Numbers 27

v1-11: The daughters of Zelophehad asked that they might have their father’s allotted share in the land of Canaan. This request showed that they had “a strong faith in the power and promise of God concerning the giving of the land of Canaan to Israel. Even though it was still unconquered, untouched, and in the full possession of its indigenous people, they ask for their share as if it were already theirs.” Following their example, our desire should be to “share in the heavenly inheritance” that God gives to all whose faith is in Christ.

v12-14: “Moses must die, but death does not cut him off.” He is given a sight of Canaan to encourage him that he will see “the better country, that is, the heavenly one.” We can think about our deaths without fear, and even be happy at its prospect because it will gather us to those who have gone before us “and to the rest they [are] enjoying.”

v15-23: “We should be concerned, both in our prayers and in our actions, for the rising generation, that religious faith may prosper, that when we have died God’s kingdom might be not only maintained but also advanced.” Moses prays for his successor out of a concern for the people of Israel that if they were left without a leader to shepherd them, the people would “wander off and become vulnerable to their enemies.” Before God appointed Joshua as his successor, “he stirred Moses to pray for it.”

Numbers 28

v1-8: Laws concerning offerings are repeated here. With “a new generation of people, most of whom had not been born when the former laws were given, and so that they might not have an excuse, they not only have these laws written down to be read to them, but they also have them repeated from God himself and put more concisely and clearly.” Here is a reminder of the need for the gospel to be passed on to the next generation, something we all have a responsibility for doing.

v9-15: The offerings given on the Sabbath must be doubled. The Lord’s Day is good time for us to recommit ourselves to the Lord.

v16-31: “On each of the seven days” of unleavened bread which followed the Passover, “they were to be generous in their sacrifices as a sign of their great and constant thankfulness for their rescue from Egypt.” We are to offer “the sacrifice of praise, continually, and go on doing so” as those who have been saved from the Egypt of sin.