Lessons from Israel's ancient offerings
Text Numbers 28 Time 24/03/13 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
We
come this week to Numbers 28, which begins an enumeration of the
various sacrifices that Israel was to observe at this time. It is a
sort of calendar of events. You get this calendar in various forms in
Exodus (twice), Leviticus and Deuteronomy as well. Here in Numbers it
is designed for the ordinary Israelite to know and the Levitical
priests to carry out. We begin (1, 2)
The
Lord
said to Moses, Give this command to the Israelites and say to them:
Make sure that you present to me at the appointed time my food
offerings, as an aroma pleasing to me.
Now
for us such a chapter is a little tedious and it is difficult to know
what to do with it. When you come to a chapter like Romans 12 say,
you know what to do. It begins
Therefore,
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is
your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will
be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing
and perfect will.
What
do you have to do? You have to offer
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God you
must not
conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.
Many parts of the
Bible are not like that. They are things you need to know not that
you need to obey. A lot of knowledge is like that. It's one of the
things that makes school frustrating for some. Some children have a
pragmatic approach. “Is it in the exam, miss?” is their only
question. If it is, they just learn it. For others that is not enough.
William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings in 1066 – yes, but
what has that got to do with me today? Today we are going to learn
about solving quadratic equations – but why do I need to know about
that?
When we come to a
chapter like this we can feel a bit like that. So let's start with
this question
1.
Why do I need to know about this?
“Is
it in the exam?” we may wonder. It is not something that you will be
questioned on at the judgement, no. It is not something you need to
know in order to become a Christian. However, it is not useless. It
will do at least two things for you if you bother to spend some time
on it.
1. It will make you
thankful that you do not have to know this today
The instructions
found here no longer have to be followed as far as the letter is
concerned. We know that because there is no Temple any more and with
the coming of Christ the need for sacrifices and feasts of this sort
is over. He has fulfilled all that they were pointing towards in his
own death on the cross.
As you can see, the
sacrificial system was quite demanding. There were sacrifices to be
made on a daily, a weekly, a monthly and an annual basis. All that
has gone and we should be thankful that it has gone and that we no
longer have to follow such a demanding ritual.
We should have the
same attitude to a chapter like this as we might have when we see an
old school exercise book or examination paper. Have you ever had that
feeling? You see something like that and you look back and you
remember how strange it all was when you started on it – learning
to read, learning your times tables, the first class you took in
chemistry or Latin or economics or what ever it was – and (if you
have been successful in it) you think to yourself, I'm glad I haven't
got to go through all that again.
So let's be
thankful that we live today when all we have to do is to put our
faith in Jesus Christ. There is no daily, weekly, monthly or annual
sacrifice to be made. The only sacrifice truly needed has been made once
and for all by Jesus Christ. It is enough and if we trust in him, then
all is well.
2. It will give you
an insight into what Christ has done and into how to live as a
Christian
The second thing
such a chapter will do is to give you some insight into what Christ
did on the cross as all these sacrifices were designed to point
forward to what he was going to do in what was then the future.
Further, although
strictly speaking sacrifices have come to an end and the feasts no
longer need to be kept, nevertheless there is a sense in which
sacrifices are still to be made.
We have already
quoted Paul's words in Romans 12:1
Therefore,
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is
your true and proper worship.
Also in Peter 2:5,
Peter says
you
also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to
be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.
And in Hebrews
13:15, 16 it says
Through
Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of
praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
And
do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such
sacrifices God is pleased.
Not
forgetting Philippians 4:18
I
have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply
supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you
sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing
to God.
So we can ask
secondly
2.
What do these verses teach me about living as a Christian today?
1. These verses
teach me about living as a Christian day by day
Numbers
28 begins with teaching about the need for daily sacrifices.
Say
to them:
This is the food offering you are to present to the Lord:
two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each
day. Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight,
together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest
flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives. This
is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing
aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.
The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of
fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the
Lord
at the sanctuary. Offer the second lamb at twilight, along with the
same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you offer in the
morning. This is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
It was required then that offerings be made morning and
evening every day. Isn't that a hint to us today too that morning and
evening there should be some sort of sacrifice on our part and a
remembrance of what Jesus has done for us? Our circumstances differ
but here is a good pattern, surely. Certainly if a day goes by and
there has been no sacrifice of praise, no recalling of the cross,
then something is wrong.
