A Time for Gladness

Introduction

This morning, we begin in our celebration of what is known as Passion Week. We start with the Triumphal Entry or what we call “Palm Sunday.” What is the significance of this day that we celebrate? Why do some of us mark it on our calendar? Why is there a sermon set aside for this day? My hope for us this morning is that we do not see this day as just ‘another day’ that we celebrate or a day that maybe we have observed for many years. Every Palm Sunday remembrance is wondrous and momentous, because you and I serve a wonderful and monumental God!

With this in mind I ask that you would turn in your Bibles with me to Leviticus 23. I am going to read verses 33-44. We are not going to be able to meticulously go through every single passage individually in great depth, but what I want us to see from this text considering what Palm Sunday signifies is what I have titled this sermon as “A Time for Gladness.” Now, this may seem like an odd title when we think ahead to Easter Sunday next week. When we think of the immense pain and description that Isaiah 53 puts forth for us in how the Son of God, Jesus Christ is beaten and bruised for our sin.

Even though all of this is true, I hope that we will see Palm Sunday through hearts that are full of gladness, for we have many reasons to be glad. In so doing, I want us to be glad in three ways, first, In the Preservation of the Church (vv.35-38), second, In Christ’s Provision (v.40), and third, that it is forever. Let us read Leviticus 23:33-44 starting in verse 33…

1. Gladness in the Preservation of the Church (vv.35-38)

We begin our time in verse 35 after Moses declares that the Feast of Booths is celebrated for seven days to Yahweh (v.34). Since this text details the Feast of Booths, I thought it best to work through the passage and tie in this festival with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as we see in Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, and John 12:12-19 in what we celebrate as Palm Sunday.

The first point I want us to look at is “Gladness in the Preservation of the Church.” Now you may thinking, why are we starting with this subject? Might I ask this question, for whom did Christ come to die for? The church! Remember this verse? “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). What does any of this have to do with our text in Leviticus? Look with me in verse 35. Notice that the text begins with the setting apart of the first day. There are two parts to this day. First, there is “a holy convocation” and second, there is to be no laborious work done.

What is a convocation? The Hebrew defines a convocation as the “calling of the community together; usually for a religious ceremony” (Mounce). There is debate to whether this word can also mean congregation. I simply ask this. What is it that we come together for on the Lord’s Day? Do we come together on any other time of the year quite like we do on the Lord’s Day? Is a Maundy Thursday service or a Sunrise Service, or a Christmas Eve service like our time of worship on the Lord’s Day? The answer is no and that is ok. We see clearly in Leviticus 23 that the people of Israel gathered on the first day of this festival for the sole purpose of worship.

Between verses 35 and 36, Yahweh instructs Moses that this is a holy convocation or a solemn assembly. There is great significance here. We know what it means to be holy. It means to be set apart. The convocation was a set apart time, but the people who attended have specific attributes as well. The people who would have attended this were solemn, they were genuine believers, they were wholeheartedly committed to Yahweh. These were not the half-hearted, self-centered, riot-causing reprobates that existed in Israel. This assembly was solemn and holy, a people of God’s own choosing.

This is true of the church today. Were there people amidst the people of Israel that hated God? Look at the long line of kings who were all wicked or how about the rioters of Exodus 32:1? They were the troublemakers who wanted another god to worship, and what came of that? The tragedy of the Golden Calf. So, yes, there were reprobates in the assembly in Moses’ day and there are reprobates in the church today! Paul warns of the wolves who will come from the Ephesian church in Acts 20:29 and Peter and Jude make mention of them as well.

However, the church consists also of the saints of God. Remember Jesus’ parables about the wheat and tares? The tares must not be plucked out for the wheat will go up with them. That is the church! Brothers, God has preserved His body, the church! There has always been an assembly of people, a remnant of the people of God throughout the history of the world.

There are two particular things that mark the Feast of Booths in Leviticus 23. The first and eighth days are marked as days of rest, as days of worship to Yahweh and the amount of sacrifices that were given during this feast. What we need to take note of is that this feast occurred right after the harvest time as verse 34 states “the fifteenth day of the seventh month”, most likely September, or October according to our calendar. There would have been plenty to offer sacrifices with. The large number of offerings for this festival is in addition to all of the regular offerings that were given throughout the weeks and years. Verse 38 clearly states that the offerings for the Feast of Booths were besides or in addition to the daily offerings. Now, Numbers 29:12-38 give specific detail as to how many sacrifices were to be given on each day of the festival. Verses 13 and 36 also tell us the significance of the first and eighth days. They both say, “you shall bring a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to Yahweh.” Although these days were rest days, clearly there were things to be done. Thus, we understand no laborious work to mean that the people of Israel were to abstain from there typical 9-5.

