Rythms of Remembrance

Rhythms of Remembrance

Intro

SLIDE 1

PRAY!

Good evening!

I’m Bruce.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Swag from the retreat — if you paid for it already and haven’t picked it up, please do so. Shinelle will be here to help you out with that.

2. “Don’t go alone angel tree”

bless Young adults who have aged out of the foster care system

grab an envelope from the tree in the lobby, fill it with a gift card and a message of encouragement. (Kenya or Jess) until dec 17

3. Dessert contest - See Anthony at the back, voting will happen after the message

Continue on our Journey through Numbers, where we see how although the Israelites were wandering through the desert, they were never deserted by God.

SLIDE 2

At this point, we’re wrapping up the book.

Camping out in the plains of Moab, just on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

Moses knows their time in the desert is coming to an end, so he’s taking it upon himself to teach the new generation before they enter into the promised land …

Moses doesn’t join them in the land, so he has to teach them all these important things one last time before they go on without him.

This particular lesson: Rhythms of Remembrance

SLIDE 3

This week we get to celebrate Thanksgiving.

One of my favorite holidays of the year, because it’s one when, if done correctly, we take a step back from our busy lives and we consider, or remember, the things that we’re thankful for.

Whether that’s:

family

friends

a church community

food on our table

good health

another year with that loved one who’s final days seem to be right over the horizon

a God who loves us, who died for us, and raised us up anew with Him.

so many things to be thankful for.

Over the course of life, we forget. So we actively set time aside to remember.

In the US there are 11 Federal Holidays

Each of those, aside from maybe New Year’s Day, was created to commemorate (to bring to remembrance) something significant that happened in the past.

The US didn’t come up with the idea of holidays.

If anything, the US commodified holidays, turning holidays into a business for capital gain rather than for a healthy remembrance of our collective past.

The word “Holiday” itself comes from “holy day”

meaning it was a day that was “set apart” from all the others.

And what we see here is that Israel had a lot of holidays.

Randy Alcorn, a Christian author (The Treasure Principle and other good books), once estimated that there are 90 days that are set apart in the Jewish Calendar.

25% of their entire year was dedicated to celebration and feasts, eating and drinking, dancing, laughing, storytelling, offering sacrifices, and all the other things that accompanied commemorating the work of God in Israel’s history.

So open your Bibles to Numbers 28.

LET’S GO!

Let’s learn some cool things about God.

Numbers 28:1-2 (NASB95)

Numbers 28:1–2 ESV

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’

Just kidding, I’m not going to read through all of this.

We’re going to jump through the text and look at the individual things that Moses talks about:

SLIDE 4

The Eight Types of Offerings

He gives us 8 different types of “holy days” to consider based on when sacrifices are offered to God:

Daily Offering, which tells us that TODAY is holy.

Sabbath Offering, weekly offering to God.

Monthly Offering, monthly offering to God.

The Passover

The Festival of Weeks

Festival of Trumpets

Day of Atonement

Festival of Tabernacles

We’re going to look at each of these, very quickly.

Then I’m going to wrap it all up with a principle that I want you to take home with you tonight, especially as we step into this holiday-packed season.

Daily Offering SLIDE 5

The Bible calls these daily sacrifices a “Pleasing Aroma” to the Lord...

These daily offerings were meant to maintain a continuous expression of worship TO and fellowship WITH God, as a TANGIBLE reminder of God’s presence among His people and their dependence upon Him for all things.

2 Lambs, every day. One morning, one evening. (All animal sacrifices must be without blemish — that’s why it was a big deal when Israel started offering blind animals to God as their sacrifice)

1/10 Ephah of flour mixed with olive oil. (Ephah — about 4 gallons)

on the slide, it’ll say 2/10 because it’s 1/10 per animal that it’s associated with. So here, each lamb is accompanied by 1/10 of an Ephah and 1/4 of a Hin, so 2/10 and 2/4 or 1/2.

1/4 Hin of fermented drink (wine) (Hin — a little more than 1 gallon)

This happened EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Each day there was 2 burnt offerings, 2 grain offerings, and 2 drink offerings…

So every day there were 6 opportunities to remember the Lord.

*NEXT SLIDE*

Sabbath Offering SLIDE 6

The Sabbath is a weekly day of rest and worship observed on the seventh day of each week.

From sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.

This commemorates the work of God to create the universe. Remember, Genesis 2, God created everything in 6 days, and He rested on the Seventh.

The Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between God and His people, intended to renew the people of Israel by giving them time for reflection, worship, by keeping them from doing any regular work. Reference: Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15.

Similar to the daily offering:

One lamb in the morning and one lamb at twilight a burnt offerings to the Lord

both lambs are accompanied by a grain offering (2/10 of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a olive oil. (both lambs without defect)

This is done in ADDITION to the regular (daily) burnt offering and its drink offering.

