(9)
Scripture Reading: Num. 28:1-31
Numbers 28:1—30:16 deals with the statutes concerning the offerings (28:1—29:40) and concerning vows (30:1-16). In this message we will begin to consider the statutes concerning the offerings.
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, "Command the sons of Israel, and say to them, My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, My satisfying fragrance, you shall observe to offer to Me at its appointed time" (28:2). In this verse God speaks of His food. It seems that He is asking His people not to forget His food. He wants them to remember to give Him something to eat. Here God seems to be saying to His people, "I have done a great deal for you. I have prepared food and drink. Now I ask you to take care of My food. My food is the offerings you present to Me. These offerings are My satisfying fragrance." God wanted Moses, before he was gathered to his fathers, to charge the people to take care of God's food, to offer food to Him at the appointed time. Have you ever heard that God wants something to eat? As we are eating our food, we need to remember that God also desires food and that we need to prepare something for Him to eat.
Hebrews 10:5-9 indicates that Christ is the reality of and the replacement for the Old Testament offerings. Verses 8 and 9 say, "Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You did not desire nor take pleasure in (which are offered according to the law); then He said, Behold, I come to do Your will. He takes away the first that He may establish the second." The will of God here is to take away the first, the animal sacrifices of the old covenant, that the second, the sacrifice of Christ of the new testament, may be established. The new testament offerings are Christ Himself. Today God's desire and pleasure are not in animal sacrifices; God's desire and pleasure are altogether in one person — Christ.
Before we consider further the matter of God's food in Numbers 28, let us consider the sequence of chapters twenty-five through twenty-eight. In chapter twenty-five the children of Israel had a great failure, falling into fornication, a damage to their humanity, and into idolatry, an insult to God's person. As a result of this failure, twenty-four thousand Israelites died by the plague. If we had been there, we might have thought that, due to this pitiful situation, God was finished with His people, upon whom He had been working for so long and for whom He had done so much.
God, however, was not finished with the children of Israel. This is proved by the renumbering in chapter twenty-six. God still had His number, and the total of those numbered in chapter twenty-six was nearly the same as the total in chapter one (26:51; 1:46). At the time of the first numbering, there had not been any trouble or reduction in number through God's punishment. The renumbering took place after much trouble and reduction through judgment. Nevertheless, in spite of all the trials, turmoils, temptations, failures, and reductions, God still had almost the same number for Himself as He had had in the beginning. Regardless of what the enemy had done and regardless of the people's failures, God, by His sovereign grace and acts, still had a number greater than six hundred thousand.
After the renumbering in chapter twenty-six, we have in 27:1-11 the statute of judgment for the women's inheriting of the land. The five daughters of Zelophehad came to Moses with the request that, since there were no male heirs, they be allowed to possess their father's inheritance. Their request, which was actually related to gaining more of Christ, was granted, for they had a high and pure motive — regard for the inheritance (grace) given by God.
Numbers 27:12-23 is concerned with the death of Moses and with Moses' successor. Moses was one hundred twenty years old, and the Lord told him that the time had come for him to be gathered to his people. His going raised the question of leadership. Who would be his successor? When God told him that he would now be gathered to his people, Moses said, "Let Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly, who will go out before them and come in before them, who will lead them out and bring them in; that the assembly of Jehovah may not be as sheep which have no shepherd" (vv. 16-17). This indicates that Moses did not consider his loss of the leadership. His heart was not set on his situation but on God's people. Moses seemed to be saying to the Lord, "It is right and fair for me to be gathered to my people. But, Lord, who will take care of Your people? If the people do not have someone to lead them out and bring them in, they will be as sheep without a shepherd." The Lord responded to Moses' word by telling him to take Joshua and cause him to stand before the priest and the whole assembly, to lay his hands on him in order to bestow upon Joshua some of his majesty, and then to charge him to be the leader (vv. 18-23). In this way God raised up a new leader.
At the end of chapter twenty-seven we see a wonderful picture — a picture of a new people, a new army, and a new leader. The new people had been renumbered, the new army had been re-formed and strengthened, and the new leader had been appointed to serve, not by himself but with Eleazar the priest, who would receive divine instructions by means of the Urim and Thummim. This means that there was among the people a new theocracy. Hence, at the end of this chapter we see a new people, a new army, and a new theocracy.
After all the events recorded in chapters twenty-five through twenty-seven, in chapter twenty-eight we have the crucial matter of God's food. At the beginning of this chapter, God came in and seemed to say to the people, "Do you have everything you need? Are you satisfied and happy? How about Me and My satisfaction? You need to take care of My food. I have been taking care of you for years. I have prepared everything for you in a new, complete way, and now you are ready to possess the land which I promised to your forefathers. I ask you not to forget Me. Remember that I am hungry and that I need My food."
