The Daily Offerings to the Lord — Chuck Smith

Oh, let the sun...

Welcome to The Word for Today, the broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse study through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of The Word for Today, we'll continue to focus on the daily offerings to the Lord as we pick up in Numbers 27, verse 18. And now with today's lesson, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

Joshua's Ordination and the Transfer of Leadership

And the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. So Joshua was to be ordained by Moses, set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight.

In other words, pass on the mantle of leadership to Joshua in the sight of all the people so there'll be no dispute, really, concerning leadership. There'll be no power struggle once Moses died. And you shall give some of your authority to him that all of the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word, they shall go out, and at his word, they shall come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him and all the congregation.

So Moses did as the Lord commanded. He took Joshua, set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation, laid his hands on him, inaugurated him just as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

And so we see the new generation taking over. Eleazar being the high priest wearing the Urim and the Thummim. These are called lights and perfections. By some way, and we don't know how, they used the Urim and the Thummim to inquire of the will of God.

And God directed them through this Urim and the Thummim. But again, just how it worked, we do not know. We do know that they did seek to the priest to get an answer from God, who would inquire of the Lord with the Urim and the Thummim.

Now, it has been suggested that it was a little pouch carried by the priest in which there was a white stone and a black stone. And when they would pray and ask God a yes or no question, the priest would reach in the pouch and pull out a stone.

If it was the white stone, the answer was yes. If it was the black stone, the answer was no. Possibly, we don't know. It was the way, though, by which they sought and did ascertain the will of God. Shall we move?

They would inquire of the Lord. They'd have a yes or no answer. Somehow, through this, God communicated to them His purpose and His will. Now, in chapter 28, we find the offerings that they were to offer to the Lord.

Daily and Sabbath Offerings in Numbers 28

And every day of the year, without fail, every day of the year, they were to offer to the Lord two male lambs of the first year without blemish every day as a regular burnt offering. One of the lambs would be offered in the morning and the other lamb in the evening.

This was every single day of the year. They were to be offered with these little fine flour and grain offerings mixed with some oils, the little bread cakes, and the regular burnt offering that was ordained at Mount Sinai for the sweet aroma, the offering made by fire to the Lord.

And then there was to be the drink offering poured out onto the ground for the Lord. Then on the Sabbath day, they were to offer two more lambs. So they were offered every day these two lambs. They were always plus whatever other offerings.

The Sabbath day, there would be two other lambs of the first year without blemish. And twice the number of cakes. This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath beside the regular burnt offering with the drink offering.

Then at the beginning of every month, and of course, they had the lunar month. So their months began with the moon. And at the beginning of your months, you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord.

Two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs, first of the month. And this also with one kid of the goats as a sin offering beside those two lambs that they offered every day. Now on the 14th day, verse 16 of the first month, the day of Passover, and on the 15th day of the month is the feast, of unleavened bread to be eaten for seven days.

Passover, Atonement, and the Feast of Weeks

And on the first day, you shall have a holy convocation. You're not to do any work. And you're to offer two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs in their first year, and make sure they are without blemish, emphasized here because this Passover lamb is a type of Jesus Christ.

And so Peter said, we have been redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold from our empty lives, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ who was slain as a lamb without spot or without blemish.

The Passover lamb had to be without blemish. Make sure it's without blemish. Why? Because it's a type of Jesus Christ. Blemish is sin. He was without sin. God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God through him.

And then the grain offering, they were also to offer one goat as a sin offering to make atonement. These are beside the burnt offering of the morning and evening, which were every day. And this was to be done for seven days, these offerings.

On the Feast of Weeks, seven Sabbaths or seven weeks after the Passover. And then the next day, the 50th day was the Feast of Weeks, a holy convocation. You're not to do any work. And during this time you're to present two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs in their first year with a grain offering and a kid of the goats to make atonement and make sure they are without blemish.

And you shall present them with the drink offerings, your burnt offerings. Then in the seventh month, which would be equivalent to October in our calendar, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation.

You're not to do any work. It's the day of the blowing of the trumpets. Now, on the first day of the month, then they would have all of these first day of the month offerings that you have in verse 11.

But you shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord, one young bull, one ram, seven lambs that are without blemish, a kid of the goats. Beside the burnt offerings and the grain offerings of the new moon, so that would be another two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs, plus the two lambs that you have daily.

So you see how, boy, some of these days these guys were really beginning to add up because if you have a holiday come on a new moon day plus a regular, it really begins to add up the number of offerings, the animals that were offered on those days.

