Daily Devotion | Numbers 28:1–10 | 2026 June 11

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 28:1–10 | 2026 June 11

Scripture: Numbers 28:1–10 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 June 11

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

All right, peace to all the dear brothers and sisters. We thank God for His grace. We have come to a new day to study Daily Devotion. The Scripture we are studying today is Numbers chapter 28. Let us pray. God, we thank You. We thank You that You have treated us with such grace. Lord, You cause us to come in Your grace, and once again to see Your faithfulness and Your will for us. Lord, we ask You to lead us, so that in these instructions we may better live a life that is accepted by You. In Christ’s name, amen.

All right, first let us make some supplements to some parts from yesterday. Yesterday we spoke about Joshua succeeding Moses, and there are still some things to discuss. Moses’ position being replaced by Joshua also indicates the coming of a new age. Speaking from the perspective of the Old and New Testaments, we can see a certain shadow here, namely, Moses represents the old covenant, while Joshua represents the new, entering into the new covenant. Moses represents the giving of the law in the wilderness, while Joshua is to lead them into the land of Canaan. So here we can see two ages. There is a very clear distinction. One is the age of Moses, which tells them what statutes and ordinances they must follow; and the age of Joshua is that he is to lead them to receive the land as their inheritance.

Moses represents prophecy, and Joshua represents fulfillment. Of course, we must never make a division as though Moses means justification by works, and Joshua means justification by faith. That kind of division is certainly wrong. In fact, Moses also is by faith. Please, everyone, do not misunderstand the function of Moses. But you can see that Moses’ departure indicates the end of an age of prophecy, while the coming of Joshua’s age indicates the coming of a new, entirely new age in which they are to attack and enter the land of Canaan. So we can also understand this as the age of the Old Testament and the age of the New Testament. In the age of the New Testament, because the name Jesus is the name Joshua, Joshua in the New Testament is Jesus. The name Jesus in the Old Testament is Joshua. So this meaning should be quite clear: the age of Joshua is an age of Jesus, an age in which He leads His people into the promised land. So the division between these two ages is completed in the form of this handover. It also tells us that what is truly most beautiful is entering into Canaan, the promised land; and the purpose of entering into Canaan, the promised land, is of course also to obey God’s statutes and ordinances. So in this way, then,

Moses and Joshua, the two of them, both have distinction and also have unity. Their distinction I have already spoken about: one is prophecy, and the other is fulfillment. But their unity lies in the fact that what Moses and Joshua are doing is the same thing, namely, leading God’s people to live a holy life. It is only that the location is different. All right, after supplementing what we talked about yesterday, we now enter chapter 28. Chapter 28 speaks about the sacrifices of the Israelites. What kind of sacrifices are the Israelites to offer? In fact, chapters 28 and 29 are both about the sacrificial offerings they are to offer. But before entering into the specific details of these offerings, we need to understand several points. The first point is that among these offerings they are to offer, for example, flour and wine, we need to have a concept, namely, that the Israelites had not seen these things before. In the wilderness they had only eaten manna. They did not know what wheat looked like when it grew, what flour looked like, and they also did not know what wine was like. These things they did not know. So from this angle, this is a prophecy for them, because sacrifice was completely unfamiliar to them. Think of the new young generation in the wilderness for forty years. If someone was born in the wilderness, after he grew up, how could he possibly know what flour looked like? He had only eaten manna. He did not know what flour was like, and he also did not know what wine was like. So you need to know that when Moses promulgated these regulations, for the Israelites, this was something completely unfamiliar. They did not know what this was. We now may feel that this is very strange: how could they not have seen flour? How could they not have seen wine? But indeed, they had not seen them. They only ate manna. This is the first thing we need to know when we enter into the regulations concerning sacrifice.

Second, we can see very clearly that in chapters 28 and 29, God tells them how they are to offer sacrifices. This means that He is telling Joshua, “You will surely win the battle. There is no problem. You will surely be able to enter.” There is no such thing as, “Will they still be unable to enter?” or something like that. No. In chapters 28 and 29, I first tell you the regulations for sacrifice. You will surely win. After you enter, the question is what kind of life you are to live. So this gives Joshua confidence, namely, you will surely win, and you will surely be able to enter.

