Monday, May 23, 2011

Year 1, Day 143: Numbers 28

Didn’t We Already Cover This?

Okay, most of this material – and the material for tomorrow – summarizes what we have already read in Leviticus about the individual sacrifices.  So I’m going to take this in a slightly different route, knowing that we’ve already spoken of the sacrifices no more than a month ago.

Much Sacrificing

Does anyone know how many sheep, goats, and oxen would be sacrificed in order to keep each of these weekly, monthly, and annual sacrifices for a single year?  Does anyone know how much flour and wine would be consumed in the sacrifices?  Yes, it is a realistic number – especially for a nation.  But it is a significant number.  And no, I’m not going to tell you.  You can figure it out for yourself if you want.

But let’s recognize that it is a significant amount of sacrificing going on.  Even if we just look at the daily sacrifices, that’s over 700 lambs a year alone!  And let’s remember, these are just for the nation and don’t count among them any sort of individual sacrifice for forgiveness.  So, what does that mean?  Is God an unjust God who demands more sacrifice than the people can bear?

Absolutely not!  What this system of sacrifices does is demonstrate the wonderful wealth of God’s provision. 

God’s Provision

God does require great sacrifice – even from us today.  But God gives even more abundantly.  God’s grace and mercy is plentiful.  If we take all that we have and compare it to what God asks of us, it is not too big of a deal.  If the Hebrew people took all that God had provided them with and compared it to what He asks of them it would be no big deal.  Yes, it is significant, but not even close to unbearably so.  God’s provision always outweighs His demands.

If we add to this fact that God is leading them into the Promised Land, then what we can see is that this “burden of sacrifice” is actually an incredible promise.  Here’s what I mean by this.  If God truly expects sacrificing to this level, He will have to prosper His people.  If God demands this level of devotion, God must be leading His people into a place where this level of devotion is absolutely possible.  By establishing this principle, God is assuring the people that they will be prosperous should they continue in their relationship with Him.

Faith

That leads me to the human side of this conversation: faith.  Giving is an act of faith.  Anyone can give out of their surplus – that is no act of faith.  But the one who tithes gives not out of their surplus but rather according to what God desires of them.  Remember Jesus sitting across from the offering boxes with His disciples as the poor widow puts in her “insignificant sum?”  She is praised because she gave out of her need, not out of her excess.  (See Mark 12:41-44)

They give not out of their surplus, but out of their first-fruits.  They give back to God trusting that God will take care of their needs.  The weight of this sacrificial system indicates the faith that there people had that God would provide for them.  After all, who gives up their best ox without trusting that God can provide over and above what that ox could have ever provided?

That is what the sacrificial system is all about.  It is a give-and take relationship between God’s provision and our faith.  That is what sacrifice is all about.  Trust in God; put faith in God on display!

What is it that Jesus said to His disciples?  Look at the birds and the flowers.  Does not God clothe and feed them with all they need?  Why should we then worry?  Trust God.  Have faith in His provision rather than our own ability to provide.  Worship Him in good faith.

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Okay, maybe I will share the result with you about the total sacrifices offered.  The yearly national offerings found in this chapter and the next must include 113 bulls, 32 rams, and 1,086 lambs, plus over a ton of flour and about 1,000 containers of oil and wine.  And remember, this is just for the national sacrifices.  This does not count any of the sacrifices for individual sin, and of the sacrifices made by the leaders of the people, or any thank offerings!

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