Bible Commentaries
Numbers 28

Verses 1-31

5. The Offerings and the Set Times

CHAPTER 28

1. The daily offerings (Numbers 28:1-8 )

2. The Sabbatic offerings (Numbers 28:9-10 )

3. The monthly offerings (Numbers 28:11-15 )

4. The Passover (Numbers 28:16-25 )

5. The firstfruits (Numbers 28:26-31 )

CHAPTER 29

1. The blowing of trumpets (Numbers 29:1-6 )

2. The day of atonement (Numbers 29:7-11 )

3. The feast of tabernacles (Numbers 29:12-16 )

4. The second day offering (Numbers 29:17-19 )

5. The third day offering (Numbers 29:20-22 )

6. The fourth day offering (Numbers 29:23-25 )

7. The fifth day offering (Numbers 29:26-28 )

8. The sixth day offering (Numbers 29:29-31 )

9. The seventh day offering (Numbers 29:32-34 )

10. The eighth day offering (Numbers 29:35-40 )

These two chapters go together. They tell of Jehovah’s portion which he is to receive in the worship of His people. The second verse reveals this. “Command the children of Israel and say unto them, My offering and My bread for My sacrifices, made by fire, for a sweet savour unto Me, shall ye observe to offer unto Me in their due seasons.” Needless to say that all speaks of Christ. He is seen in all the offerings, in the lambs, the young bullocks, the ram, the meal offerings and all the others. In Christ God has found His delight. In Leviticus we saw that aspect of the different offerings by which God has met our need in Christ and His blessed work; but here Jehovah speaks of these offerings as being “My bread.” The heart of God feeds, humanly speaking, upon Christ. The sweet savour-offerings are the prominent feature of these two chapters. The sin-offerings take a secondary place. As we learned in Leviticus, the offerings which are a sweet odor in the presence of God are those which typify the matchless worth and blessed devotion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Leviticus 23:0 must be studied with these two chapters. The reader should turn to that chapter and see the meaning of the different feasts as given in the annotations. We call attention to the enlarged command concerning the feast of tabernacles. Ten verses are given in Leviticus 23:0 to the feast of tabernacles, but in Numbers 29:0 not less than twenty-seven are devoted to this feast. The seven days of the entire feast are mentioned with the different sacrifices, which were to be brought. They were to be brought in the following order and numbers:

In all there are 70 bullocks, 14 rams, 98 lambs, and 7 goats. And besides these there were the daily burnt offerings and meal offerings. Why this detail in Numbers? And why should the feast of tabernacles begin on the first day with 13 bullocks and there be a gradual decline? As we learned in Leviticus, the feast of tabernacles the last of the feasts, foreshadows the millennium. The character of the millennium will therefore help us to understand some, at least, of the typical meaning of these offerings. The large number of offerings, especially the double seven in the lambs, which are offered, stand for the praise which Jehovah will receive during the age to come. But it is not perfect praise. The number thirteen on the first day is an incomplete number. It lacks one to make it perfect. And then we see that the number decreases from thirteen down to seven on the seventh day of the feast. The millennium, as we know from Revelation (chapter 20), ends in failure. There will be most likely a decline in devotion to God and full obedience to His will. A look at the above table shows that there is something which mars. The goats, only one each day, are for sin offering, for sin will be possible during the millennium, however, it will be very exceptional. The twice fourteen lambs means fulness of redemption which will be enjoyed unhindered in the coming age. The eighth day has the same offerings as the day of atonement. The eighth day in Scripture marks a new beginning; it is the day of the new creation. Following the feast, the eighth day stands for eternity. The precious work of Christ will never be forgotten in the ages to come.