And all that are born in the land shall do these things thus, in presenting an offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah.
Numbers 15 gives laws for the offerings Israel would bring "when you come into the land." God spoke them right after He told the generation who refused that land that they would die in the wilderness. Verse 13 fixes the pattern. Every native-born Israelite brings these gifts God's way, as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
The placing of this chapter is its first lesson. God had just turned Israel back from Canaan, yet He speaks as though nothing had happened.
But in the middle of all this comes chapter 15. In it we learn that God goes on with His purpose, as calm and quiet as if the land had never been despised. For in the second verse He says, "When you come into the land of your dwellings, which I give to you." His purpose is as settled as if there had been no rebellion at all. ... Your rebellions would have sinned away the land, but I have given it to you. It is not a sin-offering you are to bring but a burnt-offering. You are accepted, and are going to worship Me there.
So the whole scene of verse 13 — worshippers bringing free gifts in the land — rests on mercy, not merit.
We have vows and freewill offerings, sacrifices of righteousness, and the wine of the Kingdom, all based on the sovereign grace which shines in the very first verse... The unbelief, the murmuring, the rebellion, are all over and all forgotten.
The verse says not only what to bring but how. A willing heart still needs God's instruction.
When it would be in their hearts to bring such an offering, then God Himself prescribes the way in which it was to be done. Sad to say, in our best moods and highest purposes we blunder badly. As everywhere, we need His thoughts to control and shape us.
"These things" in verse 13 means the animal together with the fine flour, oil and wine of verses 3–12.
Along with the burnt-offering, which is for acceptance, we must bring God the meal-offering too. The meal-offering speaks of Christ in His person and life. And the faith that does this will, if real, be fruitful.
The drink-offering follows the same rule from the other side.
But God commanded no drink-offering apart from the sacrifice... A whole Christ, as it were, must be before the worshipper before a drink-offering would be in place. When that was before the eye and the heart, they were not to hold back the drink-offering. They could then pour out the wine that cheers God and man. It was a token that in the Lord Jesus Christ, who lived and died, there was something that gave joy to God — and those who offered it could share that joy... And this was to hold good for Israel, for those born in the land, and for the stranger who lived among them as well.
A lamb called for one measure of flour, a ram for two, a bull for three. The gift grew with the size of the sacrifice.
The amounts that went with each offering were different. They teach us that the larger our grasp of the sacrifice of Christ, the greater our thankful response should be. Those born as natives in Israel were to bring such offerings (v. 13). In the same way, every born again person should respond to the value of the person and offering of the Lord Jesus.
Verse 13 speaks of the home-born. The next verses give the foreigner living among them the same rule.
See how "the branches run over the wall," in God's heart running out, as in verse 14, to the stranger... Here God is saying, I cannot have a person in My land and not a worshipper, not enjoying God. All must be happy there. If anyone is in the land of God, he must know the mind and temper of the God of the land. There is one law for all. God will be Himself, and make Himself known.
God does not give the outsider a lesser version of Israel's worship. He gives the same one.
The stranger is placed on the very same platform with Israel! "As you are, so shall the stranger be," and this, too, "before the Lord."... Israel had forfeited everything... but God's eternal purpose of grace must stand... On what ground? On the ground of sovereign mercy. Well, it is on the very same ground that "the stranger" shall be brought in.
- Purpose — These offering laws come right after Israel refused the land. Their rebellion did not cancel God's settled purpose.
- Pattern — A willing heart is not enough. God sets the manner, because our best intentions go wrong without His direction.
- Fullness — Sacrifice, flour, oil and wine belong together. A whole Christ, in life and in death, must be before the worshipper.
- Proportion — The measures rise with the size of the animal. A bigger grasp of Christ's offering brings a bigger response.
- Reach — The native-born sets the standard. God brings the stranger onto the same platform, on the same ground of mercy.
And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whoever be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah, -- as ye do, so shall he do.
Numbers 15 comes right after Israel refused the land and turned back. God still gives laws for the day they will live there, and one of them puts the outsider on Israel's own footing.
Notice where this law sits. It follows the worst moment in Israel's history. Its tone is not punishment but settled purpose.
The people had shown all this unbelief. God had declared that the earth would be filled with His glory, by the cutting off of the rebellious congregation. One might have supposed they had forfeited the land for ever. Yet in chapter 15 it is beautiful to see the Lord returning into the perfect rest of His fore-ordained counsels, and of His unchangeable being. He gives instructions about the time when the people will have entered the land He has given them. It speaks of the offerings of righteousness they are invited to bring to Him of their own free will, and of the wine of joy that was to go with these offerings. Since this is grace, the love of God reaches out beyond Israel. He brings the stranger near to His people, and makes one law for both.
The verse does not give the foreigner a lesser version of the ritual. It gives him the same one, whether he is passing through or settled for good. One commentator notices what is missing here. An earlier law about the Passover required the foreigner to be circumcised first (Exodus 12:48).
