Daily Devotion | Numbers 29:12–38 | 2026 June 16

Title: Daily Devotion |Numbers 29:12–38 | 2026 June 16

Scripture: Numbers 29:12–38 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 June 16

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Jose M.

Dear brothers and sisters, peace be to you in the Lord. Thank God for His grace that we have come to a new day to study the daily devotional. The passage we are studying today is Numbers 29:12–38. Let us pray. Not up to verse 40. Let us pray. O God, we thank and praise You for Your grace. Lord, You know the weakness of our hearts. Lord, You have given us this celebration during the Feast of Booths, so that we may live a life on earth as it is in heaven. Only please be with us and lead us, so that we may truly know and encounter You. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Well, let us look at today's passage. Today's passage is actually quite simple; you might even think it's somewhat tedious. The record is extremely detailed. We have dealt with similar passages before—I don't know if you remember—when dealing with the gifts the Israelites brought for the sanctuary, for building the tabernacle, the gifts each tribe brought followed that same pattern.

The record is very complicated and cumbersome. In our modern terms, you could certainly abbreviate it, right? For example, the first day, the second day, the third day—you could just record a little less. You don't need much; one short paragraph could express the meaning clearly enough. The meaning is relatively simple. Writing it out in such a complex way seems a bit troublesome. We'll explain later why it was done this way. So the meaning itself is not hard to understand. It concerns the Feast of Booths: you are to offer sacrifices. From the 15th to the 21st of the seventh month, each day you are to offer specific sacrifices. The general number regarding bulls decreases by one each day. The first day you offer the most—thirteen bulls. As for the other offerings—rams and male lambs—they remain unchanged. There is one male goat each day. On the eighth day, it becomes one bull, one ram, seven male lambs, and one male goat. The sin offering—the male goat—remains consistent throughout chapters 28 and 29: every sin offering is one male goat.

The other burnt offerings and the sacrifices offered vary. Some have calculated that if you combine all the offerings the Israelites gave each year, they would use 113 bulls, 1,068 lambs, over a ton of fine flour, and 1,000 bottles of oil and wine each year. Adding it all up, you can indeed calculate that they offered this many sacrifices. These are the offerings contributed by the nation of Israel. If individuals had personal sins, guilt offerings, or vows, they would offer those separately.

So you can imagine how busy the altar was every day—first the tabernacle, then the temple. If you came near, the priests were quite busy, offering so many sacrifices each day. Furthermore, we need to understand the Feast of Booths. By the time we reach Numbers 29, the focus is mainly on the regulations for sacrifice. But as for how to actually celebrate the Feast of Booths, Leviticus 23:33–43 gives additional regulations. So when we want to understand how a festival is observed, we cannot look at only one passage.

Here it only speaks about how to offer sacrifices. Earlier, in Leviticus 23, it speaks about how you are to keep the festival and what the people should do—for example, gathering the produce of the land and keeping the Sabbath. Leviticus 23:40 says, "On the first day you shall take the fruit of magnificent trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days." And in verse 41: "You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations." Verse 42: "You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths." Why? Verse 43: "That your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." So comparing these two passages, let us slowly unpack what the joy of the Feast of Booths means.

First, we can see from chapters 28 and 29 that this is the most solemn festival for offerings. Although we mentioned yesterday that the life of Israel centered on the Day of Atonement, after the Day of Atonement they are to celebrate the Feast of Booths joyfully—it is very joyful, cheerful, right? We already read Leviticus 23, and then they have solemn offerings—so many sacrifices, offered daily. The sin offering is one male goat; the rest are burnt offerings. The detailed record of each day's offerings, continuing to the eighth day, seems very complicated and burdensome.

Next, let us look at what spiritual significance this points to. First, we see that after the Day of Atonement comes the Feast of Booths. The Feast of Booths commemorates the Israelites living in booths. It tells them that after they entered the land of Israel, they would have houses and such—they had dwellings. But during these seven days, they were to move out of their houses, set up booths, and live in them. Later passages show that they were to go up to Jerusalem. All Israelites were to go up to Jerusalem and set up booths wherever they could find space in the city, and live in them to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This was the most joyful festival for Israel.

The significance of this festival—as we read earlier in Leviticus—is to celebrate that God led you out of Egypt, freed you from bondage, and brought you into the land of Canaan. So this is a day of joy in the booths. But there are some details we need to consider. For example, why couldn't you just celebrate in your houses? Houses are obviously stronger than booths, right? You have to build a booth—that's extra work. Wouldn't it be enough to celebrate in your house? Why must you build a booth? All the people go up to Jerusalem to celebrate and rejoice like this—what does it mean? At the same time, they offer many burnt offerings, along with grain offerings and drink offerings. Why this particular scene? So let us consider the spiritual meaning here.

