Sukkot: True Happiness is Found in the Feast of Ingathering

Sukkot is commonly known as Z’man Simchateinu—Season Of Our Joy. This title was given by the sages of Israel based on Leviticus 23:40 and Deuteronomy 16:14-15, where God commands Israel to rejoice during the Feast of Tabernacles.

“For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and you shall have nothing but joy.” Deut. 16:15

Happiness is one of the most desired emotions. We all crave fulfillment, contentment, and happiness. Myriads of books have been written on how to satisfy these intense desires. The Harvard “Grant Study” on the subject began in 1938 when a group of researchers set out to find the keys to a life of happiness. After seventy-five years of extensive research on two-hundred, sixty-eight  Harvard undergraduates, their findings were quite revealing!

Their research overwhelmingly proved that relationships are the only things that matter in life. You might have a successful career, money, and good physical health, but without supportive, loving relationships, you would still find yourself unhappy. So many of the things we think matter when it comes to happiness don’t actually make any difference. Western culture champions money and social standing as keys to success. These two things were at the bottom of the list.

This is good information. But a question still remains: how do we actually have the type of relationships that bring happiness?  None of us would say we don’t want healthy relationships. Quite often, though, despite our good intentions, we find ourselves in situations that are less than what we desire. The problem is that we don’t know how we got there—or how to get out.

One of my favorite inspirational speakers is a man by the name of Zig Ziglar. He recounts the story of a lady who was desperate to talk to him, hoping he could figure out what to do about her terrible situation at work. She explained to him how awful her workplace, co-workers, and employers were. He patiently listened as she ranted and raved, then asked if there was anything at all that she liked about her work. She responded, “Absolutely not!” There was nothing good about her workplace—the people hated her, the work was difficult, and her life was utterly miserable as a result.

In just five minutes, however, Mr. Ziglar helped her identify twenty-two things that she liked about her work! He instructed her to look in a mirror and read through that list every day. 

About six weeks later, Mr. Ziglar was back in the area, and the woman ran up to him, exclaiming that a miracle had happened. She couldn’t explain it, but in just six weeks, her boss and co-workers had totally changed! 

This lady had wanted to have good relationships at work all along. But the emotional path of least resistance led her to only see the negative side of her situation. It was only when she took time to intentionally recognize the positive realities of her relationships at work that things changed. Instead of constant negativity, contention, and strife, she was able to have joy and peace. She had unwittingly developed an attitude of gratitude, and her whole life changed.

God created a perfect framework in our lives of different kinds of relationships. As a child, you need the nurturing and discipline of your parents. Then as a young person, your “fellowship framework” widens to include siblings who teach you responsibility, peers who sharpen your social skills, and teachers who equip you with understanding. In adulthood, you need mentors to guide you, a pastor to shepherd you, elders to share wisdom, a spouse to respect and love you, and children to teach you patience, responsibility, and how to love.

This character-forming, emotionally-fulfilling, happiness-bringing framework is God’s perfect design to lead you to Him, where there is “fullness of joy” (Psalms 16:11). When we embrace relationships with gratitude, recognizing their purpose and importance, we find true fulfillment, contentment, and happiness. 

Perhaps that is why Sukkot—The Season of Our Joy—is also called the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16, 34:22).  

Deuteronomy 16:14 says:

“And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.” 

God makes an exhaustive list of everyone from Israel who could possibly come up to Jerusalem for the Feasts. God wants everyone to be involved, and he specifically wants them to be happy—to rejoice in the Feast!

Now, you could say, “Wait! This is only talking about the people in Israel. What about everyone else in the world? Doesn’t God want everyone to join in this fellowship and joy?”

The biblical answer is a resounding yes! 

We know from Zechariah 14 that the nations are supposed to come up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Isaiah 56 also mentions that people living outside the land of Israel will come up to Jerusalem. It is interesting that verse seven specifically mentions God making these joined-to-the-LORD foreigners joyful in His House of Prayer. Could this “joy” be a direct reference to the Season of Our Joy—Sukkot? 

During this Sukkot—in a world that promotes isolation, ingratitude, and tearing down the relational framework that God has perfectly designed— let’s embrace the ingathering, the fellowship, and the happiness that God offers us in this “season of our joy.” 

May we all look forward with great anticipation to the day of the Great Ingathering when we come with joy—in one accord—to the LORD’s house in Jerusalem to worship the King of Kings!