What is the significance of the "one male goat" in Numbers 29:15? Setting Within The Feast • Numbers 29 records the sacrifices for the seven-day Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). • Each day required numerous burnt offerings—yet always “one male goat for a sin offering” (Numbers 29:15). • While the burnt offerings expressed worship and dedication, the single goat underscored the need for continual atonement throughout the festival’s joyful celebration. Why A Male Goat? • Levitical law consistently designates male goats for sin offerings (Leviticus 4:23–24; 16:5, 15). • Goats symbolize substitution: the animal bears the guilt of the people and dies in their place. • The masculine, unblemished goat mirrors God’s demand for a flawless substitute to satisfy divine justice. The Lone Goat Amid Many Sacrifices • Only one goat was required, highlighting that atonement is singular and sufficient—no pile of goats, just one. • Its placement “in addition to the regular burnt offering” (Numbers 29:15) stresses that forgiveness must precede and undergird all other worship. • The daily repetition (Numbers 29:19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38) emphasizes ongoing human sinfulness and God’s gracious, daily provision of cleansing. Echoes Of Atonement In Scripture • “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). • The Day of Atonement likewise employs goats, one slain, one released, to portray removal of guilt (Leviticus 16). • Isaiah 53:6 anticipates the ultimate Substitute: “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Foreshadowing Christ • The single male goat points to the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus: – “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). – Like the goat, Christ bore sin outside the camp (Hebrews 13:11-12). • The repetitive offering in Numbers foreshadows but cannot complete redemption; Christ fulfills it perfectly (Hebrews 10:1-10). Takeaway For Today • God weaves the promise of a perfect, singular atonement throughout the Old Testament. • Every joyful gathering with the Lord must rest on His provision for sin. • Confidence in worship flows from trusting the all-sufficient sacrifice the male goat prefigured—the shed blood of Jesus, fully cleansing those who believe (1 John 1:7). |
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