Christians throng to Jerusalem for Tabernacles

5,000 Christians from over 80 nations descended upon Jerusalem for the annual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in September.

By EMANUEL MFOUKOU
Tabernacles 311 (photo credit: Matthias Guggisberg (ICE))
Tabernacles 311
(photo credit: Matthias Guggisberg (ICE))
Some 5,000 Christians from over 80 nations took part in the annual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem in September – an annual event sponsored by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.
The Feast broke new ground this year, as the gathering under the theme “Jerusalem, a Praise in the Earth” was broadcast live and by Web streaming each day to tens of thousands of homes worldwide.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended a warm welcome to the thousands of Feast pilgrims who had ‘ascended’ to Jerusalem for the week-long festivities.
“Year after year you come from over 100 countries to march through the streets of Jerusalem; and in doing so you remind the people of Israel that we are not alone. You remind us that there are people around the world who recognize that in returning to Zion, the Jewish people have returned home,” Netanyahu said in a video greeting.
As Netanyahu addressed the opening night gathering, it was being beamed live around the world by the Norwegian Christian television channel Visjon Norge, which was also live streaming the program via several Internet sites.
Israel’s Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov was also on hand to welcome the pilgrims. “Every year the Christian Embassy outdoes itself,” he said.
The ICEJ also marked its 30th anniversary of ministry during an Open House reception at its world headquarters, with Israeli cabinet minister Benny Begin attending as a guest of honor.
“Your help, your assistance, your support is invaluable to us, and especially now,” said Begin. “So as we stand here together today, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the activities of the International Christian Embassy here in Jerusalem, on behalf of the government of Israel, I thank you for a wonderful service directly to us.”
His father, the late prime minister Menachem Begin, had provided key backing when the Christian Embassy was founded during the first public Christian celebration of the Feast in September 1980. At that time, the last remaining 13 national embassies had just left the city for Tel Aviv in protest of the Knesset’s passage of the “Jerusalem Law.” In response, some 1,000 pilgrims from 40 nations decided to open a Christian Embassy in Jerusalem as an act of solidarity with the 3,000-year old Jewish capital.