“You shall have a tassel to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD.” Following the catastrophe of unbelief, God graciously provides instructions for when Israel finally enters the land. Grain offerings, drink offerings, and sin offerings are detailed. A man who gathers sticks on the Sabbath is put to death, demonstrating the seriousness of God’s commands. And tassels on garments serve as constant reminders of covenant faithfulness. In this chapter, we see that God’s law is meant to permeate all of life.

The Rev. David Boisclair, senior pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Overland, MO, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Numbers 15.

To learn more about Our Redeemer Lutheran, visit ourredeemerstl.org.

The Book of Numbers is far more than an ancient census report. It is the story of a people learning to trust God in the wilderness, and failing, and finding grace anyway.

In this series, host Pastor Phil Booe and guest pastors walk through the Old Testament book of Numbers chapter by chapter. We follow Israel from Sinai toward the Promised Land, through grumbling and rebellion, fiery serpents and a talking donkey, faithless spies and faithful priests. The journey is hard, the failures are many, and God remains faithful to a faithless people.

These ancient accounts point us to Christ. The bronze serpent lifted on a pole points to the cross. The rock struck for water points to the one struck for us. The high priest whose death frees the manslayer points to the Great High Priest whose death sets us free forever. Join us as we discover that the wilderness has more to teach us than we ever expected.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Numbers 15

Laws About Sacrifices

15 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, ³and you offer to the Lord from the herd or from the flock a food offering^[a] or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the Lord, ⁴then he who brings his offering shall offer to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah^[b] of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin^[c] of oil; ⁵and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb. ⁶Or for a ram, you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. ⁷And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁸And when you offer a bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to the Lord, ⁹then one shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil. ¹⁰And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

¹¹“Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each lamb or young goat. ¹²As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one, as many as there are. ¹³Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁴And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he shall do as you do. ¹⁵For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the Lord. ¹⁶One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

¹⁷The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you ¹⁹and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the Lord. ²⁰Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. ²¹Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord as a contribution throughout your generations.

Laws About Unintentional Sins

²²“But if you sin unintentionally,