Bird's-eye view
This passage details the specific sacrifices required on the seventh and final day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast was the culmination of Israel's liturgical year, a joyous celebration of the completed harvest and a remembrance of God's faithful provision during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The sheer volume of sacrifices throughout this week is staggering, far exceeding any other festival, and it builds to this climax on the seventh day. The central theme here is one of overwhelming, celebratory gratitude, expressed through a meticulously ordered, God-ordained liturgy. This is not just about the quantity of the offerings, but about their perfect arrangement according to divine command. The repetition and specific numbers are not arbitrary; they are teaching Israel, and us, about the nature of true worship and the perfection of the ultimate sacrifice to come. This entire chapter is a shadow, a type, pointing forward to the substance, which is the superabundant grace and finality found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who has tabernacled among us and brought in the final, perfect harvest.
In these verses, we see the principle of Sabbath completion woven into the very fabric of the feast. The seventh day brings a sacrifice of seven bulls, a number resonant with perfection and rest throughout Scripture. This brings the total number of bulls offered during the feast to seventy, a number signifying the nations of the world. Thus, this climactic act of worship is not just for Israel, but prophetically looks forward to the ingathering of the Gentiles. Every detail, from the number of animals to the grain and drink offerings, is a sermon in itself, declaring that our worship must be according to God's prescription, not our own invention, and that it all finds its ultimate meaning and fulfillment in Christ.
Outline
- 1. The Climactic Worship of the Final Feast (Num 29:32-34)
- a. The Command for the Seventh Day (Num 29:32a)
- b. The Burnt Offering of Perfected Joy (Num 29:32b)
- i. Seven Bulls: The Offering of Completion
- ii. Two Rams: The Offering of Leadership
- iii. Fourteen Lambs: The Offering for the People
- c. The Supporting Offerings of Thanksgiving (Num 29:33)
- d. The Atoning Offering for Sin (Num 29:34)
Context In Numbers
The book of Numbers chronicles Israel's journey from Sinai to the plains of Moab, on the cusp of entering the Promised Land. It is a book about ordering the covenant community for worship and for war. After the failures and judgments of the first generation in the wilderness, the latter part of the book, where we find our text, is concerned with preparing the new generation to inherit the promises. Chapters 28 and 29 form a cohesive unit, a sort of liturgical calendar, detailing the public sacrifices required for the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual observances. This section functions as a divine constitution for Israel's corporate worship life. It underscores the centrality of the sacrificial system. Before they can conquer the land, they must be rightly ordered around the altar. The placement of this detailed list right before the laws concerning vows (Chapter 30) and the holy war against Midian (Chapter 31) is significant. Right worship is the foundation for faithful living and victorious warfare.
Key Issues
- The Theology of Liturgical Repetition
- The Symbolism of Numbers in Worship
- The Feast of Tabernacles as a Type of Christ
- The Relationship Between Burnt Offerings and Sin Offerings
- The Nature of God-Prescribed Worship
- The Culmination of the Sacrificial System
The Arithmetic of Abundance
When we moderns read a passage like this, our eyes tend to glaze over. The lists of bulls, rams, and lambs seem tedious, a relic of an ancient and bloody religion. But we must resist this temptation to boredom. God does not waste words, and the meticulous detail here is intended to teach us something profound. This is the arithmetic of God's grace, the calculus of true worship. The Feast of Tabernacles was a week-long festival of joy, and the joy was expressed in this lavish outpouring of sacrifice. The number of bulls decreased each day from thirteen down to seven, but the total number offered over the seven days was seventy. In the table of nations in Genesis 10, the world is comprised of seventy nations. This feast, then, was not just Israel celebrating for Israel's sake. It was a prophetic act, a picture of the day when all the nations would be gathered in, when the true tabernacle of God, Jesus Christ, would be the source of joy for the whole world.
The numbers themselves are significant. Seven is the number of perfection, of completion, of Sabbath rest. That on the seventh day, seven bulls are offered is a clear statement. The work of this worship is complete. The joy is full. Two is the number of witness and confirmation. Fourteen is two times seven, a double portion of perfection. This is not numerology; this is biblical symbolism. God is teaching His people theology through the very structure of their worship. He is showing them that His provision is not just adequate, but superabundant, and that their response should be one of extravagant, ordered, and complete devotion.
