The Old Testament Religious Festivals

The

Old Testament

Religious Festivals

Numbers 28—29

Sjirk Bajema

Contents

Introduction

Study 1: You are His – Every Day & Every Way!

Study 2: You Are His – That’s What Sunday Says!

Study 3: You Are His – Time Itself Tolls It!

Study 4: You Are His – His Deliverance Proves It!

Study 5: You Are His – His Care Confirms It!

Study 6: You Are His – Celebrate It!

Study 7: You Are His – Deny Yourself!

Study 8: You Are His – See Where You Are!

Appendices: Charts for Studies 1—8

Worship Then & Now

A Series Of Studies in Numbers Chapters 28 - 29

Introduction

To many Christians today these two chapters near the end of Numbers will be

quite an unknown quantity. While they may well be familiar with much of the

New Testament this cannot be said of much of the Old Testament. Certainly they

will have heard of some of the stirring historical narratives – the stories of Sam-

son, David and Goliath, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and so on. But the details of

three-quarters of God’s Word are quite foreign to them.

This is even more seen when it comes to the specific details of the public worship

of God’s old covenant people. There is an extensive difference between what

made up public worship then to what we have now. But to dismiss any considera-

tion of what the Lord’s prescriptions for his people were in the past would be to

miss the universal principles in worship – principles which now in many Chris-

tian churches are far from being recognised.

J.A. Thompson wrote in the New Bible Commentary (3

Edition, 1970, IVP) on

these chapters, “What one needs to do in these cases is to recognize behind each

expression of worship the great principles. These remain and find newer expres-

sions in the course of time. The ancient Tabernacle and its rituals and feasts gave

testimony to the belief that God was in the midst of his people, that he could be

approached, and that with him in the midst the people ought to order their lives in

accordance with the fact that God the holy One dwelt among them. The whole

system demonstrated to Israel, and to men of all ages, that sinful men may ap-

proach God through a consecrated mediatorial priesthood, that constant cleansing

for sins was possible, that constant guidance for life was available and that great

saving acts of God in centuries past could be remembered by noble festivals and

feasts such as the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.

“With the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ the necessity for all the temporary

forms, shadows of the true (cf. Heb. 10:1), was past. He was at once the sacrifice

for all sins and the High Priest who offered the sacrifice. By his Spirit he guides

his people today. His saving work wrought at the cross may be remembered each

time men gather at the Lord’s Table ‘to proclaim the Lord’s death until he

comes’. Yet the ‘shadows’ and ‘symbols’ of the Old Testament system, if under-

stood as pictures of the true, have much to teach the modern Christian and they

should be studied for the light they give on the great underlying principles of

God’s ways with men.”

Read Hebrews 10:1-18. In which way do these verses help us understand the

situation for the Israelites?

Study 1

You are His – Every Day & Every Way!

Numbers 28:1-8

1. How do you think you should prepare yourself for your future on the new

heavens and the new earth?

How would you expect to live in heaven? Think about it. Perhaps thoughts come

to your mind of a place of peace and joy. You’ve been told it’s a very special

place. But exactly what it will be like you’re a bit lost on.

To think more of what heaven will be like, though, will help us. And especially

to try and understand the Lord’s pattern for paradise in the Bible, will make us

able to live more fruitfully in this world.

Maybe that doesn’t seem to gel with you. You’re a practical, hard-working per-

son. You don’t want to get all wrapped up in this right now. You don’t want to be

one of those of whom it’s said, “He’s so heavenly-minded, he’s of no earthly

use!”

Still, you know you’re going there, don’t you? I mean, you believe. And knowing

that it’s actually going to be the place you end up, you’d want to be ready,

wouldn’t you?

Indeed, this is how Scripture so often encourages us to live. We are constantly

exhorted to look up. And not only because we’re going to be there one day but

especially because of the One who’s up there right now.

According to the writer of Hebrews, there is a proper heavenly-mindedness. This

is what enabled Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to live by faith as tent-dwelling no-

mads in Canaan.

Now, you might be wondering what this has got to do with this passage. Aren’t

these verses just another in the many lists of Mosiac regulations? Aren’t these

simply those rules that were for God’s people before Jesus came?

But these words are also preparatory. They were to help get the people ready for

a whole new future, just like we are so close to heaven. You see, physical Israel

would soon be in the Promised Land. The very place they could be so blessed by

their covenant God - the land flowing with milk and honey.

Wouldn’t that thought have motivated the Hebrews to look to the Lord even

more? He had led them so far already. And he was going to keep looking after

them – surely that would have made them so thankful! They would be so moti-

vated to do things his way!

However, the history of Israel tells a completely different story. From a people

who were given so much, the Lord received so little in return.

Indeed, to study the way the Church of Christ is through the ages, is to see this.

Time and again it was only his grace that allowed that to be. This is what we our-

selves show with being so wrapped up with the things of this world it would be a

real shock if the Lord came tomorrow. We are not honestly ready for heaven.

You Are The Lord’s

So let’s turn again to him. Let’s learn once more the way we ought to be. Being

heavenly-minded is actually of the most earthly use! Because that is living out

here the way he is up there.

2. Read Numbers 28:1-8. What does this tell us about how the Lord’s people are

to look to him?

At the beginning of Number 28 we see the way God wants us to look up. “The

LORD said to Moses, ‘Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: “See

that you present to me…”

“To me” the Lord God exhorts. He who stooped to love, looks to see that love

returned. And if anything would typify heaven it would most definitely be the

love from all within. That’s his Family – the Church – after all!

It is what we know in a loving marriage. Husband and wife are united. And over

and over again they know this is the best way to be. In fact, it’s the only way to

be!

This is what the Lord lays before his people then. He says to them that there

cannot be any other way. Gordon Keddie comments, “the Lord says that wor-

ship is to be offered, ‘to me’: not to whomever you may regard as your ‘god,’

not to whatever may be called ‘God’ by somebody somewhere, still less to ‘the

man upstairs’! Worship is to be given exclusively, and with the utmost sincer-

ity and personal reverence, to the living God who reveals himself in his Word.

‘You shall have no other gods before me,’ says the Lord in the First Command-

ment.”

We read that in Exodus 20 verse 3. And Hebrews 11 verse 6 confirms this. It

says, “without faith it’s impossible to please God, because anyone who comes

to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek

him.”

Just think, what glory awaits! And it’s all because you are the Lord’s! “Be

mine” declares the Lord. It’s a command. You have to do it.

But surely it’s no burden to be his dearly beloved? For has God ever told you to

do more than what he will also give you the grace to be able to do? He who has

already done so much in your life isn’t going to stop now! So let’s be his! Then

we’ll have him even more!

You Are The Lord’s When Your Day Starts And Finishes

This is about how we are to be every single day. As one commentator says of

this passage, “In the daily burnt-offering the congregation of Israel, as a con-

gregation of the LORD, was to sanctify its life, body, soul, and spirit, to the

Lord its God.”

4. Why does Moses begin his detailing of Israel’s public worship with the daily

offerings rather than with one of the more grand festivals? Is there a divine sys-

tem in this pattern?

This is pointing the Church to her Head. Some might call it positive reinforce-

ment, but really it’s living out consistently what we are in our God - this is faith

in action.

It’s still true for us today.

The worship for the Old Testament saints was through the shadow – a pointing

forward – of offering a lamb at each sunrise and sunset. Yet the fulfilment with

the Lamb of God himself coming hasn’t taken away from each day beginning

and finishing with him. Indeed, we have every reason for being more faithful in

this. What they saw dimly in the future has become for us the most vivid light

in Jesus Christ!

Looking for someone you haven’t yet met is awkward. Even if you have a

rough idea of what he looks like yet the reality is always a bit different. A

photo doesn’t tell how tall he is. But when you do finally meet him, you won’t

forget him! And because Jesus has come, we have in our hearts the proof that

we’ll know him that much more when he returns.

5. What do you think would be the danger for Israel if she did not follow these

daily offerings to the Lord?

6. What is the danger for you if you do not have a daily time of spiritual devo-

tion?

So there’s no excuse for not beginning and ending the day with your Lord. You

don’t know him any other way, do you?

And then it’s most appropriate that this fire-offering that made up the daily,

regular offering, was basic to the whole sacrificial system. This was what

counted most of all. That’s why it is here first of all!

Think about it: How could your worship of God on Sunday have any meaning

at all, unless it comes from your worship every day? Then we appreciate Sun-

day as the special day that it is, as much, and even more, than the Israelites did

with their Sabbath.

There are tests that have shown that the last thing you do before you sleep stays

with you in your sleep. And don’t we know that the way we start the day makes

all the difference to the rest of the day?

Have you made your sacrifice this morning? Will there be the offering in

prayer tonight? Is it upon the willing altar of your life that the pure flame of his

fire is cleansing?

7. Some say religion is one of those things you should keep privately to your-

self. In other words, you keep it to yourself in your home. How does Numbers

28:1-8 challenge this and stir us to live for him in everything?

You Are The Lord’s With Everything You Have

Look at what is happening in these verses. There isn’t only the one lamb at sun-

rise and the other at sunset. Verse 5 says that they come “together with a grain

offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil

from pressed olives.”

And verse 7 continues this. It says, “The accompanying drink offering is to be a

fourth of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb.”

It’s quite some meal being made for the Lord! And don’t think he’s doing this to

keep them out of mischief. Actually, this is the most total claim of who they are!

There must be a wholeness in what you give your Saviour God. Not some pass-

ing acknowledgement of a familiar tradition. That kind of custom doesn’t de-

mand anything from us. But what is here must have our constant focus.

8. Read Psalm 51. Which verses there show us that it is only when we realise the

meaning underneath the ceremony that we are truly blessed?

Anyone can come to church. To do what you’ve always done comes easily

enough. But will you enter those doors with everything you have? Are your foot-

steps those that make the sound of trepidation? Do your legs weigh that much

heavier because it is your Saviour and Lord himself that you come to meet?

You haven’t just turned up there. You thought about it and you prayed for it.

And you come ready for it. You have dressed appropriately. And you will give

accordingly.

I mean, that you are actually physically able to come is because the Heavenly

Father has given to you first of all. It is the Holy Spirit and his Word which

brought you to see this spiritually. No wonder that every day the priests offered

up bread and drink to the Lord. And how much don’t they point to the One who

is the bread of life and the living water?

These are sacrifices in our text. They show that our sin has to be paid for. That’s

why they point to the one who would be the ultimate sacrifice for all our sin.

That’s the wrong we do every day and in every way!

You are the Lord’s with everything you have because it’s all what he has given to

you. You know that. And you also know how much he loves that you show that!

9. Do you feel something is missing when you don’t have a daily devotion time?

Explain why you are like that and what happens if you don’t keep up regular

prayer and reading of God’s Word:

10. Why do you think it pleases God that we commune with him like this?

You Are The Lord’s For That’s What He Loves

God has created us to take delight in us. He wants us to please him. That’s what

the Westminster Shorter Catechism means when it says that our chief aim is to

glorify God and enjoy him forever. Because it’s nothing to do with us! It’s all

about him!

In our text this thought comes through three times. Verse 2 ends in stating about

the offering that it is to be “an aroma pleasing to me.”

Verse 6 states it again. It says, “This is the regular burnt offering instituted at

Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma…” And verse 8 comes back to it again. It con-

cludes this passage, saying, “This is an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to

the LORD.”

It keeps coming back! And it is throughout the rest of Scripture as well. Not only

does this concept occur in describing these physical sacrifices in the Old Testa-

ment, it also comes out loud and clear in the New Testament.

