1,101 lambs sacrificed a year did not accomplish what One Lamb Sacrificed once and for all did.

Numbers Chapter 29: Three More Yearly Offerings – Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacle

Numbers 29:1-40

Day 86. Companies struggling with high absenteeism as a result of Covid-19 lockdown privileges; and labor lawyers are getting richer by the minute. Meanwhile, the world has gone crazy now trying to remove statues of famous historical people, and the change the names of things if they were named after those who supported slavery. In Seattle six city blocks have been taken over by the domestic terrorist group called Antifa and the city is allowing it.  In Toronto, there is pressure to change the name of historical Dundas Street, a main downtown artery, because it was named after a Scottish politician who supported Wilberforce but delayed the abolition of slavery by 15 years. You can read about it here Henry Dundas. Lord have mercy on us because we have lost our way. Meanwhile, I press on with our study of Numbers looking for gems. Read on.

The Passage

Verses 1-6 describe the day of blowing trumpets accompanied by a number of sacrifices to be observed on the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei). [See first note under Thoughts section below.]

Verses 7-11 describe the offerings of Atonement to be made on the 10^th day of the seventh month (Tishrei).

Verses 12-40 describe the offerings associated with the Tabernacle starting on the 15^th day of the 7^th month (Tishrei) and continuing with various requirements for eight days.

Needless to say, the seventh month was to be a very busy month for the Israelites. And Moses passed all of this on to the new generation of Israelites.

Thoughts on the Passage

Before we go any further, I want to draw something to your attention. There is a big difference between the Jewish calendar of the Old Testament times and the Jewish calendar of today. See O.T. Jewish Calendar. Here is a comparison of the Biblical calendar with the more modern Hebrew Civil calendar.

Month Number*		Hebrew month	Length	Gregorian
Ecclesiastical/ Biblical	Civil
1	7	Nisan	30	Mar-Apr
2	8	Iyar	29	Apr-May
3	9	Sivan	30	May-Jun
4	10	Tammuz	29	Jun-Jul
5	11	Av	30	Jul-Aug
6	12	Elul	29	Aug-Sep
7	1	Tishrei	30	Sep-Oct
8	2	Cheshvan (or Marcheshvan)	29/30	Oct-Nov
9	3	Kislev	30/29	Nov-Dec
10	4	Tevet	29	Dec-Jan
11	5	Shevat	30	Jan-Feb
12	6	Adar	29	Feb-Mar
Total			353, 354 or 355
* – For the distinction between numbering systems, see § New year below.

Notice, the first month in the Biblical calendar is Nisan, and thus Numbers 27:16 says the Passover is observed during Nisan. But for the modern Hebrew, that is the 7^th month and Tishrei is their first month (7^th on the old biblical calendar).  Okay, now that we got that straight, let’s move on.

The number ‘7’ is a symbolic spiritual number in the Bible and thus it makes sense that many of these key annual special days fall in that month.

So, the Day of Trumpets takes place in the month of Tishrei (biblical 7^th month) on the first day.

Then on the tenth day of Tishrei there is a holy convocation which involves offerings with respect to atonement. So, the month starts with a Day of Trumpets and then the next ten days are for purposes of introspection and repentance, culminating in the Day of Atonement (on the 10^th day of the month). This was not a happy feast by any means.

And the five days later, the day days of the Feast of the Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, or more commonly, the Festival of Shelters, or Booths, begins. That goes on for eight days. David Guzik says that this feast, was indeed, “a happy memorial of God's faithfulness to Israel during the Exodus. The sacrifice of so many animals was a demonstration of the richness of God's provision to them through the years in the wilderness.”

It is important to note for all of these days, no laborious work is to be done. That’s a lot of holidays. Some workers and all unions would be happy with these arrangements. But for the Israelites, each one of these holidays had a purpose.

Verse 39 tells us that all the associated sacrifices and offerings were to be presented to the Lord “at your appointed times” and were in addition to their pledged or promissory offerings, and their freewill offerings. Corporate celebrations and offerings do not replace individual offerings and worship and adoration of our God.

Here is a site from the government of Israel that lays out the various holidays we need to be aware: Jewish Holidays Today.

What sticks out for the believer here in this chapter is the number of “lambs” that were being sacrificed. Here are the verses that tell us about the lambs being sacrificed and the number of lambs each time shown in brackets: in verse 2 [7], 8 [7], 13 [14], 17 [14], 20 [14], 23 [14], 26 [14], 29 [14], 32 [14], and 36 [7]. That is a total of 119 lambs.

