Daily Devotion | Numbers 28:11–31 | 2026 June 12

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 28:11–31 | 2026 June 12

Scripture: Numbers 28:11–31 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 June 12

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Jose M.

Dear brothers and sisters, peace. Thanks be to God’s grace that we have come to a new day to study our daily bread. The Scripture we are studying today is Numbers 28:11-31. Today we will finish Numbers 28. Let us pray.

God, we thank and praise You for Your grace. God, we truly thank You for reminding us every day of these important times, and every year these important days, mainly to remind us to better revere You. May You be with us, uphold us, and lead us. May we live a holy life in this world. May You have mercy, watch over, and protect us. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

Alright, let us continue looking at Numbers 28. Regarding its meaning, we mentioned yesterday that the Israelites were to live a life centered on faith, centered on their faith. The most important thing for the Israelites was how to offer the burnt offering and how to offer the sin offering, to keep themselves living in a holy life. That is what chapters 28 and 29 have been telling us. In addition, here God also tells us through Moses which festivals and which days require special attention and offerings. These times are sacred times. At these times, you need to be reminded that we are sinners and we live in this world by grace. So these days and these times are also very important. Of course, we all know about dates and seasons—we no longer need to observe them, because they have been fulfilled in Christ. But does this mean that we Christians live an ordinary, uneventful life? I don’t think that’s what it means. On the contrary, we also need to remain alert at every moment of life, just like in chapters 28 and 29. We need to know God better and follow God better. I think in terms of these days, this is something we should remember. This is also what festivals mean. Although we no longer observe these festivals, the meaning they point to is still something we need to keep. So let’s continue looking at chapter 28.

Now, chapter 28 speaks about the New Moon. The New Moon is the first day of each month according to the lunar calendar. Here we find that the Israelites were indeed different from other nations, but this is what God commanded. Ordinary nations, when it comes to seasons, focus on the full moon, not the new moon. The full moon is the fifteenth day. The most obvious example for the Chinese is the Mid-Autumn Festival on the fifteenth of the eighth month, right? That is a full moon. Other pagan religions generally do the same—they usually celebrate during the full moon. But in the Israelite calendar, the New Moon is a very important day. Notice here that it does not say to offer anything on the full moon. Instead, on the New Moon, the first day of each lunar month, these offerings are to be presented. First is the burnt offering, and after the burnt offering, there is a sin offering. This is the first time in chapter 28 that a sin offering appears. In the daily offerings mentioned earlier, there was no sin offering. The Sabbath offering also had no sin offering. When we get to the New Moon, the offerings begin to include a sin offering. So these are the offerings for the New Moon. The level is constantly increasing. For the New Moon, you come to offer sacrifices.

Then we come to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins with the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. During the days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, offerings are also to be made. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. Note here: “no ordinary work” and “no laborious work” are two different things. We often confuse them. The regulations about the Sabbath make this very clear. For example, Exodus 20:10 says that on that day you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, and the sojourner within your gates shall not do any work. On the Sabbath, no work at all is to be done. But when keeping the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it says “no laborious work” is to be done. What exactly is “laborious work”? We are not entirely sure, but it should probably refer to farm work and such. Things like lighting a fire or small household chores would probably be allowed. On the Sabbath, even these are forbidden. Lighting a fire, for example—we have discussed before how the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was put to death. That is “no work at all,” which is the Sabbath regulation. But during the major festival seasons like the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it says “no laborious work” is to be done. That probably refers to farm work—those tasks requiring heavy physical labor are not allowed, but lighter tasks might be permissible. So that is called “laborious work.”

Then the offerings are bulls, bull calves, rams, and one male lamb a year old, all without blemish. That is the burnt offering. And one male goat is offered as a sin offering. This is the same. Earlier for the New Moon, one male goat was also offered as a sin offering. So here again you see the pairing of the sin offering and the burnt offering. We have mentioned this before: among the Israelites, God constantly reminded them, first, that their sin needed to be dealt with. On the New Moon and during these major festivals, they were to offer a sin offering, meaning their sin needed to be removed. God is holy; God cannot dwell among a defiled people. So every time they sinned—whether an individual sinned, a leader sinned, or the whole nation sinned—they were to offer a sin offering to God. These were offerings they themselves presented. And these offerings in chapters 28 and 29 are regular offerings. “Regular” means fixed offerings that must be made. These fixed offerings are things you must do. The offerings we read about earlier in Leviticus chapters 1 through 5 refer to when you sin, then you go and offer a sacrifice. These are the regular offerings. So if you look at it from this perspective, the Israelites were offering sacrifices almost every day. You can see the regular offerings and the offerings for when they sinned—various kinds of offerings. So this is a life centered on sacrifice. We have also mentioned that the sacrifices constantly reminded the Israelites that they were sinners and needed to be cleansed. In fact, for the priests, their work was extremely tedious and complex. Just imagine offering so many sacrifices every day.