This is the second meaning. What is the third meaning? It is that God requires Israel to live in the land of Canaan a life completely centered on worship. Although this is placed as the third point, I think it is also the most important point. The previous points give confidence and give them some hope, and that is secondary. What is more important? It is that God, through Moses, wants to tell the Israelites: “In the wilderness, you were learning and being trained, because in the wilderness it would be impossible for you to offer these things, right? You did not have them. After you enter the land of Canaan, your life must be a life centered on sacrifice. That is, you must constantly remember that the purpose of being in that land is to obey My statutes and ordinances.” These are ceremonial laws. Chapters 28 and 29 speak about ceremonial laws. But what the ceremonial laws signify, and another aspect of it, is the moral law. You must earnestly obey My law. This is very clear. The third point I am speaking of is also the most important point. This is very clear. So for the Israelites, after they came out of the land of Egypt, they had already received these laws at Mount Sinai: the building of the tabernacle, and all such things. They had also received the moral law and the ceremonial law. They received them all. What was the purpose? The purpose was that after they entered the land of Canaan, they were to properly obey these laws.

They were to properly glorify the name of God. I think this is one point that we very easily neglect when we are Christians. We say that we must understand salvation, and we must love Jesus. After we know these things, one point that we very much neglect is: what kind of Christian am I supposed to be? I once heard someone say to me, “Since we have already believed in Jesus and are saved, then what are we doing on earth?” This person really had a question: then what are we to do on earth? Now, in fact, today’s Scripture has already told you what you are to do. On earth, you are to earnestly obey God’s statutes and ordinances.

To put it in New Testament language, it means that you are to love Jesus. What is the expression of loving Jesus? I think here the Westminster theologians had a very clear insight. What does it mean to love Jesus? Loving Jesus needs to be normed. How is it normed? It is by keeping the Ten Commandments. Of course, this is what is mentioned in Westminster Larger Catechism Questions 99 to 150. This obeying of God’s statutes and ordinances is called loving Jesus, and this is called loving people. Sometimes we make this very vague and empty: I have believed in the Lord; Jesus has saved me in this way; I want to love Jesus. Then what does it mean to love Jesus? In a very real and concrete way, it is to carefully and earnestly obey God’s statutes and ordinances in life. And in today’s portion, it tells you that you are to live a life centered on sacrifice. You must properly follow these sacrificial regulations, so that in the land where you dwell, you may glorify, bear witness to, and proclaim the name of the Lord. So here we must turn our eyes to see what the purpose and meaning of God’s calling of His people is. We have mentioned this many times before: as for fighting wars, God seems not to mention it much. He does not really speak much about how to fight the war. This matter is passed over very lightly. You will not have any casualties either, as long as you honor My statutes and ordinances, you will surely win the battle.

This matter of fighting wars, in fact, from man’s point of view, is the most important and most serious matter. But God basically does not mention it, mentions it very little, and basically does not record how He won this battle. On the contrary, these statutes and ordinances are recorded with a great amount of space. What does this indicate? It indicates what God values more in His eyes. So, brothers and sisters, we must not labor excessively over these earthly things such as money and work. In your heart, there should be only one thing: how can I glorify and bear witness to the life of the Lord in my life and work? This is the purpose for which God calls us to remain on earth. If we truly obey God’s statutes and ordinances on earth and properly love Jesus, then God will preserve everything for us, lead us in battle, give us victory, and there will be no problem with work or income. God does not desire that His children be as though very poor. So here, I think before we enter into the contents of chapter 28, we must be especially, especially careful, and be alert to this matter, namely, you must know what God’s meaning actually is. What is God’s purpose in calling us? It is to make us His witnesses and to live a holy life. Of course, this process does not mean that you must become rich, or that if you do these things, it is as though your career must succeed. No. Whether we can earn money, whether our career can be successful, all of this is in God’s hands. These things actually should not be the things we are concerned about. What we are concerned about is: have I lived a God-centered life? Have I obeyed God’s statutes and ordinances? Have I followed God’s law according to the way of the Westminster Larger Catechism? Have I expressed that I love Jesus according to the requirements of Scripture? Have I followed Paul’s teaching, that since Jesus died for me, I live for Him? This is the focus of what we should be concerned about. And what does it mean to live for Jesus? It is to live according to the law in the Westminster Larger Catechism and to keep the Ten Commandments.

