Steve Conover: Welcome to the Friends of Israel Today. I'm Steve Conover. With me, as always, is our host and teacher Chris Katulka. I'd like to encourage you right at the outset to visit our website, foiradio.org, that's foiradio.org. There you can find out more information about the Friends of Israel Today radio program. You'll also be able to browse our archives and listen to six-years' worth of Chris's teachings. Again, that's foiradio.org.

Chris Katulka: Steve, a few weeks ago our most recent issue of Israel My Glory came right into our mailbox. I always get excited to see it. This particular issue is all about the feasts of Israel. And we've been actually journeying with the Jewish people as they've been celebrating the Fall Feasts of Israel. They've been celebrating Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles all throughout the month of September.

And that's why we're going to have Tom Simcox, who's a church ministries representative here with the Friends of Israel, who actually wrote an article on what the Jewish people are celebrating right now. It's called the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot. So we're going to be talking all about this really important fall Feast of Israel, the Feast of Tabernacles.

Steve Conover: I'm really looking forward to it. We hope you stay with us. But first, in the news, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to give $1 billion to Israel for its Iron Dome missile defense system two days after objections from The Squad, the most progressive wing of the democratic party, forced leaders to remove it from a broader spending bill.

Chris Katulka: Steve, here's my take on this because it's pretty sad. It was reported that representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wept after her party approved the funding of the Iron Dome. The Iron Dome, just a reminder, has protected millions of Israelis from tens of thousands of rockets over the years. So I'm guessing that her tears reveal that she's okay with seeing innocent Israelis die at the hand of terrorists like Hamas. And just a friendly reminder, when we're talking about Israelis, we're not just talking about Jewish Israelis. We're talking about Arab Israelis, Muslim Israelis, Christian Israelis. So when we talk about Israelis, we're talking about the full spectrum of Israeli citizens who are protected by Iron Dome.

Now, listen my friends, let's not forget what the scriptures teach, and I hope that this is just a reminder for you over and over again. Genesis 12:3 says this. "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." Here at the Friends of Israel, we believe that verse still means what it says today. So let's stay on the side of blessing Israel.

Well, it's great to have Tom Simcox in the studio. Tom is a dear friend, longtime friend, colleague at Friends of Israel. He's a church ministries representative here. Tom, how long have you ministered with Friends of Israel? Can you remember?

Tom Simcox: Long time ago. No, I actually started in October of 1979 working in the headquarters, and then transitioned to the field staff in 1986.

Chris Katulka: Okay.

Tom Simcox: So, yeah it's been- wow, a long time now.

Chris Katulka: We won't even calculate those numbers.

Tom Simcox: No. A long time ago.

Chris Katulka: We'll need a mathematician to do that.

Tom Simcox: An abacus.

Chris Katulka: No, I'm joking. Tom is an amazing minister of the gospel with the Friends of Israel. And actually you might know him very well by reading our flagship magazine, Israel My Glory. He has articles all the time in Israel My Glory. And that's why we actually called you in today because you wrote a great article called Holiday Under the Stars in our newest Israel My Glory that's come out for our September/October issue, which is all about the seven biblical feasts. And I love this. And you wrote the article Holiday Under the Stars. And I'm interested on why you called it that because when I read that I thought this sounds like when I would go to a jazz concert outside or some exciting event in the evening. What do the Fall Feasts of Israel have to do with Holiday Under the Stars?

Tom Simcox: That's a great question, and I got that same picture in my mind when I thought about it. But, you see, really what's happening is the Jewish people, I see this in Manhattan, I see this wherever I go. Tabernacles, they build these little temporary booths. That's really where the term kind of comes from. It's like a little booth, like a little lean-to. It's got a palm kind of a roof and they leave it open, and they put some fruit, and they hang palms branches and fruit on it, and they sit outside. And the idea is that they're supposed to be able to see the stars because it's to remind them of their ancestors as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land. As God led them, they dwelt in temporary homes and they could see the stars. It was like a giant camp out.

Chris Katulka: So the whole issue is about the Fall Feasts of Israel. So we're looking at Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles, which is also called Sukkot. And that's what we're looking at here. So this specifically comes from Leviticus chapter 23, verses 33 and 34. When it says this, that the Lord speaks to Moses and says, "Speak to the children of Israel saying the 15th day of this month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord." I'm interested to know Tom, what does Sukkot actually even mean? I mean, that's a Hebrew word.