Robert Jamieson talks about the total number of animals being sacrificed in a year as follows:

From the statements made in this and the preceding chapter, it appears that the yearly offerings made to the altar at the public expense, without taking into account a vast number of the voluntary vow and trespass offerings were calculated at the following amount:--goats, fifteen; kids, twenty-one; rams, seventy-two; bullocks, one hundred thirty-two; lambs, 1,101; sum-total of animals sacrificed at public cost, 1,241. This, of course, is exclusive of the prodigious addition of lambs slain at the Passover, which in later times, according to JOSEPHUS, amounted in a single year to the immense number of 255,600.

No matter which numbers you would like to take, that’s a lot of animals, and especially a lot of lambs.  So why so many lambs? David Guzik answers as follows:

The most prominent animal of sacrifice was the lamb. This is an obvious prophetic reference to Jesus, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

What does all this mean for you and me? First, I think we need to be aware of would God’s chosen people were asked to do by God Himself in the Old Testament. Second, we need to realize that all these sacrifices were replaced once and for all, by the single sacrifice of Christ on the cross when He died for the sins of mankind. Third, even though we do not have to make these kinds of animal and grain sacrifices today as believers, I believe we have to live a life of “sacrifice” for our Lord. What that means, for each one of us, is between God and each of us. But that requirement for sacrificial living as evidence of our thanksgiving and in appreciation of our salvation and blessings, cannot be ignored. Would you agree?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Three Feasts God Wants Us to Celebrate “unto Him” -- Exodus 23:14-17

“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.”
 

I do not know about you, but I have often thought that we have too many holidays.  If you subscribe to an on-line ‘holidays’ software package in conjunction with your computer calendar, you will soon notice that just about every day of the year it seems is a ‘holiday’ somewhere. In North America in January, we have New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In February there’s Groundhog Day; Lincoln’s Birthday; Valentine’s Day; Family Day, Louis Riel Day, Islander Day (these last three in Canada); President’s Day; and Washington’s Birthday. Do I need to go on through the rest of the year? Yes, some are even religious holidays although we have done our best to change even that.

There are many references to feasts in the Bible, but here in this short passage, God is requiring that we celebrate three of them “unto Him” annually. Without going into great detail about each of these feasts, let us focus on what we believe to be God’s purpose in having us celebrate them “unto Him”.

The first one, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was intended for us to remember that it was God who brought them out of slavery from the land of Egypt and how miraculously He did it. For us today, it would mean celebrating and remembering how God brought us out of our sinful state and saved us through the miracle of His Son Jesus Christ coming to earth and dying in our place.

The second one, the Feast of the Harvest in which the Israelites were to present God their “first fruits” from the annual yield of their fields, was intended to keep reminding them that it is God that gives the harvest and arranges for it, not they themselves. For us today, it would mean celebrating “unto Him” and thanking Him for the fact that we can and are totally dependent on Him for all of our earthly needs and the products of our labor.

The third one, the Feast of the Ingathering (also known as the Feast of Booths) takes place after the last harvest of the year is gathered.  It was for the purpose of giving thanks to God for His provision of the right weather to allow the Israelites to process their crops, especially grapes and grain, before the yield would be useful for eating. In those days all the winepresses and threshing floors were outdoors and the Israelites needed favorable weather to carry these activities out.  Again, for us today, this would mean giving God thanks for how He is involved in our day-to-day lives, taking care of the details if you like.

In asking them to celebrate these three feasts, God makes two stipulations.  First (provided at the end of our passage) that “all the males” should gather together at these three events and that they should eat together at them (after all, that is what one does at feasts). And secondly, God tells the Israelites that no one (no male) is to appear before Him at this celebration “empty-handed”.  On this latter point, Matthew Henry writes,

“Some free-will offering or other they must bring, in token of their respect and gratitude to their great benefactor; and, as they were not allowed to come empty-handed, so we must not come to worship God empty-hearted; our souls must be filled with grace, with pious and devout affections, holy desires towards him, and dedications of ourselves to him, for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased.”

In our modern world, full of hustle and bustle, and never a spare moment, we have developed the ability to do more in less time.  We have fast-food, drive-thru bank services, stay in your automobile carwashes, texting (vs. writing or calling or even emailing) ‘sounds’ or ‘short-forms’ rather than full words, and I am sure you can think of many more shortcuts that you take. We seem to have done the same thing with the Feasts that God wanted us to observe. We now have one annual Thanksgiving Day (at which many do very little giving of thanks and some don’t even feast) to replace all three feasts God had prescribed we celebrate. And you we claim to love Him dearly.

I humbly suggest that as a minimum at our next Thanksgiving Day Feast, we try to consider what God wanted us to remember through the three feasts He describes in this Scripture passage. Let us at least take time to thank Him for delivering us from sin, His provisions for our daily needs, and His involvement in our lives.  And if you are really up to it, try establishing three different feasts for your family.

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