All right, after we have finished speaking about this, let us look at the regulations concerning sacrifice. The regulations concerning sacrifice are very complex. There are the offerings to be offered every day, the offerings to be offered on the Sabbath, the offerings at the new moon, that is, the beginning of the month, the offerings on the first day of each month, the offerings for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the offerings for the Feast of Weeks. So here, chapters 28 to 29 actually do not only tell us about sacrifice. They also set forth the whole law of Israel, as well as the feasts, the most important feasts.

So chapters 28 and 29 are a summary. Because earlier, in Exodus and Leviticus, these regulations seem to have been mentioned already. But here in Numbers, he wants to go over them once again. Do not forget: the things I mentioned earlier, you do not need to go and look for them. I will go through them again for you and sort them out for you once more: what kind of feasts you are to observe. So every feast is very important. Let us look at them one by one, one by one. First is the daily offering. The offering offered every day. So the Israelites had to offer burnt offerings every day. They had to offer burnt offerings every day. There had to be flour, and also a pleasing food offering. They had to offer it every day. What does this signify? It signifies that the Israelites had to live in holiness every day. It is not that there is holiness only during special feasts. It means that you must be holy every day. So you should notice here that holiness is actually something God is especially concerned about. For Israel, God called them out from among all peoples, sustained them, and gave them rich provision. The purpose was to make them live a holy life. This is the key point you must grasp. At the same time, you also need to notice that it is not only the burnt offering, the daily burnt offering. It is that every offering seems a little like a feast, right? There is wine, there is meat, and there is flour. What does this mean? In fact, there are two layers of meaning here.

What does the first layer of meaning refer to? It means that every day we must live within the sacrifice. That is, if we interpret it in today’s language, it means that we must live in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Every day we are sinning, but we must live in the blood of Jesus. On the one hand, from the negative perspective, we also need the precious blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse and cover our daily sins. This is speaking from the passive perspective. Then from the active perspective, we must live a burnt-offering life in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have spoken about this before, when we were speaking about the sacrifices. From the passive side, we say that every day I need the precious blood of Jesus to cleanse and cover me. But does it mean that after the precious blood cleanses and covers me, then I have nothing more to do? It is not like that. On the contrary, what are you to do? You are to live every day in Jesus Christ a life

of loving God, a burnt-offering life, a life of obeying God’s statutes and ordinances. This is the first layer of meaning: why do you offer a burnt offering? This is why. It is like a feast. This is the reason you offer sacrifice. The second point is: why does every sacrifice seem like eating a meal? Why does it seem like a feast? What it actually expresses is that every sacrifice is God inviting us to enter into beautiful fellowship and communion with Him.

Brothers and sisters, do not think that when we speak of obeying the law, “Oh my, look, Pastor Chen is saying it again. Ah, obeying the law, as though it is bitter and miserable.” You must never have this kind of thought. This is wrong. Brothers and sisters, to live a holy life, to live a life pleasing to God, a life that obeys God’s law, is to enjoy the joyful banquet with God. Every time you look at it, there is wine, there is flour, there is meat. Of course, the burnt offering cannot be eaten. We will not repeat this again here, because when we spoke about the offerings, we spoke about it in detail: how its fat is to be offered, how it is to be handled. At this point we will not repeat all of that. But what is the meaning being expressed here? It means that every time, when we obey the statutes and ordinances, in fact we are entering into a Lamb’s banquet. And this Lamb’s banquet is a type of the final and most abundant Lamb’s banquet. Every day we are living a life on earth as it is in heaven. Every day we properly obey the name of God, we obey God’s law, and we do not transgress God’s statutes and ordinances. What is the result? The result is that every day we can enjoy the feast with God. In every feast, God receives us and serves us, helps the growth of our spiritual life, brings us peace, brings us joy, and God is with us. And this presence finally points to being with God in heaven. Even now, we can live a life on earth as it is in heaven. Where is this principle? It is that you must live a life centered on worship. So brothers and sisters, you must remember that this is the key point. Today we may not be able to finish chapter 28. That is all right. We will take it little by little. There is no need to rush.