We come together Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day to offer our worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God as “a soothing aroma.” It does not smell like sacrifices in here, but our worship of God for all the great things He has done is the same. That was the point of the first and eighth days of the Feast and that is the sole purpose of our assembling together this day and every Lord’s Day thereafter. Do you see how God has preserved His people? He has done so in Leviticus 23, and He continues to do so today.

So, we can be glad this morning because we have a long lineage of believers in Christ that God has preserved and if He so chooses, there will be a long lineage of those after us whom He too will preserve.

2. Gladness in Christ’s Provision (v.40)

We turn our attention to verse 40 and with our second point, “Gladness in Christ’s Provision.” You will notice upon reading the verse that there is no specific reference to Christ. His name is not used. You will also notice the reference to palms as a means to make a booth out of.

I want us to see some parallels on the topic of humility. After all, Christ came to earth and lived a life full of humiliation. He who is very God, became man. Where do we see humility here? Well to begin, the people of Israel lived in a better dwelling than a booth. What was a booth? In simple words, it was more like a tree hut. Notice the mentioning of trees and branches that were to be picked up to make the booths. The very basic of materials to make a dwelling place is where the people of Israel were to live for an entire week. Oh, and you can forget the air mattress! They slept on the ground. The point of all this was to bring them to place of humility. To remember what God had done for them coming out of the land of Egypt and living in the wilderness for 40 years.

Could you imagine having to do this? Leaving the comforts of our own homes to gather various tree branches and live in a place with no running water? You would have to walk to the nearest brook, or stream to get water, heat it up, and that was normal for them! On top of all that, you are then commanded to leave the dwelling in which you live comfortably and live under a bunch of branches for a week and offer up hundreds of sacrifices. Pretty humbling, isn’t it?

One might say, but isn’t making booths laborious work? It was hard work, I am sure, but it was not the normal vocation that they did week after week. Nehemiah 8:15 implies the work was not easy when Ezra commands, “Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.” This was not sowing and reaping of crops or making clothing or more sturdy dwelling places, or making weapons for war if needed. The work that was done here was for the specific purpose of fulfilling the command of Yahweh as it was given to Moses in Leviticus 23:34.

After all of this, they were told to do this with gladness, not in a trite and bitter manner. They were to set the booths up in gladness to remember what God had done for them and for what He was doing, and for what He was going to do. God had been faithful to Israel even through Israel’s apostasy and wickedness. He had not cast them off and He had not done away with them. God expressed His mercy and compassion upon them therefore, Israel had every right to do celebrate this feast with gladness.

But this point is supposed to be about having gladness in the provision of Christ. It is, and I hope that you see the parallelism between this text and our Lord who came on a donkey to begin what we call Passion Week.

Leviticus is clear that God had provided for His people throughout history. The coming of the Messiah is the means in which God has provided salvation for His people. The shed blood of Christ is attributed to every single believer. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 reminds us “that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” All those who are in Christ are saved by the shed blood of Christ. This is what this verse is telling us.

Today we have every reason to be glad in Christ. Be encouraged! “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). This is a clear indication where we see that Jesus Christ far exceeds any king. Jehu in 2 Kings 9:13 was hailed king with a loud shout and people laid their garments down in front of him. Turn to Mark 11. I am going to read verses 8-10. Notice the parallels to our text in Leviticus. Mark 11:8-10… Did you notice the parallels? The garments that were laid out emulated Jehu in 2 Kings 9:13, the leafy branches that were laid down that came from the fields, and the gladness that is expressed in verses 9 and 10. Even the smallest detail is mentioned with having to go out into the fields to cut the leafy branches to lay before the feet of Jesus. How about the proclamation? Do verses 9 and 10 look somber or melancholic? Of course, they do not! Verse 9 says that the people were shouting! How much greater that day in Revelation 7:9-10 where the multitude will shout the praises of God and Christ!

Turn back with me to Leviticus 23 and look with me once more at verse 40. With the Mark 11 passage in mind, it is all the more clearer to see the similarities between the two. Christian, be glad today! For the Triumphal Entry of Christ signifies the week to come where we celebrate Maundy Thursday, the day in which we celebrate the institution of the Lord’s Supper and ultimately rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection, Lord willing, a week from today.

