Numbers 29:12 - Meaning and Application

Soon after the Day of Atonement, when the people were to humble themselves, came the Feast of Tabernacles, when they were to rejoice before the Lord. Those who sow in tears will soon reap in joy. The earlier laws about this feast are given in (Leviticus 23:34 and following), and here more instructions are added about the burnt offerings they were to bring to the Lord during the seven days of the feast (Leviticus 23:36).

Notice several things here. First, their days of rejoicing were also days of sacrifice. A cheerful spirit does us no harm, and it is no bad sign if joy makes us better able to serve God with our whole hearts. Joy should not keep us from God’s worship, but should widen and warm our hearts in it.

Second, while they lived in booths, they were to offer sacrifices each day. As long as we live in this temporary, unsettled life, it is both our duty and our good to keep up close fellowship with God. The fact that our outward life is unstable does not excuse us from worship.

Third, the offerings for each of the seven days were set out in detail, even though the only difference was the number of bullocks. This was not needless repetition. God was teaching them to be exact in his commands and to keep faith fixed on his institution in each day’s service. It also shows that repeated worship, if done with a sincere heart and steady devotion, does not weary God. So we should not grow tired of it or treat it as a burden.

Fourth, the number of bullocks, the most costly part of the sacrifice, grew smaller each day. On the first day they were to offer thirteen, then twelve, then eleven, and so on, until on the seventh day they offered seven. On the last day, though it was the great day of the feast and a holy assembly, they offered only one bullock. The same pattern held for the other animals, with fewer rams and lambs on that day. This was God’s will, and that is enough reason for the law.

Some think God was also taking account of human weakness, since people are often slow to bear the cost of religion. So the burden was ordered to lessen day by day, so they would not complain that God had made them serve him with offerings (Isaiah 43:23). Others think this hinted that the old covenant, that is, the legal system of Moses, would grow old and pass away. The many sacrifices would end in one great sacrifice, far greater than all the rest. It was on the last day of the feast, after all these sacrifices had been appointed, that our Lord Jesus stood and called to all who still thirsted for righteousness, because they could see that these sacrifices could not make them right with God, to come to him and drink (John 7:37).

Fifth, the grain offerings and drink offerings were to go with all the sacrifices, in the proper number and order. No matter how much flesh there was, it was not a feast without bread and drink. So these were never to be left off at God’s altar, which was his table. We must not think that doing a great deal in religion will please God if we do it carelessly or not in the way he has appointed.

Sixth, every day a sin offering was also required, as was already seen in the other feasts. Our burnt offerings of praise cannot be accepted unless we share in the great sacrifice of atonement, that is, the sacrifice that makes us right with God, which Christ offered when he made himself a sin offering for us.

Seventh, even with all these sacrifices, the regular burnt offering still had to continue morning and evening. Extra services were never to crowd out the worship that belonged to each day. Set times of devotion should not be pushed aside by special duties.

Eighth, though all these sacrifices were brought by the whole congregation at public cost, each person still had room to honor God with vows and freewill offerings (Numbers 29:39). When God required this, he still left room for generous devotion. They were not to invent new kinds of worship, but to be rich and ready in the worship he had appointed, as in (2 Chronicles 30:23-24).

Detailed instructions had already been given in Leviticus about the offerings that private persons might bring, according to the way God had dealt with them and the grace he had given them. So although every Israelite shared in these common sacrifices, he must not think they took the place of his own vows and freewill offerings. In the same way, our ministers praying with us and for us does not excuse us from praying for ourselves.