2. These verses
teach me about living as a Christian week by week
Verses 9 and 10 add
that
On the Sabbath day, make an
offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its
drink offering and a grain offering of one-fifth of an ephah of the
finest flour mixed with olive oil. This is the burnt offering for
every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its
drink offering.
One
day a week was to be special. The regular daily offerings were to
carry on but there was to be an additional offering, one twice what
was given on ordinary days.
Again
it is a hint to us that we ought to be marking time weekly. The old
Sabbath has been replaced now by the new one that focuses on the
resurrection of Christ. That principle though of marking the day in a
special way remains. Today is a day to remember Christ and all he has
done. It is a day to rededicate ourselves to God as living sacrifices
in his service.
3. These verses
teach me about living as a Christian month by month
In
verses 11-15 we have something alluded to elsewhere in the Bible but
not laid down like this. It is made clear that also On
the first of every month, when
the new moon appeared, they were to
present to the Lord
a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a
year old, all without defect. It
goes on With each bull there is to be a
grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed
with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of one-fifth of an ephah of
the finest flour mixed with oil; and with each lamb, a grain offering
of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil. This is
for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to
the Lord.
Similarly
With each bull there is to be a drink
offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and
with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt
offering to be made at each new moon during the year. Besides the
regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to
be presented to the Lord
as a sin offering.
Now
we less often think about the passing of the months but here too is
an opportunity to remind ourselves of Christ's death and to commit
ourselves afresh to the Lord and his service. We don't follow the
phases of the moon these days but we have system of months ("moonths")
that gives us a similar reminder of the passing of time. Let's seize
this opportunity. The end of a month is a good time to reflect and
consider and prepare for the new month ahead.
4. These verses
teach me about living as a Christian and relying on Christ's death on
the cross
16-25 On the fourteenth day of the first month the
Lord’s
Passover is to be held. On the fifteenth day of this month there is
to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast. On the
first day hold a sacred assembly and do not do any of your ordinary
work. Present to the Lord
a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of two young bulls,
one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With
each bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the
finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, one-fifth; and with each
of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin
offering to make atonement for you. Offer these in addition to the
regular morning burnt offering. In this way present the food offering
every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the Lord;
it is to be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its
drink offering. On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do not
do any ordinary work.
Passover
and the feast of unleavened bread actually begins this week. It is
often at the same time as Easter. The Easter festival – Maundy
Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and so on is a mere human
invention. The only real successor to Passover is the Lord's Supper,
the Last Supper being a Passover meal. Passover was designed to point
forward to Christ's death on the cross, the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. The way to honour that feast now is as Paul
intimates in 1 Corinthians 5. In verses 6-8 he rebukes the
Corinthians fir their boasting and says
Your
boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the
whole batch of dough? Get
rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch - as
you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened
with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.
Christ
the Passover Lamb has been slain so we must keep the feast. In Jewish
homes at this time of the year they have a good Spring clean. They
get rid of any trace of yeast in the house – crumbs at the back of
the fridge or down the sides of the sofa. They then eat only matzos –
unleavened bread – for a week. Paul says that as Christians we must
get rid of the
old bread leavened with malice and wickedness and
eat
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. That
is the way we keep the feast today. As we rely on what Christ has
done on the cross, we seek to be sincere and true and to serve him.
26-31 On the day of firstfruits, when you present to
the Lord an
offering of new grain during the Festival of Weeks, hold a sacred
assembly and do not do any of your ordinary work. Present a burnt
offering of two young bulls, one ram (in
Leviticus it is the other way round for some reason) and
seven male lambs a year old as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an
ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, one-fifth;
and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat to
make atonement for you. Offer these together with their drink
offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain
offering. Be sure the animals are without defect.
The
Feast of weeks takes place 50 days after Passover and is also known
as Pentecost. It is a festival of firstfruits, when the first fruit
of the crop was harvested. The first fruits when the Holy Spirit was
first poured out 50 days after Jesus' death were the 3000 converted
in Jerusalem through the preaching of Peter. As with Passover we
cannot make the sacrifices commanded here – there is no Temple –
and we are under no obligation to keep these feasts in any formal
way. We must remember, however, that the Spirit has now come and just
as the first fruits were brought in through him so it will be always
and to the end. We stand in continual need of the Spirit to work.
Pray for it, long for it daily.
So
here are some lessons to learn from the offerings made by ancient
Israel. Amen.
