“And you shall rejoice (samah – be glad, delight in, be joyful, be merry) before the LORD your God seven days.” Lev. 23:40. You have in this chapter the seven feasts of YeHoVaH that the Jewish People were commanded to continually celebrate every year at their appointed times. There were five offerings, ‘The Burnt, The Meal, The Peace, The Sin, and The Trespass.’ Then you have seven feasts as seen in this chapter, three in the spring fulfilled by Christ; 1 – The Passover, v.4-5 which speaks of the substitutionary death of, ‘The Lamb of God.’ Christ died on Passover, at the exact time of the offering of the Passover Lamb, 3:00 PM. That’s when He said, “Father into Your hands I commend My spirit and He gave up the ghost.” Luke 23:46. 2 – Unleavened Bread, v. 6-8 which speaks of the holy walk of the believer I Cor. 5:6-8. Christ had to be in the ground before sundown on the 14th of Nisan to fulfill this feast, He is our unleavened bread, John 6. 3 – First Fruits, v.9-14 which speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of all believers, I Cor. 15:20-23. Christ arose on the day of First Fruits, very early in the morning before the sun was up. The next feast was in early summer, fifty days after Passover called; 4 – Pentecost, v.15-22 and this speaks of the descent of the Holy Spirit after Christ’s ascension and His seating at the right hand of the Father in heaven, Acts 2:33. Then came the summer harvest and the three fall feasts which Christ will yet fulfill; 5 – Trumpets, v.23-25, this will be fulfilled at His second advent when He comes for His bride, the church and raptures her out of here before the tribulation starts; 6 – Day of Atonement, v.26-32, or the ‘Time of Jacob’s Trouble,’ Jacob being another name for Israel, Jer. 30:7; Rev. 7:14; 7 – Tabernacles, v. 33-44, when Christ will come and tabernacle with His people and set up His millennial kingdom and reign for 1,000 years, Rev. 20:2, 3, 4, 5, 6. This last feast, the ‘Feast of Tabernacles’ was to be celebrated for 8 days.

The first day was to be a holy sabbath and the last day was to be a holy sabbath. In Gen. 2:3 it says, “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Now obviously God was not tired and did not need a nap or a 5-hour energy drink, neither does rest imply cessation of activity. If you read Gen. 1 & 2 you will see that God completed His work in heaven and earth on the sixth day Gen. 2:31. But then something interesting happens in Gen. 3:1-2, it says, “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made and He rested on the seventh day…” So when did He complete or finish all of His work, on the sixth day or really on the seventh day? If it was on the seventh day, what did He create that was not a part of the heavens and the earth, but wrapped a bow around it so the package was finished and gave it to mankind to enjoy every week? (The Sabbath) It is suggested by many Jewish commentators that God created rest (menuha) on the seventh day. The Hebrew word for rest (menuha) is better translated joyous repose, tranquility, or delight. “To the Biblical mind (menuha) is the same as happiness and stillness, as peace and harmony.” God didn’t rest in the sense of taking a nap or chilling out. No, instead He celebrated and delighted in His creation. He entered into the joy of His creation and set it free to be connected to you and me.

Now keep that thought in mind as you enter into these feasts, you can’t celebrate a feast with YeHoVaH without, “Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Worship, Praise and Prayer.” Now in v.40 they were to take, “the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook and you shall rejoice before the LORD their God seven days.”  They were to make booths with the branches and dwell in them for seven days, Neh. 8:15ff. Sounds like Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Matt. 21:1-11. Deut. 16:14-15 speaks of this feast and says that the LORD will bless them in all their produce and work of their hands so that they will rejoice! In Luke 19:37, it says that all the multitude of disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen. It sounds like the fulfillment of this.

The key here is to rejoice before the LORD, that’s why this blog is called, “The Prayer of Rejoicing!”  The Hebrew word for rejoice is (samah) as I said and means to brighten up, to be gleeful, to be joyful, merry, happy, glad. Most Christians today are walking around with a puss on so low they can suck marbles out of a gopher hole without even bending over. Come on, it’s not really that bad, if you are reading this, then you can afford a computer or a cell phone and you are not desperate or destitute yet! Read the book of Psalms, it is filled with the word, ‘REJOICE!’ Ps. 5:11, “Rejoice, shout for joy!” Ps. 13:5, “Rejoice in thy salvation!” Ps. 33:1, “Rejoice in the LORD!” In fact just keep reading the Psalms until you take your eyes off of yourself and put them on God, then you will rejoice.

The word rejoice has the the meaning of praise woven right into it. How do you shout for joy and leap for joy to your God and not praise Him? I don’t know, third base! Since prayer is simply talking to God then praise must be a form of prayer, Amen? In fact it is one of the highest forms of prayer known to men and angels. When we come asking for nothing but offering the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, Heb. 13:15, there is no higher form of prayer. (nada!) What did the people do the day Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey? They laid palm branches on the road and shouted and leaped for joy and rejoiced yelling, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Matt. 21:9. The whole multitude began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen. Jesus said if His followers were to keep silent, “The very stones would immediately cry out.” I have one of those.  Praise to our God is an innate law built into His very creation, it is natural, it is exhilarating, it is desired by Him. In fact He inhabits the praises of His people. Webster says to rejoice is to experience joy and gladness to a high degree, to be exhilarated with lively and pleasurable sensations, to exult, to be full of joy. Do you pray like that? Why not? Listen to Psalm 68:3, “Let the righteous be glad, let them rejoice before God, yea, let them exceedingly rejoice!” What a beautiful thought, to rejoice before the LORD, to shout for joy, to leap for joy. Oh to have that child like faith, love and excitement once again. Do it again Lord, do it again! Till next time, we will see you, “…Between The Lines…”

“The Prayer of Rejoicing” – Lev. 23:40 – 1/15/13