In fact, for us Christians, we might say that our earthly lives are like living in the Feast of Booths. What does this mean? This metaphor was used by Peter and also by Paul. For example, in 2 Peter 1:13, which was written near the end of Peter's life, before his martyrdom, Peter says, "I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me." In this metaphor, Peter clearly tells us that our life in this world is like dwelling in a tent. So if you connect this—Peter says our body is a tent, and we now live in this tent—connecting it to the Feast of Booths, where you set up a tent, you can probably see the point. I don't know if you can make that leap, but the Feast of Booths essentially celebrates our earthly life. When we live our days on earth, we are celebrating the Feast of Booths.

After we are atoned for—after we are redeemed by Jesus Christ—we come to this Feast of Booths, and we rejoice and are glad. Look at the daily offerings. Leviticus earlier says we rejoice daily with these branches to celebrate the Feast of Booths. Ultimately, this Feast points to the true joy in heaven. When we lay aside this tent, we go to heaven—first our souls are with the Lord. When the Lord Jesus returns, He will give us a new tent, a new body. In that new body, we will be with the Lord forever. Jesus Christ will judge this world, human history will end, and we will be with the Lord forever. I don't know if you can follow this line of thought—take your time to work through it.

Each of us in the Feast of Booths lives in a body; our soul lives in the body. This does not mean our body is not precious—that is not the point. It means our soul dwells in the body. When we die, the soul is separated from the body, and our soul first goes to heaven to be with the Lord. When the Lord Jesus returns, He will give us a new body—a new tent that will never decay—and the soul and body will be reunited, and we will be with the Lord forever. This is our Christian hope. So the Feast of Booths on earth is a time for us to live a joyful and glad life on earth, right? It is a festival celebration. Though we live in tents, we are joyful and glad. What we look forward to is the true Feast of Booths—that heavenly Feast where we are with the Lord forever. That is why the regulations here are written so clearly.

First day, second day, third day—they could have simply summarized it, but in these regulations, if you are a priest, you would certainly want it written in detail, wouldn't you? So you don't make mistakes when the time comes. If it were all written together, you would have to figure it out. Here it is simple: first day this way, second day—count them, don't get it wrong—third day. So as a manual, you certainly want it as detailed as possible; you wouldn't find it overly complicated. On the sixth day, I can check what I need to offer and not be wrong. Otherwise, if it were all compressed, though the meaning is simple and understandable, you would still have to break it down, which is complicated. So as a manual, this is very good and very user-friendly for the priests. That is why it is recorded in such detail—it is helpful for the priests.

It also shows that God cares about this Feast of Booths. God greatly desires that His people live a joyful Feast of Booths on earth, because sin has already been atoned for. So the Feast of Booths should be very joyful and glad. Furthermore, this Feast points to the true Feast in heaven, where we will be with the Lord forever. So the meaning of the tent as a metaphor becomes clear: it refers to our body.

Paul also was a tentmaker. I wonder if there is a spiritual meaning here—this is my personal speculation—that Paul was making tents, that is, preparing a new tent, a new dwelling for us. These are spiritual applications; we are allowed such associations. Now, let us begin to discuss the spiritual meaning for us on earth. For example, most of these are burnt offerings. The burnt offering and the sin offering are offered together. We have already passed the Day of Atonement; every day we confess and repent, but more importantly, we are to live a life of burnt offering. We mentioned this especially when we studied Leviticus and the burnt offering: during our earthly Feast of Booths, our days on earth are to be a life of burnt offering—offering every aspect of our lives to God. Here a tension emerges. What tension? Offering a burnt offering requires examining every aspect of our lives.

We are to crucify ourselves. How can a crucified person be a joyful person? Right? The cross is painful. How can we be both crucified and live a joyful Feast of Booths on earth? That seems inconsistent. In fact, this reminds us that bearing the cross is a joyful process. I have much to exhort here, but due to time, I cannot say too much. I just remind you: on earth you must follow God's statutes and ordinances. We say a life of burnt offering means you submit every aspect of yourself to God—that is, you follow God's statutes and ordinances in every area of life. Of course, I know we cannot keep them perfectly; we are weak, but you are to obey. This covers every aspect of our lives. Let me give just a few examples to remind you. Suppose you are an older sister or aunt in the church. Your husband is not a believer, and your son has had a child. At that point, do you choose to live with your husband or to care for your son? In Chinese tradition, I would certainly care for my son. But what does God want you to do? Which relationship does He want you to prioritize? He wants you to put your marriage relationship first.

You might say, my husband doesn't believe and treats me badly. Well, isn't this ultimately about bearing the cross? Isn't that what it comes down to? Yes. So brothers and sisters, I bring this up to remind us that we truly have too many areas where we do not follow Scripture.

