted
this as an encore. After the High
Holy
Days, after the intense seven days of Sukkot and
pilgrimage, the Jewish people
[or,
we should say, more accurately, "God's people"] are about to leave,
to scatter and
return
to their homes. God grows nostalgic, as
it were, and pensive. The people of
Israel
will not come together again in such numbers until Passover six months hence.
God
will soon miss the sounds of music and pleasure and the unity of the
people. The
Torah
decreed, therefore, an eighth day of assembly, a final feast/holy day. On this day
Jews
leave the sukkah to resume enjoying the
comfort of solid, well built, well
insulated
homes. The lulav
and etrog are put aside; this day, Shemini Atzeret,
is
a reprise of the celebration of Sukkot but without
any of the rituals. The
message
is that all the rituals and symbolic language are important but ultimately
they
remain just symbols" (p.115).
Shemini
Atzeret and the Prayer for Rain
In the book Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holidays Handbook, Lesli Koppelman Ross explains
more about the "eighth day" or Shemini Atzeret. Not only is
this feast distinctly different from Sukkot, but it
includes a very special "Prayer for Rain." We read as follows:
"Just as Sukkot
gives us a transitional period between the Days of Awe and our normal
routines,
the last day of the festival, Shemini Atzeret, or the Eighth Day of Solemn
Assembly,
the day we are held back to extend the party with God, eases us out of the
transience
of the sukkah.
"As a separate holiday in its own
right, also referred to as Shemini Khag (festival)
Ha'atzeret, the eighth day is honored with the lighting of candles and
reciting the
festival
kiddush.. . .
"The
distinct feature of the day is recitation of the prayer for rain so that the
earth
will
be able to produce in the coming year. It is not said earlier
during Sukkot, which
marks
the beginning of the rainy season in Israel, because we do not want rain to
prevent
us
from dwelling in the sukkah or to
interfere with our enjoyment of doing so" (p.229).
Rain, of course, is made up of water, descending from the
skies. It is a type of the Holy Spirit
of God. Comparing God's Spirit to rain,
the prophet Joel writes, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions: And also upon the servants and
upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit" (Joel
2:28-29).
Water is itself a symbol of life,
and is the foundation of all carbon-based life forms on earth. We could not live without it. In fact, water forms about 80% of our
physical human bodies!
Water and the prayer for rain is a
vital ingredient in the celebration of Shemini Atzeret. It
represents God's Holy Spirit in a very special way. David prayed, "As the hart panteth after the water brook, so panteth
my heart after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before
God?" (Psalm 42:1-2).
Isaiah the prophet wrote, "Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and
he that hath no money: come ye, buy, and
eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price"
(Isa.55:1).
God also compares His Word to the
rain that waters the earth. In the same
chapter, He tells us, "For as the RAIN cometh down, and the snow from
heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it
bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower,
and bread to the eater: So shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me VOID, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out
with JOY, and be led forth with peace:
the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir
tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for
an EVERLASTING SIGN that shall not [ever] be cut off" (Isa.55:10-13).
The Messiah, Yeshua
Ha Moshiach (or Jesus the Christ, in English), offers
each one of us "living water" (John 4:10) -- the water that leads to
eternal life. He said to the Samaritan
woman at the well at Sychar, in Samaria, "But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14).
This is the very water that Isaiah
the prophet foretold, when he declared, "Behold, God is my salvation
[Hebrew, Yeshua]; I will trust, and not be
afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [YAHVEH] is
my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation [Yeshua]. Therefore with JOY shall ye draw WATER out of
the wells of salvation [Yeshua]. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the
LORD, call upon his name [Yeshua], declare his doings
among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done
excellent things: this is known in ALL
the earth. Cry out and shout, thou
inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel [Yeshua]
in the MIDST of thee" (Isa.12:2-6).
God also prophesied through Isaiah,
His prophet: "For I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour MY SPIRIT upon thy seed
[children], and MY BLESSING upon thy offspring" (Isa.44:3).
Yeshua
(Jesus Christ) put it this way: "If
any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth in me, as the scripture
hath said, out of his belly shall flow RIVERS OF LIVING WATER (but this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified)" (John 7:37-39).