Every day, offering so many sacrifices—wouldn’t that be a huge workload? And if on top of that, the people sinned, or if a thousand troops came, you would have to offer more sacrifices. So they were constantly slaughtering animals, constantly doing this. For this reason, I said that these regulations could not be carried out in the wilderness because they had no grain either, so they were not implemented.

Think about after they entered the land of Canaan, especially after the temple was established. Imagine the priests were busy every day with these matters. It was an extremely tedious task. So this is what I want everyone to think about by entering into this scene. That is why later in the book of Hebrews, it specifically mentions that with the one-time sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, all the work of the sacrifices ceased. That truly is a day of rejoicing and gladness, because all laborious work ceased. The Lord Jesus offered Himself once for all as the eternal sacrifice, accomplishing eternal redemption, and all the sacrifices could finally enter into rest. So understanding rest from this perspective gives it a very different meaning. What meaning? Previously, the priestly families were busy all day, exhausted. But now you can truly be not busy; you don’t have to do it anymore. No more daily slaughtering of oxen and sheep and offering sacrifices. Why? Because Jesus Christ has completed it. So understanding rest from this perspective—rest means rest; Jesus Christ has rested—points even more clearly to our salvation. Our salvation also no longer requires these works of our own. We do not need to rely on our own ability to be saved. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are saved. So this aspect is the aspect of rest. Therefore, the “rest” mentioned in Hebrews—entering into rest—certainly refers to entering into the rest of the Promised Land. But for the sacrifices, the rest accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ is even clearer: you no longer need to slaughter oxen and sheep. This points to the fulfillment of these sacrifices in Jesus Christ.

Among the sacrifices of Jesus Christ, two aspects are very clear. One is the sin offering: the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross in our place, bearing all our sins and transgressions. That is the meaning of the sin offering. But at the same time, what is the other aspect? It is how we should respond. The priestly class, although they no longer need to slaughter oxen and sheep, rest. Jesus rests, and they also rest. But that does not mean they do nothing. What do they do? They teach the people the law; they teach the people to know the Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, the priests also live a holy life. So what aspect does this point to? It points to the aspect of the burnt offering. So these two aspects: first, the sin offering—the precious blood of Jesus Christ covers us, and in Jesus Christ we are completely righteous. That is the aspect of the sin offering.

But what is the aspect of the burnt offering? A person who has been cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ must live a burnt-offering life. He must present every part of his life—just like every part of the burnt offering must be roasted, burned, consumed—to show that every aspect of our lives must be dealt with. In this life, of course, we cannot be completely sanctified, but we must love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and strive to be sanctified in every way. So our life on earth is a burnt-offering life—constantly purifying ourselves so that our spiritual life becomes more abundant. This abundance means a life that is increasingly holy. So I think this is a reminder for us. Why among these regular offerings are there only two offerings and no more? One is the sin offering, and one is the burnt offering. The burnt offering is very rich: oxen, rams, male lambs—the burnt offering is abundant. And the sin offering is represented by one male goat. This expresses two aspects of the Christian life.

One aspect is that we need to cling tightly to the Lord Jesus Christ to receive this salvation—not by our own efforts, not by our works, not by our goodness. But after receiving this salvation, after obtaining this sin offering, our response is to place every aspect of our lives in Jesus Christ. Since the Lord Jesus Christ died for us, we should live for Christ. This is what Paul reminds us of in 2 Corinthians 5. So these recorded offerings are not meaningless. They remind us how we Christians should respond to God’s grace.

In addition, we Christians also need to pay attention to these times, as I mentioned at the beginning. Do you have morning prayer and evening prayer? Although you no longer need to offer sacrifices, do you have morning and evening prayers? Do you set the Sabbath apart as holy? On the New Moon, on the first day of the month, do we examine ourselves? Of course, I am not saying that we should return to the legalism of Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholicism, for example, has many holy days and seasons—Good Friday, Easter, and the forty days before that, which they call... not Ash Wednesday... they call it a forty-day season, a liturgical season; I forget the name. They constantly use these seasons to remind their people—Catholic believers—of the importance of these times: to remember the Lord Jesus Christ. For us Protestant believers, I don’t think these seasons themselves are that important, because these seasons have ultimately been abolished, and we do not need to observe them like the Israelites did.

