Daily Devotional Tuesday 6th October 2020
by William Moody
Numbers 29:1–6
Offerings for the Feast of Trumpets
29:1 “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, 2 and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the LORD: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 3 also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah1 for the bull, two tenths for the ram, 4 and one tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5 with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.
Footnotes
[1] 29:3
An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters (ESV)
The seventh month in the Jewish calendar was to be a special month, with the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles being in this month. The month began on what by today’s calendar, is late September.
To mark the beginning of this special month there was the Feast of Trumpets (v1-6). It was to be a day with special additional offerings and it also was marked with the sounding of trumpets.
The sounding of trumpets was used to call people to war, to worship and to break camp. They were also used when burnt offerings were made at the tabernacle, to seek God’s favour (see Numbers 10 v10).
The feast of trumpets marked the beginning of days of preparation or awe, leading up to the Day of Atonement, that was on the tenth day of the month.
Trumpets are also associated with the return of Jesus (see 1 Thessalonians 4 v16) and the fulfilment of God’s purposes on earth (see Revelation 8 v6- 9 v21). The trumpets in Revelation are particularly associated with judgment.
The Feast of Trumpets reminds us that in life, we are not to drift along in any old way. There are regularly times when we need to pause and take stock of where we are before God. Now is time for you to do that. In the light of Jesus’ return, speak to God about your life and where you stand with the Lord.
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