What a place for the stranger! What a lesson for Israel! The stranger stands on the very same platform as Israel! "As you are, so shall the stranger be," and this, too, "before the Lord." … But in Numbers 15 there is no mention of circumcision at all. Why? Not because such a point could ever be set aside. We believe the omission here is full of meaning. Israel had forfeited everything. God would set the rebellious generation aside and cut it off. But His eternal purpose of grace must stand, and all His promises must be fulfilled. … On what ground? On the ground of sovereign mercy. Well, it is on the very same ground that "the stranger" shall be brought in.
Commentators differ on how much that silence means. Another writer reads the law as still assuming the earlier rule, and draws a lesson for today:
It was understood that only those circumcised were to offer sacrifices. It is not mentioned here, yet Exodus 12:48 is clear. A stranger coming among Israelites must have all his males circumcised before eating the Passover. … This is just as true in the assembly of God today: there are to be no double standards.
The open door is not Israel's generosity. It is what God is like. He will not be one thing to the native and another to the newcomer.
See how God's heart runs over the wall to the stranger, as in verse 14. … Here God is saying, I cannot have a person in my land who is not a worshipper, not enjoying God. All must be happy there. If any person is in the land of God, he must know the mind and temper of the God of the land. There is one law for all. God will be Himself, and make Himself known.
The offering in this verse rises to God as a pleasing smell. It is not the offering that deals with sin; it is about acceptance.
In the sacrifice we are considering, sins are not laid on Him — that was the sin offering. Here is the perfectness, purity, and self-devotedness of the victim … rising as a pleasing aroma to God. In this acceptance — in the pleasing aroma of this sacrifice — we are presented to God. We are accepted in all the delight God finds in this sacrifice.
If one law covers both, ancestry cannot be what qualifies a person.
In all this, one thing is pressed especially: there is one law for the stranger and for the home-born. The grace that is in Christ welcomes all alike. What the Jew can only have on condition of faith is for the Gentile too, wherever there is faith.
One writer links this law to a promise in Isaiah about foreigners.
Since all is grace here, there is one law and manner for all. The stranger may share in this happy delight of approaching the Lord. Isaiah speaks in this way about foreigners in the purpose and grace of God: "these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." (Isaiah 56:7.)
- Cause — mercy. This law follows rebellion. Native or foreigner, the only ground anyone stands on is sovereign mercy.
- Gift — one law. Mercy produces a single standard: the same offering, the same manner, the same acceptance for all.
- Reach — the stranger. God's heart runs past the boundary; He will not have a person in His land who is not a worshipper.
- Condition — faith. Since the law is one, birth qualifies no one; faith qualifies anyone.
- Result — joy. The outsider is not just let in; he shares the gladness of approaching God.
As to the congregation, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an everlasting statute throughout your generations as ye are, so shall the stranger be, before Jehovah.
Numbers 15 comes right after Israel refused to enter the land. Even so, God speaks about the day they will offer sacrifices there. Into that promise He puts a rule about the outsider. The foreigner living among Israel comes under the same lasting statute as Israel itself.
These instructions come at a moment when the nation seemed to have thrown away every claim. One writer shows how God's return to His own settled purpose opens the door to the outsider.
After all this unbelief of the people... when you might have thought they had lost the land for ever, it is beautiful to see, in chapter 15, the Lord going back to the settled rest of the purposes He had fixed beforehand... The chapter speaks of the offerings of righteousness He invites them to bring Him of their own free will, and of the wine of joy that was to go with these offerings. And since this is grace, the love of God reaches out beyond Israel. He brings the stranger near to His people and makes one law for both.
The wording does not just allow the stranger to come near. It measures him by Israel. He stands there for the same reason Israel still stands at all.
God puts the stranger on the very same platform as Israel! "You and the sojourner shall be alike," and this, too, "before the LORD."... Israel had forfeited everything. God would set the rebellious generation aside and cut it off. But His eternal purpose of grace must stand, and He must keep all His promises... On what ground? On the ground of sovereign mercy. And it is on that very same ground that God brings in "the stranger."
The rule flows from what God is like. He will not have someone living on His ground and remaining a stranger to His joy.
See how "the branches run over the wall" — God's heart reaching out, as in verse 14, to the stranger. Christ said He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the poor Gentile woman appealed to the nature of God as a giver, and He could not turn her away, because He could not deny what He was. Here God is saying, I cannot have a person in My land who is not a worshipper, not enjoying God. All must be happy there... There is one law for all. God will be Himself, and make Himself known.
The one statute levels the terms of entry. Birth into Israel never gave anyone an easier route than the outsider had.
In all this it is also pressed home that there is one law for the stranger and for the home-born: the grace that is in Christ welcomes all alike. What the Jew can have only on the condition of faith is for the Gentile too, wherever there is faith.
Sharing the privileges meant sharing the obligations. One writer also answers a question this chapter leaves open: was the foreigner circumcised?
