Numbers 15:1-13—1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you, 3 and you make an offering by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet aroma to the LORD, from the herd or the flock, 4 then he who presents his offering to the LORD shall bring a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil; 5 and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb. 6 Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil; 7 and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the LORD. 8 And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering, or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a peace offering to the LORD, 9 then shall be offered with the young bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; 10 and you shall bring as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. 11 Thus it shall be done for each young bull, for each ram, or for each lamb or young goat. 12 According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do with everyone according to their number. 13 All who are native-born shall do these things in this manner, in presenting an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"
Here, God is retelling the requirements for sacrifices that were to be prepared when they came into the Promised Land. Let’s define some of the measures which are stated that we do not use today.
· The ephah. An ephah was a dry measure, used to measure out flour or wheat or barley or similar things. It is equal to about 22 liters of liquid measure, or about 3/5 of a bushel dry measure. (One tenth of an ephah would be the omer, about 2 liters or 2 quarts.)
· The hin. About 4 liters or one gallon. So a fourth of a hin of oil would be about a quart.
With these measurements in mind, we can figure out the various measures described in the text. So first, when we see 4 then he who presents his offering to the LORD shall bring a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil; 5 and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering, he is to bring about 2 liters of flour with a quart of oil for the grain offering, with a quart of wine for a drink offering if they were bringing a sheep (or kid of the goats) or livestock. 6 Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil; 7 and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine they were to mingle 4 quarts of flour with about 1-1/2 quarts of oil for the grain offering with about 1-1/2 quarts of wine for the drink offering. 8 And when you prepare a young bull (a calf) as a burnt offering, or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a peace offering to the LORD, 9 then shall be offered with the young bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; 10 and you shall bring as the drink offering half a hin of wine, they were to bring 6 quarts of flour with 2 liters of oil for the grain offering, with 2 liters of wine for the drink offering.
These were meant to show that they were still God’s people. God was not through with the people of Israel, He would still accept their sacrifices and they would still be His, even though they would not enter the Promised Land. Just as it is today. As Paul says in Romans 11:1—I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! Some today say that God is through with Israel, that because they crucified His Messiah, that God has cast them off. How absurd! God made a covenant with Abraham, and reminded the people of Israel that it was an everlasting covenant, and said through the prophet, in Jeremiah 31:35-37—35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): 36 " If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever." 37 Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,” says the LORD. One may say “But what of the New Covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 31:31, and again in Hebrews 8:13? Doesn’t this mean that God has done away with them?” What they are really saying is that God lied when He spoke the words of Jeremiah 31:35-37. Rather, He established a New Covenant, just as He said He would. A new and better covenant. One in which the people no longer had to appear with the blood of bulls and goats, but one where God appeared with the blood of His Son, that no longer were His laws written on stone tablets, but in the minds and on the hearts of the people (Jeremiah 31:33).
“But look at Israel today. They do not follow Christ. In fact, they despise anyone who speaks and preaches in His name!” Do not confuse the physical nation of Israel with the people of Israel. If the New Covenant was with a physical nation, then why did He allow the Romans to destroy the temple in Jerusalem? Why did Jesus say "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36). And now His kingdom does not reside in one earthly place, but He has set His name on those who put their faith in Christ. And in all actuality, the New Covenant is an improvement on the Old Covenant. But why a New Covenant? One reason for this New Covenant is that the people of Israel, who at one time said “Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1st Samuel 8:5), later said “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). They had thrown off God as their king (1st Samuel 8:7), and had bound themselves under an earthly king. This was the natural end of their desire for a king besides God. And it necessitated a New Covenant, since they had broken the Old Covenant time and time again. They thought that they could sin and chase Baal and Ashtaroth, then bring a sacrifice for their sins, and this would please God. But what does Hosea say? Hosea 6:6—“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea 8:13-14—13 “For the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it, but the LORD does not accept them…14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker.”
And yes, the physical nation of Israel has forgotten the Lord who spilled His blood at Calvary. But that does not mean that God is done with them. Has God cast away His people? Certainly not! Paul was Hebrew, and in the New Testament, he still calls them God’s people. Why? Because He is not through with them. Otherwise, why did he say in Romans 11:4-5—4 But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Why would God remember the people who broke covenant with Him? Why would He continue with a people who have sinned against Him and shed the blood of bulls and goats to try to please Him? Why would He not just cast them all aside and take to Himself a new people? Because there are some of the descendants of Abraham who do embrace Christ, who do see Him as their Messiah, no matter what their family says. In other words, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
And that is the message God is conveying in our text in Numbers 15. There were those among the half-million or so people who did not complain, who kept God as the center of their worship, and who did not complain and murmur and grumble. Speaking to Moses, He said “I have pardoned, according to your word” (Numbers 14:20). But because these were included in the crowd of people, they were prohibited from entering Canaan. Except for Caleb the son of Jephuneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. (Numbers 14:30). The people said that their children would be prey in the wilderness (Numbers 14:3), when in fact they would be the ones to see the good land that God had promised. God is not one to forget His promises, like the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to bring His people into a good land.
Numbers 15:14-16—“‘14 And if a stranger dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD, just as you do, so shall he do. 15 One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. 16 One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.’” To show that those who came up out of Egypt with the people of Israel were not to be counted any differently, and to show that all His people are equal in His sight, He made it known to the people here (as He did in Exodus 12:49) that those who were circumcised in their flesh and were counted as the people of God were to follow the same commands as those who were born descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These were what were called previously the “mixed multitude”, who were of unknown origin but were not of Israelite stock. In other words, they were Gentiles by birth.
Today, how are those who are Gentiles by birth brought into the Kingdom of God? The same way as the one who is a Jew by birth. By the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:11-14—11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. Do not think that Jews are saved one way and Gentiles another way. For One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you. There is only one way we will live in the presence of our Lord who bought us, whether we be Jew or Gentile. That is through the blood of Jesus, whose blood bought all whom God purposed to come into His Kingdom, no matter what their tribe, tongue, nation, or kindred. All who are His are one, and all who believe are counted as descendants of Abraham. Galatians 3:28-29—28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Do you doubt that? Put that doubt away, for John the Baptist even said the same thing in Matthew 3:9—“Do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”
“So how is it that those who are Gentiles by birth should be counted as Abraham’s seed?” I’m glad you asked. Even though you didn’t. But you should have. Paul, the Hebrew of Hebrews tells us in Romans 11:24-25—24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. The wild olive tree is the Gentiles, while the cultivated olive tree—the one which God chose and groomed for millennia—are the natural seed of Abraham. And by Christ we of the wild olive tree have been grafted in to the olive tree which God chose and groomed and fertilized from the time of Abraham. And if anyone thinks they are better than the Jews of God’s olive tree, let them think again. Romans 11:20-21—20 Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. As I have said before, and will most likely say again, let us never think better of ourselves than we ought. God did not spare those who were natural descendants of Abraham, for they sinned in slaying the Lord of Glory. Do you think we are any different? Are our sins better than theirs? No, our sins are not better than theirs. All sin is sin. Do not think that God will spare anyone who, although they did not crucify Christ, still hates that name and persecutes those who call on it.
Numbers 15:17-31 is a reiteration of the sacrifices for the sins committed in ignorance which were covered in Leviticus 4:14-21, you can read more about them HERE.