So if you’re keeping track, on the Sabbath there are 4 burnt offerings, 4 grain offerings, and 2 drink offerings.

That’s 10 opportunities to remember the Lord on the Sabbath.

*NEXT SLIDE*

Monthly Offering SLIDE 7

First of the Month (with the new moon):

+2 Bulls

+1 Ram

+7 one-year-old lambs

Each bull is accompanied by a grain offering (3/10 of an ephah of the finest flower mixed with oil)

Each bull accompanied by a drink offering of half a hin of wine

Each ram is accompanied by a grain offering (2/10 of an ephah of the finest flower mixed with oil)

Each ram is accompanied by a drink offering of 1/3 of a hin of wine

Each lamb is accompanied by a grain offering (1/10 of an ephah of the finest flower mixed with oil)

Each lamb is accompanied by a drink offering of a 1/4 of a hin of wine

+ Daily Offerings

+ One male goat for atonement

13 Burnt offerings, 12 grain offerings, and 12 drink offerings

On the First of Every Month, there were 37 opportunities to remember the Lord.

*NEXT SLIDE*

The Passover Offering SLIDE 8

The Passover commemorates Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt when God "passed over" the houses marked with lamb's blood during the tenth plague. Reference: Exodus 12:1-28; Leviticus 23:4-8.

7 days of Celebration (this is what they were celebrating when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and then later died — this sort of coincides with Holy Week — we’ll touch on this later.)

Starts at sundown after the 14th day of the first month

All days: eating unleavened bread (reminder of how swiftly they had to leave Egypt, they weren’t able to let the bread rise)

Day 1: A sacred assembly with no regular work. A festival (first full day - 15th day)

+2 Bulls

+1 Ram

+7 one-year-old lambs

Bulls accompanied by 3/10 of an ephah of flour mixed with oil

Rams accompanied by 2/10

Lambs accompanied by 1/10

+ One male goat as a sin offering to make atonement

+ Daily Offering

Days 2-6: Same offerings as Day 1, just without the sacred assembly and abstention from work.

Day 7: Same offerings as the other days, but there’s a sacred assembly with no regular work, like Day 1.

(Lots of offerings) Not gonna do the math for how many offerings during the Passover celebration, I’ll show you my calculations for all offerings to God at the end of this message.

*NEXT SLIDE*

The Festival of Weeks Offering SLIDE 9

The Festival of Weeks, also called Pentecost, occurs 50 days after Passover and celebrates the firstfruits of the wheat harvest and the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. It is a time of thanksgiving and presenting offerings to God.

On the day of firstfruits (first day of the harvest)

Hold a sacred assembly with no regular work

+2 Bulls

+1 Ram

+7 one-year-old lambs

Bulls accompanied by 3/10 of an ephah of flour mixed with oil

Rams accompanied by 2/10

Lambs accompanied by 1/10

+ One male goat as a sin offering to make atonement

+ Daily Offering

*NEXT SLIDE*

Festival of Trumpets Offering SLIDE 10

The Festival of Trumpets marks the beginning of the civil year with a sacred assembly and trumpet blasts. It is a call to worship and repentance, preparing for the Day of Atonement. Reference: Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6.

1st day of the Seventh month (this month is packed with holidays, kinda like that 40 day stretch between Thanksgiving and New Years here in America)

Sacred assembly with no regular work.

+1 Bull

+1 Ram

+7 one-year-old lambs

Bulls accompanied by 3/10 of an ephah of flour mixed with oil

Rams accompanied by 2/10

Lambs accompanied by 1/10

+ One male goat as a sin offering to make atonement

+ Daily Offering

*NEXT SLIDE*

Day of Atonement Offering SLIDE 11

The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, is a solemn day of fasting and repentance when the high priest enters the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the nation with blood sacrifices. Reference: Leviticus 16:1-34; Leviticus 23:26-32.

10th day of the Seventh month

Deny yourselves (fast) and do no work

+1 Bull

+1 Ram

+7 one-year-old lambs

Bulls accompanied by 3/10 of an ephah of flour mixed with oil

Rams accompanied by 2/10

Lambs accompanied by 1/10

+ One male goat as a sin offering to make atonement

+ Daily Offering

*NEXT SLIDE*

Festival of Tabernacles Offerings SLIDE 12

The Festival of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, is a week-long celebration of God's provision during Israel's wilderness journey (the Book of Numbers — it’s commemorating what they have just gone through and they’re about to leave). Reference: Leviticus 23:33-43; Deuteronomy 16:13-15.

