Numbers 29:21, commentary and pictures

Numbers 29:21 belongs to the directions for the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month, and it requires that the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs match their number and follow the prescribed order and manner. That feast was Israel's seven-day thanksgiving feast, kept by leaving houses to dwell in booths of green branches in commemoration of the wilderness wandering and in thanksgiving for the harvest, beginning and ending with holy convocations on which servile work was forbidden. The offerings it appoints were part of the additional special offerings of the regular sanctuary service, belonging with the daily sacrifices, Sabbath offerings, and offerings for individuals to the daily ministration in the holy place by the Levitical priesthood, which through the year transferred sins to the sanctuary and shadowed forth the ministration of the heavenly sanctuary. Those daily sacrifices during the feast were typical of Christ, but the obligation to observe these annual feasts ceased at His crucifixion, when the law of ceremonies was nailed to the cross. Together with the continual burnt offering offered every day of the year and never omitted, with the continual showbread, the continually burning lamps, the perpetual incense, and the high priest continually bearing judgment, this service proves the continual in Daniel 8 comprehends the entire service of the earthly sanctuary ordained of God, which in all its appointments is a figure of the heavenly sanctuary.

Feast Context and Offerings

Numbers 29:21 belongs to the directions for the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month, the third annual feast, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Tisri, and ending on the eighth day following, the twenty-second day of Tisri. That feast was Israel's seven-day thanksgiving feast, kept in thanksgiving for the earth's harvest and in commemoration of the wilderness wanderings and pilgrim life. It was kept by leaving houses to dwell in booths made from green branches of goodly trees, palm branches, boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook. Its opening day and closing day were the sixth and seventh annual sabbaths, both holy convocations on which servile work was forbidden. The verse gives part of the various kinds of offerings brought to the Lord on those days and on the intervening days, with different offerings required for the different days.

The verse specifies the grain or meat offering and drink offerings for the bulls or bullocks, rams, and lambs, which were to match their number and follow the prescribed order and manner. The amounts were to correspond to the number of each animal. The drink offering involved a great quantity of strong wine, over a quart for each lamb. That wine was always poured out upon the burnt offering and was not drunk freely by priests and worshipers. Because there was a drink offering for every burnt offering, the large number of sacrifices explains why wine is mentioned so often in connection with the sanctuary service.

The verse is also listed with the offerings appointed for the tenth day of the seventh month. The timing of these grain and drink offerings in relation to the high priest's work in the most holy place is not specified. They may have been offered after he came out.

Sanctuary Service and Significance

The verse belongs to the additional or special offerings appointed for the annual Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts within the regular sanctuary service. It forms part of the regular Levitical ministration at the earthly sanctuary throughout the year, alongside the daily sacrifices, the Sabbath offerings, the new-moon offerings, the regular morning and evening burnt offerings, and the offerings people brought for individual sins. That additional work was part of the daily ministration in the holy place, accomplished by the Levitical order of priesthood. Together with the regular morning and evening burnt offering, the burning of sweet incense, and the offerings for individuals, it transferred sins to the sanctuary through the year and thus shadowed forth the ministration of the heavenly sanctuary.

The daily sacrifices during the feast were typical of Christ, as were sacrifices on the annual Sabbaths, but their presence did not make every day a Sabbath or a shadow. The grain and drink offerings were to match the number of animals offered. The obligation to observe these annual feasts ceased at the crucifixion of Christ, when the law of ceremonies was nailed to the cross.

The verse is one of about sixteen places in Numbers 28 and 29 where the morning and evening sacrifices are called the continual burnt offering. Those sacrifices were offered for the entire congregation every day of the year and were never omitted because of any other offerings. Together with the continual showbread, the continually burning lamps, the perpetual incense, and the high priest continually bearing judgment, this proves that the continual in Daniel 8 comprehends the entire service of the earthly sanctuary as ordained of God. That earthly service in all its appointments and services is a figure of the heavenly sanctuary, so the term applies with equal force to the sanctuary above.