The importance of the daily offerings

The daily sacrifices speak of relationship: a constant, unbroken fellowship with our Creator. They began their day and ended their day focusing on a lamb; so should we. The daily, weekly, and monthly sacrifices emphasized the importance of regular communication with God, in whose presence the people dwelt. They were not to restrict their religious exercises to the annual festivals.

1. The offering. The word for “offering” here is Qorban. It comes from the verb qarav, which means “to come near” or “approach.” The idea is that in order to approach near to the Lord, there must be an offering presented at that time. No person or people could draw near to a king or a royal without presenting an offering. How much more to the Lord, who was Israel’s true King?

Understanding this, we can see how this points to Christ. We cannot draw near to God without an offering, and yet, we, as believers, are told that we can, in fact, draw near to God. This is through the work of Christ, which is our offering. He is our offering by which we draw near to God. This is a voluntary offering in the sense that we must choose to use it, and yet it is mandatory in that if we choose to draw near to God, it must be through Him and Him alone.

2. This is mandated by the Lord. God is giving a direct command to Moses. “He spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings; my pleasing aroma you shall be careful to offer me at its appointed time.’ Numbers 28:1-2. See the emphasis by the repeated use of the word ‘my.’

It was not to be changed by anyone. The priests could not arbitrarily set their own parameters for the offerings to be made. We can draw near to God only through the sacrifice of His Son.

3. It was a daily sacrifice. Interestingly enough, the daily sacrifice was considered a ‘moed’ i.e. an appointed time. The daily sacrifice later was known as the ‘tamid’, which comes from ‘continual’ (i.e. the continual sacrifice).

There has to be an appointed time when we draw near to God daily. When we wake up in the morning, we could say, “God, I give you my life as an offering today” and draw near to Him to spend time with Him. When we go to bed at night, the prayer on our lips should be, “God, I pray that you’re pleased with my offering today.” And the next day, you do the same, and the next day, you do the same, day by day.

4. Significance of the offerings. The first requirement is "two lambs" are to be burnt up—one in the morning and one in the evening. But Jesus is our sacrificial lamb and had to die only once for our sins.

Mixed with the lamb was a grain offering and a liquid offering made from olive oil. This was a large quantity being offered. One thing we have to learn and accept in life is that God never asks us to do anything that He doesn't also provide the materials for us to do what He asks. That concept of daily trust is what this offering is describing for us.

Then there was a strong drink offering. This was poured out over the sacrifice. The idea is that the land of Israel will have the ability to produce the grapes needed to make this large amount of wine in the first place. Don't forget that this is a twice-daily requirement, so it is a large quantity that is needed here.

Paul describes his own life as a "drink offering" (Phil 2:17; 2 Tim 4:6). The point is that God desires that we use the most valuable thing He gives each of us, our time, to make a difference for Him. That is "our drink offering" to Him.

Application Questions:

1. Do you have your daily times of fellowship with the Lord?

2. Is your worship on a Sunday a duty or a delight?

Quote:

“God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go.”—Tony Evans

Prayer:

Lord, I pray that my life will be a continual day-by-day offering to you. May I please you and glorify you each day. Amen.