The seventh month

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Numbers 29:1–11, “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you. And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish: And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram, And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs: And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you: Beside the burnt offering of the month, and his meat offering, and the daily burnt offering, and his meat offering, and their drink offerings, according unto their manner, for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein: But ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD for a sweet savour; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year; they shall be unto you without blemish: And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals to a bullock, and two tenth deals to one ram, A several tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs: One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.”

Not only did the Lord call upon Israel to celebrate the fact that He created the heavens and earth in six days by resting on the Sabbath, He also offered them the opportunity to have seasons of rest as well. This was the beginning of the concept of holidays. They were called upon to remember the Passover but there were also other holidays as well. They were called to celebrate the Lord’s goodness in the autumn as well. They had to offer special sacrifices to honour the Lord as well. The Lord understood that mankind, whom He had created, needed to rest to produce the best results. He is Almighty God, Who is in complete control of His creation but we are subject to the problems of living in a world that has been marred by sin. He rests when there is nothing left to do but for us there is always something to do but we need to rest so that we can have the energy to keep going.

The Passover of the Lord

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Numbers 28:16–31, “And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein: But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish: And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram; A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs: And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you. Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering. And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work. Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the LORD, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: But ye shall offer the burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the first year; And their meat offering of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto one bullock, two tenth deals unto one ram, A several tenth deal unto one lamb, throughout the seven lambs; And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you. Ye shall offer them beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, (they shall be unto you without blemish) and their drink offerings.”

While the Sabbath rest was given to Adam and is general advice for all mankind, the Passover was specific to Israel. The Lord justified His giving of the Ten Commandments using the words, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:2) He was qualified to give them instruction for He had chosen them and loved them while they were slaves in Egypt. In fact, He had chosen them long before that. The Lord had a purpose for Israel, they were to be the means whereby He would bless all the families 

of the earth. In order for this to happen they had to accept the Lord’s plan and fit in with it. However, they were to remember every year that they had been slaves in Egypt and the Lord had miraculously delivered them from their slavery. As long as they remembered what the Lord had done they would be grateful and as long as they were grateful they would obey Him and further His gracious plans for all the families of the earth.

Celebrate the Sabbath

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Numbers 28:9–15, “And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering. And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot; And three tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one ram; And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meat offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD. And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the LORD shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.”

The Sabbath day was very important for it celebrated the Lord’s perfection and demonstrates mankind’s dependence on Him. The Lord God rested on the seventh day because He finished creating the heavens and the earth. He didn’t rest because He was tired or had put too much of Himself into creation. The Lord’s creation is entirely distinct from the Lord, He is Divine and Almighty was all creation is anchored in time and space. The Lord rested on the seventh day because He had achieved perfection and there was nothing left for Him to do. Everything in creation was established according to the Lord’s perfect patterns but everything that He had made depended on Him to continue. This is why creation, especially mankind, was called upon to rest on the Sabbath. Mankind is to show the Lord that we understand He is perfect and independent while we are dependent and incomplete without Him. If we are willing to remember this on a weekly basis then the Lord will improve the quality of His life because He is entirely consistent.

Shall ye observe

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Numbers 28:1–8, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season. And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering. The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even; And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.  And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering. And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.”

Even though Moses was going to be replaced as Israel’s leader, the ceremonial processes were to continue unabated. The Lord had chosen Israel as the apple of His eye and He wasn’t going to allow anything like the death of their first leader to interfere with His love and care for them. He was still interested in their offerings and pleased with their sacrifices.

Set a man over

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Numbers 27:15–23, “And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd. And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.”

We noticed last time that the Lord commissioned Joshua to replace Moses as Israel’s leader. Even though Moses was a great prophet and there wasn’t another prophet like him in the Old Testament era (Deuteronomy 34:10–12, “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.”) he still had to submit to the Lord because the Lord is supreme and should be obeyed. Moses did what the Lord told him but he was still concerned for the people even though he knew he was going to die. This shows the importance of succession planning in the Lord’s work. No one is indispensable and the work is more important than the individual. While the work is important, the most important obligation is to obey the Lord (1 Samuel 15:22–23, “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”)

Into this mount

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Numbers 27:12–14, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

Moses wanted to enter the Promised Land but the Lord told him that he couldn’t do that. However, the Lord allowed Moses to see the Land and appreciate all it beauty before he died. This is why the Lord took him up to the top of Mount Abarim. He could see the Promised Land from there and get a good idea of what a wonderful land it was. Aaron had already died and been buried, his role as high priest was taken over by his son, Eleazar (Numbers 20:25–26, “Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.”) Moses wasn’t replaced by his son. Moses had two sons Gershom and Eliezer (1 Chronicles 23:14–15, “Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.”) and they became part of the tribe of Levi and followed that calling. Joshua replaced Moses as the leader of Israel, to take them into the Promised Land (see Deuteronomy 34:9, “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.” and compare Deuteronomy 31:14, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.” for example). Even though Moses was being punished it was much better for Joshua to be given the leadership role without Moses looking over his shoulder. Joshua was faithful and fulfilled his role as he was commanded as well (Judges 2:7, “And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.”)

Only daughters

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Numbers 27:1–11, “Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons. Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. And Moses brought their cause before the LORD. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.”

In that era, inheritance was determined by sons. A son would be able to inherit his share of the family land but a daughter would live with her husband on his land. This was to make sure that the land didn’t become disconnected as families mixed and then there wouldn’t be any portion large enough to farm properly. However, the land was meant to stay within each tribe and not to move from one tribe to another. This led to the question raised in this case. One man only had daughters and not sons. If the daughters married someone then their land would belong to their husband and could easily move from one tribe to another. In time it might mean that one tribe would lose all its land and other tribes would have more than their allotted land. In order to make sure this didn’t happen the Lord said that women would be able to keep their father’s share of the Land.