Next, we speak about the Sabbath. Then, besides the daily burnt offering, you also had to offer sacrifices on the Sabbath. Here it is very obvious that the Sabbath is more important than ordinary days. On the Sabbath you had to offer two male lambs, along with the grain offering and the drink offering. So what is expressed here? It is that the Sabbath is more important than ordinary days. So brothers and sisters, you know, this is layer upon layer. Chapters 28 to 29 are very important, because Moses is helping you sort through it once again. To sort through it means that in your life, what sacrifices must you pay attention to? And what dates must you also pay attention to as especially important? Every day you must offer sacrifice; every day you must live in this. But when it comes to the Sabbath day, it is especially important. On this day, two male lambs are especially offered, together with the grain offering. If this day is the Sabbath, then actually, besides the daily offerings, besides one in the morning and one in the evening, two more must be offered. That makes four. What does offering four mean? It is to remind me: I have come to the Sabbath. What does the Sabbath mean? I have spoken about this before, and here I will remind you again. The meaning of the Sabbath is to show that on this day, you must lay down all your work, and you must truly come to have fellowship with God. God specially set apart one day out of every seven days on earth. For what purpose? To let you have fellowship with Him. On this day, God wants you to quiet down, lay down your work, come earnestly to worship God, listen to His law, understand His ordinances, and think about the truths concerning eternity.

So brothers and sisters, the matter of the Sabbath is actually very important. Later this is what the fourth commandment prescribes. And afterward, in our Reformed tradition, we have always upheld the whole-day worship of the Sabbath. Why must there be whole-day worship on the Sabbath? It is because you must stop your work. You must stop. You cannot, you cannot keep doing this thing. In the eyes of worldly people, work is the most important thing. No. The Sabbath reminds you that actually fellowship with God is the most important thing.

Why is this Sabbath day so important? Among every seven days, you must have one day that is lifted out, as it were, to remind me and say, “Oh, I am a person who has eternal life. I must come to worship God.” So the Sabbath is very important. Brothers and sisters, do not think that some people keep the Sabbath for half a day; actually, these are all things that violate the law. Unless you have some very special situation, and the church has specially agreed to it, our members are all required to keep the Sabbath. Why? Because on this Sabbath day, you are devoting one day, so that you may think: I do not live for the earth; I live for heaven. I have also mentioned before that God requires one-tenth from us in giving, and one-seventh in time. What does this remind us of? We are very lazy. We very easily fall into this world. This world gives us many lies. And now, through sacrifice, you need to know the importance of the Sabbath in our life. I must uphold the Sabbath. Today we can probably only speak up to here. We will speak up to verse 10. Then I will speak about this Sabbath. The matter of the Sabbath is that among every seven days, it causes us—your resting does not mean doing nothing at all. On the Sabbath, the Israelites also had a holy convocation. That is what we say today: you must go to gather with the church, you must hear the preaching of the Word, and you must serve the church. This kind of life of fellowship and communion becomes a pattern in your life.

Within every seven days, there is one day when I know that I am to live according to this way. I am to have fellowship with brothers and sisters. I am to learn God’s statutes and ordinances. I am to understand God’s will. Many people keep the Sabbath hurriedly, and in their hearts they are also full of unwillingness, as though God has robbed them of their own time. “I have many things to do. I am very busy.” Actually, brothers and sisters, do not think this way.

You are busy here and busy there, but in the end what you are busy for is the Sabbath, you know? All these things, in fact, are not that important. They are far less important than the heavenly worship to which the Sabbath points. The Sabbath reminds us that what is truly important for us Christians is the heavenly life. So in the Ten Commandments, the fourth commandment speaks precisely about the Sabbath, and it places the Sabbath within the moral law. This is our Reformed view. We believe, according to orthodox Reformed understanding, that the purpose of placing the Sabbath commandment in the Ten Commandments is to make it part of the moral law, and not a ceremonial law. Some theologians may regard it as a ceremonial law. We, in orthodox Reformed theology, believe that it is not a ceremonial law; it is a moral law. Through this kind of compulsory means, through the way of interrupting your work rhythm, it reminds you of the importance of the kingdom of heaven. It pulls us out from the world, so that we may think about the truths concerning eternity. So this is concerning the Sabbath.

So here we see that chapters 28 and 29 are actually very, very beautiful. It is equivalent to sorting things out for you once again: what is important, what your life should be centered on, and what feasts you are to observe. In this way, I think for every one of us as Christians, this is a beautiful reminder. Today we can only speak up to here. We will speak up to verse 10 first, and we will continue tomorrow. All right, today’s sharing will simply stop here. Thank you, everyone.