Tom Simcox: Yes, it is. I believe that it means tabernacle or booth. And the idea is, again, what I just mentioned, it's this temporary dwelling. It's funny. I can go into Midtown Manhattan, see this huge skyscraper and on all the little porches that they have, you see this little thing that looks like it kind of just dropped down from a forest.

Chris Katulka: Yes.

Tom Simcox: That they have that are there. A synagogue that I go to, they actually have a prefab one that they decorate every year. They put up their PVC pipe and then they add their wood and whatnot to it. But the idea goes back to this temporary housing, this booth, or this sukkah that they are to, many of them, sleep in it. I mean, the Orthodox will sleep in it.

Chris Katulka: Yes.

Tom Simcox: But traditionally, most Jewish people would at least take a meal or two each day in the sukkah, and look up at the stars and just remember where their forefathers came from and how they got to the Promised Land. But the word itself really just means booth.

Chris Katulka: The word is actually even connected to a series that we just wrapped up here on the Friends of Israel Today, which is all about Shekinah glory of God. We called it the Kidron Saga, but it was all about Shakan. I mentioned that word over and over again. Shakan, which means to dwell. And the same root word for dwelling, for God's presence coming down, is also this word, Sukkot, which is the actual tabernacle or the dwelling place where they would dwell. And so this was a very interesting holiday that they would do. I've been to Manhattan before. I've been to Brooklyn with one of our old workers that was there. And I do remember walking down those streets in Brooklyn and every home had a little booth that they would eat. And I even celebrated with a bunch of Orthodox Jewish people, on Sukkot. We ate dinner outside. But they're doing that for how many days though?

Tom Simcox: I believe it's seven days. I believe they're out there for seven days. It's a seven-day festival. And usually it's going to begin at sundown the night before. So it kind of begins with you going out and having dinner. And it's nice, the sun is down, it's fall. So it's nice out. And it's a pleasant place to be. And I think it could be, especially here in New York, a high-rise, that could be really, really beautiful - I mean, look at what we're doing nowadays in our COVID-infested world. People are eating outside!.

Chris Katulka: You'd have to be there, and God's been doing that for a long time.

Tom Simcox: That's right. He could do it.

Chris Katulka: I'm also thinking of the fact that we have representatives that work with Friends of Israel that are building booths, Sukkots, for the Feast of Tabernacles. I think of one of our colleagues, Bob Johnessee, who's at Cedarville University, and he's building a booth for students so that they can see what that's like connected to this festival. I know that out in Las Vegas, we have workers out there who are building booths to show Christians the significance of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Chris Katulka: But it's interesting because the Feast of Tabernacles is, like most holidays in the biblical feasts, it's connected to a harvest season.

Tom Simcox: Yes.

Chris Katulka: This one's an important harvest season. This one's different for sure. What makes it different though?

Tom Simcox: I think a part that makes this different is number one, it's coming in the fall. And this would be a parallel to the American, or what we celebrate here in the United States, and I think they celebrate up in Canada, the Thanksgiving, the harvest home, the bringing in the final harvest, bringing in all that the Lord has provided knowing that winter is looming and then looking forward to enjoying God's provision. And then as we move on, they're actually going to have a celebration where they're praying that the Lord would then send the rain for the next year.

Chris Katulka: That's right.

Tom Simcox: So it's a unique harvest because it kind of parallels what the American Thanksgiving was all about.

Chris Katulka: And it was all the fun stuff for the Feast of Tabernacles.

Tom Simcox: Yes.

Chris Katulka: Three times a year, the Jewish people were required to go to Jerusalem-

Tom Simcox: Correct.

Chris Katulka: For the festivals, Passover, Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. And then now the Feast of Tabernacles, all connected to some type of harvest. But I always say, this is the fun harvest because the other ones were the bread. It was the barley. It was the wheat. Now we're talking about olives. We're talking about harvesting grapes. We're talking about harvesting figs, the fun parts of eating, right?

Tom Simcox: Yep.

Chris Katulka: And this is where there's joy and excitement. And that's why they actually hang fruit, if I remember correctly, on the-

Tom Simcox: Yes they do. On the sides of the sukkah, they could hang all different kinds of those fruits and even others. If they're in an area of the country that doesn't have olives or figs, they can hang something else. I saw one where they had an eggplant. I mean, I think the idea is they're just trying to identify what God asked them to do in the word. And they want to remember God's provision.