That aroma is what the covenant God truly loves! He so much sought after it from

his people – the nation of Israel – in the Old Testament. And when it did not come

from them, he gave of himself so that in the New Testament Church what he loved

to receive would come!

11. Read 2 Corinthians 2:14-17. How do these verses affirm Numbers 28:2,6 &

The sense of smell can either attract or repel. But to know that from the rotting

carcasses, that we were, the Lord would yet bring forth his most sweet smelling

fragrance, is to see so vividly what privilege you and I have!

Aren’t these words in Numbers then such a clear and wonderful pointing to how

our covenant God – Yahweh – would completely provide in the Son of his love,

Jesus Christ? He alone was and is the aroma perfectly pleasing to the Lord God.

So just think of how much in Jesus our lives are the pure fire God loves!

Fire also figures prominently in our text. It points to what God takes up to him-

self. And that’s what pleases him.

Is your life being burnt up for the Great Lover of your soul? Are you brought to

your knees everyday and in all kinds of ways? Have you laid your all before the

One who alone can take that load?

Then those words of Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4 will surely be true for you for he

says there in verse 4, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the

LORD Almighty.”

To sacrifice truly as an Old Testament believer, in the way described in our text,

took faith. It was so easy, as later history showed, to turn away from the clear

word of the Lord.

And to be properly prepared now takes faith too. In our age also it’s easy to turn

aside from the Lord. But it won’t be easy to live apart from him. For then you’ll

find out what happened when Israel of old went astray, in your own life.

That’s not what you were made to do. That is not being his – every day and in

every way!

12. What have you resolved to do because of this study? How does the diagram

The cycles of Israel’s worship (1) help you in this focus?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God that his Son was the perfect sacrifice

Confession: Those times we have slipped or lapsed in our daily devotions.

Thanksgiving: No longer are there sacrifices. We can see the whole picture

now.

Supplication: For the Christians who cannot freely meet together – and who

even fear to do daily devotions.

Study 2

You Are His – That’s What Sunday Says!

Numbers 28:9-10

1. Read Numbers 28:1-10. Why do you think one day in seven being set aside

especially for public worship is crucial in a believer’s life?

If you go through the last four books of Moses you will find that the same

things are described several times. You have the Ten Commandments given

twice. You have other rules that appear again - and perhaps even again.

John Calvin structured his commentaries on the four books of Exodus, Leviti-

cus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, as a ‘harmony’. That meant he grouped all

the similar passages together, even though they might be in different books.

When it comes to the Sabbath day, and the worship to occur on that day, we see

the same. There are other passages which address this. And when it came to the

specific worship on this day Leviticus 23 verse 3 says much the same.

Except that it isn’t exactly the same. For when you compare them more closely,

we see that Leviticus 23 is more directly addressed to Israel as a whole while

Numbers 28 and 29 speaks to the Priests. The detail in our text is actually like

an instruction book.

Now that might seem strange happening in Numbers. It’s usually Leviticus we

associate as the book with ‘Rules for the Priests.’

But here we need to consider the context. For this part of Numbers is chrono-

logically getting very close to the Promised Land. They don’t have long to go

now. And so the Lord spells it out for them in this particular way. It is the pat-

tern here which more than matches the pagan prescription for religion. These

chapters detail things so that they should be quite taken up with the worship of

the Lord. Indeed, it would be a worship and service of him that demanded of

them everything! They are his!

There Is Something About The Seventh Day

We have seen that they are meant to be the Lord’s with what we heard about

the daily offerings. And now it’s shown in the Sabbath day offerings. Verse 9

clearly begins with this. “On the Sabbath day,” it states.

2. Read Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15. What is similar between

these two passages? What is different? Why do you think it is different?

The Sabbath day is the seventh day in the week. The day proscribed to be kept

as a holy day for the Lord in Exodus 20, the verses 8 till 11, and in Deuteron-

omy 5, the verses 12 till 15.

It is interesting, though, that the fourth commandment in each of these accounts

has a different rationale. The reason given for the Sabbath day in Exodus 20 is

that it was the day God rested from his work of creation. And the reason given

for it in Deuteronomy 5 is that God has taken them out slavery in Egypt with

his mighty hand. This day became the constant thanksgiving to the Lord for his

creating and recreating them.

3. Read Psalm 139:1-16. How does this connect with Exodus 20:8-11?

4. Quickly glean over Psalm 78. How does this psalm connect us with Deuter-

onomy 5:12-15?

So, this special day was because they were all made by him. That’s what

David acknowledges in Psalm 139. And this special day is because they

have been remade by him. That’s what Asaph in Psalm 78 details as he

relates the Lord’s redeeming them from Egypt and his guiding them

through the wilderness. The Sabbath testifies to them that God saved them

to worship him.

On the Sabbath day their daily worship is added to with a double offering

at the tabernacle. It was an offering that, in addition to the sunrise and

sunset offerings to the Lord, would probably have taken place at midday.

That certainly claims the day for the Lord!

For, then, in the wilderness, all would have come to the outer court where

the offering was made on the Altar of Burnt Offering. They would be

there looking upon that intricately made altar, as it’s described in Exodus

27. The altar made of acacia wood, with a height of one and a half metres

and a width and length of two and a half metres. The altar with horns on

each corner and completely overlaid with bronze.

They would see the utensils, its grating, and the bronze ring at each of the

corners. There were also those poles of acacia wood for it, also overlaid

with bronze. And the altar was to be hollow, made out of boards, so that it

could be carried with them.

Then there was the courtyard itself. It was bordered around with curtains

and posts and bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. And it’s all

top-quality linen and purple and scarlet yarn.

In that setting they were to take the time for a double offering. That would

take twice as long. But then they weren’t working that day. And they had

received a double portion of the manna the day before.

So it was the Lord’s Day – the day they especially met with him. This was

the day when everything they did reminded them about him. This was the

seventh day.

It is no coincidence that all the feasts of the whole year formed a cycle

arranged according to the number ‘seven’. The number which had its

starting-point and centre in the Sabbath.

So the whole Hebrew year was regulated according to the division of time

established at the creation into weeks, months, years, and periods of years.

It was a pattern that went from the weekly Sabbath to the monthly Sab-

bath, the Sabbatical year, and the year of Jubilee. One commentator notes

that, “into this cycle of holy periods, regulated by the number seven, and

ever expanding into larger and larger circles, there was embodied the

whole rotation of annually recurring festivals, established to commemo-

rate the mighty works of the Lord for the preservation and inspiration of

his people.”

He goes on to point out that this was done in three ways. The first of these

is that the number of yearly festivals added up to exactly seven, of which

the two leading feasts lasted seven days.

In the second place he says that in all the feasts, no matter whether they

were for one day or for seven days, there were only seven days that were

to be observed with sabbatical rest and a holy meeting. And, thirdly, he

notes that the seven feasts were formed into two large festal circles, each

of which consisted of an introductory feast, the main feast of seven days,

and a closing feast of one day.

Now, that’s some detail! But it all comes back to seven. The Lord clearly

lays out how it must all come back to him! While we now have the Spirit

in our hearts, because of what Christ has done, they then had to be guided

from the outside. It was in following this pattern of seven that their faith

was blessed and built up. Every time there was a revival in the Old Testa-

ment Church this is what they went back to.

There Is Something To Set Apart This Day

Well, there is something about the seventh day alright. But, then, there is

also something to set this apart.

Here we consider what the text describes as being done on the Sabbath

and when it was done. Because we read in verse 9 that they were to “make

an offering of two lambs a year old, without defect, together with its drink

offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed

with oil.”

Comparing this with the daily offerings described above the text, in verses

3 till 8, we see that, apart from the drink offering, this was exactly double

the daily offerings. And it was to also have double the effect because of

the time it would take and when it would be done.

5. When you compare the special offerings for the Sabbath and add to that

the regular daily offerings performed what impression are you left with?

6a. When do you think they would have carried out the Sabbath day offer-

ings?

6b. How do you think this helps us as to when we should have our wor-

ship services?

The morning and evening sacrifices would have begun and ended the day

with the Lord. We have seen how much they guide God’s people to be

focused on him all the time. But with the Sabbath day offerings the whole

day itself is being taken up with resting and recreating in him. Just as we

all need a break physically from our weekly work, so then we also need to

have a break spiritually. But it is not a break to do what we want. Then it

wouldn’t be spiritual at all! Rather, this is a day when both the physical

and spiritual come together in a special way.

This is why the strongest evidence is for the Sabbath offerings being car-

ried out at midday. So it would be three times this day that the people

gathered together to worship the Lord their God. Thrice they assembled.

Three times the call went out to the Church then to join in the public wor-

ship of Yahweh.

The impact of this was brought home to me by what someone said to me

some years ago. In a meeting, he noted that nowhere does the Lord com-

mand us to worship him twice on his day. That’s true. But not the way he

thought - because sometimes God calls us to worship him more than

twice, as we see here.

The whole day is his, isn’t it? So as often as we are called to worship

that’s as many times as we ought to be together in public worship. If the

Lord is there where his people are gathered together in his Name, as Mat-

thew 18 verse 20 says, then that’s where we have to be.

This also addresses the growing practice there is amongst churches to

have a service on the Saturday night. For example, when Christmas was

on a Sunday recently, many churches didn’t have any services at all! Be-

cause what they are really doing is to leave the whole Sunday free for the

people to do whatever they want to do. And then no day is his - for your

daily worship becomes worthless if it’s not looking towards your weekly

worship.

What happens on Sunday should be the highlight of your week, because it

is doing what pleases God most of all. And when you do that you will

have your blessing too. Moses in Deuteronomy is quite clear about that.

But only because the Lord is first!

There Is Something This Day Does To All Days

Exodus 31, when it commands observance of the Sabbath, says in verse 17

that it was on this day that the Lord ceased from work and was refreshed.

There is no doubt that this is a day set apart. And neither is there any doubt

that this is a day that gives you a whole new start. You will receive tremen-

dous blessings for every day.

This is what the prophets later describe. In Isaiah 58, the verses 13 and 14,

we read, “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as

you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s

holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way, and

not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy

in the LORD.”

But especially we note how Isaiah ends verse 14. Because it is there the Lord

is speaking. He promises, “and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the

land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

There is also that scene we met in Psalm 134. The service of the priests was

described there in verse 1 as ministering “by night in the house of the

LORD.” For as long as the faithful worship of the Lord was found in his

people so long would the blessing of the Lord be there. This is indeed what

verse 3 confirms in that psalm, for there we see the Lord blessing those so

looking to him.

7. Read Isaiah 56:1-8. How does this passage bring out the extent of God’s

blessing the keeping of the Sabbath Day?

8. Read Mark 2:23-3:6. How does this help tell us what we should and

shouldn’t do on the Christian Sabbath Day?

When you faithfully keep the Sabbath you find the true meaning to your life.

And how obvious isn’t that in an age and a place where Christians have so

much deserted this command of the Lord? Because they’re doing as they

please. It’s a day that’s no different to them. They don’t get a break!

Now, there is the other extreme too. The Pharisees showed this in Jesus’

time with the many extra rules they laid upon the Sabbath. And church his-

tory gives us examples since then of Christians who have imposed man-

made regulations on top of what the Lord commanded. They don’t get a

break either.

In all this we see that the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. Con-

stantly throughout Scripture he tells us that he’s thinking of us. Don’t we hear

that with what Jesus says about the Sabbath in Mark 2? In verse 27 he ad-

dresses the Pharisees by saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man

for the Sabbath.” Because what is this one day in seven apart from recognis-

ing what God has done in creating and re-creating his people? Take away

what we are in him, and nothing else fits in! No wonder Christianity seems so

ineffectual in this place!