I know that some denominations like to return to the Israelite festivals. For example, the Pentecostals—tomorrow we will talk about the Feast of Booths; they hold formal ceremonies during the Feast of Booths. This is not pleasing to Scripture. Why? Because the meaning of all the festivals has already pointed to Christ. Therefore, we should no longer observe any festivals on earth. Especially keeping such days and months—this is very bad and meaningless. However, what these festivals point to is that we should constantly remind ourselves of our identity as sinners. Always turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Always live in the sin offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always offer the burnt offering of ourselves before God. These things are constantly reminded to us in the New Testament through the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper constantly reminds us. So Christians observing the Lord’s Day and receiving communion is sufficient. We do not need to observe these seasons anymore. But I think receiving communion once a month truly reminds us of all the work the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for us, so that we may live a good life that is pleasing to God.

And the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as the beginning of the year, tells us that our lives need the redemption of Jesus Christ. Every one of us is a sinner. The Israelites in Egypt deserved to be killed, but because of God’s mercy, the destroying angel passed over them, and they were saved. So this, I think, is the foundation of our faith. What kind of foundation? That we are all sinners deserving destruction; God has already redeemed us. God did not treat us according to our sins and transgressions; God saved us. Therefore, we are to live a life pleasing to God. This theological logic and connection is constantly reminded to us throughout the sacrificial regulations and the Scriptures.

Next is the Feast of Weeks, which is Pentecost. As New Testament believers, we should be even clearer about what happened at Pentecost. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended, and the church began to be established. So this is Pentecost. The Feast of Weeks means the Feast of Firstfruits. Firstfruits refers to the time when the grain first ripens. It is calculated fifty days from Passover—about fifty days, roughly the Feast of Weeks, which occurs in the third month of the Jewish calendar, around May to June in our Gregorian calendar, which is about when the wheat first ripens. So at this time of firstfruits, the main crop the Israelites grew was wheat. So this is around May to June, exactly the time of firstfruits. At this time, they were to observe the Feast of Firstfruits.

The meaning of the Feast of Firstfruits, we have mentioned before. Actually, all the content we just discussed—we mentioned it earlier when talking about those sacrificial regulations. Now it is just summarized together, and we are reviewing it again. The Feast of Weeks is when a new grain offering is presented. The Israelites were to offer the firstfruits to God. What does this show? It shows that all provision comes from God. So they were willing to dedicate the firstfruits to God, also asking God to bless the rest of their crops so that they would ripen in turn. Offering the firstfruits to God is an act of thanksgiving to God and also a petition to God, asking Him to protect the ripening of the remaining crops. So in this regard, as I mentioned before, during our worship we have an offering part. The offering part is somewhat like offering the firstfruits: we give back to God a tenth of what we have received from Him. We give thanks to God, thanking Him for blessing us, and at the same time we ask God to protect our possessions.

These two aspects—this is the two aspects when we offer firstfruits, and the two aspects when we do the tithe offering during the offering part. They are somewhat similar. On the Feast of Weeks, again, no laborious work is to be done. They offer the burnt offering, and also offer one male goat as a sin offering. Many burnt offerings are offered, along with fine flour mixed with oil, and so on.

This is the Feast of Weeks, which represents the firstfruits. So roughly you can see that each offering contains some similar meanings that point to Christ—that is certain. Every offering requires the covering of the precious blood of Jesus Christ to have a sin offering. But each offering also has some differences: the daily burnt offering, the Sabbath offering, the Feast of Unleavened Bread offering, the Feast of Weeks offering. Each offering also points to different meanings, pointing to different aspects of Christ’s work. For example, the Feast of Unleavened Bread clearly points to the death of Jesus Christ—He was crucified for us, so we are to live a holy life. So immediately after the Passover comes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, meaning that because Jesus Christ did this for us, we are to live a holy life. After the Feast of Unleavened Bread comes the Feast of Weeks, which shows what? The Feast of Weeks shows that since the Lord Jesus Christ has been offered to God as the firstfruits—He has ascended on high, led captives captive, and is seated at the right hand of the Father—it tells us that for those of us who belong to God, we also will be resurrected. Since Christ is resurrected, we will also be resurrected. Since Christ has been offered to God as the firstfruits, we also will come before God like Christ, because Christ has been offered as the firstfruits. That is Paul’s theology; that is the meaning of the Feast of Weeks. Finally, the church was established on the Feast of Weeks, at Pentecost, which also tells us that this result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit—the Spirit given to us as a seal—is to show that we are a people with a heavenly home, a people who have already been raised with Jesus Christ.

This is what Paul reminds us of in Colossians 3: that we have already been raised with Christ and seated in the heavenly places. And why are we seated in the heavenly places? Because Jesus Christ has ascended as the firstfruits, and this image and meaning are contained in the Feast of Weeks, that is, Pentecost. So when we read about the offerings for each season and think about the meaning of each season, it truly brings us different comforts.

Alright, our sharing today ends simply here. Thank you, everyone.