Numbers 29:1, commentary and pictures

Numbers 29:1 appoints the first day of the seventh month as an annual Sabbath and holy convocation, a day of blowing the trumpets on which no servile work was to be done and prescribed offerings were to be presented. It fell in Tisri, the first month of the civil year and New Year's Day, commemorating the creation of the world, when trumpets and horns were blown in Jerusalem from morning until evening. It belongs to the additional services for annual Sabbaths, new moons and feasts that were added to the regular daily service and formed part of the continual year-round ministration in the holy place, distinct from the yearly work on the tenth day of the seventh month when ministration entered the most holy place for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Standing with the morning and evening sacrifices called the continual burnt offering, it helps show that the continual in Daniel 8 comprehended the entire divinely appointed service of the earthly sanctuary, which was a figure of the heavenly sanctuary above. The seventh-month observances were considered as a possible chronological type of events connected with the second advent rather than conclusive evidence for its date, and since preliminary burnt offerings did not prevent Passover, firstfruits and Pentecost from meeting their antitypes exactly as to time, the grand work of the tenth day of the seventh month must have its antitype commence on the tenth day of the seventh month of some year, though it may then extend forward according to its magnitude.

Feast and Its Observance

The first day of the seventh month was appointed as an annual Sabbath and holy convocation, a day of blowing the trumpets on which no servile or ordinary work was to be done and the prescribed offerings were to be presented. It belonged among the additional services appointed for the annual Sabbaths, new moons and feasts, distinct from individual offerings for sin, and was carried on continuously through the year as part of the regular round of sanctuary service with the morning and evening sacrifice and incense. It is counted as the fourth annual Sabbath. It was also considered as one of the seventh-month observances that might chronologically typify events connected with the second advent, though presented as a subject for consideration rather than conclusive evidence for the date of the Advent.

The day fell on Tisri, which was the first month of the civil year and New Year's Day. It commemorated the creation of the world. Israel was to gather for a holy convocation, servile work was forbidden, and various offerings were brought to the Lord. Trumpets and horns were blown in Jerusalem from morning until evening.

The great number of burnt offerings in the sanctuary service surrounding this appointment each had a drink-offering of strong wine poured out upon it. That wine was never drunk freely by priests and worshipers. The large number of sacrifices therefore required a large quantity of wine. This explains why wine is mentioned so often in connection with the sanctuary service.

Place in Sanctuary Service

The verse belongs to the additional and special services appointed for annual Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts, which were additions to the regular daily service. Those additions formed part of the regular ministration and yearly cycle of the earthly sanctuary carried on continuously through the year. Among them was the holy convocation on the first day of the seventh month, on which no servile work was to be done as a day of blowing the trumpets, with its prescribed special offering. The trumpet-blowing itself was part of the additional services appointed for Israel's annual feasts and sacred days.

Numbers 28 and 29 set out the general regular offerings of the sanctuary, distinct from individual offerings for sin. They include the regular morning and evening sacrifice, the morning and evening incense, and the special offerings for the weekly Sabbath, the annual Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts. The special work of this verse was performed in the holy place as part of that continual ministration through the year, alongside the regular morning and evening burnt-offering, the burning of sweet incense when the lamps were lighted morning and evening, and the special work for individuals presenting their particular offerings. That holy-place continual ministration through the year is distinct from the yearly work on the tenth day of the seventh month, when the ministration changed from the holy place to the most holy place for the sins of the people and for the cleansing of the sanctuary.

Standing in Numbers 28 and 29, where the morning and evening sacrifices offered for the entire congregation every day of the year and never omitted because of any other offerings are about sixteen times called the continual burnt offering, the verse helps show that the continual in Daniel 8 comprehended the entire divinely ordained service of the earthly sanctuary. Because that earthly service in all its appointments was a figure of the heavenly sanctuary, the term applies with equal force to the sanctuary above.

Prophetic Timing and Antitype

The first day of the seventh month was a yearly holy convocation and a day for blowing trumpets, on which no ordinary work was to be done. It stands among the seventh-month observances that may chronologically typify events connected with the second advent. That typical bearing is set forth as a subject for consideration rather than as conclusive evidence for the date of the Advent.

The seventh-month offerings do not establish a long preliminary work before the cleansing of the sanctuary. Scripture is silent on whether the burnt offerings and other offerings of the Day of Atonement portion in Numbers 29:7-11 were presented before the high priest entered the most holy place or after he came out at the time described in Leviticus 16:23-24. Mere preliminary and circumstantial offerings did not keep the grand event of the day from meeting its antitype on the very day pointed out in the type. The Passover, the day of firstfruits, and Pentecost each involved the same work of burnt offerings, yet each was fulfilled exactly as to time. Therefore the grand work of the tenth day of the seventh month, performed in the holiest, must have its antitype commence on the tenth day of the seventh month of some year, though beginning on the day of the type it may extend forward a great distance corresponding to its magnitude and importance.