Worship on the Far Side of Jordan Text: Numbers 15:1-13
Introduction: The Grammar of Gratitude
We find ourselves in the book of Numbers, a book that chronicles a great deal of failure. Israel is in the wilderness, wandering, and the reason they are wandering is unbelief. They stood on the threshold of the Promised Land, heard the report of the spies, and their hearts melted. They chose the fear of giants over the promise of God. And so, God turned them back into the desert for forty years, until that entire generation of unbelievers had fallen away. It is a grim and somber business.
And it is right in the middle of this context, this season of judgment and delay, that God gives Moses these instructions. Notice the very first thing He says: "When you enter the land..." This is a staggering statement of grace. They have just rebelled. They have just been sentenced to four decades of wilderness death. And God's response is to give them instructions for what they are to do when He, despite their failure, fulfills His promise anyway. He is already talking about life on the other side of the judgment. This is the gospel in the heart of the Torah. God's grace is not derailed by our sin. His purposes are not thwarted by our rebellion. He is going to bring His people into the land.
But what is the first thing they are to do when they get there? The first thing God commands for their settled life in the land is not about military strategy or civil engineering. It is about worship. Specifically, it is about how to offer sacrifices with the right accompaniments. It is about the grain, the oil, and the wine. God is teaching them the grammar of gratitude. Before they can properly govern the land, or enjoy the land, they must learn to worship in the land. And this is a permanent principle. Right worship is the foundation of right living. If you get worship wrong, you will get everything else wrong. The health of a nation, a city, a family, a soul, can be measured by the health of its worship. And what God lays out here is a detailed picture of what healthy, robust, and grateful worship looks like.
This passage is not some dusty, irrelevant ceremonial code. It is a detailed schematic of a heart rightly oriented to God. It shows us that our worship is not to be stingy, or haphazard, or an afterthought. It is to be lavish, detailed, and deliberate. It is to be an offering of our very best, a glad acknowledgment that everything we have comes from Him. And as we shall see, every detail here, the flour, the oil, the wine, points us forward to the one perfect sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the substance of which these offerings were but a shadow.
The Text
Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land of your places of habitation, which I am going to give you, then make an offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your appointed times, to make a soothing aroma to Yahweh, from the herd or from the flock. And the one who brings his offering near shall bring near to Yahweh a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil, and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one-fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil; and for the drink offering you shall bring near one-third of a hin of wine as a soothing aroma to Yahweh. And when you prepare a bull from the herd as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh, then you shall bring near with the bull from the herd a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-half a hin of oil; and you shall bring near as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 'Thus it shall be done for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats. According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do for everyone according to their number. All who are native shall do these things in this manner, in bringing near an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to Yahweh."
(Numbers 15:1-13 LSB)
Worship in the Land (v. 1-3)
The instruction begins with a promise and a premise.
"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land of your places of habitation, which I am going to give you, then make an offering by fire to Yahweh...'" (Numbers 15:2-3a)
As we noted, the timing is everything. This is a word of pure grace. God is not waiting for them to get their act together. He is telling them, "Despite your epic failure at Kadesh-barnea, My plan has not changed. I am giving you this land." Notice, it is a gift. "Which I am going to give you." They do not earn it. They do not deserve it. They will have to fight for it, yes, but the victory is guaranteed because the land is a gift. This is the foundation of all true worship. We worship God not to get Him to give us things, but because He has already given us everything in Christ. Our obedience is not a desperate attempt to earn His favor, but a grateful response to favor already shown.
And the response to this gift of the land is to be worship. The moment they are settled, their primary activity is to be centered on the altar. An "offering by fire" is a gift wholly given over to God. It is a tangible acknowledgment of His total claim on their lives. This offering is to be a "soothing aroma to Yahweh." This is anthropomorphic language, of course. God does not have a physical nose. It means that the offering, when done in faith, is pleasing to Him. It is a fragrant delight. Think of it this way: the stench of sin and rebellion is offensive to God. But the aroma of faithful, grateful worship is a sweet and pleasing scent. It is the smell of fellowship restored.
The text then lists several occasions for these offerings: a burnt offering, a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, a freewill offering, or at the appointed times. This covers the whole of life. There is the regular, calendar-driven worship of the appointed feasts. Then there is the personal, spontaneous worship. A vow is a solemn promise made to God, often in a time of distress or for a particular blessing. A freewill offering is pure, unprompted gratitude. God is making room for every expression of a grateful heart, both the required and the voluntary, the corporate and the individual.