This is why Jesus went on in verse 28 of Mark 2 to say, “So the Son of Man

is Lord even of the Sabbath.” It’s him that this day is really all about. When

we hear about these offerings being sacrificed on the day Israel remembered

their being saved from Egypt, we’re immediately drawn to the far greater

salvation done by Christ on the cross. That’s what Old Testament Israel

looked forward to every time they assembled together on the last day of the

week. Even though the sight of the saints was then dim, they knew the Mes-

siah was coming. While they lived in shadows, they knew the substance was

coming.

They called that the ‘Day of the Lord.’ That would be a day when the Law

that had been on the outside would be permanently written on the inside. In-

stead of what was written for the priests under the old covenant to do we

have what the ultimate high priest of all has done in the new. In the words of

Joel chapter 3, that would be the day that began a new day.

9. Why do we now have the one day in seven on the first day of the week

instead of the last day of the week?

10. How does 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 and Revelation 1:10 help us here?

We live on the other side of that Day. Jesus Christ fulfilled in himself all the

offerings that were made on the Sabbath Day under the old covenant. Be-

cause of his doing and dying and rising from the dead on the first day of the

week we live under a new covenant. Now the Christian Sabbath day is the

first day of the week because it is the beginning of a whole new age.

And yet we live in that Day, because while Christ has come he is still to

come again. So every Christian Sabbath we look forward to that Day. For

while it’s true we worship now on Sunday because of Christ’s rising from

the dead, it’s also the first day of the week because eternity is yet to come.

11. How has this helped you to appreciate what God has given you in the

Christian Sabbath Day? In what way has the diagram The cycles of Israel’s

worship (2) helped in this focus?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God for his wisdom in the structure he gave Old Testa-

ment Israel which his Son fulfilled

Confession: For when we have not honoured the Lord’s Day.

Thanksgiving: For the provision of Sunday for our resting and re-creating in

the Lord

Supplication: For the revival of our nation and world back to the Lord’s pat-

tern for the week.

Study 3

You Are His – Time Itself Tolls It!

Numbers 28:11-15

1. Share with the group a time when you were particularly struck by the con-

cept of time itself. What did that occasion particularly bring home to you?

We can easily take time for granted. And when I say “time” I don’t only

mean how we spend each day, but also the type of calendar we use. Because,

how often do we think about that?

Well, unless we knew about it, we wouldn’t think about it at all. And who of

us knows about the kind of calendar we use? Ah, you say, it’s the Gregorian

calendar we use - the calendar that has 365 days and irregular months. But

this is the Roman calendar, also known as the Western Calendar. It is a cal-

endar based on the earth’s rotation around the sun. And it has been with us in

one shape or another since 45 B.C. Its most recent adaptation is called the

Gregorian Calendar and it occurred in 1582.

Before that, however, the common calendar was the lunar one. That was

more consistent than the Gregorian calendar. For with that calendar the

months were always the same length. Because that calendar doesn’t corre-

spond with the sun, though, it means that the lunar month which starts on a

particular day in a month this year will fall on a different day next year. We

find that out with the date for Easter. Each year it’s on a different date.

Sometimes the difference can be as much as three weeks! This is because

Easter is calculated on the lunar calendar.

It is because of this that we know Passover occurs in the same week as

Easter. And we can tie down Ascension and Pentecost to exact days.

So, strictly speaking, the Sabbath that the Orthodox Jews insist on keeping

and the Seventh Day Adventists make a big fuss about often isn’t actually on

the proper day! Because the lunar calendar would have it falling on other

days of our week just as much as it actually falls on Saturday.

Mind you, I’m sure they’d have some explanation for this. Like, for exam-

ple, you shouldn’t be too literal about these things! Anyway, we divert a lit-

tle here. The point is that the ancient Hebrews had a different Calendar. This

was a calendar which had for its beginning the first day of each month. In

comparison, the beginning of our calendar is the 1

January. That equates to

a full cycle around the sun.

The ancient Hebrew’s calendar, however, matched up with the cycle of the

moon. So when just the barest crescent of the moon showed up in the night

sky it was the new moon.

There are some interesting parallels that we can have here. For what is it that

we often do as we’re about to begin a new year? Don’t we have those tradi-

tions encouraging reflection upon where we are and where we’re going? We

talk about our New Year’s resolutions. We sing ‘auld lang syne’, which is a

toast to those you’ve known in the past – those who are dear to you. Well,

here the Lord lays down the traditions which will keep his people focussed

upon him.

2. What would be the specifically Christian traditions during the year that

help focus believers on their Lord?

3. Read Colossians 2:6-23. How does this passage tell us of what is the vital

aspect to our time – and, indeed, to every period in human history? Where in

this passage does it point us beyond these Old Testament sacrifices to their

fulfilment?

4. Read Numbers 28:1-15. What similarities are there to the daily and Sab-

bath day offerings? What is different? How do you think the differences mat-

tered in regards to the pagan new moon worship?

The New Moon Starts Them Looking Up

In the land they are about to enter, Israel will find people who also celebrate

the new moon. In fact, the pagan rituals there were quite involved at that

time. They had a whole multitude of astral deities they worshipped then in

superstitious adoration. Because that’s what it was – superstition! They did it

out of fear.

Now, what they did may have seemed to be quite free. They got into all kinds

of drunken and immoral behaviour. But how much don’t we know that that

actually traps people? There is no joy there, only that terrible tormenting of

realising so soon after physically and spiritually that this gives no peace. In-

deed, how often weren’t their gods seen to be at war with each other?

For God’s people, however, there wasn’t to be any of this superstition. This

was no Friday the 13

type superstition. There is nothing to be scared about

here. This was actually giving this new month over to the Lord. It was all

about loving the One who loves you so much!

Like we do with having a public holiday on New Year’s Day so this day was

to have definite place within the covenant community. Because, like the Sab-

bath day offerings, this offering on the first day of the month was additional

to the daily offerings.

Yet, it was even more than the Sabbath day offerings. For if the Sabbath day

offerings at mid-day put the focus of the day clearly on the Lord and his will

for that day, imagine how much this even bigger offering turned the people

to the Lord. There are more than two lambs here! Verse 11 says there are

two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old! So, there were

seven lambs – all of them male – and the ram and the two young bulls. This

is equal to the biggest offering of any time in their church year! The Lord

takes seriously his Lordship over time.

Indeed, isn’t this what we say with the acronym A.D. when we speak of a

particular year. For example, this year is the year 2017, A.D.. The letters

A.D., stand for ‘Anno Domini’. This is Latin for “in the year of our Lord.” It

recognises that our present era of time is based on the traditional date for the

birth of Jesus Christ.

Imagine what a contrast the people of Israel would have been with the na-

tions around them, when they worshipped like this? They were following a

clear and solemn pattern in looking up to their covenant God, while those

around become completely intoxicated in their selfish pagan rituals.

It is no surprise, then, that, over time, this day became almost like a feast

day. Trade became suspended on this day, as Amos 8 verse 5 says. The

deeply religious Israelites went to hear the prophets teach this day, as 2

Kings 4 verse 23 tells us. Many families and households presented yearly

thank-offerings on this day, which 1

Samuel 20 verses 6 and 29 details.

And even later still, the most devout remembered this day by fasting (Judith

8:6 – Judith is one of the books found in the Apocrypha, an historical but

uninspired set of books found in the Roman Catholic Bible versions).

So they went so far as to break their fasts to eat, because it so much resem-

bled the Sabbath. This is what the prophets speak about, as Isaiah (1:13),

Hosea (2:13), and Ezekiel (46:1) state.

On the new moon day, God’s people looked up. They laid themselves before

the One who holds everything in his hand. As the psalmist says in Psalm 89

verse 37, the moon is “the faithful witness in the sky.” And in Psalm 104

verse 19, he says, “The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows

when to go down.”

So, as well as starting and ending each day worshipping the Lord; as well as

ending each week coming together before him; they also took this other time

– the beginning of their earthly time – to look up to him.

5. In the monthly offerings, as well as the two lambs, there were two young

bulls, a ram, five extra lambs, and more fine flour and wine offered up. What

would that have done for the people of Israel as they participated in these

over against the pagan new moon worship?

6. How does the one male goat presented to the Lord as a sin offering add a

completely different element here?

7. Read Psalm 40. Where do we see in this psalm the connection with the sin

offering?

The New Moon Keeps Them Opening Up

Did you notice what else different is happening on this day? In fact, this

other different thing is a major difference altogether! For the bulls and the

ram, and the extra five lambs, were more than before. But they were still

burnt offerings to the Lord. Now, though, there is another kind of offering –

a ‘sin’ offering. That’s what the male goat in verse 15 is said to be.

The number of burnt offerings have lifted this day on a higher level than the

daily offerings and the Sabbatical offerings, because the new moon starts

them looking up. But now this other offering has them opening up what they

are within. For the ongoing worship of the Lord couldn’t be that pleasing

aroma without this confession of their sin. Psalm 51 is quite clear that the

heart of true worship is humbled hearts.

This would be particularly seen with one of their annual feasts but it’s also

here because no time period can be without it. In fact, to miss it out or to not

do it from the heart means we would be cutting ourselves off from the Lord.

So important is this that in Leviticus 4 the sin offering where an equivalent

animal is used, the offering is made for when one of their leaders sinned un-

intentionally. When that man has broken one of God’s commands by omis-

sion this is the offering that has to be made.

We can take it then that this offering is on behalf of the sins of all of Israel

done unintentionally. If it were done intentionally there’s a whole range of

other offerings to be made. And then there is the punishment that needs to be

meted out as well.

So the new month begins with this recognition that we have sinned – not

only knowingly but also unknowingly. We are so inadequate we must con-

fess what we don’t know we have done wrong as well as that which we do

know.

You can see how everything is put in the Lord’s light. On our own we would

only slip away from him. Then we would be in the dark!

But this keeps us humble before him. Then they can truly be blessed, for no

one who is full of himself can honestly worship this way. This is what David

said in Psalm 40. He took it to the heart of the matter. In verse 8 he prayed,

“To do your will, O God, is my desire; your law is within my heart.”

But here is where there is the fundamental difference between the ancient

saints and us today. The point at which they were with the Lord was very

much wrapped up in where their leaders stood before him. Or should I say, if

their leaders bowed before him?

That’s why these offerings, extensive though they were, could only be shad-

ows of the things that were to come. Colossians 2 verse 17 is clear about

that. For the substance is found in Christ.

We can use an analogy here – a comparison. You see, the moon’s light is

only reflected sunlight. And it’s only a very partial reflection even at the

best of times. In the same way the new moon offerings are only a small thing

compared with when the Son himself would come! Malachi 4:2 says of that

time, “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise

with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released

from the stall.”

Those offerings are only a shadow. No matter the quantities of the offerings

made they were nothing compared with the ultimate offering of himself

Christ will make! Even though there were 113 bulls, 32 rams, 1086 lambs,

over a ton of flour, and a thousand bottles of oil and wine the priests offered

every year it all paled into insignificance in the light of the Son. He takes

every sin that ever there was, or will be, and nails it to the cross!

8. We have seen that the ancients were dependent on following closely the

prescriptions in the law and having godly leadership in order to do that. Does

this mean that somehow they lacked something from the Lord in comparison

with us of the new covenant age?