God is hungry and wants to eat. Although He is almighty, He cannot provide Himself something to eat. His food must come from His people. This is why He said, "My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, My satisfying fragrance, you shall observe to offer to Me" (28:2).
God's food was to be offered to Him "at its appointed time" (v. 2b). As we will see, God needs to eat daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. He wants to enjoy something daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. God's yearly food is related to the annual feasts.
Numbers 28:3-8 speaks of the continual burnt offering for every day. This daily offering consisted of two lambs a year old without blemish (v. 3). One lamb was offered in the morning with a meal offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mingled with oil, and its drink offering of a fourth of a hin (vv. 4, 7). The other lamb was offered at dusk with the same meal offering and drink offering (v. 8). The drink offering was to be poured out to Jehovah in a holy place. (For the details on the offerings, you may consult the Life-study of Leviticus.) This was God's daily food, food that included meat, bread (the meal offering), and drink.
In addition to the continual burnt offering for every day, there was a burnt offering for every Sabbath (vv. 9-10). This offering was two lambs a year old without blemish, with a meal offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour and its drink offering.
There was also a burnt offering for the beginning of every month (vv. 11-15). In His creation, God has ordained that there should be twelve months in a year. At the beginning of every month, God wanted to eat something particular, and His people were required to prepare this food for Him. First, this burnt offering included two young bulls with a meal offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour and its drink offering of half a hin of wine for each bull. Second, the people were also to offer a ram with a meal offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour and its drink offering of a third of a hin. In addition, this monthly burnt offering included seven lambs a year old without blemish, with a meal offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour and its drink offering of a fourth of a hin for every lamb. Furthermore, in contrast to the daily and weekly burnt offerings, the monthly burnt offering had to include a male goat for a sin offering. God, of course, has nothing to do with sin. However, the serving ones were sinful and needed redemption in order to be qualified to serve God. If we would serve God by offering to Him His food, we need to offer a sin offering.
The offerings in Numbers 28 and 29 follow two lines — the line of ordinary human life and the line of the yearly feasts. The offerings for ordinary life are daily, weekly, and monthly, but the offerings for the feasts are yearly.
Concerning the annual feasts, we need to see that they correspond to our spiritual experience. Our spiritual life begins with the Passover and consummates at Pentecost (the feast of weeks). At Pentecost we have the fullness of the consummated Spirit to be our enjoyment and also to be God's food. The sequence of these feasts is marvelous and full of significance.
In 28:16-25 we have the burnt offering following the Passover. The Passover was only one day, the fourteenth day of the first month. The fifteenth day of this month was the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread, a feast which lasted seven days. On the first and seventh days of this feast, there was to be a holy convocation, and on those days no laborious work was to be done. Instead of work, there was to be rest and enjoyment. The offering for every day of the seven days was the same as that offered at the beginning of each month.
Numbers 28:26-31 is concerned with the burnt offering for the feast of weeks. This burnt offering was offered in the day of the first fruits, that is, the fiftieth day of the feast of weeks (v. 26), when a new meal offering was offered to Jehovah (Lev. 23:10-11, 15-16). A holy convocation was held on the same day with no laborious work. The offering for the feast of weeks was the same as that offered at the beginning of the month.
God needs daily food, weekly food, monthly food, and yearly food. In addition to enjoying ordinary food, God wants to enjoy food at the yearly feasts. We have pointed out that these feasts correspond to our spiritual experience. The Passover typifies Christ, who is our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), and Pentecost typifies the processed Triune God, who has become the consummated, life-giving, dispensing Spirit. Such a Spirit is the fullness of the Triune God and also the consummation of our enjoyment of Christ.
All the offerings in Numbers 28, which are God's food, point to Christ. This indicates that Christ is not only our food but also God's food. God and we enjoy the same food — Christ. The center of Numbers 28 is Christ. Christ is the intrinsic substance of this chapter.
Christ is also the peace that enables us to have fellowship with God. The best fellowship involves eating. If we would enjoy the best fellowship with God, we need to serve Him with Christ as His food. Then as we are having fellowship with God, we and God will have the mutual enjoyment of Christ by eating and drinking Him.
Although Christ is God's food, He is not God's food in a direct way. Rather, Christ is God's food served to God by us.