Brothers, why is the Old Testament relevant for us today? Because even in a passage like this we see how we are pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who shed His blood for you and me, that we might have life and have life abundantly.

3. Gladness is forever (vv.41-43)

Thirdly, I want us to see that this gladness endures forever. I want us to focus our attention on verses 41-43. Let me read them once more… There are two words that I want us to focus on and they are perpetual in verse 41 and generations in verses 41 and 43.

Why are we going to focus on these two words? Simply because, these two words connote the idea that the gladness held in the feast was not to be forgotten after a few generations, but that many generations would remember with gladness the freedom from Egyptian bondage and the provision in the wilderness. This was never to be forgotten and that is why we have it in our Bibles so that we, too, never forget the promises of God throughout history.

Look with me at verse 41. Do you see the rigidity of this feast? You will see that there is a specific duration of time and month in which it is to be celebrated in year after year. In the same way, shouldn’t it be true of us to remember and celebrate year after year what Christ has done for us? Is it not a celebration on our parts for the humility that Christ took on coming into Jerusalem on a donkey, while any other king would have come in on the most noblest of stallions? But this is what Christ did so that He could fulfill every promise and live a perfect life that you and I could not live so that He could be the Atonement for sinners!

The word perpetual means “an indeterminate and unending time going on into the future” (BSL). This helps us with the eternal implications of this text. This is why up until this point; I have been building the case that Christ fulfills the Old Testament law and prophecies. See, in this text it is clear that Christ is the One in whom our trust is put in, in the same way that Old Testament Israel put their trust in God the Father. The Trinity is not dysfunctional, the Trinity works to glorify Jesus Christ!

Let me show you the eternality of this and how it connects together. In order to do so, we must read Zechariah 14. Turn there with me. I am going to read verses 16-21. What I want you to notice is the eternal significance of the Feast of Booths. Zechariah 14:16-21, starting in verse 16…Where do we see the eternal significance? Notice in verse 16 where it says, “any who are left.” Who are the “any?” Danny Akin rightly states that the “any” are “the survivors who did not die at the Battle of Armageddon” and “who did not engage in the attack” against Jerusalem at the coming of Christ.

Further, verses 20 and 21 tell us about our eternal state with Christ forever. Verse 21 says “And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts.” Brothers, this is you and me! No, we are not a physical pot, but we are those who are declared holy because of Christ’s atoning work.

Is it clear to you to see the eternality of our gladness? Brothers, the weight of Christ’s coming on the first day of the Feast of Booths on a donkey as the gospel writers say has eternal significance. Therefore, the Palm Sunday we celebrate has eternal significance as well. Come back to Leviticus 23 with me.

The second word I want us to spend a short time on is generations. Verse 43 brings the nation of Israel’s personal deliverance from Egypt into focus. Verses 42 and 43 confirm the reason for living in booths as we have seen throughout the entirety of this text and that is to remember the work of God on their behalf. What I have found interesting is that the word generations apply to Israel in that God wanted His people, Israel, to celebrate in remembrance.

It is also a benefit for you and me to look back on as well. Although we are not Israelites by birth, we are children of God. We are a continuing generation of the people of God. We are those of whom Jeremiah 31:31-34 speak of… This can only be said of us because Jesus Christ came to earth to initiate this New Covenant which we see in His life, even in Him coming to Jerusalem as the prophesied king to the shouts of praise.

Conclusion

My hope this morning is that we have seen that in this life we have reasons to be glad. In the hardest and most difficult moments there is reason to be glad. Why? Because we believe in a Sovereign God who knows all things. We know that God is watching over His church and doing a great work in her.

We can be glad because everything that we need has been provided for us in the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him fulfilling the law and prophets of Old and His coming to earth, there would be no reason to have any gladness or joy. Our lives would be the same as those who live in their sin. There would be great despair. But praise be to God, for just at the right and perfect time, He sent Jesus Christ to this earth to fulfill what was spoken of in multiple passages including the smallest of details like riding on the foal of a beast of burden as Zechariah 9:9 states. You and I can be glad this morning because Christ has done everything for our salvation. There is no need to despair.

Finally, we can be glad because the work of Christ did not stop on planet earth. Again, as Zechariah noted for us earlier, this celebration is going to continue throughout all eternity. And as we had read for us in Revelation 7:9-10, there will be a multitude which cannot be counted who will eternally praise the Lamb of God. Brothers, that is where you and I will be! Among the multitude shouting with a loud shout “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Let’s pray.

Benediction

Brothers, may we be the people of God who show gladness for “we that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Amen.