The theme of water is intimately
tied up with the final holy day of the year, Shemini Atzeret. We will
discuss this amazing feature later.
Essence of Shemini
Atzeret
In the book The Essence of the
Holy Days: Insights from the Jewish
Sages, Avraham Yaakov Finkel tells us more about Shemini
Atzeret:
"The seven days of Sukkot which end with Hoshana
Rabbah are followed by
another
holiday, Shemini Atzeret,
the Eighth Day of Assembly. . . It is a
festival
in its own right, independent of Sukkot, and is
observed one day in Eretz
Yisrael . . . The fact that Shemini Atzeret is a separate Yom Tov is
evident in the
blessing
of Shehecheyanu (Blessed are You, O
Lord our God, King of the universe,
who
has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season), which is
recited
by
women when lighting the candles and by men when reciting the Kiddush.
"None of the special mitzvot associated with Sukkot
are observed on Shemini
Atzeret, and thus there is no requirement to take the lulav and etrog.
. . .
"The word atzeret
is derived from atzar, to collect,
to store. The purpose of this
festival
is to recapitulate and to store in our memories everything we experienced
and
gained during the preceding Yamim Tovim [Good Days], so that we will carry
out
the resolutions we have made, will retain the spiritual elevation we have
reached,
and
will not lose them in the everyday life to which we are about to return"
(p.95-96).
The Rabbis recognized that this day, in itself, is a very
special holy day. They saw that it is
distinct from the Feast of Sukkot or
Tabernacles. They understood that in a
special sense, this day is connected to STORING UP and COLLECTING all the
knowledge, spiritual food, and instruction that we have gained in the preceding
holy days -- especially from Rosh Hashana (Feast of
Trumpets) through the Feast of Sukkot -- all the
spiritual lessons of repentance, forgiveness, character development, obedience,
faith, joy, love -- the lessons of complete spiritual maturity -- that we have
learned during the High Holy Day season through the Feast of Sukkot.
Spiritual Aspects of Shemini
Atzeret
The Rabbis also contemplated why on
this day -- Shemini Atzeret
-- there is no living inside the sukkah required, and
no waving of the lulav, two rituals which were
prominent during the preceding seven-day festival of Sukkot. Finkel goes on to
explain:
"Rabbi Shneur
Zalman of Liadi said, Shemini Atzeret is a Yom Tov that is not
identified
with any specific symbol or mitzvah. It
is not celebrated with either
matzah, shofar, or lulav. The
reason is that on Shemini Atzeret
we reach a stage
of
TRUE AND PURE JOY, a state of happiness that requires no external symbolic
stimuli. It is a joy that stems from the depth of
man's inner self. Sadness and
depression
are the marks of a person who is distant from his inner core. A person
who
'is himself' and is in harmony with his inner core is filled with pure joy.
"This
is what the sages meant when they postulated in the Talmud, 'Shemini
Atzeret is a Yom Tov by
itself,' it is a celebration and rejoicing of the essential
inner
self'" (p.96).
Seventy bullocks were sacrificed to God during the Feast of
Tabernacles, picturing the "seventy" nations of mankind having their
sins atone for, and becoming obedient to the truth of God and the commandments
of the Lord (Isa.2:1-4; Micah 4:1-4).
But on Shemini Atzeret,
only one bull was offered. Why? Finkel explains:
"During the week of Sukkot, altogether seventy bulls were brought as Mussaf offerings
on
the altar in the Bet Hamikdash. However, on Shemini
Atzeret, only one bull was
sacrificed. Why? The
seventy bulls represent the seventy nations of the world; the one
bull
of Shemini Atzeret
represents the unique nation of Israel.
You may compare it to
a
king who had held a festival for seven days and invited all of the country's
inhabitants
(the
nations of the world) to the seven days of feasting. When the seven days of feasting
were
over, he said to his friend (Israel), 'Let us now have a small meal together,
just you
and
I' (Bamidbar Rabbah
21, Sukkah 55b)" (p.98).
Obviously, the picture of Shemini
Atzeret is of a very intimate union and fellowship,
which follows after the broad-based and universal Feast of Sukkot. It is a close family union, with much deeper
and more pure insights and depth of meaning and spirituality. Finkel goes on:
"Rabbi Noach
of Lechowitz expounded, The theme of Shemini Atzeret may be better
understood
if we think of it in terms of a BRIDE AND GROOM. During the wedding,
they
are both decked out in a wardrobe of exquisite, elegant clothes and
jewelry. However,
when
they come together in their private chamber, they remove their garments
and jewelry.
