Verse for the Day, 3 August 2016.

Numbers 28:1-8, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  (2)  "Command the people of Israel and say to them, 'My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.'  (3)  And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering.  (4)  The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;  (5)  also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil.  (6)  It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.  (7)  Its drink offering shall be a quarter 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. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.””

When reading Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers we can find the repetition unnecessary, however what we are forgetting is that these three books span a period of nearly 120 years. The first seven chapters of Exodus span more than 80 years, and by the time we reach the end of Numbers another 40 years has passed. Thus, Numbers 28 is being addressed to an entirely new generation, a generation that was either very young, or not even present at Mount Sinai. The commandments had been spoken to their grandparents and parents, the vast majority of which had now died. For this generation the events of Exodus, Leviticus and a significant portion of Numbers was a distant faded memory, and for a good number of them these events pre-dated their birth. Therefore, what to us appears to repetition, is the first time this generation was being formally taught these commandments, and this teaching will continue until the end of Deuteronomy.

In this chapter, the commandments about sacrifices are restated. The first eight verses details what sacrifices were to be offered every single day, one in the morning, and the other in the evening. To some this may appear to be wasteful, two lambs, drink, 2 litres oil and 5 litres of fine flour, was to be offered up every single day. This appears all the more unnecessary, wasteful, even selfish, when we consider that these demands were being made of a nation of nomads. They did not have a land of their own, they were not settled and therefore keeping sheep, planting and harvesting grain and producing oil was not easy. So why then does God make such a demand of the people?

God makes this demand of the people, not because He needs it, but because they need to do it. This command for them to offer up a morning and evening sacrifice highlights a number of facts. Firstly, the fact that for those who are God’s people, the day should begin and end with God. God should be the first person we acknowledge, worship and give to, as well as the last. Secondly, they needed this because it reminded them that God was first and last, God was the beginning and the end, God was their God, whom they were called to follow, obey and honour. Thirdly, they needed this because it served as a reminder that God was their provider, everything they had, came from Him and therefore belonged to Him. God gave them their daily bread, the manna and the quail, He provided water and shelter from them, guidance and protection. Fourthly, they needed it because mankind has the ability to forget God almost in an instant. We can become so consumed with our own lives, our own wants, needs, and desires that God becomes a distant thought. By commanding the people of Israel to start and end the day with the worship of God, it would have served as a means to keep their focus on God.

Although we are separated by several thousand years from this generation, we are prone to the very same forgetfulness. Even those of us who say we are true believers in Jesus Christ, we can become so caught up in our lives that we can go an entire week without even acknowledging God in any meaningful way, other than a quick prayer before a meal. Who is our first and last thought? With whom are we occupied with the majority of the day? Whose concerns come first throughout the day? Whose glory, honour and kingdom are we concerned with the most? Is it not ourselves that we are most caught up with? As a result, it should not be a mystery to us as to why our hearts, minds, our lives are not inclined towards God. The simple reality is that God has not featured in our lives through the day, and it is not merely a switch that we can flick on and suddenly find ourselves caught up in the worship, adoration, honour and service of God.

The challenge for us is to heed these truths, these reasons as to why God issued such a command to the Israelites. We should not presume that because we have Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit within us and the completed Scriptures that we are any better. We have so much more than what the people of Israel had, yet we are just as quick and prone to forget God as they were. We need to make it our daily discipline to remember God, not just in the morning and the evening, but throughout the day. We need to be consumed with God, His glory and His kingdom during the day, for then we will have hearts, minds and lives inclined towards God, and our very lives, desires, wants and needs will all fall into the right place because God is in the right place. Remember the words of Jesus towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Our great God, who inhabits eternity and heaven’s highest throne, the One who is the beginning, centre and end of all things, we humble ourselves before You today. May You be so gracious as to forgive us for being so quick to forget You and becoming consumed, wrapped up in our own lives. Help us to remember that because You are, we are, without You nothing is possible. May You become the very centre of our lives, our first and last thought, and the chief desire of our hearts. Help us this day to follow and live out those words of Jesus, may we seek Your kingdom and righteousness first, and trust in You for everything else. Amen.