Bird's-eye view
In this portion of Numbers, God is re-establishing the rhythms of covenant life for the new generation of Israel, poised to enter the Promised Land. The forty years of wilderness discipline are drawing to a close, and the Lord is not leaving His people to improvise their worship. This chapter is a detailed calendar of sacrifices, a divine liturgy for the nation. The passage before us, dealing with the Passover and the subsequent Feast of Unleavened Bread, sits at the heart of this liturgical calendar. It is a reminder that the life of God's people is structured around a rhythm of remembrance and re-dedication. God saved them, and He saved them for a purpose: to worship Him. This is not a dry list of regulations; it is the very grammar of their relationship with Yahweh. The sheer number of animals prescribed underscores the gravity of sin and the high cost of fellowship with a holy God, all of which is a great, bloody signpost pointing to the final, sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb.
The structure is straightforward: God commands, and Israel is to obey. The Passover on the fourteenth day is the memorial of their redemption from Egypt. The seven-day feast that follows is a celebration of the new life that results from that redemption. The detailed offerings, the burnt offerings for consecration and the sin offering for atonement, are a daily, tangible enactment of the gospel. They are to live out their salvation with reverence, diligence, and a constant awareness of their need for covering. This is God graciously teaching His people how to live before Him, ordering their days and weeks around His central acts of salvation.
Outline
- 1. The Appointed Times of the Covenant Nation (Num 28:16-25)
- a. The Date of the Passover Memorial (Num 28:16)
- b. The Commencement of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Num 28:17)
- c. The First Day: A Holy Convocation (Num 28:18)
- d. The Prescribed Offerings for the Feast (Num 28:19-22)
- i. The Burnt Offering: Consecration (Num 28:19)
- ii. The Grain Offering: Tribute (Num 28:20-21)
- iii. The Sin Offering: Atonement (Num 28:22)
- e. The Relationship to the Continual Offering (Num 28:23)
- f. The Daily Repetition for Seven Days (Num 28:24)
- g. The Seventh Day: A Concluding Holy Convocation (Num 28:25)
Context In Numbers
Numbers 28 and 29 come at a crucial juncture in the book. The rebellious generation that came out of Egypt has died off in the wilderness, as God promised they would. A census of the new generation has just been taken in chapter 26. Joshua has been appointed as Moses' successor in chapter 27. Israel is on the plains of Moab, looking across the Jordan into the land of Canaan. Before they engage in the conquest, God drills them in the foundational patterns of their national life, which is their life of worship. This is not merely a refresher course. It is a re-instituting of the covenant for the generation that will actually possess the promises. War is coming, but worship comes first. Their success in battle will be directly tied to their faithfulness in the sacrificial system. These chapters, therefore, are not an interruption of the narrative but are central to its purpose. They show that Israel's identity is not primarily military or political, but priestly. They are a kingdom of priests, and their national life is to be ordered by the calendar of heaven.
Key Issues
- The Liturgical Calendar and National Identity
- The Theology of the Burnt Offering
- The Purpose of the Sin Offering
- The Relationship Between Passover and Unleavened Bread
- The Meaning of "Holy Convocation"
- The Typological Fulfillment of the Sacrifices in Christ
- The Importance of Continual, Daily Worship
The Grammar of Grace
It is easy for modern readers to get lost in the details here, the number of bulls, the measures of flour, the specific dates. We can miss the forest for the trees. But we must understand that this is the vocabulary God gave His people to speak back to Him. Worship is a conversation, and God provides the script. The offerings were not a way for Israel to earn God's favor, but rather the God-appointed means by which they could enjoy the favor He had already shown them in the Exodus. Each element had meaning. The burnt offering was a picture of total consecration, the entire animal going up in smoke to God, signifying the worshiper giving his all. The grain offering was a tribute, acknowledging God as the ultimate landlord and provider. The sin offering was the necessary prerequisite, dealing with the defilement that would otherwise make fellowship impossible. And the soothing aroma was not about God having a physical nose; it was an anthropomorphic way of saying that this obedient worship was pleasing and acceptable to Him.
This entire system was a magnificent, bloody, and fragrant picture of the gospel. It was an education in grace, teaching Israel every day that sin is costly, fellowship is a gift, and God must be approached on His own terms. And every bull, every ram, and every lamb was a promissory note, a placeholder until the true Lamb of God would come to accomplish what these sacrifices could only portray.
Verse by Verse Commentary
16 ‘Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the Passover of Yahweh.
The liturgical year for Israel begins here. The first month is Nisan, and the fourteenth day is fixed. This is Passover, the foundational festival of Israel's redemption. It is not Moses' Passover or Israel's Passover; it is the "Passover of Yahweh." It commemorates God's mighty act of "passing over" the houses of the Israelites whose doors were marked with the blood of the lamb, while executing judgment on the firstborn of Egypt. This is the event that constituted them as a nation. To be an Israelite was to be a child of the Passover. For us, this points directly to the cross. As Paul says, "Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us" (1 Cor 5:7). The date is precise because our salvation occurred at a specific moment in history.
