Morning Light – Numbers 29

[Numbers 29] Celebrating the Feasts of the Lord. In the previous chapter and continuing in chapter 29 we have instructions regarding offerings made on the feast days of the Lord. There are three feasts in Israel: Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. These feasts correspond and represent three experiences in Christ and three aspects of our salvation. They foreshadow the fullness of Christ manifest in our lives through salvation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the eventual putting on of immortality at the end of the age.

[Num 29:1-40 KJV] 1 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. 2 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: 3 And their meat offering [shall be of] flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, [and] two tenth deals for a ram, 4 And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs: 5 And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering, to make an atonement for you: 6 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. 7 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]: 8 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: 9 And their meat offering [shall be of] flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals to a bullock, [and] two tenth deals to one ram, 10 A several tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs: 11 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. 12 And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: 13 And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish: 14 And their meat offering [shall be of] flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams, 15 And a several tenth deal to each lamb of the fourteen lambs: 16 And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. 17 And on the second day [ye shall offer] twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot: 18 And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: 19 And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering thereof, and their drink offerings. 20 And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish; 21 And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: 22 And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. 23 And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: 24 Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: 25 And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. 26 And on the fifth day nine bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without spot: 27 And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: 28 And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. 29 And on the sixth day eight bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: 30 And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: 31 And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. 32 And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish: 33 And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: 34 And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering. 35 On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work [therein]: 36 But ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: one bullock, one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish: 37 Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullock, for the ram, and for the lambs, [shall be] according to their number, after the manner: 38 And one goat [for] a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering. 39 These [things] ye shall do unto the LORD in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings. 40 And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Deut. 16:16, 17 tells us that all the Israelites were commanded to appear before the Lord three times in the year. These were for the celebrations of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The Passover consists of three related feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits). Pentecost stands alone, and Tabernacles consists of Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. Just as the seven churches mentioned in Revelation foreshadow seven church ages so this progression of feasts likewise reveals a timeline of prophetic seasons for the people of God. Passover was fulfilled when Jesus died and rose again. Pentecost was fulfilled in the upper room in Acts chapter two. We have been moving through the feast of trumpets since the turn of the last century specifically since 1948 when the ministry of the prophet began to be fulfilled. The day of Atonement will be fulfilled in a time of upheaval for humanity and tabernacles will come to pass when Jesus returns and we experience the complete putting on of our “heavenly tabernacle” and live forever with Him.

Verses 7-11 speak of the Day of Atonement. The day of Atonement as the day of Pentecost will have its historical fulfillment but also has its personal fulfillment in your life. The historical Pentecost was fulfilled in Acts chapter two. Millions of Christians have further experienced their personal Pentecost. Passover was fulfilled as a historical fact when Jesus was crucified – but unless you have experienced your personal Passover then you have yet to be born again as Jesus taught.

Atonement speaks of receiving in full measure the great atoning work of the cross. The work of the Cross becomes your legal entitlement in the court of heaven when you accept Jesus as savior. Yet God wants to take you from the legal entitlement of atonement to appropriation in your life and character of the full atonement of Christ. John Wesley wrote a book I will recommend to you called “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection”. The early Methodists believed that there was a work of God in individual’s lives that expunged original sin and left the believer experientially sanctified through a one-time (technical term a “crisis”) experience like being born again or baptized in the Holy Ghost. Modern theology rejects this only seeing sanctification as an ongoing process of Christian maturity.

I believe that the doctrine of entire sanctification needs to be looked at with greater thoughtfulness. The feast of atonement to find it’s personal fulfillment in your life will express itself as not only cleansing you from sin but delivering you from the sin principle in your character. As we move from the feast of Trumpets to the Day of Atonement we expect a great renewal of soul searching and heartfelt pray on a global scale for the church. God is calling His people back to the prayer closet – back to piety, holiness and full out commitment to Christ. Jesus is not the garnishment of a life lived for one’s self. He is not only savior but He is Lord. There is a wide disparity in Christian culture between what Jesus actually paid for on the cross and what we are experiencing in the areas of healing, salvation and deliverance. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If there is a contrast between our experience and the testimony of the early church in signs, miracles and wonders – it is up to us to close that gap by moving toward Him in prayer, seeking his face, abandoning ourselves to His personal, intimate and demanding Lordship.

Unlike Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles was not celebrated in the home. The people were to come out of their homes for seven days and dwell in temporary, tabernacles made of branches from three different trees. All of the feasts and offerings connected with tabernacles were celebrated while living in these makeshift dwelling places.

Unlike the day of Atonement the feast Tabernacles was intended to be celebrated with joy. Trumpets speaks of the trumpeting of the message of the coming king. John the Baptist was the trumpet or herald of the coming Messiah who proclaimed “behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world”. In our day the feast of trumpets is the restoration of the office of the prophet to the church and the world. This is still ongoing. The message of John was one of sobriety and a call out of hypocrisy to sincerity in the things of God. Likewise the impact of the prophetic is to bring people to a place of repentance motivated by Rom. 2:4,5 (it is the goodness of God that leads men to repent). Then our atonement can be not only a legal provision but a personal appropriation of the work of the cross in our spirit, our life and our character. The end result of that is moving into our heavenly tabernacle. The spirit is redeemed in Passover, our soul is baptized in Pentecost and our body puts on immortality in Tabernacles. Tabernacles therefore is the Old Testament type and shadow of what some call the rapture of the saints. The emphasis is not about where we are going but about what we are appropriating in the earth as an extension of our natural lives and a personal experience of the baptism of fire or receiving in our bodies what our spirits received at salvation and our souls received when we were baptized in the Holy Spirit.