Why does Numbers 28:22 require a goat as a sin offering for atonement? Immediate Context of Numbers 28:22 Numbers 28 records Yahweh’s daily, weekly, monthly, and festival sacrifices. Verses 16-25 detail the offerings for Passover and the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. After listing two bulls, one ram, seven lambs, and the requisite grain and drink offerings, verse 22 adds: “Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.” The goat is not an afterthought; it supplies the “covering” (kippēr) that the people still need, even while celebrating deliverance from Egypt. The Sin Offering (ḥaṭṭāʾṯ) in Mosaic Law Leviticus 4–5 established the sin offering for unintentional or ritual sin. Its purpose was purification and reconsecration of worshipers and sacred space (Leviticus 4:20; 12:8). Bulls atoned for the high priest or the entire congregation; male goats were specified for leaders and, in festival settings, for the people at large (Leviticus 4:22-24; 16:15). Thus, a goat in Numbers 28:22 signals a communal, not priest-exclusive, sacrifice. Why a Goat? Species-Specific Symbolism 1. Hierarchy of cost—Goats were costly enough to underscore sin’s gravity, yet affordable for corporate repetition. 2. Redemptive typology—At the Day of Atonement two male goats represented substitution and removal (Leviticus 16:5-10). Passover week echoes that pattern: one goat’s blood cleanses, reminding Israel that their Exodus freedom still rests on substitutionary sacrifice. 3. Distinction from the lamb of Passover—The Passover lamb celebrated historical redemption; the goat addressed ongoing defilement. Yahweh separated the symbols so no single animal could exhaust the layers of meaning, all of which converge in Christ. Atonement (kippēr): Covering, Cleansing, Restoring The verb kippēr appears in Numbers 28:22. Its semantic range includes “to cover, to wipe clean, to ransom.” Blood applied to the altar (Leviticus 17:11) effected both expiation (removal of guilt) and propitiation (satisfaction of divine justice). Hebrews 9:22 affirms, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The goat’s blood therefore shielded Israel from covenant curses, enabling ongoing fellowship during the feast. Corporate Sin in the Festival Context Passover celebrated historical salvation, yet the people entered the feast still susceptible to daily impurity. By adding a sin offering on each of the seven days (cf. Numbers 28:24), Yahweh taught that redemption is not merely past-tense; it requires continual application of atoning blood. The community’s rhythm of worship reinforced dependence on divine grace, prefiguring the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:1-14). Typological Foreshadowing of Christ • Substitution—The innocent goat dies for the guilty, anticipating Jesus who “was made to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). • Male victim—A “male goat” (śāʿîr) mirrors the male Son (Hebrews 2:14). • Unblemished—Just as the goat had to be without defect (Numbers 28:23), so Christ was sinless (1 Peter 1:19). • Public, repeated sacrifice—Daily goats during the feast highlight human sinfulness; Christ’s single sacrifice ends the series (Hebrews 10:12). Consistency Across Scripture From Genesis 3:21’s animal skins to Revelation 5:9’s “You were slain,” the storyline is united: blood atonement by divine initiative. Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy form a coherent legal corpus preserved in every major manuscript tradition (Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, 4Q27 [4QNum] from Qumran, LXX). The wording of Numbers 28:22 is virtually identical across those witnesses, underscoring textual stability that supports doctrinal confidence. Historical and Archaeological Corroboration • Tel Arad and Beersheba strata from Iron II contain ash layers rich in caprine (goat/sheep) bone fragments at cultic altars, confirming goats’ cultic role in Judah. • Ostracon 18 from Arad lists “ʿēz ʾaḥat laḥaṭʾt” (“one goat for sin [offering]”), matching Levitical vocabulary and dating to ca. 600 BC, centuries after Moses yet before the exile—evidence that the prescription in Numbers was practiced. • The Septuagint (3rd century BC) translation renders the term as “χίμαρον ἕνα εἰς ἁμαρτίαν,” showing Greek-speaking Jews preserved the goat requirement. Practical Theological Implications 1. Sin cannot be ignored even in celebration; it must be confessed and covered. 2. God Himself provides the means of atonement, ultimately in Christ. 3. Worship that omits substitutionary sacrifice misunderstands God’s holiness. 4. The consistency of the goat motif across law, prophets, gospels, and epistles attests to a single Author orchestrating history and revelation. Summary Numbers 28:22 mandates a male goat for a sin offering because Yahweh required visible, substitutive, blood-mediated atonement for His covenant people’s ongoing sin during their most joyous festival. The goat fits the Levitical taxonomy for communal guilt, reinforces the sacrificial hierarchy, and prefigures the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in whom the symbolism is fulfilled and through whom alone salvation is secured. |
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