9. What did keeping to the Lord God’s framework then do for them?

10. How do we keep to the Lord’s framework for looking to him today?

Those ancients weren’t sold short. The Lord gave them what they needed

when they needed it if they in faith obeyed his Word. Then they were richly

blessed in a physical way that gives us a foretaste of what we may have

spiritually now, and certainly what we will have physically and spiritually

upon the new heavens and the new earth!

In the time of this passage, they were being well prepared for taking posses-

sion of the Promised Land. By dedicating all their time to the Lord, he would

bless them in this land flowing with milk and honey. But as soon as they

took their eyes off the Lord, if they were to fall into those pagan ways, then

every day would be a curse.

Moses in Psalm 90 verse 12 prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we

may gain a heart of wisdom.” It was by keeping to the Lord’s days that they

would grow in knowing God and doing his will. Going the other way only

meant your days were definitely numbered!

But the exhortation comes to us also. The apostle Paul in Ephesians 5

warned us about this. He says in the verses 15 and 16, “Be very careful, then,

how you live – not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every oppor-

tunity, because the days are evil.”

Of course Paul didn’t mean that time itself is bad, but he was talking about

the danger of the world we live in.

We need to think about how we spend our time. And then think about how

the Lord could find you if he came back at any time. Would you always be

found doing his will? Or would you quickly switch off that program you

were watching, hide away that magazine or book you were reading, or sud-

denly stop whatever else you were doing?

If you had to do that, you wouldn’t be redeeming the time for the Lord. It is

all his time, isn’t it? And aren’t you his – all the time?

11. How has this study helped you appreciate the time God has placed you

in? In what way has the diagram The cycles of Israel’s worship (3) helped in

this focus?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God for the gift of time and his control of all of our time.

Confession: Acknowledge that we have not always used the time he gives

us in a wise way.

Thanksgiving: Thank God that tomorrow is another day and so the Lord

gives us new opportunities to serve him.

Supplication: Plead for us to put into place a firm discipline with time and to

use whatever time we can for prayer, reading God’s Word, meditating upon

the things of him, and come together in worship of him and fellowship with

his own.

Study 4

You Are His – His Deliverance Proves It!

Number 28:16-25

1. As a New Zealander what particular day of the year stands out for you?

Why does it have such significance for you as a citizen of this land?

In the life of every nation there is a special day at least once a year. This is a

day when the special identity of that country is remembered.

For some it is their Independence Day. That commemorates when they were

able to throw off their colonial masters. For others it may be the date that

their land was first settled. For others still, their national day is the anniver-

sary of when a treaty was signed acknowledging the rights of the natives of

that country. That day is a public holiday.

There will be unique events organised for that day. And it will specifically

focus on how that has made them the people they are today – whether

Americans, Kiwis, Portuguese, Taiwanese, or Aussies!

Old Testament Israel had such a day too. This was a day which certainly

celebrated their freedom from foreign oppression. But it wasn’t a liberation

done through some of their own countrymen. For it was God Himself who in

the tenth plague against Egypt killed all of their first born eldest male off-

spring – animal and human. He saved his people and those others who feared

him through their painting the blood of year old male lambs upon the side

and tops of the doorframes of their houses. Exodus chapter 12 tells us that as

God’s Church then looked to him in that act of worship, he blessed it with

redemption.

What a salvation it was too! That very night the Lord rescued his people

from the land of slavery, the house of bondage. They were free – free to now

serve the Lord their God.

There we see the difference this day is to all those other national days. Be-

cause those earthly nations celebrate a freedom of certain rights and privi-

leges their citizens have. This day, though, means that Old Testament Israel

had no rights but simply the privilege to witness to the Lord God through its

worshipping and serving him.

Now, in the passage for our study, we are about to hear of what would be

done by the priests over the next seven days. But let’s notice what first of all

happens on the evening of the fourteenth day. This is the Lord’s Passover

referred to in verse 16.

It was the remembering of this event privately that happened on the evening

of the fourteenth day of the first month. Deuteronomy 16 verse 6 says that in

their families they must celebrate it when the sun goes down, on the anniver-

sary of the departure from Egypt. And that’s certainly what was detailed in

Exodus 12. There is some detail there as to what happened on the first Pass-

over and how that is to be remembered.

2. Read Numbers 28:16-25. Where do we find the early account of what is re-

membered here? Read that passage out. Why could this be considered a special

day for Israel?

3. What would be the equivalent day for God’s covenant people today? Which

Scriptural passage supports your view on this?

This Feast Recalls The Lord’s Passing over

They celebrate the Passover on the second Sabbath of the first month. Then the

next seven days are set aside to really bring home to them what that event in-

volved. Because they were, in a way, reliving it. For seven days they ate their

bread without yeast in it.

While yeast may make the bread taste nice, it took more time then to bake the

bread. So it would have been a week without the women having to get up early

in the morning, and work for at least three hours to get the baking done.

For they would first let the bread rise with the yeast in it for 45 minutes; then

the intense kneading for ten minutes; followed by a second rising time of 45

minutes; after that a further intense kneading for ten minutes; and then a final

45 minutes rising.

Instead, this week it was the flat and hard loaves quickly made which was all

they could have. They were remembering they had to be ready to go at any

time. There could be nothing that held them back!

Naturally, this would have got lots of questions from the kids. They would

have been curious when you did that really thorough search through your

home looking for any possible yeast. But especially I don’t think they would

have liked that bread!

That asking the question about what this means in Exodus 12 verse 26 has to-

day become a tradition amongst Jews. But it was not meant to be a set part of

the ceremony.

It is similar to when Moses spoke of tying God’s commandments on their

hands and foreheads in Deuteronomy 6. That wasn’t meant actually to mean

they have those phylacteries physically on those parts of their bodies, as Or-

thodox Jews do today.

Rather, the question was to come out naturally, as your children will ask you

questions about why you do things differently than the world around them,

especially what it means to be Christians in this world. And if your children

aren’t asking you that, you really have to wonder if you are truly living by

God’s Word!

So the children then couldn’t really miss how important this occasion is. I

mean, there was a holiday of seven days! No kids would forget that, would

they?

But it was a bit of a different holiday to the ones you know about. No normal

work would be done. Each of those seven days the priests would offer up the

same number of sacrifices as they had on the new moon day. Everyone who

was physically able was expected to be there.

And what sacrifices they were! For seven days the very best was offered up

to the Lord. The bulls and rams and lambs were all without defect. While the

people were eating that hard bread the Lord got the best!

So it was a holiday alright. Because what is a holiday but a holy day? That

is the original meaning of the word. And on these days God’s people were to

meet with him.

This was all preparing Israel for taking over the Promised Land. For they

had only once so far celebrated the Passover. The third occasion didn’t hap-

pen until the days of Joshua in Joshua 5, forty years after the second time in

Numbers 9.

There would be a difference the next time, though, because then it would be

the festival of the Unleavened Bread. Last time the Passover had simply

been a sacrifice.

We see here the progression of God’s line through the Old Testament. These

people he is making into a nation – a chosen people, a royal priesthood. And

exactly so that they would declare the praises of him who called them out of

darkness into his wonderful light!

Perhaps you recognised the words I have just quoted. They are from the

Apostle Peter’s first letter. And while it may seem strange to put the New

Testament into the Old like this, isn’t that exactly what the Lord is doing

here?

There is a line he is drawing through covenant history. It is a constant pro-

gression that will lead to Christ’s coming. And how much isn’t that clear

since for the seven days of the festival there is also a sin offering. So the

people must be ceremonially clean at all times.

When verse 23 speaks about preparing these offerings in addition to the

regular morning burnt offering it confirms the special character of each of

those days. In this way the constant sacrifice for sin pointed to the ultimate

sacrifice Christ would be.

4. Which event in the life of the Church after Christ has now taken over the

Passover – and thus become the equivalent new covenant sacrament?

5. Which New Testament passages tell us this? Write them down and read

them out:

6. How often should we celebrate this new covenant sacrament? Give rea-

sons for and against your view:

This Feast Starts The Cycle Of All Feasts

As the saints then were dependent on these outward forms of worship it’s

also important to see the position of this feast. Here and in Leviticus 23 the

Passover Feast is mentioned first.

Now, we might think that is because it is in the first month of the year. But

there is more to it than that. We saw in the verses 11 till 15 that the Jewish

calendar was lunar rather than solar. So the month was more emphasised

than the year. But there were still the four seasons found throughout the

twelve months – or thirteen months if they were catching up. And which sea-

son do we have here? Ah, it’s the northern hemisphere spring. Growth is in

the air. The birth phase of the harvest begins.

In fact, 49 days after the Passover it would be the Feast of Weeks. That is

also known as the Feast of Harvest. That was when God’s people celebrate

the harvest by bringing its best to him.

But the Passover is where it begins. And where their church year ends is

with the biggest festival of them all – the Feast of Tabernacles. That is a

feast we will come to another time, though.

So what the Feast of Unleavened Bread meant then was the complete dedica-

tion of their year to the Lord who had saved them. This meant quite some

commitment. And that is shown through the many years Israel did not cele-

brate this feast – the years when they had fallen away from the Lord and

turned to worshipping other gods.

It was not easy carrying out the Lord’s will this way. It meant going all the

way to where the tabernacle or temple of the Lord was.

This is what Deuteronomy 16 verses 5 and 6 point out. There the Lord de-

clares through Moses, “You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the

LORD your God gives you except in the place he has chosen a dwelling for

his Name.”

We see this cycle shown by the times of revival in Israel’s history. Hezekiah

after purifying the temple celebrates the Passover in 2

Chronicles 30. And

Josiah in the most thorough going reformation of them all, also does the

same in 2

Chronicles 35.

It is the Lord’s redemption that first puts us on the path to being blessed by

him in all those other ways. No wonder the apostle Paul speaks of Christ’s

saving work as the first-fruit in 1

Corinthians 15.

7. How do you know that the Passover can only ever be a temporary cere-

mony?

8. Read Hebrews 10:1-18. How does that show us the Passover festival is

indeed a passing sacrament?

This Feast Looks to The Ultimate Feast

In 1

Corinthians, in chapter 5 verse 7, Paul has said that Christ, our Pass-

over lamb, has been sacrificed. It was what Jesus himself alluded to during

that last supper he had with his disciples. Because that supper was really the

last Passover!

Then, while our Lord is dying on the cross it is noted that none of his bones

were broken (John 19:36). This is a direct allusion to Christ being the fulfil-

ment of the Passover lamb.

Already in the Old Testament we can see that the Passover was only a tem-

porary ordinance. The failure of God’s people then to keep these ceremonies

according to his Word showed that salvation couldn’t come to them this

way.

And it was never meant to either. As Hebrews 10, verses 3 and 4, says,

“Those annual sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impos-

sible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

But that letter goes on further to declare the ultimate fulfilment. The verses 5

till 7 of Hebrews 10 state, “Therefore, when Christ came into the world he

said, ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for

me: with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said,

“Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your

will, O God.”’”

By that will we have been made holy, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

once for all! He fulfilled perfectly all that God demanded for being made

right with him.

This is shown in Luke 22 when the Lord Jesus, during the Passover, took

bread, gave thanks and gave it to us. In verse 19 there he said, “This is my

body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.”

So the Lord’s Supper is now the feast the New Testament Church remem-

bers. While the Lord God used his powerful arm to deliver the Israelites out

of Egypt he worked the most powerful force of all in delivering us from sin

through the doing and dying of his own dear Son. While Deuteronomy 5

verse 15 tells the Old Testament Church that they are to rest on the Sabbath

day because the Lord brought them out of Egypt, the New Testament Church

worships on the day that Christ Jesus rose from the dead. Sunday is the

Lord’s Day.

