Numbers 29:27, commentary and pictures

Numbers 29:27 directs that the grain and drink offerings accompanying the bullocks, rams, and lambs be given in proportion to the number of animals, in the prescribed amounts and in the prescribed manner. It belongs to the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month after the gathering of the harvest, the great national thanksgiving feast commemorating Israel's wilderness wanderings and life as pilgrims. That feast included the sixth annual Sabbath on the fifteenth day and the seventh annual Sabbath on the twenty-second day which closed it, with holy convocations on which servile work was forbidden, and its drink offerings were poured out upon the burnt offerings rather than drunk. The verse is part of the additional offerings for annual feasts, annual Sabbaths, and new moons alongside the regular daily, Sabbath, and new-moon offerings, belonging to the continual daily ministration carried on through the year in the holy place by the Levitical priesthood for the people. That continual ministration, comprehending the continual burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings according to number after the manner together with the showbread, lamps, incense, and high priest's work, transferred the sins of the people to the sanctuary itself and made its yearly cleansing necessary, and being the example and shadow of Christ's more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle in heaven it is distinct from the yearly work on the tenth day of the seventh month in the most holy place; these offerings were typical of Christ, but their presence did not make every sacrificial day a Sabbath or a shadow, nor could accompanying offerings delay the central event, so the antitype of the Day of Atonement must begin on the day represented by the type though it may continue for an extended time.

Feast Setting and Wording

The grain offerings and the drink offerings that went with the bullocks, the rams, and the lambs were to be supplied in the amounts laid down for each kind of animal, in proportion to how many were offered and in the prescribed manner. They were part of the added offerings appointed for the set feasts, the special services of the year in the earthly sanctuary. The verse gives one portion of what was appointed for the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, the great national thanksgiving feast that began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month after the harvest had been gathered in.

That feast embraced the sixth annual Sabbath on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and the seventh annual Sabbath on the twenty-second day of the same month which closed the feast, together with the days between them. On those days Israel held holy convocations and servile work was forbidden, while the various kinds of offerings appointed for each day were brought to the Lord. The feast looked back to Israel's wandering in the wilderness and life as pilgrims, and it gave thanks to God for the fruits of the earth.

The drink offerings set down on this scale in proportion to the number of animals were poured out upon the burnt offerings, not drunk by priests or worshipers.

Sanctuary Ministry and Typology

Numbers 29:27 belongs to the calendar of additional and special offerings appointed for Israel's annual feasts, annual Sabbaths, and new moons, alongside the regular daily offerings, Sabbath offerings, and new-moon offerings, as part of the regular cycle of Levitical service in the earthly sanctuary during the year. It requires the grain and drink offerings accompanying the bullocks, rams, and lambs to be provided in the prescribed amounts according to their number and in the prescribed manner and order. That additional work appointed for the Sabbaths of the Lord and the annual sabbaths, new moons and feasts was part of the daily ministration carried on continually through the year in the holy place, the first apartment of the earthly sanctuary, by the Levitical priesthood in a continual course for the people. It stood alongside the regular morning and evening burnt offering, the burning of sweet incense on the golden altar, the work of the Lord's Sabbaths, and the particular offerings presented for individuals through the year.

That continual ministration transferred the sins of the people to the sanctuary itself, creating the necessity for its yearly cleansing, and it is the example and shadow of Christ's more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle in heaven. 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, with its grain and drink offerings according to number after the manner. The continual comprehends the entire earthly sanctuary service ordained for sin and its cleansing, joined with the continual showbread, the continually burning lamps, the perpetual incense, and the high priest bearing judgment continually. Because the earthly sanctuary with all its appointments and services is a type and figure of the heavenly sanctuary which is its pattern, the continual applies with equal force to the sanctuary above.

These offerings, like offerings made on the annual Sabbaths, were typical of Christ, but their presence on those days did not make every day on which sacrifices were offered a Sabbath or a shadow. This daily service through the year is distinct from the yearly work on the tenth day of the seventh month in the most holy place for the sins of the people and the cleansing of the sanctuary. The offerings listed for the Day of Atonement do not state whether they occurred before or after the high priest's work in the Most Holy Place and could have been offered after he came out, so they cannot establish that a preliminary phase had to precede the sanctuary's cleansing. As with the spring festivals, accompanying offerings did not prevent the central event represented by a feast from beginning on the appointed day, so the antitype of the Day of Atonement must likewise begin on the day represented by the type, though it may continue for an extended time.