What kinds of offerings are described in this passage?

This passage describes offerings made by fire to the Lord when the people are in the land he gives them. It covers burnt offerings, sacrifices for vows, freewill offerings, and offerings in their feast days. With each animal sacrifice, they are to bring a grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil and a drink offering of wine. The amounts change with the size of the animal, but every sacrifice of the herd or flock is to be joined with grain, oil, and wine as a “sweet savour” to the Lord.

Why are grain and drink offerings added to the animal sacrifices?

The grain and drink offerings show that worship is not only about the animal itself but about offering the best of daily food and drink to God. Bread, oil, and wine were common parts of their meals, so bringing them with the animal sacrifice pictured sharing a table with God. The set measures also kept the people from adding their own ideas and helped them worship in the way God ordered, not with showy customs copied from the nations around them.

What does it mean that the offerings are a “sweet savour unto the Lord”?

“Sweet savour” is picture language for something pleasing to God. It does not mean God likes the smell the way people like cooking smells. It points to God accepting the offering when it is brought in faith and in the way he has said. When the lamb, ram, or bull is offered with the right grain and drink portions, it is received as agreeable worship before him, not because he needs food, but because the people are obeying and honoring him.

Who is the stranger that may offer sacrifices with Israel?

The stranger here is a foreigner who has settled among Israel and turned from other gods to worship the Lord. Such a person is allowed, and even welcomed, to bring offerings by fire to the Lord. The passage says there is to be one ordinance for the native-born and for the stranger who lives among them. This means that anyone who joins himself to the Lord is to follow the same pattern of worship and is seen the same way before God in these matters.

What does “one law and one manner” for Israel and the stranger mean?

“One law and one manner” means that in matters of worship and sacrifice there is no separate set of rules for native Israelites and for foreigners who have joined them. Both must bring the same type and measure of grain and drink offerings with each animal. This shows that God does not accept people based on their birth or nation, but on whether they come to him in the way he has given. It also encourages kindness and unity, since they stand side by side before the Lord.

Why does God tie these laws to when they enter the land?

God speaks of “when ye be come into the land” and “when ye eat of the bread of the land” to remind them that he will still give them the land, even after their earlier rebellion. These laws look ahead to settled life in their own homes and fields. Once they are no longer eating manna, they must remember that their crops and bread still come from God. The offerings in the land are a steady reminder of his promise kept and of their dependence on him.

What is the meaning of offering a cake of the first of their dough?

The people are told that when they eat the bread of the land, they must offer a cake made from the first of their dough as a heave offering to the Lord. This is like taking a portion from the kneaded lump and lifting it up as a gift. They had already given firstfruits from the field, but this reaches into the home kitchen. It is a simple, steady way of saying, “This bread is yours first, we only hold it from you,” and it is to be done through all their generations.

How does the first of the dough offering show trust in God’s provision?

Giving a portion of the first dough before enjoying the rest shows that the people see God as the true owner of the land and the giver of their daily bread. They do not wait to see if they have plenty before they give. Instead, they offer the first part, trusting that God will bless the remainder. It is a quiet act of faith that the harvest, the flour, and even the finished loaf are all from his hand, and that their households will be cared for as they honor him.

How might these laws about offerings speak to believers today?

While these exact grain, wine, and animal offerings are no longer brought, the passage still speaks about attitude. God cares that worship is ordered by his word, that people bring him their best, and that there is no pride or division between one background and another. The call to give the first of the dough reminds readers today to see all income and food as gifts from God and to honor him with the first part, not the leftovers, trusting him to bless what remains.

Num.15.1

Numbers 15:1

KJV

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Laws about Offerings

Laws for Canaan

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,

And will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock:

Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil.

And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb.

Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil.

And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the Lord:

Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil.

And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid.

According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number.

All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

Law of the Sojourner

And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do.

One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.

One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you,

Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the Lord.

Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it.

Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord an heave offering in your generations.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.