Numbers 28:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is, first, a general command about the offerings of the Lord, which were to be brought at the right time (Numbers 28:2). These laws are repeated here, not because they had been completely forgotten during Israel’s thirty-eight years in the wilderness. We should not think they had been without public worship for so long. At least the daily lamb was likely offered morning and evening, and doubled on the Sabbath day, as Bishop Patrick suggests. Still, Amos 5:25, quoted by Stephen in Acts 7:42, plainly hints that many sacrifices were left undone. It asks, “Did you offer me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?” The implied answer is, “No, you did not.”

Whether the sacrifices had been interrupted or not, God now saw fit to repeat the law for three reasons. First, this was a new generation, and most of them had not been alive when the earlier laws were given. So, to leave them without excuse, God gave these laws again, not only in writing to be read, but also directly from himself, in a shorter and clearer form. Second, they were about to go to war, and they might think that military duty excused them from sacrifice. But God does not allow worship to be pushed aside by war. They were especially to keep peace with God while fighting their enemies. Third, they were about to take possession of the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, where they would have plenty of good things. In that time of abundance, God warns them not to forget the “bread of your God,” that is, the offerings due to him. Canaan was given to them on the condition that they would keep God’s commands (Psalm 105:44-45).

Second, the chapter gives the rule for the daily sacrifice, a lamb in the morning and a lamb in the evening. Because this offering was kept up steadily day after day, it is called a continual burnt offering (Numbers 28:3). This reminds us that when we are told to pray always and pray without ceasing, it includes at least our regular morning and evening prayers and praises to God. The text says this law was ordained at Mount Sinai (Numbers 28:6), when the other laws were given there. Its original institution is found in Exodus 29:38.

In this repetition of the law, one detail is added. The wine for the drink offering was to be strong wine, the best and richest wine they could get (Numbers 28:7). It was to be poured out on the altar, not drunk, so they might have thought any wine would do. But God required the best, teaching us to serve him with the best we have. Ainsworth says the wine must be strong because it pointed forward to the blood of Christ, whose memory remains in the church in wine, and also to the blood of the martyrs, which was poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of faith (Philippians 2:17).