Numbers 15:1-21
Laws of Grain and Drink Offerings
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you, 3 and you make an offering by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet aroma to the LORD, from the herd or the flock, 4 then he who presents his offering to the LORD shall bring a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil; 5 and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb. 6 Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil; 7 and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the LORD. 8 And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering, or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a peace offering to the LORD, 9 then shall be offered with the young bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; 10 and you shall bring as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
11 Thus it shall be done for each young bull, for each ram, or for each lamb or young goat. 12 According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do with everyone according to their number. 13 All who are native-born shall do these things in this manner, in presenting an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. 14 And if a stranger dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD, just as you do, so shall he do. 15 One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. 16 One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.’”
17 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land to which I bring you, 19 then it will be, when you eat of the bread of the land, that you shall offer up a heave offering to the LORD. 20 You shall offer up a cake of the first of your ground meal as a heave offering; as a heave offering of the threshing floor, so shall you offer it up. 21 Of the first of your ground meal you shall give to the LORD a heave offering throughout your generations.
The LORD gave instructions through Moses to the people for their sacrifices when they entered the promised land. It is interesting that this was after the majority of the people had been told they would never enter that land because of their sin of disbelief in God’s word of promise to them. Only the children of these would enter that promise after forty years of wandering to contemplate their rebellion of sinful disobedience to the promise. Instructions were detailed on how to prepare each type of sacrifice whether a “burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts” so that they would offer “a sweet aroma to the LORD” in what they would give Him in thankful worship. Our thanksgiving of service and prayer are also such sweet aromatic offerings (Philippians 4:18, Hebrews 13:15-16) to our Lord, not to appease but to please Him, just as His offering of Himself (Ephesians 5:2) on the tree of our curse (Galatians 3:13-14) was for us. He had offered Himself as the supreme peace offering (Romans 5:1) to reconcile us to Himself (Colossians 1:20) in this ministry as our High Priest and the sacrifice itself on our behalf to cover our sins once and forever as that sweet aroma wafting up to the heavens to our Father seated there. He did this as a sacrifice for all who come to the father through the Son as one ordinance for Jew and Gentile alike in Christ as foreshadowed in the sacrifices here for the stranger and person of God by the same sacrifice. One law then and one continuing now in the gospel fulfilled and at last revealed (Colossians 1:26, 2 Timothy 1:10, 1 Peter 1:10-11, 12) in its full measure and meaning. We now fulfill the same instructions by offering ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2) as we are conformed to His (2 Corinthians 3:18) image and worship before the throne of grace until we see His face at last, knowing we will enter that promised heavenly land when we pass from death to life in body as in our souls (John 5:24) now! When we are there, we will be able to offer praise and worship forever and so we continue in faith to inherit the (Hebrews 6:12) promise.
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