Sukkot, 2015

I recently saw something on the internet that has captured my imagination. A video filmed in Jerusalem of a giant wedding dress flying like a flag over the Tower of David in the Old City. I did a little research and discovered that it is part of an art installation for a show at the Tower of David Museum which began the day after Yom Kippur. It is by artist Motti Mizrachi and entitled "Engagement."

The gal who shot the video was very excited, because to her and the many Christians in the city to celebrate Sukkot it spoke of the Body of Christ waiting for the arrival of Jesus our Bridegroom, ala Revelation 19. On the Plaza near the tower, she found a Messianic Jew (a Jewish person who has received Jesus as the promised Messiah) and asked her what it would mean to Jewish people in Israel. The lady talked about Jewish wedding traditions, and how weddings are like Sukkot in that you are commanded to rejoice and celebrate for seven days. She said it's like the city of Jerusalem is waiting for her bridegroom, the Messiah. Wow, what a wonderful picture!

All I could think is how the natural speaks of the spiritual and how God is using a secular Jewish artist to speak a prophetic word over the city of Jerusalem. All day my thoughts kept returning to the image of the historic Tower of David and that dress (eighteen feet tall!) floating from the roof like an icon of yearning for the coming millenial reality. The King is coming for His Bride and one mark of His nearness is His covenant people beginning to recognize and ask for Him.

When the show is over, the artist intends to loose the dress from its moorings atop the Tower, allowing it to float freely over the city. I pray that that image sparks a desire for God; a heart cry from the City of David for relationship with Him; a new, deeper yearning for the coming Messiah, their King. As I meditated on that image, my heart was stirred anew that this is what Sukkot is ultimately about. Thankfulness for all that God has provided--not just food and shelter, but the gift of salvation, a plan to restore the Earth, a way to be forever with Him. So the booth doubles as an annual wedding chuppah (canopy) to remind us that the end of days is not a Hollywood disaster movie, but the conclusion to a love story. God became a man in order to woo and win a people to Himself. He is returning to put our great enemy under His feet and take us to Himself. 

So as Sukkot winds to a close this weekend, consider your heart. This is the season for gratitude and rejoicing. But also the season to ask the Lord to refresh and renew hope and expectation deep within us for what God has promised yet to do. Our bridegroom is coming back. He is looking for those who are yearning for Him. Waiting for Him. Expecting Him. Like wise virgins, let us get oil for our lamps so that when the shout is heard, "Look! The Bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. (Matthew 25). We will arise, trim our lamps and go with our great King to the wedding feast.

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”

He who testifies and affirms these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.