The Passover celebrated the Independence Day of Old Testament Israel. It

was physically and spiritually their 4

of July!

But the death of Christ is now our spiritual liberation. The apostle Paul says

of the Lord Supper in 1

Corinthians 11 verse 26, “For whenever you eat this

bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

It is the fulfilment of the Passover which we celebrate every time we com-

mune together around the elements of bread and wine. Yet it’s especially

what we celebrate in the ultimate way when our Lord Jesus returns. Because

that day is coming – the great and coming day. Then the Lord won’t come

through one angel to pass over but in his Son, he, with all his angels, will

completely take over!

9. Explain simply the similarities and the differences between the Passover

and the Lord’s Supper:

10. How has this study helped your appreciation of God’s progressive sal-

vation history?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God for his deliverance in Jesus Christ. He is our Sav-

iour God!

Confession: Acknowledge the times we have not lived as a saved people.

Also confess the times we have taken the Lord’s Supper lightly.

Thanksgiving: Thank God for his providing the Lord’s Supper – the New

Testament sacrament remembering our deliverance and which comforts and

strengthens us in what Christ did and is still doing.

Supplication: Ask God to help you truly live by his Word so that those

around you will see you have been saved.

Study 5

You Are His – His Care Confirms It!

Number 28: 26-31

1. Read the whole of chapter 28. What particularly strikes you about the

flow so far through these verses? What does that say about how we should

be?

By now we are realising how carefully the Lord regulates the worship and

service of his people in the Old Testament. He lays down exactly what his

people need to be – the light to him among the nations. There is no part of

their lives that should be untouched by him.

What we have seen thus far in Numbers 28 is clear about this. The verses 1

till 8 began with the daily offerings. Twice each day, dawn and dusk, there

were public offerings. Then the verses 9 and 10 prescribed a Sabbath offer-

ing. Once a week, on the seventh day, there was a public midday offering.

But it does not end there. The verses 11 till 15 lay down monthly offerings.

This meant every four weeks there was an extra special offering. And you

knew it was extra-special because you offered up a lot more.

Then there are the annual feasts. The first of these was the Passover Festi-

val. That especially remembered when they were delivered up from Egypt

and so freed to be the Lord’s own.

The effect of the Lord on their lives becomes even clearer, however, with

the second most important festival in the Hebrew calendar year. For some

seven weeks after the Sabbath following the Passover there is the Feast of

Weeks. That’s why one of the names for this festival is ‘Feast of Weeks’,

because it comes exactly seven weeks later. Seven times seven days after-

wards.

2. Read Revelation 13:11-18. How does especially verse 18 help us under-

stand what the number seven represents?

Seven is the one uniquely symbolic number in Scripture. Seven is the num-

ber which expresses “completeness” or “perfection”.

And it’s on the day after this that there is this one-day festival. The day that

commemorates fifty days since the sickle was first put to the barley harvest.

The Jubilee Day!

This is why this day is also known as Pentecost, for Pentecost is the Greek

word for ‘fifty’ which was used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of

the Hebrew Scriptures. This day is also called ‘The Feast of Harvest’ and

‘The Day of First-fruits.’

It was a day which was to be treated as a Sabbath Day – a sacred assembly.

This was because the loaves made from the new grain were offered on the

altar. Leviticus 23 verse 17 instructed the people, “From wherever you live,

bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with

yeast, as a wave offering of first-fruits to the LORD.”

So, though it was a one day festival, it was especially set aside. Every year

it was to be faithfully remembered by Israel. Right throughout the Old Tes-

tament and in the New we find references to it.

This was to be an abiding ordinance. While their various crops and fruit

might ripen at different times, the Lord set down that at the time of the

wheat harvest, seven weeks after the Passover’s Sabbath, his people were

to specially thank him.

It is quite a different reason for solemnly worshipping the Lord their God.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread had celebrated his great saving act of the

destroying angel passing over his people. Those were the people who had

sprinkled the blood of the lamb on their door posts.

That was special revelation. That was an act where God moved in an extra-

ordinary way. And what could be more special than Jesus Christ himself

coming to live among us? That is the height of all special revelation. His

death and resurrection is the ultimate supernatural act. In fact, all special

revelation either directly points towards him, speaks about when he was

here, or looks back to him.

But now they are commemorating general revelation. For this is the care

God gives them every day and in every way. It is a care that the pagans also

experience. Though, unlike the pagans, the Israelites know who cares for

them. So while, as Matthew 5:45 says, the sun rises on the evil and the

good and the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous, because they

are of the righteous they know who sends that rain.

3. What is the fundamental mistake that the proponents of climate change

make regarding the cause of this world’s weather? How does this passage

and the rest of God’s Word correct this?

4. How can you use this knowledge of God’s care for us in creation as a

witness to your unbelieving neighbour?

5. By living biblically what do you show to the community you live in?

God’s People Thank Him For Food

We need to imagine the testimony this was in the world then. We have seen

that already in the way God’s people were to celebrate the New Moon. That

was quite different than those around them. The whole style of worship is a

total contrast to the other religions, because the Lord’s way had them look-

ing a completely different way.

And so each day, morning and evening; and each Sabbath, at mid-day; and

once a month; they would have solemn times of worship. There were

priests set apart to lead it. And the people reverently looked on. How differ-

ent could you get from the world!

And the Feast of Weeks does it again. Because harvest time for the pagans

was party time! If you thought their New Moon festivities were wild, you’d

be definitely blown away by what they did on this day – or in this week!

So the last thing on pagan minds at this time was what they had done

wrong. They were too busy having a good time. There was gluttony and

much immorality. In fact, it was more than likely they wouldn’t have re-

membered much of this time anyway because of their drunkenness!

But the Israelites were remembering alright! They were thanking the Lord

for another year of his care for them.

6. Read Leviticus 23:9-22. How do the Israelites especially show their

thankfulness to the Lord in these offerings?

In Leviticus 23 it is clear that the offering of new grain referred to in verse

26 of the text is the Lord receiving the first of the new harvest before any-

one else. Leviticus 23 verse 14 declares, “You must not eat any bread, or

roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God.

This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you

live.”

Imagine that! Right when they harvested the first-fruits, which was

around the time of Passover, and which would have been barley because

it ripened several weeks before wheat, they had to bring the amount

equivalent to an omer of fine flour as an offering to the Lord.

The harvest began with the Lord, and then, with the Feast of Weeks, it

ended with the Lord. For after seven weeks of harvesting, they have come

to the end of the crop. Seven weeks, forty-nine days – over a month and a

half.

After all that work, they had to lay it again before the Lord. Your meal

shouldn’t only begin with grace – that blessing we ask on the food. It has

to also end with thanksgiving!

And so it is that the people are gathered before the Lord on Pentecost.

The people are giving thanks to whom thanks is due. There is a certain

spirit in all this. Israel has to have a good attitude here. It cannot be like

Israel was in the time of Jeremiah the prophet. In Jeremiah 5:24 he says

of disobedient Israel that they don’t “fear the LORD our God, who gives

autumn and spring rains,” and “who assures them of the regular weeks of

harvest.” True thanksgiving isn’t just words. It is a response. And it is the

same deed-response regardless of what God has given you.

A good example of this is the first Thanksgiving Day held by the Puritan

pilgrims in North America. You might know the story. It had been a hard

time for those settlers. But in amongst all their difficulties – the loss of

loved ones, the lack of food supplies – they still believed they were

blessed. And so, on Harvest Day, they chose to celebrate God’s goodness

by sharing a meal with the Native Americans who had helped them to

survive.

That attitude made one Christian writer say that so much of the spirit of

the original celebration had been lost today. People are complaining that

their Thanksgiving Day has been “spoiled” by bad weather, disappointing

food, or a bad cold. But it is we who are spoiled, she said, spoiled by the

very blessings that should make every day a day of thanksgiving, what-

ever our circumstances.

This is why this Feast of Weeks was to be an annual event, regardless of

how well the harvest did – or didn’t do! The Lord’s people need to see

that all things are sent by God. It is all for our good – even if we don’t

think it’s so good! Are you going to judge God? Would you tell him what

to do?

In Deuteronomy 16 verse 10 the Lord said that the freewill offering ought

to be in proportion to how much the harvest produced. So it was never to

be unfair. God never asks for what we cannot give.

But always the standard requirements for the public worship were to be

kept. This was to be the time the Old Testament Church showed its grati-

tude for the Lord’s care physically.

7. If God’s people are sincerely focused on worshipping the Lord God the

way he has directed them to – thus they are looking up to him – what

does that mean for where else they look?

God’s People Dedicate All To Him

Unless we also draw out that it’s not only about a response to God but a

direction with him as well, we will miss the vital part this feast was in

Israel’s life. This is where the word “first-fruits” particularly comes in.

Because the first thought is to be for the Lord. And if the first thought is

always for the Lord it certainly gives us his direction for our lives. After

all, who was it who thought of them – of his people?

No wonder that in Deuteronomy 16 verse 12 this feast is connected to

their deliverance from Egypt, because it is their being saved by the Lord

that puts them in this special place. And certainly the burnt offerings and

the sin offering on this day pointed again to how he had called them

apart.

Now, if their focus is on the Lord, it will also be on their neighbour. This

is clear from the two tables of the law. The first table, consisting of the

first four commandments, is vertical – this is how we show who God is to

us. And the second table, the last six commandments, is horizontal - it

shows how who God is to us reflects in the way we treat others.

The Lord Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments in Matthew 22 this

way. In the verses 37 till 39 he said it was this: “Love the Lord your God

with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is

the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your

neighbour as yourself.’”

So the Old Testament Israelites, while loving the Lord their God, also

care for their neighbour. This is why Leviticus 23 after describing the

regulations for ‘The Feast of Weeks’ concludes with verse 22 command-

ing them to leave the very edges of the field and the gleanings for the

poor. This way the crumbs of the meal could feed those in need.

When the Israelites met in this special public worship, they weren’t only

giving a portion of what they had to the Lord, they were dedicating all they

had to him! Isn’t this what we do each Sunday? You don’t honestly think

that what you put in the offering bag is the total sum of your commitment,

do you? Of course not! It is the portion – the tithe – you set aside espe-

cially for God’s Kingdom work through the Church of Christ. But it also

represents a whole life set apart for him!

The apostle Paul spoke about this in Galatians chapter 6. Using the harvest

analogy he says there in verse 8, “the one who sows to please the Spirit

will reap eternal life.” And so he goes on in verse 10, “Let us not become

weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do

not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all peo-

ple, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

8. Why is it that in considering those around us it must be our fellow

Christians we look to helping first of all? How does the phrase ‘Charity

begins at home’ fit in with Galatians 6:10?

The early New Testament Church was well known for this love it had for

one another. To be part of the church meant you were part of the most lov-

ing family on earth. And is it any surprise since God himself is our Father?

God is creating a new society. In amongst the darkness of this world his

light shines – through all our little lights! It is because we join those lights

together in the Church that we become the Light, the Body of Christ him-

self!

Someone once wrote a poem expressing this sentiment. She said, “O Heav-

enly Father: We thank Thee for food and remember the hungry. We thank

Thee for health and remember the sick. We thank Thee for friends and re-

member the friendless. We thank Thee for freedom and remember the en-

slaved. May these remembrances stir us to service, that Thy gifts to us may

be used for others.”

As we dedicate our all to the Lord our worship is acceptable to him. Hold

any part back and we’re no different to Ananias and Sapphira. So we must

not hold anything back. We know from Romans 1, verse 21, that nothing

turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an un-

grateful heart. Instead, let’s be completely taken up in thanking God for all

he’s done. That will restore contentment. That will bring out the joy of our

salvation.

