Numbers 28-29

CHAPTER 28:
         Following the pattern of updates or reviews of current law after an incident of national disobedience and judgment by God (refer back to the table in chapter 26), chapters 28 and 29 are God’s instructions to Moses regarding the burnt offerings and sacrifices. Chapter 28 is arranged thusly: the daily burnt offerings (v.2-8), the weekly Sabbath offering (9-10), the monthly offerings (11-15), and the annual offerings arranged in chronological sequence (v.16 – 29:38). The primary purpose of these instructions are to remind the new generation that is preparing to enter the promised land of their covenantal obligations once they have conquered and settled in the land. This is also a reminder of how their fathers failed the Lord by not obeying His commandments, part of which includes the sacrificial system of burnt offerings.
 
            Verses 1-8: The daily offerings were first covered in Exodus 29:38-42 and Leviticus 1-7. These are for the atonement of daily sins, a reminder to every Israelite of their constant uncleanness before God and their need of regular, consistent atonement. All of us are sinners, even after salvation, for we must continue to live in our fallen, wicked flesh until we receive our new, uncorrupted bodies, either in death in this life or immediately following the second coming of Christ. This means that we sin every day, and before the death of Christ at Calvary the only way to atone for sin was the daily burnt offering, once in the morning and once in the evening, of “…two lambs of the first year without spot…”. (v.3)
 
            Verses 9-10: The Sabbath day required the daily burnt offerings as well as an additional meat offering and burnt offering of two more lambs of the first year without blemish or spot.
 
            Verses 11-15: The first day of each month, which is also the new moon in the Jewish calendar, requires burnt, grain and drink offerings, as well as a sin offering of a male goat. (1 Samuel 20:5, 1 Chronicles 23:31, 2 Chronicles 2:4, Ezra 3:5, Nehemiah 10:33) The first day of the month is also one of the occasions for which God commanded the blowing of trumpets. (Numbers 10:10)
 
       Verses 16-25: Further instructions regarding the Feast of Unleavened Bread are given here. (Leviticus 23:6) This feast follows the day of Passover, which is the fourteenth day of the first month, and lasts for seven days. (Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 9:2, Deuteronomy 16:1, Ezekiel 45:21) The first and seventh days are to be treated as sabbaths (v.18, 25), with an assembly by the whole congregation on both days. In addition to the usual daily offerings, the ones described in these verses are also to be done on each day of the feast, a combination of burnt, meat, drink, and sin offerings. (v.23)
 
            Verses 26-31: These verses pertain to the Feast of Weeks, a.k.a. firstfruits. (Exodus 23:16, 34:22, Leviticus 23:10, Deuteronomy 16:9, Acts 2:1) This is the festival that is held in the summer months, starting at the end of the barley harvest but before the beginning of the wheat harvest. As with the other sacrifices described in this chapter, the burnt, meat, and sin offerings on this day are in addition to the other daily offerings. This day is also a sabbath requiring an assembly of the people. (v.26)

CHAPTER 29:
          Verses 1-6: Throughout scripture, the number seven is a holy number, and this is especially seen here in the OT in the Mosaic Law. These verses are a review of the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24-25), which takes place on the first day of the seventh month, which is named Tishri in the Jewish calendar. (In the modern calendar this is somewhere around September/October.) The trumpets are blown on this day to call the people to “…an holy convocation…” (v.1), referring to an assembly of the whole congregation. As with all the other festival days, this day is to be a sabbath where no work is done except that which is necessary to gather the people together and prepare the feast. And, same as the other holidays described in chapter 28, this day is also to have a burnt, meat, and sin offering in addition to the other daily offerings. (v.6) Notice, also, that each of these special sacrifices and offerings requires either seven or fourteen lambs of the first year.
 
            Verses 7-11: This is referencing the Day of Atonement, the one day every year when the high priest was allowed to enter the holy of holies within the tabernacle to atone for the sins of the nation. (Leviticus 16:29-30, 23:27-28) As with the first day of this month, there is an additional burnt, meat, and sin offering required, and this day is a sabbath with a national assembly required as well. The phrase “…ye shall afflict your souls…” appears again in this passage, just as it did in the original command from Leviticus. (Psalm 35:13, Isaiah 58:5) This day is to be a special one for all the people, a time set aside to reflect on their sins and to humbly seek God’s face by atoning with the proper offerings and sacrifices. To afflict one’s soul is to contemplate our wretched state before a holy and righteous God, and to earnestly seek His mercy and forgiveness. That is the whole purpose behind this special day.
 
        Verses 12-38: The last feast to be reviewed is the Feast of Booths. This begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and lasts for a total of eight days. (v. 12, 35) This, too, was first described in Leviticus 23:39-43, and it commemorates the time immediately following the exodus from Egypt when the Israelites dwelt in temporary shelters in the wilderness. On each day there’s a specific number of bullocks, rams, lambs, and one goat kid to be sacrificed along with a daily meat offering. The ingredients of the meat offering are split up between the bulls, rams, and lambs as part of their individual offerings, same as with all the other blood sacrifices described in this chapter and the previous one. On each day there is one less bull to sacrifice, and the eighth day is a sabbath with a holy assembly of all the nation, same as the previous festivals. (Leviticus 23:36)
 
            Verses 39-40: This chapter closes with a reminder from the LORD that these appointed feasts and their respective sacrifices and offerings are not optional for the children of Israel. There is also an exhortation to bring the other voluntary offerings throughout the year as well. These are listed once more in verse 39: the votive, freewill, meat, drink, burnt, and peace offerings. (Leviticus 7:16, 22:18, 21, 23, 23:38) Moses faithfully relays all these commands to the children of Israel.