Chris Katulka: That's the big thing though. And I want to land here for a moment before we take our break. Let's talk about that. The idea that in the wilderness, this is what this whole thing is about, in the wilderness God provided for his people. This is really what it comes down to. Even in the middle of the stiff-necked, hardhearted moments of his people as they're wandering around the wilderness because of their disobedience, God still provided for his people.

Tom Simcox: Yes he did. And even though they weren't overly happy with it all the time, the fact is that, yes, God provided. But what they're celebrating today, what they're hanging the figs, that was provided when they got to the final destination. As they were in the wilderness, they didn't have those things. They were missing the leeks and the garlic from Egypt. They had manna.

Chris Katulka: Yes.

Tom Simcox: But they didn't have the figs. But he said, "When you get to the land that I'm bringing you to, and you will reap of the harvest of a crop that you didn't plant, of a plant you didn't watch grow." You're coming into fully produced grapes, fully produced figs, fully produced date honey-

Chris Katulka: Yes.

Tom Simcox: That's ready to go. "I want you to remember me and what I did." And so there's an aspect of here's where we were in the temporary scenes, but here's what we got at the end-

Chris Katulka: Yes.

Tom Simcox: With the fruits and whatnot that they were able to enjoy right away.

Chris Katulka: And they knew that was coming because when those 12 spies were sent in, they're seeing the size of grapes and they're going, you're never going to believe the kind of fruit this land can produce.

Tom Simcox: Can you picture two guys carrying this huge cluster of grapes?

Chris Katulka: That's right.

Tom Simcox: And it's called one, it's echad, it's one. But they show it, and it's like two guys with this giant staff and these huge grapes between them.

Chris Katulka: That's right. And that's actually the emblem of tourism for the Israelis today. You see two guys and they're carrying this one bunch of grapes. They're just huge. That's the emblem for tourism going into the land. Again, all this great reminder of God's provision for his people. And even the idea, which we're going to get to in a second, the expectation of something greater, the expectation. And we're going to talk about how this particular feast of Israel, the Feast of Tabernacles, that's what we're talking about, actually has a prophetic vision. There is a prophetic element to this festival. But before we get to that-

Tom Simcox: Sure.

Chris Katulka: Tom, I want to make sure that people know how they can get their hands on this issue of Israel My Glory. It's called the seven biblical feasts. Now listen, if you have never subscribed to our magazine, Israel My Glory, you can simply go to foiradio.org right now. And if you subscribe, you're going to get a one-year free subscription. Fioradio.org. And there you can read Tom's article Holiday Under the Stars and many more. Again, that's foiradio.org.

Chris Katulka: We're continuing our conversation here on the Feasts of Israel, the Fall Feast, specifically this last feast of the year, right Tom? The Feast of Tabernacles.

Tom Simcox: Now let's remember, this was the original one given by God. There is going to be a celebration that our listeners are probably aware of, Hanukkah.

Chris Katulka: That's right.

Tom Simcox: But Hanukkah's extra biblical in the sense that it wasn't given by God. This is the last feast of the seven given by God in Leviticus 23. And so that makes it kind of the completion. But yes, you're correct, but we don't want to forget that Jewish people, you celebrate Hanukkah. It's just not given by God in Leviticus 23.

Chris Katulka: And there's a few of those that appear on the-

Tom Simcox: Purim's another one.

Chris Katulka: Purim, that's right. That's in the book of Esther, but then it comes later on after the law was established already.

Tom Simcox: Correct.

Chris Katulka: But in the law, the year ends with this, and it's a really great way to end-

Tom Simcox: It is.

Chris Katulka: The seven biblical feasts. Starting in Passover, ending in the Feast of Tabernacles. But I want to talk about what Jewish people do today. You talked about the fact that they build a booth. For seven days they eat. I know most of them eat dinner in it at night, usually. They were originally commanded to sleep in there, the whole move your family out of your house, put them in a tabernacle in a sukkah. But now they mostly eat. But there's this thing called a lulav and an etrog. I love this little component, but maybe you can share with our audience about this.

Tom Simcox: The lulav is part of what they call the four species. The lulav combined with the etrog is called the four species. The lulav is made up of a hadas, which is a myrtle tree frond or branch. It's also made up of a lulav, which is a palm frond.

Chris Katulka: Oh, interesting.

