AN AROMA PLEASING TO THE LORD
Numbers 15:1-21 / Keywords 15:2,3
2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to
them: 'After you enter the land I am giving you as a home 3 and you present to
the LORD offerings made by fire, from the herd or the flock, as an aroma
pleasing to the LORD -whether burnt offerings or sacrifices, for special vows
or freewill offerings or festival offerings-
6 “‘With a ram prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah[c] of the finest flour mixed with a third of a hin[d] of olive oil, 7 and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Offer it as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
8 “‘When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, for a special vow or a fellowship offering to the Lord, 9 bring with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah[e] of the finest flour mixed with half a hin[f] of olive oil, 10 and also bring half a hin of wine as a drink offering. This will be a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 11 Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this manner. 12 Do this for each one, for as many as you prepare.
13 “‘Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when they present a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 14 For the generations to come, whenever a foreigner or anyone else living among you presents a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, they must do exactly as you do. 15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord: 16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.’”
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land to which I am taking you 19 and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to the Lord. 20 Present a loaf from the first of your ground meal and present it as an offering from the threshing floor. 21 Throughout the generations to come you are to give this offering to the Lord from the first of your ground meal.
1.
That generation maintained a relationship with God through the Tabernacle. God
believed their children would want to give freewill and fellowship offerings – an
aroma pleasing to the LORD – to
mark their relationship and thankfulness to God. God reiterated the rules of
offerings to instruct how to demonstrate love to God practically. This applies
to all regardless of cultural background (13-16). Today we come to God through
Jesus, our great High Priest, who died for our sins once for all, fulfilling
the Old Testament sacrificial system. We show our love today through hearing
and obeying Jesus (Jn 14:21) and offering ourselves as living sacrifices,
pleasing to God (Ro 12:1). We must show each generation how to do so
practically, by our example and instruction.
2. In the wilderness every bite
and drink were provided by God through manna and springs. But in the land they
would be blessed abundantly with harvests. To remember and keep a thankful
heart to God, the first of the ground meal was to be given to God as an
offering. It is easy to think our labor and wealth provides for us; but all
that we have is to be received from God with thanksgiving. We are to seek God
and his kingdom first (Mt 6:33), trusting in his provision for all our needs.
Prayer Father, thank you for providing all
for us. Help us respond by offering ourselves and our materials in a way that
pleases you.
One Word Offer
ourselves as a living sacrifice
No comments:
Post a Comment