When 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 (Elohim/God) commands His children to build forts and go camping in the woods:
It’s “in tents” Sukkah! (Am I the only one laughing?)
Anywho, I just wanted to give you all a glimpse into what we did for Sukkot last year. If you’ve never heard of Sukkot or you’re new to the Feasts and you want to avoid leaven on either side of the river bank, I’d highly recommend this playlist. It’s easy to get caught up in watching other people and see them doing beautiful things, but we need to really look into Scripture and see if those traditions have roots we shouldn’t be getting involved in. We are very careful to closely examine the Word and not pull from man made traditions that could have pagan backgrounds.
It had been awhile since this girl went camping and I was determined to be glamping. I know Yisra’ĕl plundered those Mitsrites and they had things. So step 1 was secure a tent (and a potty bucket, am I right?)
And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh new moon is the Festival of Sukkot for seven days to יהוה. ‘On the first day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work. ‘For seven days you bring an offering made by fire to יהוה. On the eighth day there shall be a set-apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה. It is a closing festival, you do no servile work.
Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:33-36
Why do we observe this feast? Because the Father told us to, our Messiah observed, His disciples did after His resurrection, and we’re told it’ll be kept in the Millenial Reign.
We were all put into Tribes, which was kind of a fun element. A brother made all these beautiful banners. “And He shall raise a banner for the nations, and gather the outcasts of Yisra’ĕl, and assemble the dispersed of Yehuḏah from the four corners of the earth.” Yeshayah (Isaiah) 11:12
What a blessing to be surrounded by other people who just hang out blowing shofars, wearing linen, and tzitzits all day long talking about the Word.
What did we do besides hang out in linen and blow shofars all day? Well after setting up camp, we went down to the river to do water immersions. Praise 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄. That was REFRESHING (and a smidge chilly).
We had gatherings in the large tent. There was reading of Scripture, meals shared, songs sung, and plenty of dancing. This adorable coloring book is from HalleluYAH Scriptures. Also how beautiful are these old oil lamps?
The children had some fun hands on activities every morning. My daughter really enjoys painting so this was right up her alley. They were organized by a beautiful sister in Messiah and so thankful they had these to enrich them. The children also enjoyed the bouncy houses, kickball, and bubble machines.
We did a group scavenger hunt for the 10 Words/commandments. This was harder than you would think!
My son and husband got some fishing in and cooked up a couple bass to eat which they really enjoyed! They have the most beautiful rockbed rivers where we went.
Lots of roasted over the open fire food was made. Manyyyyyyyyy vegan dandies marshmallows, organic chocolate, organic graham cracker smores were eaten.
The last highlight was as we were pulling out of camp, a sister baked these delicious fresh milled garlic knots that got me started on my milling journey. I had been watching for awhile, but tasting these sealed the deal and I’m officially a millenite!
To see more of our Feasting adventures, check the Feasts of YAH tab.
I think I’ll do a followup post on what we did for the camping part for packing and meals. Shalom!
