Sukkot Serendipity

I serendipitously scheduled my trip to Israel during three major holidays: Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Even more serendipitous, Ronit and I scheduled our Sea to Sea hike during Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles). So we slept in a sukka by default, looking through a crack in the ceiling to at least one star, just as tradition prescribes. It reminds you that God is the One who truly takes care of you and keeps you safe.

Also, I've been reading a book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, which examines how Jesus fulfilled the holidays. God started Sukkot to remind His people of how He cared for them in their desert days. But I didn't know that the feast ends with a water libation ceremony and prayers and praise anticipating the coming rains. That's the day that Jesus stood up in John 7:37-38 and declared that "Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." He was talking about sending His Spirit to fill and pour from us, just as the people were looking for God to send physical rain. I hadn't realized that Jesus timed this declaration so poetically!