The Accompaniments of Gratitude (v. 4-10)
The heart of the passage details what must accompany the animal sacrifices. An animal alone is not enough.
"And the one who brings his offering near shall bring near to Yahweh a grain offering... mixed with... oil, and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering..." (Numbers 15:4-5)
Here we see the principle of glad extravagance. God is not just interested in the bloody sacrifice that atones for sin; He is also interested in the celebratory meal that follows. The grain, oil, and wine were the staples of life in Canaan. They were the fruit of the land He was giving them. So, when an Israelite brought a lamb, a ram, or a bull, he was also to bring a portion of the land's goodness with it. He was bringing his daily bread, the fruit of his labor, and offering it back to the Giver.
The fine flour represents our best work, the product of our strength. The oil speaks of richness, of joy, and of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 104 tells us God gives "oil to make his face shine." The wine speaks of gladness and celebration. Psalm 104 again says God gives "wine that makes glad the heart of man." This is not an austere, grim, minimalist worship. This is a feast. God is teaching His people that fellowship with Him is to be characterized by joy, abundance, and celebration. To offer the animal without the grain, oil, and wine would be like saying, "Thank you for forgiving my sin," but not, "Thank you for the glorious life You have given me."
Notice the glorious math of this worship. The value of the accompaniment increases with the value of the primary sacrifice. A lamb gets one-tenth of an ephah of flour. A ram gets two-tenths. A bull gets three-tenths. The amount of oil and wine increases proportionally. What is this teaching us? The greater the deliverance, the greater the gratitude should be. The greater the gift, the more lavish our worship. It teaches us to proportion our praise. And all of it, from the smallest lamb to the largest bull, is to result in a "soothing aroma to Yahweh."
The Universal Standard (v. 11-13)
The passage concludes by making this a universal standard for the covenant community.
"Thus it shall be done for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats. According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do for everyone according to their number. All who are native shall do these things in this manner..." (Numbers 15:11-13)
This is not an optional add-on for the wealthy. This is the standard. Whether you bring one animal or ten, each one must have its proper accompaniment. This establishes a uniform law of worship. There is not one standard for the rich and another for the poor in this matter. The proportions are the same for everyone. God's standard of worship is objective. We do not get to invent our own methods. We are to come to Him on His terms, in the way He has prescribed.
The phrase "all who are native" sets up a contrast with the foreigner or sojourner, who will be addressed in the following verses. But for the covenant people, this is the way it must be done. This is the grammar of gratitude, and everyone in the land is required to learn it and to speak it fluently in their worship.
The Gospel of Grain and Wine
As with all the ceremonial law, we must ask what this means for us, now that Christ has come. The Westminster Confession tells us that these ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the new testament, but they remain a source of instruction for us. They prefigured Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits. So, what do we see of Christ here?
First, Jesus Christ is the ultimate "offering by fire." He is the perfect sacrifice who willingly gave Himself over completely to the consuming fire of God's wrath against sin. He is the lamb, the ram, and the bull all in one. He is the one who fulfills every vow and whose sacrifice makes all our freewill offerings acceptable.
But He is not just the animal sacrifice. He is also the grain, the oil, and the wine. He is the Bread of Life, the fine flour from heaven, broken for us. He is the Anointed One, crushed like an olive so that the oil of the Holy Spirit might be poured out upon us. He is the True Vine, whose blood was poured out like a drink offering, a wine of joy that gladdens the heart of God and man forever. When we come to worship God, we do not bring a bull and some flour. We bring Christ. We plead His sacrifice, His life, His anointing, His joy.
And what does this mean for our worship? It means our worship must be a full-orbed response to the gospel. We do not just come acknowledging our sin and the need for a bloody sacrifice. We must also bring the accompaniments. We must bring the fine flour of our best labors, dedicating our work to Him. We must bring the oil of gladness, the joy that the Spirit works in us. And we must bring the wine of celebration, feasting with gratitude on the goodness of God.
This is why our worship includes robust singing, the reading of the Word, the preaching of the gospel, and culminates in a feast, the Lord's Supper. At this table, we receive the fulfillment of all these offerings. We receive the bread and the wine. We receive Christ Himself. This passage in Numbers is a command to take the Lord's Supper seriously. It is a command to see our worship not as a grim duty, but as a rich feast. God has given us the land, the heavenly Canaan, in His Son. He has given us a place of habitation with Him. And our response, now and forever, is to bring the fruit of that land, the grain and the wine of the gospel, and offer it back to Him as a soothing aroma, a fragrant offering of unending praise.