Why are additional offerings required in Numbers 29:6 beyond the regular burnt offering? Scriptural Text and Immediate Setting “‘This is in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.’” (Numbers 29:6) Numbers 29:1-6 details the sacrifices for the Feast of Trumpets (first day of the seventh month). The schedule is: • 1 young bull, 1 ram, 7 male lambs a year old—each with grain and drink offerings (vv. 2-4) • 1 male goat for a sin offering (v. 5) • “in addition to [milvad] the regular burnt offering” (v. 6) Historical–Liturgical Context Numbers 28-29 is a calendar of worship: daily (28:3-8), weekly Sabbath (28:9-10), monthly New Moon (28:11-15), and the annual festivals (28:16-29:40). Each festival’s sacrifices are piled on top of—not in place of—the unbroken rhythm of the regular (tamid) burnt offering instituted in Exodus 29:38-42. This layering preserved both continuity (the daily covenant-maintaining sacrifice) and special celebration (festival-specific sacrifices). The Daily Burnt Offering as Foundation The regular burnt offering was two male lambs each day, morning and evening, wholly consumed on the altar (Numbers 28:3-4). It pictured total dedication, ensured constant “aroma pleasing to the LORD,” and testified that atonement and communion with God are ongoing needs (Hebrews 10:11). Festivals could never eclipse that perpetual need; therefore extra sacrifices are “besides” (Hebrew milvad). Purpose of the Additional Offerings 1. Covenant Remembrance The regular burnt offering recalls the Abrahamic promises (Genesis 15) and Sinai covenant; festival offerings commemorate particular saving acts (e.g., Trumpets anticipates Atonement, Leviticus 23:23-25). Both dimensions must coexist. 2. Progressive Sanctification Added sacrifices dramatize intensification of holiness. Trumpets prepared hearts for the national cleansing on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16; Numbers 29:7-11). 3. Corporate Thanksgiving and Petition Festivals gathered the nation (Leviticus 23:24; Nehemiah 8:1-12). Higher numbers of animals supplied food for communal meals (Deuteronomy 12:6-7) and symbolized the people’s comprehensive surrender to Yahweh. Numerical Escalation and Symbolism During Tabernacles (Numbers 29:12-34) 70 bulls are offered—widely understood by Jewish and early Christian writers to represent the nations descended from Noah (Genesis 10). The additional offerings on Trumpets begin the crescendo that culminates in that universal scope. Grain and Drink Offerings: Completing the Gift Every animal had to be accompanied by fine flour mixed with oil and a drink offering of wine (Numbers 15:1-10). Grain (fruit of the ground) and wine (fruit of the vine) showed the worshiper’s whole produce consecrated, not merely life-blood. The New Testament echoes this totality when it speaks of presenting our bodies “as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). Continuity into Second Temple Practice The Elephantine Papyri (5th c. BC) and the Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g., 4Q365 “Reworked Pentateuch”) confirm that both daily and festival sacrifices were performed concurrently. Josephus (Ant. 3.238-255) follows the same pattern. The Arad ostraca (7th c. BC) list supplies of flour and oil needed daily, corroborating the biblical logistics. Christological Fulfillment The perpetual burnt offering foreshadowed Christ’s continual intercession (Hebrews 7:25), while the festival additions point to facets of His single, all-sufficient sacrifice: • Trumpets—announcement of the King (Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) • Day of Atonement—His propitiatory death (Romans 3:25) • Tabernacles—God dwelling with humanity (John 1:14; Revelation 21:3) Thus, the multiplicity of offerings climaxes in the unity of the cross, where the once-for-all sacrifice does not abolish daily dependence on God but fulfills its intent (Hebrews 10:14-18). Pastoral Application Believers today maintain daily devotion (prayer, Scripture, obedience) while also marking special seasons (Lord’s Day worship, Lord’s Supper, evangelistic feasts). The pattern in Numbers teaches that special occasions should augment, not replace, ordinary faithfulness. Summary Additional offerings in Numbers 29:6 are required because God designed Israel’s worship as concentric circles: the perpetual burnt offering at the center, with weekly, monthly, and annual sacrifices radiating outward. The festival offerings celebrate specific redemptive themes, intensify communal holiness, and typify facets of Christ’s all-sufficient atonement, yet they never supersede the daily acknowledgment of dependence on Yahweh. |
    |