Commentary - Numbers 28:1-8

Bird's-eye view

After dealing with matters of inheritance and succession in the previous chapters, the Lord here returns to the central matter of Israel's life, which is their worship. And worship, in the Old Covenant, was not a haphazard affair. It was not a matter of following your heart or doing what was right in your own eyes. Worship was defined by God, structured by God, and was to be offered according to His explicit instructions. This chapter lays out the calendar of public sacrifices, the liturgy of the nation. It begins with the foundational, daily offerings, which established the rhythm of their entire existence before God. The central point is this: God's people are to live in a state of constant, ordered, and acceptable worship. This is not a burden, but the very framework of their fellowship with Him. Every day was to be bookended with a reminder of their complete dependence on His grace and their complete consecration to His glory. This rhythm of life, established here in the wilderness, finds its ultimate fulfillment and meaning in the one who is our beginning and our end, the Lamb of God.

Outline

Commentary

1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to bring near My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.’

The Lord initiates this instruction, as He always does. True worship does not bubble up from the imaginations of men; it is a response to a divine command. And notice the force of it: "Command the sons of Israel." This is not a gentle suggestion. The worship of the living God is the most central and non negotiable aspect of our existence. He follows this with a charge to be "careful." The Hebrew here has the sense of watching over, of guarding. We are not to be casual or sloppy in our approach to God. We are to guard the integrity of our worship because in doing so, we are guarding our fellowship with God Himself.

He then defines these offerings in a striking way: "My offering, My food for My offerings by fire." Now, we know that God is spirit and does not get hungry. This is anthropomorphic language, but it is potent. It teaches us that our offerings are a matter of personal provision for God's household, the tabernacle. He receives them as a father receives a gift from his children. It is a sign of fellowship, of communion. This is what He desires. And the purpose of it all is to produce a "soothing aroma to Me." This is not about God having a sense of smell. It is about His covenantal pleasure. An obedient, prescribed sacrifice is well pleasing to God. It is a beautiful thing in His sight. And this all must happen "at their appointed time." God is a God of order, not chaos. The rhythm of worship is not arbitrary; it is part of the created order He has established.

3 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall bring near to Yahweh: two male lambs one year old without blemish as a continual burnt offering every day.

Here is the specific command for the foundational offering. This is the baseline, the constant hum of worship that was to never cease in Israel. It is an "offering by fire," which speaks of consumption, of complete surrender to God. And what is offered? "Two male lambs one year old without blemish." The lamb must be young, in its prime, representing the best. And it must be "without blemish," which is a clear pointer to the spotless Lamb of God who would one day take away the sin of the world. This was not just any offering; it was a "continual burnt offering every day." The word for continual means perpetual, unending. This offering was the constant backdrop to everything else that happened. It was a daily, national declaration that Israel belonged entirely to God.

4 You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight,

The daily rhythm is now specified. One lamb at the beginning of the day, and one at the end. The day was bracketed by sacrifice. The people were to wake up to the reality of their need for atonement and consecration, and they were to end their day with the same reality. This structured their time, reminding them that every moment belonged to Yahweh. Their work, their family life, their rest, all of it was lived between these two points of worship. This is a principle we must not lose. Our lives are not compartmentalized. All of it, from morning to night, is to be an act of worship, an offering to God. This daily offering was the anchor for that mindset.

5 also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil. 6 It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh.

Worship is not just about dealing with sin; it is also about offering the fruit of our labor back to God. The grain offering represents our work, our substance, our daily bread. The "fine flour" is the best of the grain, and the "beaten oil" is the purest oil. Again, God requires our best. This offering, mixed together, was offered alongside the lamb. This signifies that our lives and our work are only acceptable to God when they are joined to the perfect sacrifice. You cannot separate your work from your worship. Your daily labor is to be consecrated, offered up to God through the one great sacrifice of Christ. Verse 6 reiterates the foundation of this practice. It was "ordained in Mount Sinai," grounding it in God's covenant law. And again, the purpose is a "soothing aroma," a pleasing offering to the Lord.

7 Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh.

Along with the lamb and the grain, a drink offering was required. This was wine, or "strong drink," poured out at the base of the altar. It was not consumed by the priests but given completely to God. This represents the pouring out of joy and life before the Lord. Paul picks up this imagery in the New Testament when he speaks of his own life being "poured out as a drink offering" (Phil. 2:17). The Christian life is to be one of joyful, complete surrender, a life poured out for the glory of God. This offering was not an afterthought; it was an integral part of the whole, symbolizing the gladness and abandon of true worship.

8 And the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

The chapter concludes this section by reiterating the command for the evening sacrifice. It was to be a mirror of the morning offering, identical in every respect. This symmetry is important. God's standard does not change throughout the day. His requirements for acceptable worship are constant. The day begins and ends with the same declaration: we are sinners who belong wholly to a holy God, and we can only approach Him through a perfect, spotless substitute, offering our work and our joy up to Him through that sacrifice. This daily, repetitive liturgy was designed to drill the gospel deep into the bones of the people. And it all resulted in a "soothing aroma to Yahweh." This is the goal of our worship, the goal of our lives: to be pleasing to our God and Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world, and whose sacrifice is continual and ever-pleasing to God.

Application

We are not required to offer literal lambs today, for the simple and glorious reason that Christ, the Lamb of God, has been offered once for all. His sacrifice is the continual offering that makes us acceptable to God. However, the principles embedded in this text are timeless. Our lives are to be structured by worship. We are to begin and end each day conscious of the gospel. Our work, our substance, our very lives are to be offered to God as a "living sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1). This is not a grim duty, but the very source of our joy. The structure of daily prayer, of morning and evening devotions, is not legalism but is rather the wisdom of God, creating a rhythm of remembrance and consecration. We are to be careful in our worship, not treating it as a casual thing, but approaching God on His terms, with reverence and awe. And as we do, as we offer up our lives through Christ, our worship becomes a "soothing aroma" to God, a source of His divine pleasure. That is a staggering thought, and it ought to motivate all that we do.