Verse by Verse Commentary
32 ‘Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish;
The command opens with the temporal marker, "on the seventh day." This is the climactic day of the Feast of Tabernacles, a feast that took place in the seventh month. The repetition of seven is deliberate. This is the Sabbath day of the feast, the day of completion. The sacrifices prescribed are, as always, to be without blemish. This is a constant reminder that God requires our best. We are not to offer Him leftovers or damaged goods. The worshiper was to inspect the animal carefully, to ensure its perfection. This pointed to the moral and spiritual perfection of the coming Lamb of God, who would be a sacrifice truly without spot or blemish. The offerings themselves are a picture of the Trinity in its work. The bulls, strong and costly, represent the great cost of our redemption. The rams represent leadership and substitution. The lambs, of course, represent the people, and point most directly to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The number of bulls is now seven. The number had been decreasing by one each day from the start of the feast (thirteen on day one, twelve on day two, etc.). On this seventh day, the number of bulls matches the day itself. This is liturgical poetry. God is writing a message in the very order of the sacrifices. The work of this feast, this great celebration, has reached its perfect end. The number of rams remains constant at two, a picture of confirmed witness. And the lambs are fourteen, a double seven, representing the whole congregation, the twelve tribes and more, brought into this state of perfect celebration.
33 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment;
Sacrifice in the Old Testament was never just about the death of an animal. It was a meal, a communion between God and His people. The burnt offering ascended to God in smoke, a pleasing aroma, and it was always accompanied by grain and drink offerings. The grain offering (minchah) was made of fine flour and oil, representing the fruit of man's labor, the best of the harvest, dedicated back to God. The drink offering, or libation, was of wine, representing joy and celebration. These were not optional add-ons; they were an essential part of the whole. God is not just interested in atonement for sin; He is interested in fellowship with His people. He wants their work (grain) and their joy (wine) to be consecrated to Him.
Notice that these offerings are to be made by their number according to the legal judgment. The phrase can also be translated "according to the ordinance." There was a set amount of flour, oil, and wine for each type of animal (see Numbers 15). Worship is not a free-for-all. It is not based on what we feel like bringing. True worship is an act of obedience. God has told us how He wishes to be approached, and our glad conformity to His commands is part of the worship itself. The freedom of the gospel does not abolish this principle; it writes it on our hearts. We now delight to do His will, not out of slavish fear, but out of grateful love.
34 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.
In the midst of this crescendo of joyous celebration, we are brought up short with this reminder: one male goat for a sin offering. Every single day of this feast, after listing the massive number of burnt offerings, the command concludes with the requirement for a sin offering. Why? Because even in our highest moments of worship, even in our greatest celebrations, sin is still present with us. The people of Israel were still sinners. Their joy, their gratitude, their obedience, it was all stained. They could not approach God, even with their best gifts, without an acknowledgment of their sin and a sacrifice to atone for it. The burnt offering was about consecration and devotion, ascending to God. The sin offering was about propitiation, turning away God's wrath.
This goat stands as a stark reminder that our joy is a purchased joy. Our celebration is a redeemed celebration. It is offered besides the continual burnt offering, the daily Tamid sacrifice. This means the regular, foundational pattern of worship was not suspended for the festival. The festival sacrifices were built upon the foundation of the daily sacrifices. All of it points to the multifaceted work of Christ. He is our burnt offering, the one whose entire life was a pleasing aroma to the Father. And He is our sin offering, the one who bore our guilt in His own body on the tree. Without the sin offering, the burnt offering would be an offense. Without Christ's death for sin, our attempts at worship would be nothing but filthy rags.
Application
This passage, with its detailed accounting of sacrifice, may seem distant, but it is intensely practical for the Christian. First, it teaches us that true worship is costly and abundant. Our modern sensibilities often lean toward a minimalist, convenient, and casual approach to God. But the Feast of Tabernacles shows us a people pouring out their wealth in an extravagant display of gratitude. Our sacrifice is no longer bulls and goats, for Christ has made the one final sacrifice. But we are called to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1). This means our time, our money, our talents, our ambitions, all of it is to be laid on the altar in glad and lavish worship. Is our giving sacrificial? Is our service costly? Or are we offering God that which costs us nothing?
Second, this passage reminds us that worship is ordered and objective. The Israelites did not get to decide how many bulls to bring. God told them. Worship is not defined by our subjective feelings or our creative impulses; it is defined by God's Word. We are to come to Him on His terms, not ours. This is why we care about what the Bible says about how we sing, how we pray, how we preach, and how we administer the sacraments. God-honoring worship is obedient worship.
Finally, the constant presence of the sin offering teaches us to be gospel-centered in our joy. Even in our best moments, our highest praise, we are still sinners in need of a Savior. Our access to God is never based on the quality of our performance. It is based entirely on the blood of the goat, which is to say, the blood of Jesus Christ. We should be the most joyful people on earth, precisely because we know the depth of the sin from which we have been rescued. Our celebration is not a flimsy, superficial happiness. It is a deep, blood-bought joy, rooted in the finished work of the one who tabernacled among us and became our perfect, final, and all-sufficient sacrifice.