The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles

On the 10th day of the seventh month, the day of atonement, you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a sweet aroma, one young bull, one ram, seven lambs. In their first year, be sure they are without blemish.

With the grain offerings, also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and the regular burnt offering with the grain offerings. On the 15th day of the seventh month, your feast of tabernacles, on the first day, of the 15th day actually, the feast of tabernacles began on the 15th day, it went for seven days.

So on the first day of the feast, they were to offer 13 young bulls, two rams, and 14 lambs in their first year, they shall be without blemish. So really, 13 bulls, two rams, 14 lambs. Pretty good number of offerings, plus the kid of the goats, plus of course the two lambs that they offered daily.

On the second day, 12 young bulls, two rams, 14 lambs. So it stayed the same day after day except the bulls were reduced day by day until you get to the seventh day of the feast, you offered then the seven bulls, but then also the two rams, 14 lambs, and the goat plus the daily sacrifices.

On the eighth day, you're to have a sacred assembly, you're not to do any work. You shall present the burnt offering with one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their first year without blemish, the goat for the sin offering.

But these are all then, verse 39, beside your vowed offerings, your free will offerings, as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings and as your drink offerings and as your peace offerings. We do have recorded in the scripture some of these feast days when as many as 25 ,000 animals were sacrificed to the Lord.

And so it was quite a thing, the number of sacrifices. Now, this last feast of the tabernacles on the eighth day, which was a special assembly, a holy convocation, it was on this holiday that we read in John 7 where Jesus on the last day, the great day of the feast, the feast of tabernacles, stood and cried, saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.

Vows, Oaths, and the Sufficiency of a Simple Yes

And so that was in October, and it would have been the 7, 15 plus 8, so you'd have October the 23rd that Jesus made that great invitation to the assembled multitudes there on the Temple Mount. Now, we deal with laws concerning vows.

If a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Now, a man would take an oath, he would take a vow, he would swear to do something.

And often they would swear by different things. I swear by the altar of God. I swear by the sacrifice on the altar of God. I swear by God. I swear by the Bible, my mother's honor. You take a vow before the Lord.

Now, always it seems to me that a person would take a vow in order to induce God to do something for them. Lord, if you do this for me, this is what I'm going to do for you. And you take the vow that, Lord, you know, I'm in this area and this is what I will do.

And so often the vows were inducements to God to work on your behalf. Now, God said, if you make a vow, if you take this vow, then keep it. Now, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, don't swear at all.

Don't swear by heaven, it's God's throne. Don't swear by the earth, it's God's footstool. You don't have to take a vow. You don't have to take an oath. Let your yes be a yes and let your no be a no. By all that is high and holy, I will do it.

No, Jesus said, it's not necessary. Just say, I'll do it. Now, they really, in the New Testament, by the time Jesus came along, had really messed up these things on the vows. Through the Talmud and the Mishnah, they had so interpreted these things that they really made them rather meaningless.

Human Tradition and the Authority of Scripture

And in fact, Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees because they had replaced the law of God with their traditions. And he said, you've made the law of God of no effect by your traditions. And he said also that you are now teaching for doctrines the traditions of man.

Now, this is true of the church. When they begin to put their dogmas or their traditions ahead of scripture, they are making the scripture of no effect because their traditions begin to supersede the scripture.

And it is taught for church dogma and in many places is contrary to the scriptures. But they make the scriptures of no effect and they teach for doctrine the traditions of man. Same thing that happened in the days of Jesus concerning the Jewish religion has happened today in Christianity.

And there are a lot of things that go on within the church that have no scriptural basis at all. There are things that are taught for doctrine, but they are nothing more than church dogma, which is really the perpetuation of the traditions of man.

And that's how church dogma is formed, is if a thing becomes traditional. So, the taking of vows, they really messed this thing up by the time Jesus came along and he sought to correct it. The Bible tells us that it's really better not to take a vow than to vow and not break it.

And really, vows are totally unnecessary. And I do not really believe that a person should go around taking vows to God. I'll vow to do this, vow to do that. Because, you see, the moment you vow that you're going to do something for God, you're really sort of trusting in your flesh.

God's Grace Rather Than Human Works

And you are usually trying to induce God to do something good for you. But whatever God does for you, he doesn't do on the basis of your good work. But whatever God gives to you, comes to you on the basis of his grace, his love, his mercy, and his unmerited favor.

I don't have to merit the blessings of God. In fact, I cannot merit the blessings of God. Better that I come to God on the basis of his grace and love for me, rather than trying to come to God on the basis of my works that I hope to do for him.