17 And on the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.
Immediately following the Passover memorial is a seven-day feast. Redemption is not a one-night event; it inaugurates a new way of life. This is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Leaven, or yeast, in Scripture is consistently a symbol of corruption, sin, and pride, it puffs up. The removal of all leaven from their houses for a week was a tangible, physical lesson. Having been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, they were now to live a life of holiness, purged of the old corruption. The unleavened bread they ate symbolized this purity. It was a call to sanctification. Redemption and sanctification are inseparable twins.
18 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.
The feast begins with a "holy convocation." This was a sacred assembly, a gathering of the people for corporate worship. It was a Sabbath, a day of rest from ordinary, "laborious work." God sets the rhythm of work and worship. The week of celebrating their new life in Him begins with a commanded assembly and a commanded rest. This teaches the people that their life together is centered on Him, and their ability to prosper in their work flows from their proper worship. They are to stop their own labors to focus on the work of God on their behalf.
19 And you shall bring near an offering by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh: two bulls from the herd and one ram and seven male lambs one year old; they shall be for you without blemish.
Here is the content of that worship. The central act is the burnt offering. Notice the extravagance: two young bulls, a ram, and seven year-old lambs. This is a significant cost, a substantial offering. This is the offering of consecration, where the whole animal is consumed on the altar. It represents the complete dedication of the people to God, whose redemption they are celebrating. The requirement that the animals be "without blemish" is crucial. God is holy and demands the best. This physical perfection was a type of the moral and spiritual perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb who would offer Himself to God for us.
20-21 Now as for their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs;
Every burnt offering was accompanied by a grain offering and a drink offering. The grain offering, made of fine flour and oil, was a tribute. It was an acknowledgment that all their substance, the fruit of their labor in the land, belonged to God. He is the giver of all good things. The specific amounts are proportioned to the value of the animal, showing a divine orderliness and propriety in their worship. This was not haphazard; it was carefully choreographed by God Himself. This is our reasonable service: to offer back to God a portion of what He has given to us.
22 and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you.
This is a critical addition. Even in the midst of their celebration and consecration, they are commanded to bring a sin offering. Why? Because even their best attempts at worship and holy living are tainted by sin. The people are still sinners. Before their worship of consecration (the burnt offering) can be fully acceptable, the issue of their ongoing sin must be dealt with. The goat makes atonement; it provides a covering. This is a constant, humbling reminder that our access to God is never based on our own righteousness. It is always based on a substitutionary sacrifice for sin. For us, this goat is Christ, who became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.
23 You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.
The special feast-day offerings did not replace the regular, daily sacrifices. The "continual burnt offering" of a lamb every morning and every evening was the baseline of their worship. The special occasions were built upon this foundation. This teaches us that our worship should be characterized by both constancy and celebration. There is a daily rhythm of devotion, and then there are high points, festivals of remembrance and joy. The special does not cancel the ordinary; it enhances it.
24 After this manner you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, of a soothing aroma to Yahweh; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.
The instruction is to repeat this entire collection of sacrifices, the bulls, the ram, the seven lambs, the goat, and all their accompanying grain and drink offerings, every single day for the entire seven-day feast. This is an immense outpouring of national treasure and priestly effort. It was intended to saturate their consciousness with the reality of their redemption. This sustained act of worship was "a soothing aroma to Yahweh." It was pleasing to Him because it was an act of faith-filled obedience, a national Amen to His work of salvation. And it all pointed to the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, whose offering is an eternally soothing aroma to the Father.
25 Now on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.
The feast that began with a special Sabbath of rest and worship now concludes with one. It is bookended by holy convocation. God's people are called out of their ordinary routines to assemble before Him at the beginning and at the end. This frames their celebration, reminding them that He is the Alpha and the Omega of their life and joy. They begin with Him, and they end with Him. This provides a structure and a seal to the entire week of remembrance.
Application
We are not required to offer bulls and goats today. To do so would be an insult to the finished work of Jesus Christ, the Lamb to whom all other lambs pointed. But the principles that governed Israel's worship here still govern ours. Our lives as Christians are to be structured by the rhythm of redemption.
First, our worship must be centered on the Passover Lamb. We gather each Lord's Day to remember and celebrate the foundational act of our redemption: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Second, this remembrance must lead to the "Feast of Unleavened Bread", a life of diligent sanctification. We are called to purge the leaven of malice and wickedness from our hearts and our communities, and to pursue holiness. Third, our worship has a structure. Like Israel, we need both the continual, daily offering (our private and family devotions) and the special holy convocations (the corporate gathering of the saints on the Lord's Day). One should not be a substitute for the other.
Finally, we must never forget the sin offering. We come to worship not as those who have it all together, but as pardoned sinners who need constant cleansing. This is why we confess our sins every week. Our consecration, our songs, our tithes, our entire burnt offering, are only acceptable to God through the constant application of Christ's atoning blood. This passage, then, is not an archaic relic. It is the grammar of grace, teaching us to live our whole lives as a response to the God who redeemed us, a continual feast of unleavened sincerity and truth.