Numbers 28 DUE SEASON There were appointed times when God wanted His people to share with Him that which was of greatest importance to Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ has always been, and always will be the delight of His heart. In this chapter and the next one the Lord described the priestly responsibility and privilege associated with fellowship with Him. In Leviticus the same offerings are described and the reasons for them as it applied to the children of Israel as a whole. Here in the priestly context God describes the way the offerings are to be done in the appropriate times. This is very important to us because He speaks of these offerings as "My offering... My bread... My sacrifice... a sweet savor unto Me." God is bringing us to the time and place when we share with Him what the Lord Jesus Christ is to the Holy and Righteous God. In the life of a Christian, ceremonies and ceremonial cleansing is not sufficient in our relationship with Him. We are to go much farther than that. But sadly, many are satisfied with the forms and symbols rather than with the Lord Himself.
In order that the children of Israel understand what was important to God, the priests offered two burnt offerings every day - one in the morning and one in the evening. In this way there would be the evidence of a sweet-savor offering going up to God continually - day and night. Every twelve hours a perfect lamb, around two quarts of grain mixed with one quart of olive oil, and one quart of wine were offered to the Lord. This was a continual prophetic reminder to the people of God of what our Lord Jesus Christ is to God. As the very first ray of light showed up in the east, the sweet-savor offering was made. It is important for the people of God today to begin each day focusing their attention on the value of the Person and work of Christ to God. "In Him we live and move and have our being." "Our life is hid with Christ in God." "Christ who is our life..." At the end of each day's activities we need to be reminded of the value of the One who is our Mediator, our Advocate with the Father, and why it is that we have a life with God. By daily being reminded of what Christ is to God, it gives us an appreciation of what He is to us and how we are to conduct ourselves on holy ground.
The significance of what Christ has done for us takes on real meaning when we understand what God sees in Him and His accomplishments. True, the sin offering is mentioned thirteen times in Numbers 28 and 29, but the sweet-savor offerings are the main theme as evidenced by the fact they are mentioned fifty-eight times. The burnt offering reminds us of what makes it possible for God to show mercy and grace to us in the first place. He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." God's delight in the Perfect Man, Christ Jesus, is not only something we should consider each day, but this priestly exercise went further to a weekly, monthly and yearly observation of the value God places on our Savior.
The weekly burnt offering was made on the Sabbath, probably around mid-day. There would give visible evidence of it in the additional smoke to the daily burnt offering. The weekly offering was double the amount of the daily burnt offering. We need to enter into God's thoughts about His Son on a daily basis, but there is something special about the weekly remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ that leaves even greater impact on our soul and spirit. Moral, ethical and spiritual cleanness is demanded of us when we worship our God in "the beauty of holiness." The Sabbath was a reminder of the Creator and His creation and of the Redeemer and His redemption.
In the Middle East at the time Israel was about to enter the promised land, the monthly cycle of the moon attracted people to worship not only the moon and sun, but soon stars such as Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and other planets. These were made objects of veneration because of the monthly cycle of nature. The monthly burnt offering would be made on the first day of every month and included two bullocks, a ram, seven lambs and larger portions of grain, oil and wine. This would remind the people of God as they saw the great amounts of smoke arising, of the superiority of their God and what delighted Him, above all the ideas and figments of imagination people had about themselves and their gods. In every one of the offerings made, there was never allowance made for shortages or imperfections. They had to meet God's standards. In plenty or in famine, there is no change in the Lord. God is eternal in every part of His being. The superiority of our Lord Jesus Christ is far greater than any forms of worship and praise people may produce themselves when they meet together weekly, monthly or yearly. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever."
There were also unusual days of remembrance. They were days of convocations, when God's people came together to remind themselves in fellowship with others from different places, of what God saw in the sweet- savor sacrifices. We have our daily personal thoughts of our Savior as we worship the Lord. When we come together weekly with those who know us well, the sharing in common of our worship, further opens our minds and hearts to the effects of God's grace toward us. As months and seasons change, we see how much we have compared to those around who try in their own way to connect meaningfully with God. Our access to Him is on the basis of solid faith in what delights Him - not on anything we or others might do. There are times when God's people meet annually and we listen to His word ministered, sing our hymns of praise and worship, pray together - and that fellowship is because of our common interest - our Lord Jesus Christ.
When God gives us the privilege to share with Him the delight He has in His Son, our joy increases and more and more, our Lord becomes the center and theme of our lives. In times of discouragement He is the Lifter-up of our head. When we find ourselves in despair because of failure, He is the Life-Restorer who sustains us and gives us a new start. In dullness because of the weariness of the way, He is the Light to guide us. When we are restless, He is our Peace. When we are aimless, He is our Goal. When we are weak, He is our Strength. When we are in trials, He is our Victory. When we are in spiritual warfare, He is the Captain of our Salvation. When we are hungry, He is our Bread. When we thirst, He is our Life-saving Refreshment. When we are burdened, He is our Burden-Bearer. When we are distracted, He is our Occupation.
The Passover was the first and greatest day of the Feasts of Jehovah. An understanding of what the sacrifice meant to God would change a form, to an act of worship and fellowship with God. Fifty days later the Feast of First-fruits took place and the Lord received from His own people evidence to what He meant to them. The offering of our worship is our greatest participation with God in the holy things that delight His heart.