Eventually, however, God's food also becomes our food. If we carefully read the book of Leviticus, we will see that the burnt offering is to be wholly and absolutely burned for God's satisfaction. No portion of the burnt offering is to be eaten by the ones who offer it. However, the burnt offering is accompanied by a meal offering, a large portion of which is for the offerers. This indicates that when we serve God, offering Christ to Him as His food, God takes care of us. God seems to say, "You serve Me with My food, and now I would like to share a portion of this food with you." In this way we enjoy Christ with God. As we are feasting, God also is feasting. He is feasting with us, and we are feasting with Him. In mutuality, God and we feast together on the all-inclusive Christ.
The burnt offering typifies Christ as the One who, as a man, is absolutely for God and who satisfies Him. The meal offering typifies Christ in His perfect, fine, balanced humanity. The drink offering typifies Christ's pouring Himself out for God. When Christ was dying on the cross, He was pouring Himself out as a drink offering to God. The sin offering typifies Christ as our sin offering redeeming us back to God and solving the problem of our sin, sins, and failures. With Christ as all these offerings, we may now enjoy Christ with God. First, we enjoy Christ as the One given to us by God. Having experienced Christ, we present Him to God as His food, and then God shares with us a portion of the Christ we have offered to Him.
At this point, I would like to say a further word concerning the first four of the seven yearly feasts, from the Passover to the feast of weeks, which is the feast of Pentecost. The Passover signifies the beginning of our Christian life. Christ became the Lamb of God who took away our sin and our sins so that God, in His righteousness, might pass over us. As a result, we have been saved, justified, and regenerated. This is the beginning of our Christian life.
Immediately after we were saved, we have to keep the feast of unleavened bread. To be unleavened is to be without sin. The feast of unleavened bread indicates that after we have been saved and regenerated, we should live a life without sin.
In 1 Corinthians 5:7b and 8 Paul refers both to the Passover and to the feast of unleavened bread. "Indeed our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and evil, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." In this Passover Christ is not only the Lamb but the entire Passover. To be our Passover, He was sacrificed on the cross for our redemption and reconciliation to God. The feast of unleavened bread lasted for seven days, a period of completion, signifying the entire period of our Christian life, from the day of our conversion to the day of our rapture. This is a long feast, which we must keep, not with the sin of our old nature, the old leaven, but with the unleavened bread, which is the Christ of our new nature as our nourishment and enjoyment. Only He is the life supply of sincerity and truth, absolutely pure, without mixture, and full of reality.
The Christian life results in the church life. This result involves a number of matters. In particular, it involves Christ's resurrection. After the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, there was the feast of the first fruits. The day of the first fruits was the day on which Christ was resurrected, becoming the first fruit to be offered to God. According to the New Testament, through Christ's resurrection we, the believers in Christ, have been produced to be the living members for the constitution of the Body of Christ. The members of the church have been produced by, with, and in Christ's resurrection.
Although the producing of the church began with Christ's resurrection, the formation of the church did not take place until Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord's resurrection. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit as the all-inclusive Spirit of the processed and dispensing Triune God was poured out for the formation of the church. The Spirit is the realization of the resurrected Christ, Christ in another form; for in resurrection Christ has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit, who is actually Christ Himself, was poured out upon the members of Christ, who were produced through His resurrection. In this way the church was formed.
The formation of the church was of two parts or two sections — the Jewish part and the Gentile part. These two parts of the church, which are represented by the saints in Jerusalem (Acts 2) and by those in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10), are typified by the new meal offering of two loaves of bread baked with leaven offered to God at the feast of Pentecost (Lev. 23:16-17). The fact that these two loaves were baked with leaven indicates that those who form the two sections of the church still have sin (e.g., the case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 and the murmuring concerning food in Acts 6). Nevertheless, these two loaves formed the new meal offering, which signifies the church as the enlargement of Christ.
Let us now summarize the significance of these four feasts. The feast of the Passover was fulfilled on the day of Christ's death (Matt. 26:2, 17-19, 26-28). In the Passover we were saved, justified, and regenerated. Following this, the feast of unleavened bread is for us to live a life without sin. This means that the feast of unleavened bread is being fulfilled in the church age. The feast of the first fruits was fulfilled on the day of Christ's resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20). The feast of Pentecost was fulfilled fifty days after Christ's resurrection, on the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4 cf. 1:3). In Christ's resurrection on the day of the first fruits, the members of Christ were produced for the formation of the church. Then on the day of Pentecost the resurrected and ascended Christ poured out Himself upon His members in the form of the consummated, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit to form the church. This is the significance of the festivals from the Passover to Pentecost.
In each of these festivals there is food for God. When we were saved, we became God's food in Christ. As we grow in life, we produce more food for God's satisfaction. In every step of the Christian life, there is something for God's satisfaction, for we are the factors of His satisfaction. Eventually, on the day of Pentecost, there are two loaves, signifying the two parts of the church, for God's satisfaction.