Tom Simcox: And then there is the arauah. I believe I pronounced that right. A-R-A-U-A-H, which is a willow. You put those three together and you bind them and you hold them in your right hand, and they point away from you. Then you have this etrog, which is a citron. It is a hybrid citrus fruit, very fragrant. And I've learned from some of my colleagues here that the longer the end, the more kosher, and the better of an etrog you have. And you hold that in your left hand and you face in the different directions. And I did this with a rabbi when I was down the shore and it was just so cool. He showed us how to hold it. And we shook the lulav and we faced east, south, north, west. And the idea he said was that we were addressing that God is everywhere. And that God is providing and has provided for us. And it's like to the north, to the south, to the east and the west, all the blessing that God has given us.

Chris Katulka: Yes.

Tom Simcox: And so you hold the etrog, which is, to me it's like a mutant lemon. It is an irradiated mutant lemon. So you're holding this really gigantic lemon with this big end, and you got your four branches and you shake them, and you hold this out, and you pray. And then you turn and you go all the way around within the sukkah. And that's part of the worship that is done. And it's just to remind them of how much God has blessed and provided, and how great is our God.

Chris Katulka: Isn't it amazing that what they're doing there. You just think of the symbolism that's wrapped up, but that you said God is everywhere.

Tom Simcox: Correct.

Chris Katulka: And I love that, because that's really all about what the Feast of Tabernacles is, is that God is providing. God provided for them in the wilderness. God provided for them when they got to the land. And really it's a fresh reminder for us that God is everywhere and that God wants to be with us as well. And you know what? That's really the heart.

Let's move into this prophetic element, because that's the heart of what we're getting at here. The Feast of Tabernacles is driving us to know that God wants to be with us. He wants to dwell with us. Can you talk about the prophetic influence that the Feast of Tabernacles has?

Tom Simcox: I'm with you. I love it. And even the very word. At Christmas time, I'm sure that all of us have done the Christmas Carol, “God with man is now residing.”

Chris Katulka: Yes.

Tom Simcox: God is tabernacling. That's what the prophetic aspect of this holiday is really driving home. You've gone all the way from Christ our Passover is slain. He is unleavened, without sin. These are the Spring Feasts. He arose on Firstfruits victorious and became the first fruits to them that slept, First Corinthians 15. Then we come to the Fall Feasts. You've got Rosh Hashanah, which was Trumpets. He regathers his people because God isn't finished with Israel. Then you move on to Yom Kippur, which is really speaking and addressing the spiritual awakening. "They will look upon me whom they've pierced and mourn for him as one mourns his only son, and Israel will be saved."

Chris Katulka: So it's an Israel repentance that takes place there.

Tom Simcox: Absolutely. These are all seven feasts given to Israel. The church isn't involved, technically. I mean, the fact we get some of the blessing from the spring ones is fine, but God is not done with Israel. And that brings us then to the seventh. You've got a saved group of people and God is going to return.

Chris Katulka: That's right.

Tom Simcox: He's going to protect them from the tribulation. He is going to save them alive from the antichrist and this hoard of enemies. And then he will tabernacle. He will dwell with his people and he will be on a throne. He's a priest. He's a king. He's going to be in the Holy of Holies, I believe, in the temple. And he will dwell. He will tabernacle with his people. God, with his people, will be residing. He'll be tabernacling.

Chris Katulka: Going back now in thinking about this Kidron Saga, if any of our listeners we're able to go through that series, and you can by going to our website, foiradio.org, you can actually go back and listen to all of the different episodes that we did on the Kidron Saga.

But I wish we would've ended that because we really focused in on this concept of God tabernacling, dwelling with his people. God came down into the tabernacle. God came down into the temple. God came down into the person of the Lord, Jesus Christ. God came down in the person of the Holy Spirit, who's dwelling, tabernacling with us now. And there's a future tabernacle that's coming, Revelation 21:3. God's going to tabernacle with us.

But when you look at the future of prophecy, I get this question a lot from Christians. "Chris, should I be celebrating the Feasts of Israel? Should we be doing it? It's biblical. Christmas isn't biblical, but should we be celebrating?" And I always go, "No, we can honor them. You can remember them, think about them. But when we get to the end times, when we get to the future, there are actual events that we're going to be celebrating that are biblical. And the Feast of Tabernacles is one of them. Right, Tom?

