Numbers 28:2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season
I don’t know about you, but I love seasons. I love the change of weather, the change of pace, and the change of the work I am doing. We recently began our fall season at the Bill Rice Ranch, and I asked my friends one morning, “Hey, have you thought much about fall?” Most of us have. A lot of us are thinking about football and maybe soccer at this time of year. Maybe you have thought about apples and apple pie, pumpkins and pumpkin pie, and the food that comes with the fall. Maybe you have thought about the weather, the cooling of the days, the nice, crisp mornings, and the change of the leaves. I do love seasons.
Numbers 28 and 29 are about seasons in the sense that there is a new generation being taught the religious calendar, the regular offerings and the annual feasts that were to be recognized by the nation of Israel. There are three things to notice here. First, these celebrations were to God. They weren’t for the people of Israel; they were from the people of Israel to God. Verse 2 says, “Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.” These chapters are about seasons, sacrifices, and the preeminent God, God Jehovah, who alone is worthy of these sacrifices. So, these sacrifices were to God. The New Testament says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Second, these sacrifices and feasts were to be with others. Numbers 28:18 mentions a holy convocation, a coming together for a word. They weren’t to do it alone but with the rest of the people of the nation of Israel. It was a special time, a set apart and holy time. Numbers 29:35 calls this a “solemn assembly.” This occasion was not to ask, “What is religion to you? How do you feel and how do you worship God?” No, God told them how they were to worship, and they were to worship together. Today, the Bible tells us that we are not to neglect gathering together as a body of believers. In short, church is important for this very reason.
Third, they were to worship God “after the manner.” So, the worship was to God, with others, and after a certain manner. Numbers 29:37 says that their sacrifices were to be “according to their number, after the manner.” It was prescribed by God. It wasn’t something they had to wonder about or come up with on their own.
The bottom line is that you need to build your seasons around God. Israel had various offerings, feasts, and sacrifices. All of them were to God, with others, and after the manner God had given. So, whatever the season, build the season around God. It is fall, so we are thinking about food, sports, and weather. What about God? We have so totally disjoined God from the universe that He has created. That is not the way it is to be.
Let me give you three examples. Think about vacation. I am going on vacation soon because I always do this time of year. Technically speaking, there is a difference between a vacation and a holiday. The word holiday comes from the words “holy day.” In other words, it is not just a break; it is a break with a purpose, for a reason. Seventeen times these chapters mention offerings and so on that were called regular, ordinary, or continual. So, there is a time when we are to do no manner of servile or common work. There were days, times, and seasons that were set apart to God.
This is not to say that you cannot take a vacation, but vacation is not the time to take a break from God, from thinking, or from God’s Word. No, vacation is very important. I didn’t realize how important vacation was to my dad and mom when I was growing up, but I do now. When I say they took it seriously, I don’t mean it was a somber time. It was a wonderful, relaxing, refreshing time that had a purpose. The purpose was that we might better serve God. So, there is a difference between a vacation and a holy day.
Second, there is a difference between a party and a celebration. I have mentioned this many a time, but I will say it again. A party needs only an excuse; a celebration demands a reason. Recently, I was driving the back roads around my home after church on Sunday morning, which I do not normally do on Sundays, and I was shocked at how many people were on the back roads even on a Sunday afternoon. I often enjoy a relaxing drive on the back roads on Saturday afternoons and at that time they can be relatively vacant, but on Sunday everyone and their brother was out. I thought, “Where are all these people going?” I’m not trying to be harsh, but to most of these people, Sunday was just another day. There was nothing special about it.
If you know God, then take Sunday seriously. For that matter, take Saturday seriously. Don’t squander your time. I’m not saying you shouldn’t sleep in. I’m saying you shouldn’t squander your time in purposelessness. You should rest, recharge, and refresh. As for Sunday, I am not going to get what I should out of Sunday morning if I stay up really late on Saturday night. I should take Sundays seriously. There is a difference between a vacation and a holy day. There is a difference between a party and a celebration. Don’t take God out of your life. Build your seasons around God.
Finally, there is a difference between a routine and a ritual. A routine can simply be a habit, a mindless thing that has no reason or purpose. Sometimes things that should be a ritual, a habit with purpose and significance, become routine, like thanking the Lord for the food. I think you should thank Him, that should be a habit, but it should be a habit with a reason. There ought to be some ritual to it. I talked to someone recently who told me about her prayer walk in the morning. She just walks, but she calls it a prayer walk because while she walks, she is talking to God. Habits are automatic. Most of us don’t even know what habits we have, but rituals recognize the presence of God.
So, rituals are important to God. They ought to be important to you. Do you have vacations, parties, and routines or holy days, celebrations, and rituals? Build your seasons around the living God.