August 19, 2013
PREPARE YOUR HEART FOR WORSHIP
Numbers 28
Brandon Griess
Central Truth
Jesus Christ was the ultimate offering. He made it possible for us to have a relationship with God. Like the people in Numbers 28, we who have a relationship with God through faith maintain it through obedience. They obeyed God's commands given to Moses. We obey Christ's commands for us.
Key Verse | Numbers 28:2
"Command the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.'" (Numbers 28:2)
Numbers 28
Daily Offerings
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’ 3 And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. 4 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 5 also a tenth of an ephah 1 28:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin 2 28:5 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters of beaten oil. 6 It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 7 Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD. 8 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
Sabbath Offerings
9 On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: 10 this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.
Monthly Offerings
11 At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12 also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull, and two tenths of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13 and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 14 Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15 Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.
Passover Offerings
16 On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD's Passover, 17 and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. 18 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, 19 but offer a food offering, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish; 20 also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram; 21 a tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs; 22 also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 23 You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. 24 In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 25 And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work.
Offerings for the Feast of Weeks
26 On the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the LORD at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, 27 but offer a burnt offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; 28 also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for one ram, 29 a tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30 with one male goat, to make atonement for you. 31 Besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. See that they are without blemish.
Dive Deeper | Numbers 28
I often find myself struggling to find ways to give of myself. As a student, I don't make much money and struggle to find time to follow Christ, be a husband, and still study enough to make good grades. Do I take time to serve here? Do I give money here? Can I help in this area?
During the times when I ask all these questions, however, I remind myself that I'm still missing an important point. One of the first guys I met at Watermark told me a great story about how this life is not about me. We've all heard how important it is to give of ourselves whether in time, money, labor, etc., but is it really just about giving or offering if our hearts are not in the right place?
When I first read through this chapter, I thought to myself, "Um . . . excuse me, Moses, . . . can you say that again, please? I need to find something to write this down on if this message is regarding conditions for salvation." If it is, remembering how to present these offerings properly could create a lot of pressure! However, I would have totally missed the main point, which is that these people already had a relationship with God and their obedience to these rituals prepared their hearts for worship with a spirit of thankfulness.
God made the ultimate sacrifice for us all when he offered His Son, Jesus Christ. We're also familiar with how Christ prepared His own heart while in the garden the night before He made His sacrifice (Luke 22). It is important to remember it is not always the offering that should be my focus, but how I prepare my heart for that offering since "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Discussion Questions
1. How do you prepare your heart for worship?
2. How do you prepare your heart before offering a sacrifice of yourself?
3. Can you think of other examples in Scripture when difficult sacrifices were made or withheld? What do you think was motivating those people's responses?