Jehovah’s people were at a point of great transition. A generation had died in the wilderness (due to disobedience to enter the promised land the first time) and a new generation was being prepared to take the promised land. Jehovah was transitioning their leadership from Moses to Joshua. At this point, our Father saw fit to remind His people about His laws for offerings, about how they were to worship Him. It was important to Him that the people worship Him the way He decides, and not the way the pagans worship their gods or the way the people decide for themselves to worship Him. He has very specific instructions in many cases. They should not be ignored.
Laws for Offerings
1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 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.’ 3“You shall say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. 4‘You shall offer the one lamb in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 5also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil. 6‘It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD. 7‘Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth 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; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the LORD.
9‘Then on the sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: 10‘This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.
11‘Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; 12and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for the one ram; 13and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb, for a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD. 14‘Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull and a third of a hin for the ram and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15‘And one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.
16‘Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the LORD’S Passover. 17‘On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast, unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. 18‘On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. 19‘You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect. 20‘For their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. 21‘A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs; 22and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you. 23‘You shall present these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. 24‘After this manner you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, of a soothing aroma to the LORD; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. 25‘On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.
26‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the LORD in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. 27‘You shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; 28and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 29a tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30also one male goat to make atonement for you. 31‘Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without defect.
With the sacrifice of Yeshua for our sins… His death was sufficient for all time and we no longer need carry out these sacrifices. However, let us not be too quick to throw out all the instructions the Lord provided. Those celebrations and worship such as Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of Weeks are still worth celebrating in order to honor the Lord and remember who He is and that He reigns and He has done (and still does) mighty miracles amongst His people. These festivals with associated feasts and Sabbaths can be a great way to focus our worship on Him and build our relationship with Him as well as teach our children about the history of God with His people.
Jehovah cares how we worship Him. He does not want us to just make up our own way of worshipping Him or worshipping Him the way the pagans worship their false gods. Let us honor Him in obedience as we worship.
—-
Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.