Eighth Day is just beyond the seven-day cycle of this Creation; it is new life in the day of eternity.
Eighth Day is related in the Bible only as a day of consecration, offerings, assembly, and rest. It has been viewed as joined to the seven-day festival of Sukkot, yet distinct from it as a separate appointment day. In Hebrew culture, it is known as Shemini Atzeret, a phrase literally meaning Eighth-Assembly, or gathering. During the Second Temple period and the time of Yeshua, this appointment day became filled with traditions surrounding a water ceremony, asking for God’s blessing of rain for the coming year’s crops. Since it comes immediately on the heels of the great harvest festival of Sukkot, these new crops would begin getting planted after the conclusion of this celebration.
From viewing passages that mention the eighth day, we can see that the eighth day has to do with the following themes and rites:
In these aspects, the Eighth Day therefore becomes representative of cleansing and being set apart for God’s purposes. It is a day of new beginnings, where uncleanness involving blood and death is left behind.
We have to remember that the Bible is a book written by Hebrew people, for Hebrew people. In their culture, judgment had to do with God’s disfavor, while life had to do with his favor. Yeshua proclaimed that the word which he spoke would judge individuals on the last day. This did come to pass as the nation was judged within that generation, demonstrated by the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Remember, Yeshua had prophesied that judgment would be passed upon that very generation, those who were alive at that time.
As the last day of the annual appointed times, there are no more; it is the termination of God’s appointed times for the year. The root meaning of the solemn assembly implies a restraining, or a retaining aspect. Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have interpreted this day as a yearning to prolong the last appointed time of the year by one more day; a longing to remain in God’s presence and the presence of his people before departing the festival days until the following year.
In like respects, man is appointed only one life, the timing and length of which is in God’s hands. Though we may desire to linger just a bit longer with family and friends in our community of faith, there comes a time where the offerings are complete, and rest has come. As the holiday comes at the culmination of the agricultural cycle, it provides hope for a new beginning in God’s presence at the culmination of this life, just like the new crops were to begin being planted after the harvest cycle was completed.
The day of Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Gathering, intimates that believers are to be joined with the Spirit of God in the company of the faithful after the pure offering of a righteous life, providing hope for renewed life in God’s Kingdom and presence for eternity to come.
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Well, it's my sincere hope that these studies on the fall festivals of the biblical calendar have brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.
Thanks for joining me today!
All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Core of the Bible podcast #120: The Biblical Calendar and Yom haShemini, the Eighth Day
Welcome once again to the Core of the Bible podcast. My name is Steve, and I am your host in reviewing the key focal points in the Biblical narrative. As you may know, in recent weeks we have been reviewing the fall festivals of the biblical calendar, as these podcasts are being recorded in that season of the year. Today is the final installment in this series, as we are about to review the last of the fall holidays known simply as the Eighth Day, or Yom haShemini.
The Story
While the other annual appointed days on the biblical calendar have a historical story to go along with their background, such as the Passover event of the Israelites leaving Egypt, or living in Sukkot or Shelters for forty years as a reminder of the wanderings in the wilderness, the Eighth Day is related in the Bible only as a day of consecration, offerings, assembly, and rest. It has been viewed as joined to the seven-day festival of Sukkot, yet distinct from it as a separate appointment day. In Hebrew culture, it is known as Shemini Atzeret, a phrase literally meaning Eighth-Assembly, or gathering. Some relate the word atzeret to another root word for rest, or pause.
During the Second Temple period and the time of Yeshua, this appointment day became filled with traditions surrounding a water ceremony, asking for God’s blessing of rain for the coming year’s crops. Since it comes immediately on the heels of the great harvest festival of Sukkot, these new crops would begin getting planted after the conclusion of this celebration. However, if we look beyond these traditions and do a survey of Bible passages that mention the eighth day, we see that eighth days have thematic and symbolic significance.
In some instances, people, animals, and things are set apart or consecrated for God’s purposes on the eighth day.
In other instances, the eighth day represents a day of cleansing from uncleanness.
We can see from these passages that the eighth day has to do with the following themes and rites:
In these aspects, the Eighth Day therefore becomes representative of cleansing and being set apart for God’s purposes. It is a day of new beginnings, where uncleanness involving blood and death is left behind.
Offerings
We also saw from the passage in Numbers that it is a day of offerings. In our previous review of Sukkot, we noted that there were sacrifices offered each day for the seven days of Sukkot, with the offering of a descending number of bulls each day until it reached seven bulls on the seventh day. This total number of seventy bulls sacrificed has been likened to each of the bulls representing each of the nations of the world besides Israel. However, when we reach the Eighth Day offerings, only one bull is offered for the remaining nation in the world, Israel. We have already viewed how the burnt offering or the offering by fire is representative of total consummation to the will and purpose of God, and this theme of national consecration ties in neatly with the themes of cleansing and being set apart, as already mentioned. It would have been an annual reminder of the unique purpose of Israel in being set apart as the light-bearers to the rest of the seventy nations of the world.