Vows Made by Daughters and Wives

Now, if a woman vows a vow to the Lord, binds herself by some agreement, while she is living in her father's house, that is, my daughter at home, if I heard her make some kind of a vow to the Lord, as her father, I could break that.

And I could say, I disallow that vow, and she's not then to be held responsible. But if I heard her make the vow, and I didn't say anything, if I didn't break that vow, then she would be responsible to keep the vow.

But the father could overrule his daughter's vow. Or, if my wife would make a vow, then I also had the power to overrule the vow that my wife would make. However, if I heard her make the vow, and I did not overrule it, then it became binding, and she had to keep it.

So the father or the husband had the power to disannul the vows that were made by the children, the young daughters, or by his wife. If you were a widow or a divorcee, and you made a vow, then it becomes a binding vow.

She will have to keep it. So verse 13, every vow, every binding oath, to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. He has the power to disannul the vow that his wife might make.

Judgment on Midian and the Death of Balaam

Now in chapter 31, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, take vengeance for the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward, you'll be gathered to your people. Now, Balaam was from Midian. Balaam was called by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the people of God.

We dealt with that last week. Now the time has come when God wants vengeance upon the Midianites for the evil that they brought against the children of God, for the work of Balaam. And so Moses, this is your last task.

You're to take vengeance for the children of Israel against the Midianites, and then you will be gathered to your people. So Moses spoke to the people saying, arm some of yourselves for the war. Go out against the Midianites to take the vengeance for the Lord on Midian.

There is to be a thousand from each tribe, so 12 ,000 men are to be sent to war against the Midianites. And so they recruited from the divisions of Israel. They took volunteers, a thousand from each tribe, 12 ,000 armed for war.

Then Moses sent them to the war, 1 ,000 from each tribe, and he sent them to the war with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar. So Phinehas was the one, you remember, who stopped the plague by taking the javelin and thrusting through the man with the Moabitish woman who had taken into his tent.

And Phinehas is now put at the head of the army, the priest with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand. So the holy articles was probably the Urim and the Thummim by which they sought God how to progress in the battle, and the battle trumpets and the blowing of the trumpets to call them into battle and to direct the battle.

So they warred against the Midianites just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed all of the males. They killed the kings of Midian, the rest of those that were killed, namely the kings Evi, Rikim, Zer, Hur, and Reba.

And also notice verse 8, Balaam, the son of Beor, they also killed with a sword. He had prayed, let me die the death of the righteous, let my end be as Jacob's, but it was not to be. He died the death of the wicked because of the wicked advice that he gave to the king of Moab.

He was killed with a sword with the judgment of God against the Midianites.

We'll continue with more on.

The destruction of the Midianites in our next lesson. And we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now, I'd like to remind you that if you missed any part of today's message, or perhaps you'd like to order a copy for that special friend or loved one, you can do so by simply contacting one of our customer service representatives, and they'd be more than happy to assist you with the ordering details.

Simply call 1 -800 -272-WORD, and phone orders can be taken Monday through Friday, 8 a .m. to 5 p .m. Pacific time. Once again, our toll-free number is 1 -800 -272 -9673. And for your added convenience, you can order online anytime when you go to the wordfortoday .org.

And while you're there, be sure to browse through the additional resources that include Bible studies, commentaries, CDs, DVDs, and so much more. Once again, that's the Word for Today online at thewordfortoday .org.

And for those of you who still prefer to write, you can use our mailing address, which is The Word for Today, P .O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California, 92628. And be sure to include the call letters of this station with your correspondence.

And now, on behalf of The Word for Today, we'd like to thank all of you who share in supporting this ministry with your prayers and financial support. And be sure to join us again next time as Pastor Chuck Smith continues his verse-by-verse study through the book of Numbers.

That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. And now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

May God now take the Word and hide it in our hearts. And may it come back in our time of need to guide and to direct us in our walk and in our relationship with God. That place of first love, the first bloom of love in that relationship with God.

And may you experience again the presence and the power of God working in your life. In Jesus' name.

Do you want to bless your mom? Just don't send her flowers and candy this year. Why not give her Kay Smith's books, Pleasing God, Reflecting God, and Kay's Bible study in the book of Philippians. For more information, visit thewordfortoday .org and simply click to order and ship.

Or you can call 1 -800 -272-WORD. That's 800 -272 -9673. Your mom's going to love it.

This program has been sponsored by The Word For Today in Costa Mesa, California.