Numbers 28:1

The Bible says in Numbers 28:1-6, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[2] Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.[3] And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.[4] The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even;[5] And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil.[6] It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.” Notice the word “my” when God spoke to Moses in verse two: “My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices.” Everything belongs to God. Therefore, anything that we have we owe to God. That means not only our material possessions, but also our abilities and our opportunities. From a human standpoint the Israelites were giving to the priests and to the tabernacle. In other words they were giving to organized religion. There is at all times at least one valid organized religion. In the Old Testament the Jewish religion was established by God. God gave the rules and commandments and organizational requirements for the Jewish religion. You can look at the Jewish religion and ask the question: where did it come from? It came from God. You also have the Christian church that is an organized religion that was established by the commandments and teachings of Jesus. Where did the Christian church come from? It came from God. How do you give to God? You give to God by giving with your heart, but you also give to Him by giving to the organized religion that He had established. There is a practical side to true religion as well as a spiritual side. Electric bills and insurance bills must be paid. Preachers and pastors have bills too. How much should you give? The answer is found in Second Corinthians 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

The children of Israel had failed the Lord while they were in the wilderness. That is why none of them were allowed to go into the Promised Land except for Joshua and Caleb. But no matter how much we fail the Lord, He always provides for forgiveness. That is why He told them in verse three about “a continual burnt offering.” We have something even better than “a continual burnt offering.” We have the death of Christ on our behalf. That is why the Lord will always forgive us no matter how often we fail. The blood of Christ covers every sin. The mercy of God is everlasting. Grace is greater than all our sin.

The Bible says in Numbers 28:7-15, “And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering.[8] And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.[9] And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof:[10] This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.[11] And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot;[12] And three tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one ram;[13] And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meat offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.[14] And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.[15] And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the LORD shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.” There were so many offerings required in the law that it is difficult to keep track of all of them. That is a lot of blood: sacrifices daily, sacrifices every Sabbath Day, sacrifices at the beginning of each month, and sacrifices on all of the feast days throughout the year. All of these many sacrifices reminded the Israelites that they were great sinners and constantly needed a substitute because of sin. All of these many sacrifices remind everyone who reads the Bible that the sacrifices were not enough. We needed the death of Christ and the blood of Christ. His death was once for all. What a better sacrifice was the Lord Jesus!

The Bible says in Numbers 28:16-25, “And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.[17] And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.[18] In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:[19] But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish:[20] And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram;[21] A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs:[22] And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.[23] Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.[24] After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.[25] And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.” First the Passover, and that was followed by the week’s observance of Unleavened Bread. The Passover symbolized Jesus dying for us so that the judgment will not fall upon us. The unleavened bread symbolized living a holy life and removing the sin. After a person believes in Christ, they are called to improve their lives by following Jesus, reading the Bible, going to church services to be with other Christians and hearing the teaching of the Word, and learning to have a life of prayer and faith. Notice that after the Passover, there still was a requirement for many sacrifices. No matter how determined you are to follow Jesus, you still will need daily confession and forgiveness. But because we live under the New Testament (the new covenant in His blood), we do not need more sacrifices. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ provides all the sacrifice that we need.

Many of these sacrifices were burnt up. Concerning the smoke that went up towards heaven, it says in verse twenty-four, “a sweet savour unto the LORD.” When we trust in Christ and His sacrifice for us, God is well-pleased. God’s plan for eternity is based upon the Lord Jesus and Jesus’ death for us. When you get with God’s plan and accept Christ, you have pleased the Lord indeed. Jesus said in Luke 15:7, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

At the end of verse twenty-five after all the sacrifices for sin mentioned in this passage, God says, “ye shall do no servile work.” This symbolizes the fact that someone else paid the price for sin, and there is nothing else that they can do to earn salvation. They must rest completely in the finished work of Christ.

The Bible says in Numbers 28:26-31, “Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the LORD, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:[27] But ye shall offer the burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the first year;[28] And their meat offering of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto one bullock, two tenth deals unto one ram,[29] A several tenth deal unto one lamb, throughout the seven lambs;[30] And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you.[31] Ye shall offer them beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, (they shall be unto you without blemish) and their drink offerings.” The “firstfruits” is easy to understand because the word is self-descriptive. At the beginning of the harvest, the Lord asked the Israelites to give to Him. A person would do this if they really wanted to demonstrate that they were thankful for the initial part of the harvest that God had given, and they wanted to show their faith that the Lord would give even more at the harvest progressed. Fifty days later the harvest culminated with the Day of Pentecost. “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word for “fifty.” Jesus is our “firstfruits.” Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Because of His grace and because we put our faith in Him, we will follow in His footsteps. The Lord will supply the need that we have to live forever. There were many sacrifices for this feast also: thus we have the symbolism once more that we obtain the benefits of the firstfruits and all the other fruits because of what Jesus accomplished by His sacrifice for us.

The Bible says in Numbers 29:1-11, “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.[2] And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish:[3] And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram,[4] And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs:[5] And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you:[6] Beside the burnt offering of the month, and his meat offering, and the daily burnt offering, and his meat offering, and their drink offerings, according unto their manner, for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.[7] And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein:[8] But ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD for a sweet savour; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year; they shall be unto you without blemish:[9] And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals to a bullock, and two tenth deals to one ram,[10] A several tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs:[11] One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.” This is the day of atonement: another great feast day given to the Israelites to remind them of the need to have an atonement for sin. We are sinners, and God is holy. That is a problem for us, and that is an issue for God to overcome for us. God must punish sin, but He does not want to punish us. Therefore, there is a need for a substitute to satisfy the righteous demand of God to punish sin. That was the reason for the Day of Atonement. Repent of you sins and accept God’s sacrifice. Jesus is our sacrifice. Jesus atoned for the sins of the world. Jesus made the final and complete fulfillment of satisfying the righteous demand of God to punish sin. Jesus became sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

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