"It
is the same with Shemini Atzeret. During the seven days of Sukkot,
the Jewish people
offered
a profusion of seventy bulls, but on Shemini Atzeret -- the moment they achieve
COMPLETE
UNIFICATION WITH GOD -- they
brought only one bull (Num.29:36)" (The
Essence
of the Holy Days, p.98-99).
The fact that there are no outward rituals or symbols
connected with Shemini Atzeret,
unlike Passover, Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, Atonement, and Sukkot, speaks of the unique spiritual quality of
this final Festival of God. It is as if
we have transcended from the physical to the purely spiritual -- from the
concrete and palpable to the sublime and untouchable -- from that which can be
seen to that which cannot be seen. As
the apostle Paul wrote, "While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen are temporal [temporary, transient,
evanescent]: but the things which are not seen are ETERNAL" (II
Cor.4:18).
We move from the threshold of the
visible to the invisible -- from those things which can be shaken to the
unshakable. As Paul also wrote,
"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn
away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once
more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken,
as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may
REMAIN. Wherefore we receiving a
kingdom which CANNOT BE MOVED, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb.12:25-29).
Comparing the symbolism of this Holy
Day with the imagery of a Bride and Bridegroom, and their intimate
togetherness, by themselves, after all the guests and party-goers depart, gives
us a special insight into the real spiritual implications of Shemini Atzeret. The picture reveals that after the Millennial
"Feast" of Sukkot is finished, and the
great "Fall Harvest" has been gathered in, the Bride -- the Church of
God, spiritual Israel (Gal.6:16) -- and the Groom, Yeshua
the Messiah -- will have a special "day" or time to themselves, in an
even deeper expression of intimate love, sensitivity, and pure joy.
But there is even more.
Joel Ziff, in Mirrors in
Time: A Psycho-Spiritual Journey through
the Jewish Year, gives us even greater insight and understanding into the
deep spiritual meaning of Shemini Atzeret. He informs us:
". . . Sukkot
is associated with the earth. There are
two qualities of earth -- one
implying
humility and the other expansiveness. We
pray for humility with the words,
'May
I be like the dust of the earth before all of creation' . . . Paradoxically,
the image
of
earth is also used to suggest expansiveness when God promises Abraham and Sara
their
progeny will be like the 'dust of the earth.'
In this same manner, developing a
sense
of humility and an acceptance and appreciation of our vulnerability, we also
connect
to the source of our power and hope.
"On
the eighth day, we collect the water we have accessed. It becomes a WELL from
which
we can nourish ourselves as we resume ordinary life. The connection of the well
to
Shemini Atzeret can
be translated as assembly or collection.
On this day, we assemble
within
ourselves the STOREHOUSE OF ENERGY which will fuel our efforts through
the
remainder of the year, as we bring light into the darkness. Just as we can store
water
in a cistern, JOY energizes our continued efforts through the year.
"We have been able to experience
ourselves in a new way while under the protection
of
the sukkah.
On the eighth day, we set aside the external supports which
have helped
us
to respond in a new way. We no longer
use the lulav and etrog. We return to our
homes
and say farewell to the sukkah. In some respects, the props are no
longer
necessary
-- just as a plant which
has grown from a seedling no longer needs special
protection
from the elements. We are now more able
to support ourselves.
"However,
we are not completely self-sufficient.
The Israelites were more able to sustain
themselves
when they reached the land of Israel.
They worked hard to plant and harvest
crops
rather than rely on the manna for food.
However, they still required help from God
in
the form of RAIN. On Shemini
Atzeret, the beginning of the planting season, a
special
prayer
for rain is added to the daily service.
In this same spirit, we are able to work hard
to
nurture our NEW BEGINNING, but we still need nourishment to flow down to us
from
the
heavens to HELP US GROW AND DEVELOP" (p.241-242).