The Great Day In New Testament times
In the time of Yeshua, traditions had arisen in Jerusalem that every night during the week long festival of Sukkot, the priests would draw water from the pool of Siloam and pour it out at the Temple altar the following morning. The festivities each night grew to include lighting huge golden candlesticks seventy-five feet high that could be seen everywhere, along with singing and dancing, rejoicing with the fruit and branches as we saw in our last study. The final water ceremony on Shemini Atzeret was the culmination of the week, where the priests would, in a grand gesture, pour the water out in the sight of all the people while pronouncing a blessing for abundant rains and fruitful crops in the coming season.
Yeshua capitalized on both the thematic nature and the traditional nature of the day when he proclaimed that he was the source of living water, a water that consecrates the believer and leaves death and uncleanness behind.
John 7:2, 37-39 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. … Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.
Belief in Messiah was to be the ultimate consecration and cleansing, a spiritual setting apart that would become the unlimited source of new beginnings and eternal life for every generation.
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The Last Day
We can also see how the Eighth Day is associated with another term: the last day, “the great day of the feast”, as it is the last day at the end of the festival Sukkot. Being the great day, it has great importance among all of the biblical holidays. More significantly, it is the last day of all of the annual appointed times for the year.
Nehemiah 8:18 He [Ezra] read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.
If we carry this last day term forward into the gospels, we find it illuminates yet other several aspects associated with this day: final judgment and new life in resurrection.
John 11:23-27 Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
Mary expressed a belief in an end-of-time type of resurrection; yet Yeshua gently corrects her to say that there was a type of new life that was available already at that time, and was to continue even beyond physical death.
The words that the Father commanded Yeshua to speak were to result in eternal life for those who believed; those who did not believe would be judged by those same words.
While many believe these last day references in John’s gospel speak of a culmination of all history on some prophetic last day of all time, if we follow the patterns of the biblical calendar, these are more likely references to two other aspects of the last day: a foretelling of the final judgment upon the nation of Israel, and a spiritual Shemini Atzeret for each believer in life and death.
A national ending
We have to remember that the Bible is a book written by Hebrew people, for Hebrew people. In their culture, judgment had to do with God’s disfavor, while life had to do with his favor. Yeshua proclaimed that the word which he spoke would judge individuals on the last day. This did come to pass as the nation was judged within that generation, demonstrated by the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Remember, Yeshua had prophesied that judgment would be passed upon that very generation, those who were alive at that time.
Also at that time, life was offered to faithful believers as they were joined with the righteous individuals of the past, to be united in God’s presence in that final assembly of the New Jerusalem forever.
A personal ending
As the last day of the annual appointed times, there are no more; it is the termination of God’s appointed times for the year. The root meaning of the solemn assembly implies a restraining, or a retaining aspect. Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have interpreted this day as a yearning to prolong the last appointed time of the year by one more day; a longing to remain in God’s presence and the presence of his people before departing the festival days until the following year.
In like respects, man is appointed only one life, the timing and length of which is in God’s hands. Though we may desire to linger just a bit longer with family and friends in our community of faith, there comes a time where the offerings are complete, and rest has come. As the holiday comes at the culmination of the agricultural cycle, it provides hope for a new beginning in God’s presence at the culmination of this life, just like the new crops were to begin being planted after the harvest cycle was completed.
Application for today
Eighth Day is the grand conclusion of the fall festivals, but one that is tempered by its depth of meaning for this life and for eternity.
Viewed from this perspective, the Eighth Day takes on many layers of meaning. During this life, the day alludes to the eternal Kingdom of God which can be experienced in this reality, but not fully realized until death. It is just like the Eighth Day which is connected to, but distinct from, the seven days of Sukkot, those seven days representing our temporary dwelling during our life in this Creation. But on the eighth day, at the end of the wilderness journeys of living in sukkot, we take down the sukkah and enter the permanent residence in the new land.
Because it has to do with concepts described in the eighth day passages, the biblical appointed time of Yom haShemini also represents the principles of consecration, cleansing and new beginnings, while the command to remember the day includes aspects of offerings, assembly, and rest.
The day of Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Gathering, intimates that believers are to be joined with the Spirit of God in the company of the faithful after the pure offering of a righteous life, providing hope for renewed life in God’s Kingdom and presence for eternity to come.
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Well, it’s my sincere hope that these studies on the fall festivals of the biblical calendar have brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
If you happen to be listening on YouTube, please leave your thoughts and comments below, and if you like what you're hearing and want to help spread the Core of the Bible message, then please "like" this video, as it will then be recommended to more and more people. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.
Once again, thanks for joining me today! As always, I hope to be invited back into your headphones in another episode to come. Take care!
All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille