Numbers 29:13

And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:

Numbers 29:13 commands a fire-made burnt offering pleasing to the Lord of thirteen unblemished young bulls, two rams, and fourteen first-year lambs. It gives the offering for one day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the seven-day national thanksgiving after harvest with required sacrifices on successive days. It belongs to the special additional offerings for the annual feasts, part of the sanctuary's regular yearly round with the daily offerings, Sabbath offerings, and new-moon offerings, distinct from individual sin offerings brought for pardon. As part of that daily and festival ministration in the holy place, it stands in the first great division of the service, separate from the yearly work in the most holy place for the people's sins and the cleansing of the sanctuary. It is one of about sixteen places in Numbers 28 and 29 where the morning and evening sacrifice offered for the whole congregation every day without omission is called the continual burnt offering, and that continual taken away in Daniel 8 embraces the whole divinely appointed earthly service which figures the heavenly sanctuary.

Offering and Feast Setting

The verse prescribes a burnt offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD, consisting of thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year, all without blemish. It gives one of the offerings commanded for the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven-day national thanksgiving feast held after the harvest. Its offering of bullocks, rams, and lambs shows that sacrifices were required on successive feast days.

The feast offerings were brought both on the holy convocations on which servile work was forbidden and on the intervening days. The fifteenth day of the seventh month is the sixth annual sabbath beginning the feast. The twenty-second day of the same month is the seventh annual sabbath closing the feast.

The verse is set within the instructions for offerings on the tenth day of the seventh month. The chapter shows the large number of burnt offerings required for the appointed service. The drink-offerings were poured out in connection with these sacrifices rather than freely drunk by priests and worshipers.

Place in Sanctuary Service

The verse belongs to the prescribed special and additional offerings appointed for the annual feasts, which formed part of the sanctuary's regular yearly ministration alongside the daily offerings, the Sabbath offerings, and the new-moon offerings. Those feast offerings were additional services performed alongside the regular daily ministration in the earthly sanctuary, within its daily and festival ministration. It shows one of the general, regular sacrifices described in Numbers 28 and 29, distinct from the individual sin offerings brought for pardon. It belongs with the regular morning and evening sacrifice, the morning and evening incense, and the special offerings for the weekly Sabbath, annual sabbaths, new moons, and feasts that went forward continuously through the year as part of the sanctuary round of service.

That special work appointed for the Lord's Sabbaths, annual sabbaths, new moons, and feasts was part of the continual daily service in the first apartment, the holy place. It stood there along with the regular morning and evening burnt offering, the burning of sweet incense upon the golden altar when the lamps were lighted every morning and evening, and the special work for individuals presenting their particular offerings. As part of that daily and festival ministration in the earthly sanctuary, the verse belongs to the first grand division of the ministration. That first division is distinct from the yearly work in the most holy place for the people's sins and for the cleansing of the sanctuary.

The verse is part of the instructions for offerings on the tenth day of the seventh month, listing burnt offerings made by fire as a sweet savor to the LORD of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen first-year lambs, all without blemish. It does not state whether these offerings came before or after the high priest's work in the Most Holy Place, so their timing relative to that work cannot be used to establish a preliminary period before the sanctuary's cleansing. The wider pattern of the spring feast types shows that accompanying offerings did not prevent the main event represented by a feast from beginning on the type's appointed day, while the antitype could then continue beyond that day. The verse is cited as part of the instructions for daily sacrifices during the Feast of Tabernacles, with its offering of bullocks, rams, and lambs showing that sacrifices were required on successive feast days as well as on annual and weekly Sabbaths. Sacrifices on a day do not by themselves make that day a type or shadow.

Prophecy of the Continual

Numbers 29:13 is one of about sixteen places in Numbers 28 and 29 where the morning and evening sacrifices are called the continual burnt offering. Those morning and evening sacrifices were offered for the whole congregation every day of the year. They were never omitted on account of any other offerings.

The continual taken away in Daniel 8 comprehends the entire divinely ordained service of the earthly sanctuary. That earthly service with all its appointments was a type or figure of the heavenly sanctuary. The term continual therefore applies with equal force to the sanctuary above. It is there that the force of the prophecy applies, because the earthly sanctuary and priesthood had ended before that power began its work.

❧