Shemini Atzeret, then, represents the
completion of one cycle, and the beginning of another NEW cycle, according to
God's Plan. It represents a NEW
BEGINNING. This "new
beginning" requires "rain" -- a type of the Spirit of God poured
out in order to produce a new crop and a new harvest! Shemini Atzeret represents the beginning of a new RAINY SEASON,
during which the earth is nourished by rain from the heavens. Spiritually, then, it represents the pouring
out anew of God's Holy Spirit and the continuation and expectation of a NEW
HARVEST for the Kingdom of God!
Joel Ziff goes on, describing how
this day integrates with the High Holy Day season, the Days of Awe, and the
Feast of Sukkot.
He writes:
"Shneur Zalman also describes the process at this time of year with
the image of a
PLANTING
A SEED in the earth. The planting of the
seed in the earth is a symbol
of
humility; when we plant a seed, we cover it with earth. We are like that seed in
our
process of self-evaluation during the Days of Awe. . . Eventually the seed
sprouts
and
emerges into the light of day from inside the earth. Empowered by the work of
self-reflection,
the actions take place with a positive feeling.
After doing the work of
self-reflection
on Yom Kippur, we are able to respond whole-heartedly on Sukkot. As
we
dig into the earth, we find a spring, a well of water that flows up to us from
the
depths. On Shemini
Atzeret, we ACCESS THE 'LIVING WATERS' OF
SALVATION
which
flow the quality of God's lovingkindness, Chesed" (p.242).
Thus the Festivals of God are intimately bound up with the
cycles of the earth -- the seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter. They are connected closely and in depth to
the AGRICULTURAL HARVESTS of the year -- both spring and fall. But there is a mighty, profound, rich
spiritual lesson in all this. What is
this lesson? What do the annual cycles
of planting and harvest have to do with God's spiritual Plan?
Let's understand this!
The Meaning of the Number "Eight"
The very name of this festival, "Shemini
Atzeret," literally means "The Eighth
Assembly." It is the final holy day
of God's Holy Day Plan. However, there
is great significance in the number "eight" itself!
E. W. Bullinger,
in his book Number in Scripture, explains about the meaning and
symbolism of numbers, including the number "eight." He declares:
"In Hebrew the number eight is Sh'moneh, from the root Shah'meyn,
'to make fat,'
'cover
with fat,' 'to super-abound.' As a
participle it means 'one who abounds in
strength,'
etc. As a noun it is 'super-abundant
fertility,' 'oil,' etc. So that as a
numeral
it is the super-abundant number. As seven was so called because the
seventh
day was the day of completion and rest, so eight, as the eighth day, was
over
and above this perfect completion, and was indeed the FIRST of a new series,
as well as being the eighth. Thus it already represents two numbers in
one, the
first
and eighth" (p.196).
Even as "seven" is God's number of perfection, or
completion (as the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, which completes and
perfects the week), so "eight" is the same as the first day of the
NEXT week, but counting from the days of the previous week. Thus it represents clearly "A NEW
BEGINNING."
An example of "eight" used
in this connection in the Scriptures is the fact that as Peter tells us, there
were EIGHT souls in the Ark of Noah, who began the NEW WORLD after the
Flood! We read of the time when
"the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a
preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water"
(I Peter 3:20).
Interestingly, in the future Temple
of God described in Ezekiel, we find that there were seven steps that
led into the outer court (Ezek.40:22, 26); however, there were eight steps
that led from the outer court to the inner court (Ezek.40:31, 34, 37). The first seven led from labor to rest, but
the eight led from rest to intimate fellowship with God and pure worship!
The consecration of Aaron and his
sons as priests of God required seven days of being set apart (Lev.8:35), but
it was on the "eighth day" that they were anointed as
"priests," thus beginning a "new" ministry and office
before God and the people.
David was the "eighth" son
of Jesse, thus also beginning a "new dynasty" in Israel when he
became king (I Sam.16:10-11; II Sam.7:12).
Bullinger
adds concerning the significance of this number "8":
"It is 7 plus 1. Hence it is the number specially associated
with Resurrection and
Regeneration,
and the BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA OR ORDER.
"When
the whole earth was covered with a flood, it was Noah 'the eighth person'
(II
Pet.2:5) who stepped out on to a new earth to commence a new order of things.
'Eight
souls' (I Pet.3:20) passed through it with him to the new or regenerated
world.