And then we will have the same Spirit the ancient Israelites had when they

faithfully celebrated this feast. For then it was the most joyful time for

them. The bounty of the harvest had been taken in.

9. Read 1

Corinthians 15:1-34. How does the resurrection of Christ shine

a light on Numbers 28:26-31?

Let us also rejoice. The greatest harvest of all time is coming in. The first-

fruits have already been seen. 1

Corinthians 15 gladly declares that. For

verse 20 there says that “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the

first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

As the apostle Paul goes on there to explain, “For since death came

through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. As

in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own

turn: Christ the first-fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him

(vv21-23).”

This is the true message of Easter. Because this is what we remember

every Sunday, for Sunday is the first day of the week. As those who be-

long to Christ you dedicate your all to him. You show you are his fruit.

When you do that you are offering up your sacrifice every day, because it

is a spiritual sacrifice. And then you are the aroma pleasing to the Lord!

10. How does your preparation for Sunday make a difference to the rest of

your week?

11. What changes can you make to what you do on Sunday that will help

reinforce this?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God for his wonderful creation through which we are

provided for each through food, clothing and shelter.

Confession: Acknowledge to the Lord we have often taken his care for

granted. We have often not shone his light is our lives.

Thanksgiving: Thank God for the gifts and talents he gives us so that we

can be blessed by what he graciously provides for us. Especially help us to

show gratitude for the firstfruits that Christ Jesus is.

Supplication: Ask God to help you give to him in all you think and say

and do. Plead with him so that we sow to please the Spirit.

Study 6

You Are His – Celebrate It!

Number 29: 1-6

1. Read Numbers 29:1-6. Do we get any idea from these verses of the ori-

gin for this festival? Is there anything in particular that stands out in this

passage?

We have come, in our considering of the festivals of the Old Testament

Church, to the third feast in the year. The first two festivals – the Feast of

the Passover and the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) had fallen within the first

two months. The festival of our passage, however, doesn’t occur until

some six months later.

So, we are now in the seventh month. All the harvests have been gathered,

bar perhaps one.

But here we come to a bit of a mystery. Because the origin for this festi-

val is unknown. Unlike the other feasts we cannot connect it directly

with something else in Scripture. That has left the commentators won-

dering. And that’s not always a good thing!

So let’s open up what this feast means in a quite different way. Rather

than trying to work out what it was originally like let’s see how it is cele-

brated today. By what it has now become in Judaism there will be a con-

nection to what it originally meant.

Now, there have been other things added to this festival over the years.

Jewish rabbinic tradition was good at doing this. But there will be some-

thing tying it to what it originally meant. When we find that, we will see

the Scripture to which it is joined to.

Indeed, the way this particular festival has developed through history is

very interesting. Also the relation it has with the following two festivals

is a help to us as we see where this festival fits in.

2. Why do you think New Year’s Eve holds such a prominent position in

our society?

To the Jews today, and for the Jews for thousands of years already, this

is the beginning of their year. The ‘Feast of Trumpets’ is the Jewish New

Year. It is when they start their civil year. And it is the beginning of the

Jewish calendar year.

Now their term for this festival today, ‘Rosh Hasbanah’, is a rabbinic

one. It means “beginning of the year.”

And also rabbinic is the focus of this festival. For it emphasises repen-

tance, preparation for the day of divine judgment, and prayer for a fruit-

ful year.

Traditionally the last month of the old year is a time of preparation

known as the ‘High Holidays.’ This has been a time of penitence for

known sins toward the family of God.

This two-day festival for them falls usually in September or early Octo-

ber in our calendar. It starts at sundown of the preceding evening, as do

all Jewish observances. During this festival there’s the sounding of a

ram’s horn in the middle of a long synagogue service that focuses on the

festival themes. And there are quite involved meals at home to bring in

the new year. There will also be an added focus on prayers confessing

sins.

We see certain parallels with our end-of-year celebrations. Spiritually it

has been used as a time for reflection and re-dedication.

Having seen what it’s become we find three distinct lines tying back to

the text and to the Scriptures around the text.

The first of these is that this is:

The End Of The Harvests

The Feast of Trumpets marks a break in the cycle of ploughing and reap-

ing. For about a month there was no work on the land. And, as their

economy was completely agrarian, that meant it was a time of rest. So it

was that this whole month became the major religious focus of the year.

3. Read Exodus 23:14-19. Which principles for our worship can we

glean from this passage? How does it help to give background to Num-

bers 29:1-6?

We read in Exodus 23 that it was the third feast marked out as being

compulsory for all men to attend. Though there it was actually called the

‘Feast of Ingathering,’ it became called later ‘the Feast of Trumpets’ in

Leviticus and Numbers. In Exodus 34 it is again proscribed in a similar

way to Exodus 23. In Exodus 34, verse 22, however, it is said that it is

celebrated at the turn of the year.

There is a recognition here of a definite period of time coming to an end.

And while the calendar then was primarily lunar, as we’ve seen, it was

also seasonal.

That is a helpful pointer to the place this feast has in the Old Testament

Church Calendar. The people could have this period of rest after having

harvested and stored what they would need for the coming year. It was

the time to celebrate. And while celebrating to the world around us may

consist of getting drunk, or stoned, and being quite immoral, the word

‘celebrate’ actually means marking an important occasion in quite a re-

spectful way.

4. Read Hebrews 4:1-11. How does this connect with the situation be-

hind this festival? In what way does it encourage us now?

So, the happiness here was deep and thankful. The Lord God had blessed

them with what they needed for another year of service for him. This is

why it was a day to sound the trumpets. For that was the call to worship –

a distinctive sound that was blasted out as they looked to the Lord. For

where else were these trumpets blown?

Numbers 10, verse 10, says that they were to be blown whenever there

was a time of rejoicing. Therefore it was done at all the appointed feasts

and New Moon festivals. They were to be sounded then over the burnt

offerings and fellowship offerings. That way they were a memorial be-

fore their God.

It was also blown after the 49

year when there was the Year of Jubilee –

the year when there was no work on the land for a whole year. That is a

long period of rest.

But what kind of trumpets were they? We naturally think of brass wind

instruments with that sharp sound. But, as we have heard, today the Jews

use ram’s horns. They are called ‘shofar’s.’

So when they remember this day today they blow the ram’s horns. It’s a

deep, hollow sound. Quite unlike the trumpet we know. And that’s indeed

what the Bible describes in Joshua 6 being blown by seven priests as the

people marched around Jericho those seven days.

And yet, despite this historical tradition, it is actually something like the

trumpet we know that they used originally on this day. Numbers 10, verse

1, tells us of the Lord instructing Moses to make two trumpets of ham-

mered silver. These trumpets would call the people of God to order. They

would be blown when they set out and when they came together.

So this trumpet was an ancient call to worship. It distinctively reminded

the people about the Lord and their privilege to worship and serve him

alone. It served a uniquely sacred purpose.

In this way we have come to the second distinct line:

The Call To Worship

We are reminded of something very much this in the last book of the Bi-

ble, the book of Revelation. Chapters 8 and 9 of that book tell of the

seven angels given seven trumpets to declare God’s judgment throughout

the earth. That definitely was not a call to worship anymore, because it is

too late. But it does tie us to the same instrument and its uniquely sacred

use.

So what does a call to worship do? Well, we have one at the beginning of

each worship service. With a passage from Scripture the preacher focuses

God’s people on why they are here. And that is to worship God himself,

no less! This, then, is an exhortation to preparation. We focus on meeting

with God.

The Israelites then were beginning a special month. They were joining to

thank God together. Those trumpets called them prayerfully to prepare. In

the same way that Hebrews 4:11 told us to make every effort to enter

God’s rest, this is what the sounding of the trumpets was to do for God’s

people under the old covenant.

We know that Hebrews 4:11 is to be fulfilled by each of us individually.

God’s Spirit is now upon our hearts in the fullest way. But then it was

through the leadership and with God’s people altogether that they were

being obedient. That’s how they heard the call to worship.

5. Read Hebrews 10:19-25. How do these verses help to bring out the dif-

ference we have in coming into worship than what was in Old Testament

Israel?

And, indeed, the first ten days of the seventh month, leading up to the next

feast, ‘The Day of Atonement,’ have always been a time of prayerful

preparation. The first of those ten days is the ‘Feast of Trumpets.’

You can imagine the situation. Three times Israel was required to assem-

ble before the Lord at the place where the tabernacle or temple was. This

was the third time.

And yet, as the third time, at a time when they were at rest, and with two

other festivals coming up in the next few weeks, those faithful were not

likely to go off home in-between. The men there as representatives of

each household would stay all the time, using that time particularly to fo-

cus on the Lord and his will for them. They would not come this time only

to the ‘Feast of Tabernacles’ as many would do because it was the biggest

feast of them all. Rather, they would respect the intent of what Moses said

in Exodus.

One tradition that has come down is the reading of the Law on the Feast

of Trumpets. That would tie in exactly with this penitential season. They

knew they had to be right with the Lord in order to be used by him in this

new year ahead.

6. To read out the whole law would take some time. That gives us an idea

of why this was the best time to do this. But what does this tell us of how

much we are to read from God’s Word in the public worship service?

The number of sacrifices given for this day illustrates this the necessity of

being right with the Lord in preparation for the year ahead. For as well as

the normal daily offerings, and the new moon offerings, there was this

added offering of the young bull, ram, and seven male lambs, all without

defect, and the other offerings that went along with them. And that in-

cluded the male goat as a sin offering.

So, what was offered up on the new moon is offered up twice. This really

highlighted that aspect of public worship. It was certainly the call to wor-

ship!

And then there is the third strand which leads us back to what this day

would have meant:

The Beginning For Rest

Leviticus 23 verse 24 tells us something crucial about this feast. It says

that this is to be ‘a day of rest.’ In other words, this day is to be to them

like a Sabbath Day! Despite whatever day it fell on, it was to be regarded

as a Sabbath Day – the seventh day. No work this day!

7. How can we make the Christian Sabbath Day a true rest day? What

would treating Sunday this way do for the rest of our week?

The designation of this day being the first day of the seventh month is a

key here. The seventh month in the year; the month which was the first

month of the year. It doesn’t seem to make much sense, does it? And yet,

scripturally speaking, it made the most sense of all! After all, this is all

about God’s timing.

Here the rabbinic tradition of this New Year as being the anniversary of

creation helps us. Then this strand of the beginning for rest fits in well. For

this is, in such a small way, a foretaste of glory itself. Doing this faithfully

would be for God’s people then their version of Answer 1 of the Westmin-

ster Shorter Catechism.

That Catechism begins with the question, “What is the chief purpose of

man?” In other words: “What are we here especially to do?”

The answer is biblically clear. “The chief purpose of man is to glorify God

and enjoy him forever.”

This is something which Old Testament Israel never got anywhere near to

doing. Neither will the New Testament Church. But it is certainly what we

will be doing in the new heavens and the new earth!

All their outward worship – all those burnt and sin and fellowship offerings

- pointed to the ultimate sacrifice that was to come in the Messiah. In the

same way, this feast, and the next three weeks, pointed to what they would

enjoy in all eternity with him.

We might wonder how much would that have come home to them then.

Well, we don’t exactly know. We do know, though, that where this was

faithfully done the Lord gave them peace and prosperity physically.

8. What did it mean for Israel as a nation to have physical peace and pros-

perity?

9. When were the only times Israel/Judah had this physical peace and pros-

perity?

