“‘On
the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without defect, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering, and its drink offering.
Numbers 28:9-10
Numbers 28 [1.] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.’ You shall tell them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to Yahweh: male lambs a year old without defect, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering. You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb at evening; with one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in Mount Sinai for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. Its drink offering shall be the fourth part of a hin for the one lamb. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh in the holy place. The other lamb you shall offer at evening. As the meal offering of the morning, and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
Numbers 28 [9.] “‘On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without defect, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering, and its drink offering.
Meaning:
Numbers 28 and 29 set out the offerings that Israel was to bring to God through the year: every day, every Sabbath, every new moon and at the great feasts. These two verses describe the special offering for the Sabbath. They show that the day of rest was a day of extra worship, and so a day of extra work for the priests.
- “On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without defect”
Every day of the year, the priests offered one lamb in the morning and one in the evening as the “continual burnt offering”. On the Sabbath two more lambs were added. The lambs had to be young and “without defect”, because only the best was fit to be given to God. A burnt offering was completely consumed on the altar, a sign that the worshipper gave himself wholly to God.
- “Fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering”
With the animals came grain and wine. Fine flour mixed with oil was the meal offering, and the drink offering was poured out at the altar. They represented the produce of the land, given back to God.
- “Besides the continual burnt offering”
The Sabbath offering did not replace the daily sacrifice; it was added to it. While the rest of Israel stopped working, the priests in the tabernacle and later in the temple were busier than ever. Yet this was not considered breaking the Sabbath, because it was the service God himself had commanded.
Jesus pointed to this very fact when the Pharisees accused his disciples of Sabbath breaking: “Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless?” (Matthew 12:5). If temple service could rightly be done on the Sabbath, how much more the service of the one who is “greater than the temple”.
The Significance of Numbers 28:9-10
- Worship at the heart of rest
The Sabbath was not only a day off. It was a day set apart for God, marked by more worship than any ordinary day. True rest includes turning our hearts to God in thanks and devotion.
- Pointing to a greater sacrifice
The lambs offered every day and every Sabbath could never finish their work. Hebrews says, “Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins”, but Christ “when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
- Offering ourselves
Believers no longer bring lambs to an altar. Instead Paul urges, “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1).
Cross-References:
Matthew 12:5: "Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless?" Jesus refers to the priests’ Sabbath work.
John 1:29: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" The true Lamb.
Romans 12:1: "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God," The offering God now asks for.
Conclusion: On every Sabbath Israel’s priests offered two extra lambs without defect, with flour, oil and a drink offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering. The day of rest was a day of extra worship and of work for the priests, who were guiltless in doing it. Jesus used this to show that serving God is right on the Sabbath, and the repeated offerings point to his one perfect sacrifice.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible