Will Sukkot 2016 be like no other?

It seems that the nations are prophetically prompted like never before to attend the biblical feast of Sukkot. This year a new dimension came into play.

An article written by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz under the caption “Hundreds of African Kings, Many Claiming Jewish Ancestry, Will Gather to Praise God at Kotel” caught my attention. It seems to be perfectly in line with Psalms 68:32 (The Israel Bible and Complete Jewish Bible): “Nobles shall come out of Mitzrayim; Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out her hands unto God.”

Berkowitz wrote: “One of the more remarkable incarnations of the prophesied ingathering of the exiles is the discovery of Jewish roots in African tribes. The king of Togo, a country in West Africa, plans to strengthen that Messianic vision by bringing hundreds of African kings to the Western Wall in Jerusalem this Sukkot (Festival of Booths).

Here is some more background information on the king of Togo to highlight this remarkable story:

King Ayi was crowned in 1994 as king of the Ayigbe people of the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin. The seat of the Kingdom was in Togo, although most historians confirm it started in Accra, Ghana. He presently lives in exile in the US. In 2002, at the second World Conference of the Counsel of Chiefs and Kings of Africa, King Ayi was crowned by his peers as head of the Organization of Kings and Queens of Africa, in the Republic of Benin.

At the following conference in 2005, he announced his desire to bring all 350 African kings to Israel, to recite the `Shema`, the Jewish declaration of faith, at the Kotel (the Western Wall in Jerusalem). His announcement was received with overwhelming enthusiasm.

“At least half of the kings who are coming have a tradition that they are Jewish,” King Ayi said. “Some of the kings, though, are Muslim imams. Even they wanted to come.

It has taken 11 years and many trips back and forth, but King Ayi’s vision is finally coming to fruition. The ceremony will take place in Jerusalem during Sukkot in October (2016) and has been organized in conjunction with the Israeli Religious Affairs Ministry, headed by MK David Azulai.

The gathering is auspiciously timed, since the holiday of Sukkot has a strong multi-national element. The Talmud (Sukkah 55b) teaches, Rabbi Eliezer said: “Why are 70 offerings brought on Sukkot? For the (merit of the) 70 nations of the world.” This is based on the prophecy in Zechariah 14:16.

We live in remarkable times.