A stranger coming to live in Israel had to live under the same order as the Israelites (vv. 14-16). The rules of the offerings applied to him. It was understood that only those who were circumcised could offer sacrifices. Though it is not mentioned here, Exodus 12:48 is clear that a stranger living among Israelites had to have all his males circumcised before eating the Passover... "One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you" (Ex. 12:49). This is just as true in the assembly of God today: there are to be no double standards.
The statute held for every generation, and God's heart did not stop at Israel's borders. The same grace, one writer says, is why we stand near to God today.
So the heart of God always reached out, in His indescribable grace, beyond His chosen people, to provide blessing for the "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." We ourselves owe that wonderful place of nearness to this sovereign grace of His, and the close relationship into which He has brought us through the death and resurrection of Christ.
- One failure. Israel had forfeited everything. Yet God kept speaking of the land as theirs. Mercy, not merit, holds the promise open.
- One ground. The stranger comes in on the very same footing as Israel. The ground is sovereign mercy, so that he and Israel stand "alike before the LORD."
- One law. What the Jew could have only by faith is open to the outsider wherever there is faith. The statute levels the entrance for both.
- One standard. Equal privilege carries equal responsibility. The sojourner lived under the same order, with no double standards.
- One heart. God will not have someone in His land who is not a worshipper. That same reaching grace brings those once "without God in the world" near to Himself, through the death and resurrection of Christ.
One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
Numbers 15 comes right after Israel refused to enter the land. God's answer is to give rules for offerings "when you come into the land." Inside those rules sits a line that reaches past Israel: the same law covers the foreigner living among them.
Notice where this chapter sits. God had just sentenced the people to forty years of wandering. His next word to them assumes they will arrive.
The opening words of Numbers 15 are remarkable. God had just told the people that their stay in the wilderness would stretch to forty years. They tried, in self-will, to dodge this and push their way in at once, and the attempt failed completely. The next thing is a set of rules to take effect "when you come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you." In speaking this way, God made it plain that His purpose for them stood firm despite all they had done. He would bring them in at last.
This rule is no small legal footnote. One writer points to the ground God brings the outsider in on — the same ground that keeps Israel alive.
What a place for the stranger! What a lesson for Israel! The stranger is put on the very same platform with Israel! "As you are, so shall the stranger be," and this, too, "before the Lord." … Israel had forfeited everything. God would set aside and cut off the rebellious generation. But His eternal purpose of grace must stand, and He must keep every promise. All Israel shall be saved. They shall have the land, offer pure offerings, pay their vows, and taste the joy of the Kingdom. On what ground? On the ground of sovereign mercy. Well, it is on that very same ground that "the stranger" shall be brought in.
Why let a foreigner sacrifice at all? One writer answers from God's own character.
See how "the branches run over the wall," in God's heart running out, as in verse 14, to the stranger. Christ said He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the poor Gentile woman appealed to the nature of God as a giver. He could not refuse her, because He could not deny what He was. Here God is saying, I cannot have a person in My land, and not a worshipper, not enjoying God. All must be happy there. If anyone is in the land of God, he must know the mind and temper of the God of the land. There is one law for all. God will be Himself, and make Himself known.
Equal welcome carries equal duty.
A stranger coming to live in Israel was to be subject to the same order as the Israelites (vv. 14-16). The rules of the offerings applied to him. It was understood that only those who were circumcised could offer sacrifices, and though it is not mentioned here, Exodus 12:48 is clear that a stranger among Israelites must have all his males circumcised before eating the Passover. … This is just as true in the assembly of God today: there are to be no double standards. Anyone who does not want to come under the order of the assembly is by that very fact shutting himself out of its fellowship.
Mackintosh weighs that silence differently: "In Numbers 15 there is no mention of circumcision at all. And why? Is it that such a point could ever be waived? No; but we believe the omission here is full of meaning."
The principle is not left in the past. One writer applies it to the terms on which anyone comes to God now.
In all this the point is pressed hard: there is one law for the stranger and for the home-born. The grace that is in Christ welcomes all alike. What for the Jew can only be on the condition of faith is for the Gentile also wherever there is faith.
One writer traces that open door back to God's own heart.
The heart of God has always travelled out beyond His chosen people, in His indescribable grace. He moved to provide blessing for those who were "alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." We ourselves owe that wonderful place of nearness to this sovereignty of His grace, and the close relationship into which He has brought us through the death and resurrection of Christ.
- One purpose. God gives rules for a land Israel had just refused to enter. His plan stood firm despite their failure.
- One ground. The stranger comes in on the same footing that keeps Israel alive: sovereign mercy.
- One law. Equal access means equal duty. There are no double standards for the newcomer and the home-born.
- One God. He will not have anyone in His land who is not a worshipper. He means to be known on His own ground.
- One result. Faith is the one term, for Jew and Gentile alike. Those once without hope are brought near through the death and resurrection of Christ.