15th day of the seventh month, when they hold sacred assembly and do no regular work

7- day Festival

Day 1 Burnt offerings

+13 young bulls (explain difference in days)

3/10 ephah flour mixed with oil

+2 rams

2/10 flour mix

+14 male lambs a year old

1/10 flour mix

+ 1 male goat as sin offerings

+ daily offerings

Day 2, 12 bulls and everything else the same

Day 3, 11 bulls and everything else the same

Day 4, 10 bulls, +

Day 5, 9 bulls, +

Day 6, 8 bulls, +

Day 7, 7 bulls, +

Day 8

Festival closes with a sacred assembly and no regular work

+1 young bulls

3/10 ephah flour mixed with oil

+1 rams

2/10 flour mix

+7 male lambs a year old

1/10 flour mix

+ 1 male goat as sin offerings

+ daily offerings

That’s a LOT of sacrifice, right? How much, exactly, do you ask?

*NEXT SLIDE*

Final Calculations

Accounted for in Numbers 28-29 SLIDE 13

91 Bulls, 26 Rams, 224 Lambs, 19 Goats, 26.6 Ephahs of grain, 55.5 Hins of wine/fermented drink.

Numbers 28 & 29 only accounts for about 20 days worth of offerings.

Accounting for ALL Days SLIDE 14

113 Bulls, 37 Rams, 1179 lambs, 30 goats (31 if you count the scapegoat in Leviticus 16), 61.5 Ephahs of grain (~250 gallons), and about 90 Hins of wine/fermented drink (about 100 gallons).

That’s how much they offered to the Lord each year.

Grand total of about 1500 sacrificial offerings to the Lord throughout the calendar year.

That’s a lot, each of those offerings is significant, it took effort to do that.

They had to bring the animals to the temple, they had to bring the grain and drink to the temple.

They had to slaughter the animals, they had to burn the animals, it wasn’t like what we have today where we can stop in the middle of our day and say, “My life is yours, God.” “I’m a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to you, this is my spiritual act of worship!”

What I want you to consider is how much dedication it required for the Israelites to do this the right way.

It was a lot.

Application

Although we might not need the dedication required to bring animals to the temple for slaughter, we do need to be willing to dedicate significant time in our lives to remember what God has done.

Each of these events existed in the context of bringing to remembrance the works of God, which left the Israelites joyful.

That’s what God wants… Remember, in the presence of God there is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Now, we’re about to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What better way to celebrate these two “Holidays” than to set them apart to commemorate what God has done.

Christmas is easy, we celebrate the coming of Jesus as a baby.

We commemorate His birth and we consider all of the blessings that exist because God was willing to humble Himself and come to earth as a human being to be a sin offering.

For thanksgiving, make a list of things you’re specifically thankful to God for doing.

I’ll start the list for you right now:

The Israelites celebrated Passover to commemorate when the wrath of God passed over the homes of those who had placed the blood of an unblemished 1-year-old sheep on their doorposts.

Then God removed the Israelites from Egypt, saving them from their captors, bringing them into the desert, and leading them to the Promised Land.

Now we, as Christians in the room, celebrate Passover, too.

Jesus, who lived a life with no sin became a sin offering for our behalf. He was an unblemished sheep led to be slaughtered.

He was crucified on Good Friday, what the Jews of the time called preparation day, because they were preparing for the celebration that started at sundown, better known as Passover.

And at the exact same time the Jewish priest was offering the sacrifice of atonement in the temple, Jesus breathed His last breath.

Jesus, the unblemished lamb, the atoning sacrifice, was slaughtered so that His blood might be displayed on our doorposts, so that the wrath of God/God’s judgment would PASS OVER each of us, that God would set us free from our captors, and that He would lead us triumphantly into the promised land.

This is true for every single one of us who trusts in Jesus.

If you haven’t taken that step of faith yet, I encourage you to consider asking yourself what’s holding you back.

Numbers 28-29 might be easy for us to skip over, or read super quickly because it’s just a list of sacrifices...

But if you look at it a little more deeply, you can see God’s intention for His people (including you and me) to regularly step back from daily routines to refocus on Him.

As we step into this holiday season, I pray that you wouldn’t just let it pass on by.

These may be federal holidays established by the US government, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use them to worship our God.

Although the sacrificial system is no longer a thing, praise God, we should still take the example of the Israelites and set aside DAILY, WEEKLY, and SEASONAL times for us to reflect on God, experience renewal through Him, and allow that to drive the rest of our lives.

Think of these moments that you set aside as visiting a gas station and putting more gas in your car. Wouldn’t it be nice to always have your tank on Full?

The more often you stop at a gas station, the less time your tank has to consume gas.

I hope and pray that during this holiday season you’d approach God in worship and experience a balance of life and a deep renewal of your soul.

That you might experience what it means to have joy in the PRESENCE of God.

There will be some discussion questions on the screen that you can choose to talk through or not, it’s up to you.

In the meantime, the judges will choose between the desserts and select our winner.

I’ll come back up after a little while to announce our winner and close us out.

I hope you enjoy your evening! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Let’s pray