Numbers 28:30
And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you.
Original Language Analysis
Historical Context
The goat sin offering was standard for communal worship across Israel's festivals (Numbers 28:15,22,30; 29:5,11,16, etc.). Unlike burnt offerings (wholly consumed by fire), priests ate portions of sin offerings (Leviticus 6:24-26), symbolically bearing Israel's sin through consumption and intercession.
Questions for Reflection
- How does the requirement for sin offering even during joyful harvest celebration guard against presumptuous worship ignoring human sinfulness?
- What does pairing thanksgiving with atonement teach about the proper foundation for gratitude and celebration?
- How can contemporary worship maintain biblical balance between celebration and sobering recognition of sin requiring Christ's ongoing mediation?
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Analysis & Commentary
And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you—Beyond burnt and grain offerings, Pentecost required one male goat (שְׂעִיר־עִזִּים se'ir-izim) as sin offering to make atonement (לְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם lekhaper aleikhem, to cover/propitiate for you). Even joyful harvest celebration required recognition of human sinfulness requiring blood atonement—no worship approached God presuming on human merit.
This pattern—thanksgiving offerings paired with sin offerings—teaches that gratitude must flow through cleansed conscience. The New Testament reveals Christ as ultimate sin offering whose 'blood purges the conscience from dead works to serve the living God' (Hebrews 9:14). Celebratory worship resting on atoning sacrifice anticipates the Lord's Supper, where we give thanks 'for the body broken' and 'blood shed' for our sins.