Numbers 28:15, commentary and pictures

On the first day of every month one male goat was to be offered as a sin offering to the Lord in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. It was part of the added offerings appointed for Sabbaths, new moons and feasts, joined to the regular morning and evening service through the year in a continuing round of ministry. It belonged to the daily service in the holy place, accomplished continually by the Levitical priesthood standing as mediator between God and man. That daily ministry continually recalled sin and expressed faith in the coming Redeemer, as the example and shadow and figure of Christ's more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle in heaven. Its specific ceremonial form of goat sin offering with burnt offering and drink offering is not binding today though its underlying principles remain, for these ceremonies have passed away and Christ's one offering has taken their place.

Occasion and Prescription

The prescription is for one kid of the goats, a male goat, to be offered as a sin offering unto the LORD, beside or in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. It is an added goat sin offering placed alongside the regular burnt offering and drink offering, so that the appointed service included more than the morning and evening burnt offerings alone. As part of Israel's laws regulating worship as a nation, its specific legal form belongs to that national appointment while its underlying principles remain.

The offering was to be made on each new moon, on the first day of every month. The new moon was observed with prescribed offerings and rejoicing, with this male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

It stands in the calendar of Numbers 28 of additional offerings and other sanctuary services appointed for Sabbaths, annual sabbaths, new moons, and feasts. These were added to the regular morning and evening service and to the burning of sweet incense, forming through the year a continuing round of ministry and a regular yearly cycle carried out by the Levitical priests. This added work belonged to the daily ministration in the holy place, distinct from the particular work for individuals bringing offerings through the year and from the work in the most holy place at the end of the year.

Place in Daily Ministration

The verse belongs to the first grand division of the earthly sanctuary ministration, the daily service in the holy place accomplished continually by the Levitical priesthood. That chapter sets out appointed offerings and other sanctuary services added to the regular morning and evening service on Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts, as additional work carried out by those priests. This was the sanctuary service for which the tribe of Levi was set apart, with the priesthood restricted to the family of Aaron, clothed in special dress showing holy office, where the priest stood as mediator between God and man representing the people in things pertaining to God. Besides the daily burnt offering of two first-year lambs, one offered in the morning and the other in the evening with sweet incense offered at the same time on the golden altar, additional offerings were appointed for the Sabbath, the new moon, and special feasts.

This added work was distinct from the particular work for individuals bringing special offerings for individual sins through the year. It was also distinct from the yearly work in the most holy place at the end of the year for the sins of the people and for cleansing the sanctuary. The goat for a sin offering on new moons and annual feasts was a special offering in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering, separate from both the regular daily service and the individual offerings.

The continual service included more than the morning and evening burnt offerings, since the daily sacrifices were accompanied by a separate goat sin offering. These daily, weekly, monthly, and festival services added to the continual burnt offering through the year formed a continuing round of sanctuary ministry, gathering the offerings into a national congregational service for dealing with sin, repeated day by day through the year. The daily services provided for the congregation and were not omitted because other offerings were made, and together with the continual bread, lamps, incense, and the high priest's ongoing representation of Israel they formed the earthly service for dealing with sin. The regular offerings were made alongside the continual burnt offering and drink offering with the burning of sweet incense, when the people prayed while the priests offered sacrifice and incense.

Antitype and Cessation

The daily service for the nation required a male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering, gathering the offerings into a national service repeated day by day through the year. That continual round continually recalled sin and expressed the worshipers' faith in the coming Redeemer. The daily offerings as a whole pointed forward to their future antitype.

That added work belonged to the special work appointed for the Lord's Sabbaths, annual sabbaths, new moons, and feasts, within the first grand division of the earthly sanctuary ministration, the daily service in the holy place accomplished continually by the Levitical priests. It was distinct from the yearly work in the most holy place for the sins of the people and for cleansing the sanctuary. The continual daily sacrifices were accompanied by a separate goat sin offering, so the continual service included more than the morning and evening burnt offerings. The daily services provided for the congregation and were not omitted because other offerings were made, and together with the continual bread, lamps, incense, and the high priest's ongoing representation of Israel they formed the earthly sanctuary service for dealing with sin. That daily ministration is the example and shadow and figure of Christ's more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle in heaven.

As part of Israel's church laws regulating worship as a nation, the prescribed goat sin offering offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering was a law for Israel as a nation and is not binding today in that specific legal form, though its underlying principles remain. These were instructions for the regular offerings made alongside the continual burnt offering and drink offering, connected with the morning and evening sacrifices when the people prayed while the priests offered sacrifice and incense. These ceremonies have passed away, and Christ's one offering has taken their place.