Teaching Your Children About God’s Appointed Times | Sukkot

Teaching your children about Sukkot can be challenging, especially if you don’t know where to start. The Feast of Sukkot is about honoring and remembering the Lord’s provision and faithfulness to His Word. Sukkot is a divinely inspired time to teach the next generation about God’s covenant-keeping character. 

Teaching your children about Sukkot and the covenant-keeping God we worship may feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. Jesus says, “Let the little children come to Me,” and He praised His Father in the gospels for revealing deep truths to little children (Matthew 19:14, Matthew 11:25). 

God delights in revealing His heart and truth to a child! By having a framework and a desire to honor God and His ways, you can trust the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of your children, releasing understanding and blessing!

Start by…

• Asking the Lord to breakdown any barriers that block the consumption of His Word
• Praying for your children to have an open heart and mind to what the Lord has for them
• Declaring God’s blessings of protection over your home and family

When teaching your children about Sukkot, praise the Lord for the protection and provision He will release in and through your home during this appointed time. Thank Him for using you to reveal that He is a God who cannot lie and is trustworthy in all circumstances. 

Why Teaching Your Children About Sukkot is Important

Teaching your children about Sukkot helps them better understand the covenant relationship God desires with them. It teaches them about His faithfulness. 

With the amount of distrust troubling the minds of so many, children need to know the Lord is trustworthy. They need to experience His provision and protection. 

Teaching your children about Sukkot shifts their thoughts from fear and unbelief to confidence and assurance. 

Here are a few benefits of teaching your children about Sukkot… 

• Confidence

Every child needs to feel confident. However, they need to understand the difference between Kingdom confidence and “self” confidence. One focuses on God’s ability, and the other is pride, a Hellenistic way of thinking. When they understand their confidence is from the Lord, they will be equipped to receive above and beyond what they could ask. This confidence ties them to their identity as a King’s kid, knowing they can boldly approach the throne in their time of need. 

• Covenant

Everything a Believer has access to is because of a covenant relationship with the Father made possible through the blood of Jesus. If your children do not understand the fundamental principle of covenant, they won’t know the inheritance and family they’ve been grafted into. Sukkot is a time to help your children see that God always comes through on His covenant promises. He did this for Israel, and He does this for Believers too!

• Dwelling

Because of Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. During Sukkot, we can remember that the Lord dwells with and in us, reflecting on how He instructed the Israelites to build dwellings, or sukkahs, in the desert. The sukkahs are a picture of God providing for and protecting us. He wants your children to experience the reality of His indwelling Spirit, too.

• Provision

As mentioned, the Lord longs to be and dwell with us. During Sukkot, teach your children that dwelling and walking in His presence releases His supernatural provision and protection. It is under the protection of His wing that they will find refuge. 

• Honor

The Feast of Sukkot is one of the three yearly pilgrim feasts when God instructed the Israelites to journey to the Temple, worshiping and honoring Him. Teaching your children about Sukkot opens the door for them to honor the Lord according to His Word, commemorating and remembering His provision and protection in the desert. 

5 Tips for Teaching Your Children About Sukkot

1. Read a book. Reading a book to your children not only fosters your relationship with them, but it also grows their minds. Teaching your children about Sukkot by reading a book that explains why the feast is an appointed time and how to celebrate it connects them to the roots of their faith. 

2. Build a sukkah. Building a sukkah is a traditional way to observe and celebrate Sukkot. Teaching your children about Sukkot by building a sukkah connects them to the act of renewing their covenant with the Lord. Gather in the sukkah as a family and renew your covenants with each other.

3. Have a meal. Mealtime is a blessing. Whether during the Sabbath or a yearly Feast of the Lord, the time is designed by God to demonstrate abundance, blessing, provision, and covenant. While you don’t have to share a meal in the sukkah, teaching your children about Sukkot by sharing a meal in the structure makes it a full experience they will never forget. 

4. Give an offering. Another way to honor the Lord and remember His provision is to give an offering. Sowing into spiritually rich soil during appointed times provides a return of a hundred, sixty, or thirtyfold. When teaching your children about Sukkot by giving an offering, you are also teaching them biblical finance principles. 

5. Do a craft. Kids love crafts. They help children better retain and understand the concept that are being taught. A fun craft you can do with your children during Sukkot is to make a candy sukkah. Much like a gingerbread house, a candy sukkah allows your children to have fun building a structure out of candy, frosting, and graham crackers. Get this craft and more here.  

Getting the whole family involved in teaching your children about Sukkot brings the reality of God’s provision and protection to your children. They need to know, feel, and see what God has for them. They need to believe that His ways are always best and His covenant promises are everlasting. 

7 Scriptures on Sukkot 

Here are scriptures that you and your family can read, discuss, and pray to help your kids better understand this appointed time. 

1. “For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.”—Proverbs 3:26
2. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”—Psalm 23:6
3. “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.”—Proverbs 3:9-10
4. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”—Psalm 84:11
5. “Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.”—Ezekiel 36:28
6. “‘God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?’”—Numbers 23:19
7. “‘You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’”—Leviticus 23:41-43

Takeaway

Teaching your children about Sukkot opens the door for them to experience the reality of God’s abundance and provision. They can know, feel, and see His goodness and wing of protection as they grow in their faith. 

Observing and honoring this appointed time as a family allows you to renew your covenant with God and each other, positioning you and your home ready to receive all God has for you in the coming year. 

Teaching your children about Sukkot doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a few tools and a heart that desires to bless the next generation, connecting them to the roots of their faith, you are set up for success as your family grows in the Lord!