Thy Strong Word - Numbers 29: Days of Tents and Judgment

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired pastor in Frohna, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Numbers 29.

Why are people in Queens setting up tents in their backyards? That’s what Pastor Theiss wondered one October until he realized he was in the midst of a community observing the “Feast of Booths,” the Old Testament harvest festival commemorating God’s provision for Israel during their 40-year tent-and-Tabernacle sojourn in the wilderness. The pattern of “camping out” in preparation to receive God’s grace is a major pattern in Scripture, and it’s also the pattern of our lives as Christians awaiting the resurrection.

Numbers 29 concludes the catalog of daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal sacrifices and celebrations whose enumeration began in the previous chapter. Besides the Feast of Boosts, we also have here the preparation for and observance of the Day of Atonement, where the sprinkling of blood foreshadowed Christ’s own atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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Thy Strong Word is a daily in-depth study of the books of the Bible with host Rev. AJ Espinosa and guest pastors from across the country. Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and produced by the LCMS Office of National Mission.

Numbers 29

Offerings for the Feast of Trumpets

29 “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, ²and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; ³also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah^[a] for the bull, two tenths for the ram,⁴and one tenth for each of the seven lambs; ⁵with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; ⁶besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord.

Offerings for the Day of Atonement

⁷“On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves.^[b] You shall do no work, ⁸but you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old: see that they are without blemish. ⁹And their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, ¹⁰a tenth for each of the seven lambs: ¹¹also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

Offerings for the Feast of Booths

¹²“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days. ¹³And you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, thirteen bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish; ¹⁴and their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, ¹⁵and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; ¹⁶also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

¹⁷“On the second day twelve bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ¹⁸with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; ¹⁹also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰“On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ²¹with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;²²also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

²³“On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ²⁴with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;²⁵also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

²⁶“On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ²⁷with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;²⁸also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

²⁹“On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ³⁰with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;³¹also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

³²“On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ³³with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; ³⁴also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁵“On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall not do any ordinary work, ³⁶but you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, ³⁷and the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; ³⁸also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

³⁹“These you shall offer to the Lord at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.”

⁴⁰^[c] So Moses told the people of Israel everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Footnotes:

Numbers 29:3 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
Numbers 29:7 Or and fast
Numbers 29:40 Ch 30:1 in Hebrew

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org

Rev. AJ Espinosa

It’s no coincidence that the favorite hymn for Rev. AJ Espinosa, host of Thy Strong Word, is Thy Strong Word. Working on his PhD from Concordia Seminary St. Louis, Pastor Espinosa takes breaks from his studies by beating the competition in his favorite video and board games, reading “Mere Christianity,” or getting some quality sleep. When he’s not mixing curries or whipping up a fresh flan for dessert, you may find him researching cryptocurrency, watching Star Trek Discovery, or jamming out to the Coco and Moana Spanish-language soundtracks (with his daughter, of course). Pastor Espinosa lives in California, where he enjoys time at the beach with his wife, Gaby, precious little girls Ellie and Natalie, and exceptionally friendly black cat Heike.