Today we begin Numbers Chapter 28.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here.
For the King James version, click here.
Chapter 28 (and chapter 29 too actually) focus on the Hebrew calendar of public sacrifices.
For example, just as my country (the United States) has a separate calendar for the school year, the fiscal year and so on, so did Israel also have different calendars for different purposes.
They had a secular calendar, a tithing calendar and a calendar for ritual sacrifices among others.
Although most of what we’ll study here has already been established in Exodus and Leviticus, the Lord in His Wisdom is bringing up the details again because the time when Israel will enter the Promised Land is near.
The time when Israel will actually be performing these sacrifices and feasts in their own land was fast approaching.
Once in the land, Israel would have everything they would need such as all the necessary food, animals and wine to properly celebrate the rituals on a regular basis as laid out in Torah.
Let’s never forget the one most important principle the Levitical sacrificial system established.
The principle is that SACRIFICE IS AT THE HEART OF WORSHIP.
This is something Christians love to mouth but do they really understand what they’re talking about?
I highly doubt it, simply because their knowledge of Torah is practically non-existent.
Here’s the thing.
Every Levitical sacrifice also served as prophetic pictures and patterns that pointed to the work of Messiah.
To be fair, I can’t really blame the Christians for not having an understanding of Biblical sacrifice because the Bible doesn’t really go into the significance and purpose of each of the many kinds and categories of sacrifices that were foundational to the Law of Moses.
For a proper understanding, you really gotta take the time to dig into the Oral Law.
Fortunately, you’ve got this blog which will hopefully break things down for you in an easy-to-understand manner.
Look, here’s whatcha gotta know.
The Israelites in Moses’ time well understood on a very deep level what HASHEM was communicating to them through the sacrifices.
In other words, the actual DOING automatically resulted in an UNDERSTANDING.
Through the daily burnt offerings, it was continually being impressed upon the people’s minds that they were appeasing a HOLY God who was offended by their sin.
And not only that.
They were also learning how expensive, bloody, and painful atonement was!
The sacrificial system also taught that there were many different levels of sin and ways one could offend a Holy God.
This is something the Christian world is completely ignorant of as they have this weird teaching that “all sins are the same in God’s eyes” (I think they base this idea on one obscure verse that Rabbi Shaul said, I think from the Book of Romans).
They also learned that there were certain high-handed sins (called “intentional sins”) for which there was NO atonement under the Levitical sacrificial system.
And most importantly of all, they learned that you could not separate your daily life from your faith.
The two went hand-in-hand.
You weren’t allowed to behave one way on Shabbat and then the other six days act like a hog-wild, un-kosher and uncircumcised gentile.
The idea of having a different set morals and ethics for different areas of your life was completely foreign to the ancient Israelites.
HASHEM’s Torah was to encompass every aspect of one’s life.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“And a certain ruler asked him, saying,
Good Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
And Yeshua said unto him,
Why callest thou me good?
none is good, save one, that is, God.
Thou knowest the commandments,
Do not commit adultery,
Do not kill,
Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness,
Honour thy father and thy mother.”
-Luke 18:18-20
This is powerful teachings!
More grease to your elbows.
Shalom
Thanks for reading! Be blessed and shalom!