Tom Simcox: It is. Zechariah 14. It's amazing of all the holidays. And I mean, God gave seven amazing festivals to the Jewish people. The one that he talks about specifically and names only that it will be celebrated in the future, that we know of, is Tabernacles. And he says in Zechariah 14, I'm paraphrasing, that “if there's any people of the nations, the gentiles,” because there will be gentiles that survive the tribulation period. And they will go into the kingdom with their Jewish brothers. It's just going to be a Jewish kingdom, not a gentile kingdom.

Chris Katulka: That's right.

Tom Simcox: So the gentiles, “if any of the nations that come in, if they don't come up and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, which is remembering the fact that God is now dwelling amongst his people, then it's not going to rain in your area.” I mean, boy. So all of a sudden, oh Egypt, you didn't make it. So sorry for you. You won't get any rain for a while.

Chris Katulka: That's right.

Tom Simcox: Because God is so keen on the fact, “I'm here.”

Chris Katulka: That's right.

Tom Simcox: “I am in your midst and I will be honored by you and I will be loved and respected by you.”

Chris Katulka: And it's not like it's torture. We're going to honor God for his physical presence being with us. And it's a great reminder that we're going to go up to Jerusalem. As nations, we're going to celebrate. And what I love is even today, we're not even talking about the prophetic future, today there are Christians from all around the world, from nations all around the world, who actually fly to Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles to make known this is what we're going to be doing in the future, so we might as well get started now.

Tom Simcox: Let's learn how to do it here.

Chris Katulka: That's right. And I love that. So even today during the Feast of Tabernacles... I don't know about the COVID... But if you research online, you can actually see that Christians go to Israel during the Feast of Tabernacles. They hold a flag up of the country that they represent. And really countries from all around the world, Christians come, and they honor Zechariah 14, which talks about the fact that in the future, we will be honoring God during this festival to say, God, thank you. Thank you for providing. Thank you for your presence. We love you. We honor you. I just love how God has orchestrated all this.

Tom Simcox: I agree. And I can't help but think of one of my favorite verses in scripture, we're going to go back to the book of Lamentations. "It's of the Lord's tender mercies we are not consumed. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." And that's really what we're talking about here. We're talking about God's amazing faithfulness and his provision, even when we don't know we need something or we haven't ascertained it, God has already taken it into account.

Chris Katulka: I'm going to give you the final word on that. And then I'm also going to do this. I'm going to remind our listeners. If you've had fun with us, I've had a great time. I always love it when Tom's in the studio.

Tom Simcox: I love being with you, Chris.

Chris Katulka: I just really encourage you if you've never subscribed for our magazine, Israel My Glory, this is a great time to get involved with what we're doing here at The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. We're not just a radio program. We have a teaching arm that is reaching all around the world and Israel My Glory is blessing people all around the world. And this is a great way for you to get involved by simply going to our website, foiradio.org. Tom, I thank you so much for being a part of the program today and writing a fantastic article.

Tom Simcox: Well, Chris, it was my privilege, A, to be here with you and listeners and just praise Lord. I'll also tell you, I got a great editor.

Chris Katulka: That's true.

Tom Simcox: I got a great editor, Lorna, who's the editor of Israel My Glory, editor-in-chief, she is amazing. And she does a great job. She comes up with these themes. She prays for them. She makes the assignments.

Chris Katulka: She's your wife.

Tom Simcox: Yes, she is.

Chris Katulka: We'll just leave it at that.

Tom Simcox: Enough said.

Chris Katulka: Great to have you, Tom.

Tom Simcox: Thank you. God bless.

Steve Conover: Thank you so much for joining us today for the Friends of Israel Today. Chris, where are we headed next week?

Chris Katulka: Next week and the following week actually we're going to have Dr. Michael Svigel on. He's the department chair and Professor of Theological Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He teaches on historical and systematic theology. And you know what? We're going to actually be looking specifically at the role that Athens - Greek philosophy played in the development of Christian theology. And whether or not there were some good things and bad things there. So we're going to have a great conversation over the next two weeks.

Steve Conover: It's an important topic. We hope you join us then. Our host and teacher is Chris Katulka. Today's program was produced by Tom Gallione. Our theme music was composed and performed by Jeremy Strong. Mike Kellogg read Apples of Gold. And I'm Steve Conover, executive producer. Our mailing address is FOI Radio, PO box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099. Again, that's FOI Radio, PO Box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099. And quickly, one last time, visit us at foiradio.org The Friends of Israel Today is a production of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. We are a worldwide evangelical ministry proclaiming biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah while bringing physical and spiritual comfort to the Jewish people.