Now, we read in Hebrews 4 that they could not enter forever into that rest

because of their disobedience. This is a different situation for us today be-

cause Jesus Christ has come and was the perfect once-for-all sacrifice. It is

through him that the first day of the week has become the rest day – the

Christian Sabbath.

For now no more does a sacrifice need to be made every day for us, and not

on every Sabbath Day, or New Moon, or Feast Day. He has taken all that

away.

But we must enter into that rest. The sacred trumpets will sound again. And

this time not to proclaim salvation but to pronounce condemnation!

Are you making every effort to enter that rest? Is your life a living sacrifice

glorifying God? Do you enjoy him?

You see, if Isaiah 58 verse 13 tells God’s people of old to call the Sabbath a

delight, how are you beaming forth the joy of your salvation? Are you

happy to belong to Christ? Do you live in this world glad to be the Lords’?

Is your home the place of true peace? Because there is nothing else quite

like the believer living out what he is in the Lord. He is bringing heaven to

earth.

Another tradition the Jews have is concerning the time Lucifer was cast out

of heaven. When he was asked in hell what he missed most out of his for-

mer life, the devil replied, “I miss most the sound of trumpets in the morn-

ing.”

Does anyone here miss the sound of the trumpet? Is your spirit weakening?

Has the strong purpose dropped off in your life?

Then bravely put the trumpet to your lips. Answer all your doubts and all

your wavering and all your fears with rejoicing in him. Sing to him! You

are his. Let’s celebrate it!

10. A music teacher once said, ‘You cannot sing if you are sad.’ How does

Psalm 150 help to illustrate this?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God for the eternal rest he has waiting for us – his peo-

ple on the new heavens and the new earth.

Confession: Acknowledge to the Lord we have often failed to rejoice in

being his. Seek his forgiveness for not showing this world we are glad to be

his.

Thanksgiving: Thank God for the coming of the Messiah who was the ulti-

mate sacrifice and so has fulfilled all righteousness.

Supplication: Ask God for his Spirit’s help to truly appreciate what being

called to worship him means.

Study 7

You Are His – Deny Yourself!

Numbers 29:7-11

1. Read Numbers 29:7-11. With all the religious festivals that Israel had

why do you think Israel could yet have another religious feast for?

We have seen how extensive the Old Testament public worship laid down

by the Lord is. Every day there were two offerings – morning and night.

Every Sabbath day there was a mid-day offering, which was double the

offering that either of the morning and evening offerings were. Then there

was the monthly offering which was a lot more again than the Sabbath day

offering. And added to that there are the annual feasts, each again offering

up more offerings on top of all these.

All in all you couldn’t get away from those many offerings to the Lord

God. There were burnt offerings, sin offerings, and fellowship offerings for

public worship.

Then there were the types of offerings prescribed for personal sins. Every

possible type of sin had an offering to be made to the Lord for it.

So what do you think Israel could yet have another religious feast for?

Which possible situation would they yet need more offerings for? Well,

how about a feast which specifically remembered the imperfection of all

those other sacrifices?

This is what the Day of Atonement was. While you may have thought that

all those offerings already being offered up was more than enough, they are

nothing like enough! No wonder that this feast which highlighted that was

the feast of sin and confession. This was the feast that really made you take

a long hard look at yourself.

This theme has come down to the present day. In the Jewish calendar this is

‘Yom Kippur’ – the most important holiday.

If you are visiting Israel on this day forget doing anything on the day. The

country comes to a complete halt for twenty-five hours on this day. Places

of entertainment are closed. There is no television and radio. Public trans-

port is ceased. Even the roads are completely closed.

You might remember that it was on this day that Egypt and Syria launched

a surprise attack on Israel in 1973. They thought this would have to be the

best day for it. Not that it caught the Jews napping though – in the end they

severely defeated those armies and gained much territory!

2. Read Leviticus 16:1-34. How does this help us understand what this par-

ticular religious feast is for?

This Feast was Very Serious

The Day of Atonement sets aside a major holiday to acknowledge the sins

of mankind to God. So it was a very serious feast.

We can see this with the exhortation in verse 7 that the people were to

“deny” themselves upon the occasion of this sacred assembly. This is a

command not mentioned in connection with any of the other religious

feasts. It is a word also translated as “humble your souls,” or, “afflict your

souls.”

This denying oneself had earlier appeared in Leviticus 16 and 23. There it

is seen as an essential part of properly coming before the Lord on this day.

So, what was this added aspect to worship? Ah, but you’ve read the foot-

note! You have seen that it could also be translated as “fast”. So it is obvi-

ously to do with not eating food on this day.

That is certainly how it is seen today by the Jews. And by the time of Isaiah

that is how it was practiced. But let’s see how the prophet refers to it. Isaiah

58 verse 5 challenges the Israelites. It asks about their public worship this

day, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble

himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sack-

cloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?”

This is why we must see that this feast is very serious. It wasn’t to be an

outward conformity. This was no following the traditions because it had

always been done that way. Instead, this demanded the deepest possible

personal evaluation. They had to take a really good hard look at them-

selves. That’s why they were to fast – so that there would be no distractions

to this self-evaluation.

Because that’s what drinking and eating do to us. They put us in a particu-

lar pattern. Our lives are fixed around these physical things. That’s why this

day breaks the mould as it unsettles their routine and puts them completely

in a spiritual dimension.

Jesus showed how fasting can continue to serve a valuable spiritual purpose

for us too, in the New Testament Church. In Matthew 5 he points to its in-

ward spiritual worth as he tells those doing it not to make a show of it.

Rather, no one should know that they were fasting because, like prayer, it

wasn’t proving you were better than anyone else. In fact, if anything, it

shows how inadequate you are before the Lord. That’s exactly the meaning

of verse 7 in Numbers 29.

3. Read Isaiah 58:1-14. While fasting was an outward physical acts what

makes it a true spiritual act?

4. Read Matthew 6:16-18. How does Jesus illustrate here the wrong kind of

fasting found Isaiah 58 pictures?

5. In which ways can a biblical fast help your walk with the Lord?

The seriousness of this day is further confirmed by this day being treated as

a Sabbath day. The text alludes to this with the command to hold a sacred

assembly. But verse 7 is even stronger about this as it says that there was to

be no work done on this day. This is the same as what we read in Leviticus

16 verse 31 about how this was to be a Sabbath of rest.

All of the practical details had been taken care of before this day. In fact,

there was even more spiritual preparation for this day because there would

be none of that preparation for their meals this day. This feast day would be

different than all the other feast days because of that!

Especially it was different because it recognised that we simply could never

ever satisfy God’s justice. Think about it - we don’t even know all the

wrong we do! There are all those sins of omission!

You might be wondering what these sins of omission are. Well, the sins of

commission are the sins you know you have done. When God’s Word and

Spirit convicts us we repent those sins to the Lord. But the sins of omission

are those commands we avoid obeying, whether through ignorance, weak-

ness, or error. Sins we are just as guilty of.

Our hearts and lives are so infected by sin that we do wrong without realis-

ing it. We can have sinful habits that we don’t consciously know about.

Now, the more we come under God’s Word the more these are dealt with.

Then we notice we’re changing – or at least those around us do! But you

are never completely free of these sins this side of heaven.

6. How could you respond to someone who said it is possible to be free of

all sin on this earth?

7. Turn back to Leviticus 16. What is different about this particular feast

with what takes place and how it takes place?

This Feast was Quite Different

It is very interesting to note that these sins which we didn’t know we were

doing are brought right out into public view. In this way this feast was quite

different.

Reading through Leviticus 16 made that crystal clear. The High Priest went

into the Holy of Holies on his own. But it was on behalf of them all.

The similarity to the other special occasions of worship ended there,

though. Because just as everyone was acting differently by denying them-

selves the High Priest on behalf of them all would be doing something

quite different than what he ordinarily did.

It was on this one day in the year that he entered by himself into the Holy

of Holies. Only on this one day did the High Priest go into the closest place

with the Lord to make amends for transgression and impurities that had not

been covered by the normal sacrificial rituals. This kept them all honest,

because this reminded them of just how rotten they were – through and

through!

Even the clothes he was wearing in this ceremony were completely differ-

ent than what He wore as the High Priest otherwise. We will come back to

these special clothes a little later. But what we must note here is that it was

a simple white outfit. Coming before the Lord on this occasion he was

wearing nothing fancy. He wore just white basic clothing made of white

linen. And when he took off those clothes he had to bathe himself with wa-

ter in a holy place before putting on his regular garments. Then he contin-

ued on with the offerings enumerated in our text.

This was all known to the people. This is the setting for our passage. Also

what the High Priest did with those two goats.

It was that sin offering for atonement which is referred to in verse 11 of the

text. We notice that it says, “Include one male goat as a sin offering, in ad-

dition to the sin offering for atonement…”

With all the other feasts it is simply mentioned about the one male goat as a

sin offering. Here it makes specific reference to what we read in Leviticus

16 as to what the High Priest was to uniquely do.

It was there we read of the two goats. Two goats on which he was to lay his

hands and confess over them the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites.

What he did with the first was no surprise. Slaughtering that goat for a sin

offering and sprinkling its blood over the holy of holies was not new. But

sending that other goat out into the desert was something else!

And that goat was as much sacrificed for them as the other one! That goat

would in the end die for them. But his form of death is to be sent out into

the world.

One commentator points out that the Hebrew here speaks about the first

goat being sacrificed for the Lord God while the second goat is sacrificed

for another person. In the Hebrew the name ‘Azazel’ is given for that other

person.

He says that because that goat was sent out into the world of the evil spirits

their sin was removed. Their fellowship with God was restored.

So it tells the father of this world that his evil influence has no effect on

those forgiven by the Lord. And it also tells the congregation that those

burdened with sin could not remain in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, they

would be banished to the place of evil spirits unless they were redeemed

from it.

8. With all you have understood of this feast how would you say it applies

to us today?

This Feast was Extremely Prophetic

This feast was quite different alright. But we must also note that this feast

is extremely prophetic. If we consider the New Testament references to this

feast, this is beyond doubt. There is the link Hebrews 9 verse 7 draws with

the worship in the earthly tabernacle and the occasion when the High Priest

would once a year enter the inner room.

The very next verse – Hebrews 9:8 – makes the application that “the Holy

Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not

yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was standing.” It further

added in verse 9 that “this was an illustration for the present time, indicat-

ing that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the con-

science of the worshipper.”

This was all temporary. That is why Hebrews 9 verse 12 says that Christ,

because of who he was, could enter the Most Holy Place once and for all

time by his own blood.

The apostle Paul is quite clear about this also in Romans 8. In the verses 3

till 4 there, he says, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was

weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the like-

ness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful

man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met

in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the

Spirit.”

This is seen in two aspects of what we read in Leviticus 16. The first is the

special clothing worn by the High Priest on the day of Atonement. We have

noted that it was white linen, white linen that was the purest white, and

white linen that was as white as it could be then. Because that was the col-

our linen was.

9. Read Ezekiel 9:1-10:8 and Daniel 10:5 and 12:5-7. How do these pas-

sages help us understand what the High Priest wore?

There is something said by the Lord when people are dressed in this way.

Would not black be a better colour to wear confessing your sins? Yet con-

sider how the angels of the Lord are described this way by Ezekiel and

Daniel. And it is related to the glory of the Lord in Daniel 10 (v6), Ezekiel

1, and in Revelation 1 (verses 13-15).

So, the white material which Aaron wore is pointing to Christ. He perfectly

fulfilled God’s will and remained pure throughout.

