So your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. The purpose of the booths: so your descendants will know. The Festival of Tabernacles is a pedagogical practice: the seven days of booth-living teaches every generation what the wilderness generation experienced. The covenant community's children learn the Exodus story not only by hearing it but by living it — temporarily, annually — in the shelters that recall the wilderness sojourn. The I am the Lord your God formula closes the festival calendar's most distinctive practice: the God who brought Israel out of Egypt is the God who calls every generation to remember that bringing-out through the Festival of Tabernacles.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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