Old Testament...check

So it's taken about two years, but I've finally acheived my goal of reading the entire Old Testament. Yep, I even read the Song of Solomon which has been called biblical smut. It was actually a short book and had some interesting phrases that can be used in corny poetry like, "Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead." A flock of goats eh? There were some disturbing stories that I don't want to go into detail, and others were inspiring stories I haden't really heard of before. As in, I might have heard about them in early morning seminary, but they couldn't penetrate my brain at that hour of the morning. One story was when Israel was passing over the Jordan River to enter the promised land. Joshua performed a miracle like Moses had, and he parted the river for them to cross over. I learned about important holy days for Israel like the passover, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles. I heard the detail that went into King Solomon's ornate temple. There were lots of stone pomagrantes and palm trees for decoration. I realized that even though David made one huge mistake, he lived the majority of his life humbly and obediently. He also made one of his wives embarassed by dancing through the streets. Later in Israel's history there were many prophets prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem. Finally Jersualem is destroyed, and the people are STILL stubborn and don't follow what the prophets say. There were a lot of prophesies from the prophets later in the Old Testament that I'd heard of, but never read myself before. One of the last prophecies I read that has stuck in my mind lately is by Zechariah. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Taking the prophecy completely literally I was kind of confused. I looked up a explanation about the Feast of Tabernacles, it celebrates an abundant harvest at the end of fall. It's supposed to be the most joyous of the feasts. The tradition is that families go into the wilderness and live in tent like structures to remember the journey of the Children of Isreal in the wilderness. Living away from the comforts of home is supposed to help them remember the blessings God has given them, and teach them they must rely on God. So taking Zecharaiah's prophecy literally I was thinking we would have to travel to a middle-eastern wilderness and camp out with our families each year. Obviously that's unrealistic. A modern-day Feast of Tabernacles I've experienced is Trek. Pulling handcarts in the sun for miles during the day, and sleeping under the stars at night really made me appreciate things like a soft, comfy car seat and any food that doesn't invlove cracked wheat. It also helped me appreciate God's creations and learn to rely on Him more. So maybe that will count...except I don't do it every year. I did go camping twice this year though. So I'm glad I made it through the Old Testament, and I learned a lot from it. God really is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I think I will have to read it many more times to feel like I actually understand it. But for now I need a break.