Why so many offerings?
The figures express that Israel's worship was constant and complete: every day, week, month and feast was marked. God did not ask for offerings out of need but to form his people in gratitude, atonement and dependence on him.
Numbers · chapter 28 of 36
Numbers 28: Summary, Key Verses and Study Questions
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What happens in Numbers 28?
Numbers 28 sets out the calendar of offerings Israel was to present to the Lord in the land: the daily burnt offering of two lambs, morning and evening, the double offering on the Sabbath, the offerings of each new moon, Passover with unleavened bread, and the Feast of Weeks. The chapter does not list quantities for their own sake: it teaches that the life of the people was to revolve around constant worship.
Moses has just been told he will not enter the land, and Joshua has been named his successor. Before the conquest, God reminds the new generation how they must worship once settled. Chapters 28 and 29 form a complete calendar of offerings, and its purpose is to keep Israel remembering that every day, week, month and season belongs to the Lord.
Numbers 28 summary
The Lord tells Moses to instruct the Israelites to take care to present at its appointed time the offering that is pleasing to him. The first is the continual burnt offering: two lambs a year old without defect each day, one in the morning and one at twilight, with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil and a drink offering of wine. This constant offering is the base of all the others.
On the Sabbath day two more lambs are added with their grain and drink offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering. At the beginning of each month a greater burnt offering is presented: two bulls, one ram and seven lambs with their offerings, and a male goat as a sin offering.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day, is the Lord's Passover, and on the fifteenth day a seven-day feast begins in which unleavened bread is eaten. On the first day there is a holy convocation and no ordinary work is done, and the seventh day is the same; each day a burnt offering of two bulls, one ram and seven lambs is made, plus a male goat for sin. Finally, on the day of firstfruits, at the Feast of Weeks, there is another holy convocation with the same offering. The chapter repeats that these offerings are added to the continual burnt offering.
Chapter outline
- vv. 1-8: The continual burnt offering of two lambs a day, with grain and drink offering.
- vv. 9-10: On the Sabbath the daily offering is doubled.
- vv. 11-15: The offerings of each new moon, with a male goat as a sin offering.
- vv. 16-25: Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, seven days with a holy convocation.
- vv. 26-31: The feast of firstfruits, at the Feast of Weeks.
Key verses in Numbers 28
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Numbers 28:2
The Lord commands Israel to take care to present his offering, his food, at its appointed time as a pleasing aroma. Worship is neither optional nor improvised: God orders it regularly and carefully.
Numbers 28:3-4
Each day two lambs a year old without defect are offered, one in the morning and one at twilight. The daily rhythm makes the life of the people revolve around God from dawn to dusk.
Numbers 28:9-10
On the Sabbath two lambs are added to the daily offering. The day of rest is marked with more worship, not less: it is a day set apart for the Lord.
Numbers 28:16-17
The fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord's Passover, and on the fifteenth the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. The calendar of offerings is tied to the memory of the deliverance from Egypt.
Main themes
- Constant worship
- The rhythm of days, weeks and months
- Sin offering and atonement
- Passover and the memory of salvation
- All time belongs to God
People and places
- The Lord
- Moses
- The Israelites
- The priests
Numbers 28 study questions and answers
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
1. How many lambs were offered each day in the continual burnt offering?
Answer: Two lambs a year old without defect: one in the morning and one at twilight. — Numbers 28:3-4
2. What was added to the daily offering on the Sabbath?
Answer: Two more lambs a year old, with their grain and drink offering. — Numbers 28:9-10
3. What was offered at the beginning of each month?
Answer: Two bulls, one ram and seven lambs, and a male goat as a sin offering. — Numbers 28:11-15
4. On which day of the first month was Passover?
Answer: The fourteenth day. — Numbers 28:16
5. What was eaten for seven days beginning on the fifteenth day?
Answer: Unleavened bread. — Numbers 28:17
6. What work was forbidden at the holy convocation?
Answer: All ordinary work. — Numbers 28:18
Application for today
This chapter can be read as a list of figures, but its point is rhythm: the Lord was worshiped every morning, every evening, every Sabbath and every month. For God's people today, the lesson is not to repeat the sacrifices but to keep a life of regular worship. In a group you can talk about which daily and weekly habits keep God present in the routine.
For Christians, these offerings point to the sacrifice of Christ, offered once for all, as the letter to the Hebrews teaches. Even so, the New Testament invites us to present our lives as a living sacrifice. Ask yourselves: which parts of our day and week are set aside for God, and which do we take for granted?
Numbers 28 ends with the calendar of the first cycle of feasts: from the daily offering to firstfruits. Chapter 29 continues with the feasts of the seventh month: the trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths.
Frequently asked questions about Numbers 28
What is a burnt offering?
It is an offering burned whole on the altar, with the worshiper not eating any of it. It expressed total surrender to God and also served for atonement. In this chapter the daily burnt offering is the continual offering of the whole people.
Do these offerings still apply to Christians?
The New Testament teaches that Christ offered himself once for all and that his sacrifice fulfills what the offerings foreshadowed (Hebrews 10:11-14). Christians do not offer these sacrifices, but they still read them to understand the value of atonement and worship.