March 1, 2021
The Lord Provides Abundance
The Lord gives Moses a calendar of public sacrifices that emphasizes the importance of the principle of the Sabbath. Every seventh day the sacrifice doubles and the seventh month includes the Feast of Booths, the biggest celebration of the year.
In a typical year, as many as 113 bulls and 1,086 lambs would be offered in the sacrificial system. The sacrifice of so many animals was a demonstration of the richness of God’s provision to them through the years in the wilderness.
Numbers 30 deals with making vows to the Lord. Vows were often involved in the offering of a sacrifice and in times of war, and Israel is preparing for its campaign in Canaan. The Lord has proven faithful in fulfilling His promises to Israel, so they must be faithful in fulfilling their vows to Him.
Just as Jesus fed the 5,000 sons of Israel in a desolate place in Mark 6:30-43, He now feeds 4,000 Gentiles, showing that He is their bread of life as well.
In both scenes, there is a hungry multitude and a compassionate Jesus. Jesus approaches His disciples, but their hardness of heart prevented them from seeing the fullness of His mission.
The seven baskets leftover again showed that God’s provision to the Gentiles is complete. When Jesus warns about “this generation,” he refers to those who are blind to Jesus’ true identity (Deuteronomy 32:5). Jesus warns his disciples against also being blind to who He is, asking them to open the "eyes" and "ears" of their hearts to His identity.
Make It Personal
- On the Day of Atonement, the Israelites were to take time to consider the weight of their sin and also the means of redemption God had given: sacrifice. Thankfully, we no longer have to sacrifice animals for our sin but have the sacrifice of Jesus that pays our sin once and for all. He took our place and paid our debt. Take a moment to offer a prayer of gratitude that in Christ we are free and there is no condemnation for us (Romans 8).
- Like Jesus’ disciples, we can see God do something profound in our lives, only to forget about it when we face another scenario that seems impossible. In what ways do you need to trust Jesus and remember who He is today?