Numbers 28

Numbers 28 belongs to the regulations given in the latter part of the Book of Numbers, while Israel was encamped on the plains of Moab. After Joshua is appointed as Moses' successor in Numbers 27, chapters 28 and 29 set out the offerings to be presented at each appointed time throughout the year, arranged by day, month, and feast.

Outline

• Verses 1-2 The LORD commands Moses: the children of Israel are to present their offerings and offerings made by fire (offerings burned on the altar) at their appointed times.
• Verses 3-8 The daily continual burnt offering (the burnt offering presented regularly) is established. Two male lambs of the first year without blemish are offered, one in the morning and one at evening. With each lamb is offered a meat offering (grain offering) of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil, together with a drink offering (an offering poured out) of a fourth of a hin.
• Verses 9-10 On the Sabbath, two additional male lambs with their grain and drink offerings are presented besides the continual burnt offering.
• Verses 11-15 At the new moon (the first day of each month), two young bullocks, one ram, and seven male lambs are offered as a burnt offering, each animal accompanied by its prescribed grain and drink offerings. One kid of the goats is offered as a sin offering.
• Verses 16-25 The fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover. Beginning on the fifteenth day, a seven-day feast is kept during which unleavened bread is eaten; on the first and seventh days there is a holy convocation (sacred assembly), and no work is done. On each of the seven days, the same burnt offerings and sin offering as at the new moon are presented.
• Verses 26-31 On the Feast of Weeks, the day the new grain offering of firstfruits is presented, there is likewise a holy convocation. On this day, too, the same burnt and grain offerings as at the new moon are presented, along with one kid of the goats. All of these offerings are in addition to the continual burnt offering.

Key Verses

• Numbers 28:2 "shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season" — This serves as the heading for chapters 28-29 as a whole. It makes clear that sacrifices are to be offered at the times God has appointed.
• Numbers 28:6 "It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai" — This shows that the daily sacrifice continues the regulation received at Mount Sinai (Exodus 29:38-42).

People and Places

• Moses — conveys the LORD's commands to the children of Israel.
• Mount Sinai — mentioned as the place where the regulation for the continual burnt offering was first given.

Points for Reflection

• The same feasts appear in Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23 deals mainly with the dates and the manner of observance, whereas this chapter sets out the quantities of the offerings the community is to present.
• The ephah is a dry measure for grain, and the hin a measure for liquids. Scholars differ in their estimates of their modern equivalents.
• In Judaism, the morning and afternoon prayers have been understood, since the destruction of the Temple, as continuing the continual burnt offering. There is also said to be a tradition of reading this chapter and chapter 29 in the synagogue at the new moon and on the feasts.
• Many Protestant denominations read these sacrificial regulations as ceremonial law (regulations concerning worship and sacrifice) fulfilled in Christ. Hebrews contrasts the sacrifices repeated daily with Christ's once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 10:11-12). Paul calls Christ "our passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Feast of Weeks corresponds to Pentecost in the New Testament, and Acts 2 records the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that took place on that day.

In the Korean Church

The continual burnt offering presented morning and evening is sometimes used as an illustration in sermons encouraging daily, sustained prayer and worship, such as early-morning prayer meetings.