And then there is the goat being sent out into the desert. Who could forget

Hebrews 13 when it said in verse 12, “And so Jesus suffered also suffered

outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood”? For

then the application is drawn, “Let us, then, go to him outside the camp,

bearing the disgrace he bore.”

This feast was extremely prophetic. There could be no doubt about that! It

was pointing to the ultimate and perfect sacrifice Christ would make for his

people.

Dear believer, are you denying yourself? Does your heart look for the

Lord? If you do then you will find yourself at odds with this world. Living

for Jesus doesn’t give you much of a life out there!

But you will also find that Jesus meets your every need. His sacrifice not

only paid the price for all your sin, it also means his Spirit now wins the

battle within.

In Romans 10 the apostle Paul describes it well. In verse 4 there he says,

“Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for every-

one who believes.”

The Jews today believe that in strictly following the law they can keep the

Day of Atonement. That’s why they miss the very meaning of this day, be-

cause it cries out to them that there’s no way they can do that!

That’s why until the Gospel opens their eyes they won’t see. Only faith in

Jesus Christ makes them right before the Lord.

We must pray that their hearts – and many more – will be opened. And let’s

show that with lives that are truly free – because we’re worshipping and

serving the Lord his way!

10. What have you personally been challenged about through considering

this old covenant festival?

11. How much has this drawn you closer to what it was that the Lord Jesus

did for his own?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God for his honesty with us. He who is the truth in per-

son has spoken clearly to us.

Confession: Acknowledge to the Lord we have fallen far short of his glory.

This festival and its fulfilment in Christ show how much we need him.

Thanksgiving: Thank God that while there was and is no way we can sat-

isfy his justice someone has done that for us – his own Son, our Saviour

Jesus Christ.

Supplication: Ask God for the Spirit’s help in having a good hard look at

ourselves – and so honestly coming clean with God of all that has held us

back from truly serving him.

Study 8

You Are His – See Where You Are!

Numbers 29:12-40

How come you are where you are? Or in other words: What has brought

you to this time and place in your life? Take a moment to reflect on this.

Now you might try to be clever and reply, “Well, it’s because we got in a

car and came here.” And for some of you that’s quite a drive.

But that’s not the answer, is it? Because you know the answer isn’t really

about what you have done at all. In fact, to be part of this Study now for the

right reason means knowing that God has done it all!

What you acknowledge at this time is how he’s been working all the time

to put you right where you are. He is the One who either brought you up in

a Christian family or who has converted you. He is the One who has kept

working on you through his Word and Spirit so that you’re part of his peo-

ple.

In fact, thinking about how you got to this point in your life makes you see

how blessed you’ve been by the Lord. To think that he chose you – of all

people! And it should’ve been completely different! What amazing grace!

So being in church, worshipping together with God’s people, the Body of

Jesus Christ, brings it all back. You are reminded through what you do now

that you belong to the Church of all ages and places. For what we do now is

what they did when they came to worship the triune God.

This is what Old Testament Israel did every time they celebrated the Feast

of Tabernacles. The name ‘tabernacles,’ or ‘booths’ as this festival is also

called, was because the Israelites were living in small tents for the seven

days of this feast. These were seven days which began five days after the

Day of Atonement. In this way they symbolically experienced the pilgrim-

age of the wilderness.

These days in Israel you will find this continues as Sukkot, which means

booths. All over that country you will find people putting up these sukkot.

They will line parking lots, balconies, rooftops, lawns, and public spaces.

Every army base has one.

This feast also tied in with the end of the harvests. So while the wheat har-

vest was celebrated at the Feast of Weeks, which is Pentecost, now they

celebrated the Ingathering of the rest of the harvests. These were the fruits

of the orchard and vineyard.

This festival was all about the joy of their salvation. For who had looked

after them through the forty years and with the harvests just gathered? It

was none other than the God of the covenant!

This was the feast more than the other feasts which celebrated the Lord be-

ing with them. For he was still with them. And he hadn’t yet finished with

them!

1. Read Numbers 29:12-40. What is the overall impression you have from

these verses?

2. What would it have been like to have been there?

The Last But Not the Least of the Feasts

What their church year ended with was actually quite a high point. How

can we know that? Well, look how many verses this passage consists of!

Twenty-eight verses! And that’s simply because this feast involves much

more than any of the other feasts.

There were eight days straight of numerous offerings. Those priests would

have been run off their feet!

And is it any surprise? For this is where it all comes together. With this

celebration they would finish the year on a high! They had lots of offerings

because they had so many blessings!

Is it any wonder that it was during this time of the church year that Solo-

mon dedicated the temple? 1

King chapter 8 describes that incredible

scene. And verse 5 says it all there. For they were “sacrificing so many

sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.”

Didn’t reading through the verses 12 till 39 of the text seem like that? For

the seven days of the festival there were 70 young bulls sacrifices, 14 rams,

98 male lambs, and 7 male goats. A total of 199 animals altogether over the

seven days. And that doesn’t count the daily morning and evening burnt

offerings, and the Sabbath day burnt offerings. Nor does it count the eighth

day when there was another bull, one ram, seven male lambs, and the one

male goat.

This feast offered up double what was offered in rams and lambs at the

Passover and Pentecost. And as for the number of bulls – the most valuable

animal of them all – this was five times the amount offered up at those

other two feasts!

This festival was the religious crescendo to the church year. Solomon

couldn’t have chosen any other time to dedicate the temple to the Lord!

3. Read Deuteronomy 16:13-17. What stands out there about this festival?

4. How do all the different classes of people mentioned affirm this?

How much isn’t this a joyful feast? “Be joyful at your Feast” Deuteronomy

16:14 declares. The people of Go were called together to praise God for the

blessings of God.

And how much wasn’t this to be a joy shared by all! Notice how the most

disadvantaged were to be among the most blessed. They may have ordinar-

ily been the last amongst humanity but they were by no means the least in

the Lord’s eyes. For this was the very time when they would be lifted

above their time!

After this festival it would be six months until the next religious feast. That

would be the beginning of the church year, with the Passover. The Passover

– which commemorated their deliverance.

But from now until then they were left with the memory of how he kept

them through the wilderness. For being saved is only the first day. There

are many more days and weeks and months and years after that. And on

each of those days the Lord saves them in different ways over and over

again! His Spirit is ever busy working to keep his promise to them because

he has saved them.

Dear believer, isn’t that the testimony of your life? You have certainly

been kept by the Lord. And he keeps on keeping you! There is no way he is

letting you go.

This is the truth of the ‘P’ in T.U.L.I.P.. For in those five hallmarks of bib-

lical Christianity, the ‘P’ in “perseverance of the saints” tells us of how the

Lord is always faithful to his own. That’s in spite of whatever his own will

do!

The Complimentary Aspect of this Feast

So how true our first aspect is. This is the last but not the least of the feasts.

And so we move on to see further, the complimentary aspect of this feast.

Thus far we have seen the character of this feast. It is vitally important be-

cause it celebrates the great fact of the Lord’s keeping them. But it is also

special because of the way it balances the other festivals, especially the one

just before it.

Do you remember that festival held the week before this? That was the

‘Day of Atonement’ – Yom Kippur. Then the emphasis was on sin and

atonement. That was the day that said what they were doing through the

whole sacrificial system could never make themselves perfectly right with

God. Only if he himself provided the sacrifice could there be the right satis-

faction.

So it quite clearly spoke prophetically about the coming of Christ for mak-

ing us right with God. That was about the accomplishment of redemption.

And now we have the feast that celebrates how it is God in us and with us

that brings us to heaven. This is about the application of redemption.

5. Read John 7:25-44. What does Jesus say here that ties in with this appli-

cation of redemption?

6. How does this relate to the way we go to heaven?

In John 7:25-44 it tells us of what our Lord taught during the celebration of

this Feast. It was on the last and greatest day of the Feast that Jesus stood

and spoke in a loud voice. As we read in the verses 37 and 38, he said, “If a

man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as

Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

Now, this statement might seem a bit strange. What’s water got to with this

feast? And how is all this connected to where water comes from?

Well, it seems that on this day in Jesus’ time, a priest would take a pitcher of

water from the pool of Siloam. He would then pour that water on the ground,

saying, using the words of Isaiah 12 verse 3, “With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation.”

Jesus was talking about the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who applies redemp-

tion into the lives of believers from their conversion until they come to

heaven. So, at the same time that it was the height of the church year and so

wrapped up the year it also prepared them for rest of the year.

And this is further confirmed with looking even further at the complimentary

aspect of this feast. There is a special clue which tells us this. You have a

look through the sacrifices being offered up from the first day of this feast

until the last day. It is a lot every day, isn’t it?

7. There is something different about each of those days. What is it?

8. What do you think it could mean?

Ah, did you notice? The number of bulls being sacrificed as burnt offerings

decreases by one on each subsequent day of the festival. They start off with

sacrificing thirteen bulls on the first day and end up sacrificing seven on the

seventh day.

Now, thirteen is a very superstitious number for many in our society. When

you have a Friday which is also the 13

, it’s called ‘Black Friday’ and they

believe it’s an unlucky day. But that’s only because they make it like that. If

you expect bad things to happen they will!

There was a special number, though, that we heard about especially at the

beginning of Numbers 28. A number which for the Hebrews means some-

thing quite blessed. And that number…? Ah, ‘seven,’ isn’t it?

This is the number we end with as the number of bulls being sacrificed on

the last day of this feast. So what they end up with is the holy number seven

for the most valuable offering as they conclude their offerings. While it ap-

pears to make each of the subsequent sacrifices less it actually ends up mak-

ing it very much the Lord’s!

But it does mean that each day they are getting back to their more normal

days. And they will have to go back into their everyday work. After having

this last month set aside especially for worshipping the Lord, while the land

itself also rested, now they would get into the ploughing needed for the

next year.

This Feast assured them that the Lord would be with them. And we find

that confirmed in verse 39. For verse 39 may seem to be simply affirming

what was to be done. But notice how it speaks of all these burnt and sin

and fellowship offerings which they do together as God’s people. Because

those offerings are not the most important thing. The thing that matters

most is what they themselves personally vow and offer to the Lord. These

offerings are only additional to that.

So when the Israelites faithfully followed the church year they confirmed

their blessedness. For the Word and the Spirit always go together.

God gives us all a break. Every Sunday you have got a day to rest and rec-

reate in him. Then we rejoice in the Lord, as Philippians 4 verse 4 says.

But it’s also every day we must give thanks to God for his good gifts. Don’t

let a day pass without expressing your gratitude for all he’s done. In the

words of 1

Thessalonians 5 verses 16 till 18, “Be joyful always; pray con-

tinually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in

Christ Jesus.”

With such a spirit you truly have the Holy Spirit. And with him in you, you

will make it through. Because then it is Christ who is leading you.

9. Do you have to be in a church building or need to hear a certain kind of

music to be able to worship?

10. If not, when do you actually worship?

11. How can we be assured in our day that the Lord will be with us?

Prayer Points:

Adoration: Praise God for in Jesus Christ he has given the best gift of all.

And so let’s pray that our gifts will indeed reflect what he has done in his

Son.

Confession: Acknowledge to the Lord we have often not used Sunday to

help motivate us for the rest of the week. Let’s ask for his help so that we

pray that what we are blessed in on the Lord’s Day will go with us into the

next six days.

Thanksgiving: Thank God that he is always faithful to his own. He doesn’t

change and so we can depend on his promises to guide and keep us.

Supplication: Ask God to keep reminding you through his Word and Spirit

of what he has done for in the greatest deliverance of all done by Jesus

Christ.

The Appendices:

The Cycles of Israel’s Worship