We do not want to live this life of burnt offering. What does burnt offering mean here? Of course, it points to Jesus Christ, who offered Himself as a sacrifice for us. But are we not called to follow the law in every aspect of life? Whether in marriage, in parent-child relationships, or in various in-law relationships, I find that we brothers and sisters indeed like to avoid the cross, prefer our own way, and want to be our own masters. This is not only true of sisters but also of brothers—we refuse to submit to God. So the Feast of Booths becomes distorted, you know? The Feast of Booths is about offering burnt offerings—entrusting every aspect of your life to God, earnestly obeying His law, and enjoying the joy that comes from the new birth. That is also what the Feast of Booths points to—the daily offerings. But if you avoid obeying the law, harden your neck, and say, "I can't do this, I'm not able, I won't do it"—what can I say? I am also in a difficult position. I can only tell you what you should do; I cannot force you. If it really comes to it, the church may exercise church discipline. But I think that is not beautiful.

In fact, each of us, when we speak of living a life of burnt offering, is called to deal with our old self in every aspect. Do not run away, do not hide. Seriously do what God's law requires. If you truly do not know the law, then review the Larger Catechism, questions 99 to 150, and study carefully how to keep each commandment—how to act in marriage, in parent-child relationships, and in all kinds of relationships. Why do we have problems in various relationships? Certainly the other party has sin, yes, but often it is because we are unwilling to be humble, unwilling to submit; we stiffen our necks like stubborn mules. We insist on getting our respect, our rights, to be seen, to be affirmed. But our pastor's recent sermon also highlighted this: walking the path of self-exaltation leads to being constantly humiliated, degraded, and yet still having to submit under heavy pressure. That is the way of the cross, that is offering a burnt offering, and in it we enjoy the joy of the new birth and live a joyful Feast of Booths.

Rejoice for seven days, until the day we see the Lord's face, leave this world, and look forward to the coming of the true Feast of Booths. That is what the Feast of Booths points to. So brothers and sisters, I think we can no longer hesitate. Do not delay. Do not be hardened. You must search deeply within yourself to find those areas where you are unwilling to submit and obey the law. In marriage, does the husband truly love his wife? Does the wife truly submit to her husband? In parent-child relationships, do you truly not provoke your children? As children, do you truly honor your parents? You see, in the New Testament, whether in Ephesians or Colossians, Paul touches on these briefly. Of course, Ephesians speaks more about marriage, but his brief mention does not mean these relationships are unimportant. It means Paul assumes you already know, so he just says a few words—a reminder is enough. Connected to the Old Testament, you should know how to act. Also, commitment to the church, giving money, giving time. Oh, these things—sometimes I feel I have already said much, but I find many members still haven't truly awakened, right? The sister's primary work is in the home—bearing children, raising them, nurturing godly offspring—what a glorious work. So on these matters, I have said enough. I think such sisters still need to reflect—when your life is in chaos, examine yourself: in which areas should I be following God's statutes and ordinances? Then offer yourself as a burnt offering. I know that everyone, when facing the burnt offering, is reluctant, because it burns painfully, right? It truly requires self-denial. Especially in this era, when we speak of sisters returning home and giving up jobs, that feels like a life-or-death matter—that is really hard. I am weak myself in speaking about these things, because sisters have to bear children.

I just mention these things in passing; you can find many areas yourself. I cannot know what breaches exist in your life, but you should close them and genuinely obey the law. And in the process of bearing the cross, you will receive the joy of Leviticus 23—the joy of the Feast of Booths. The Feast of Booths is a very joyful occasion. Do not think that our life on earth is merely bitter. We live a life on earth as it is in heaven. This is real; you can truly attain it by faith in Christ. Though the degree certainly differs from heaven, you can indeed attain it. Of course, living on earth as in heaven does not mean you are comfortable and happy; on the contrary, the old self must be crucified. You must constantly humble yourself, constantly crucify the old self, in order to enjoy and receive the joy of the Feast of Booths. This is a very precious thing in our lives. If you miss this core, you have lost the meaning of the Feast of Booths.

Why is the Feast of Booths so joyful? Because we live on earth as in heaven; we live a life of burnt offering on earth. A wilderness life, yet still a joyful life. These things that seem incompatible can actually be united—the key is in Christ. So brothers and sisters, may God lead us truly in this wilderness journey. The Feast of Booths signifies that you are in the wilderness, right? Burnt offerings—so many burnt offerings—a life of burnt offering, a wilderness life, yet amid the burnt offering life, the joy of the Feast of Booths is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our whole being is truly captured by Jesus Christ, receiving spiritual joy. Of course, I do not say this is easy. It is indeed very difficult. To accomplish such a transition is extremely hard. But if you truly make that transition, you can obtain boundless joy. If you cannot make the transition—I am not saying you are necessarily unsaved—you get stuck there, and it is very painful, very hard. You want this and that, grabbing at both ends, and it is exhausting. In the end, when you see the Lord, if you have not done well in any area, there will be some shame. "Oh, if only I had obeyed the law then, if only I had been willing to crucify myself then."

All these things can only be entrusted into God's hands. May God lead us—I, too, along with all of you—in this wilderness, in this process of offering burnt offerings, to obtain true joy—the joy of the Feast of Booths. Our sharing today ends here. Thank you, everyone.