Adonai said to Moshe, “Give an order to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘You are to take care to offer me at the proper time the food presented to me as offerings made by fire, providing a fragrant aroma for me.’-Numbers 28:1-2
From today, we will finally be getting into our text study of the contents of Numbers Chapter 28 (and 29 as these two chapters comprise one unit).
Again, we’re dealing with the Calendar of Public Sacrifices.
Right off the bat from verse one, the Lord in the strongest possible language makes it clear in no uncertain terms that Israel is to observe the rituals, sacrifices and feasts of the Lord.
Not only are they to observe the rituals, sacrifices, and feasts, but they are to make sure everything is done with PERFECT PRECISION in the manner, time, and quantities HASHEM has laid down.
There is to be no half-heartedness nor an ounce of carelessness allowed!
When was the last time you attended a worship service with such serious devotion?
Another point that needs to be made is that WITHOUT EXCEPTION, everyone, both poor and rich were required to give an offering.
While the poor might be allowed to sacrifice a lesser expensive animal, they still had to at least bring something.
Giving nothing was NOT accepted.
Now let’s pause here for a moment to consider something quite significant.
At this point in Torah, Israel is literally standing at the threshold of centuries of promise.
As they camp east of the Jordan River, the weary Israelites are feeling anxious and impatient and just wanna get on with the business of getting themselves into the Promised Land.
Yet, the Lord says WAIT…
…because first something much more important must occur…
…and that is that the Calendar of public worship to HASHEM-the God of Israel must be established.
Why is this important?
Because it is the public sacrifices that establishes the lines of communication between Israel and HASHEM.
In Numbers chapter 28 and 29, we are given a long list of those events when sacrifices are to be offered.
In addition, the kind and number of sacrifices are also detailed.
We are told that sacrifices were to be made daily and on the SHABBAT.
In addition, there were an extra 30 days a year set aside for special ritual sacrifices.
We will get into more details the next time we meet.
Leave a Reply