How often do you need to eat?
Usually once per day is enough to keep you alive. Twice or even three times means you have plenty.
There is a very interesting statement Abba makes near the beginning of Numbers 28:
2 Tell them, ‘You are to take care to offer me at the proper time the food presented to me as offerings made by fire, providing a fragrant aroma for me.’
Does God need to eat? And if so, is He hungrier on certain days than others? And no judgment, but wine everyday seems to go against what we’ve all been taught about healthy living.
Before we look further into this, let’s see what all is on the menu throughout the year. Here is a count of the food offerings we are to bring Abba throughout the year:
At minimum, food offerings are brought twice daily. A humble meal consisting of lamb, bread, and wine. On Shabbat, there is a double portion. On Rosh Chodesh and every appointed time, we up the menu to include steak and “aged” lamb (i.e., a ram). And even then, some days are VERY heavy. You might even call it a feast.
So what is this “food” that’s such a fragrant aroma to Him? Simply speaking, it’s fellowship. It’s sharing a meal with His covenant love -- you.
And what is it we bring to Him? Let’s open up what these offerings represent.
Here is a summary of what all we are to bring: lambs, rams, bulls, goats, fine flour, olive oil, and wine. Let’s briefly discuss what each of these represent, the cost, why it matters, and most importantly, why it should be our joy to bring these to Him:
What it represents
The lamb represents ordinary life surrendered daily. It is young, untested, dependent, not a display of power but of trust. Lamb offerings dominate the daily, weekly, and festival rhythms because covenant life is sustained by consistent faithfulness, not dramatic moments.
Why it is costly
A one-year-old lamb represents: a full year of feeding and protection, future breeding potential, and tomorrow’s provision Offering a lamb is not surplus, it is giving away tomorrow’s security.
Why it matters to Abba
God is not impressed by strength here; He is honored by dependence. The lamb says, “I trust You to provide again tomorrow.” This is why lambs anchor the sacrificial system. They form the baseline of covenant trust.
Why it should be our joy
Daily surrender frees us from hoarding life. Joy comes when provision is no longer our god. The lamb teaches us that faithfulness is not heroic, it is habitual.
What it represents
The ram represents mature strength placed under God’s authority. This is not innocence, but power yielded. Rams appear at ordinations, covenant confirmations, and major feasts because they symbolize responsibility offered back to God.
Why it is costly
A ram is fully grown, reproductively valuable, and protective of the flock. Offering a ram is costly because it removes leadership potential and future increase from one’s herd.
Why it matters to God
God does not only want surrendered weakness, He wants surrendered strength. Rams say, “Even what makes me capable, influential, and productive belongs to You.”
Why it should be our joy
True freedom comes when strength is no longer self-serving. Giving up authority to God is not loss, it is alignment. Joy follows when power is used for life, not control.
What it represents
Bulls represent productive power and wealth. They are the engines of agriculture, plowing fields, producing food, enabling prosperity. Bulls appear in national moments, communal repentance, and major festivals.
Why it is costly
A bull represents years of labor investment, economic stability, and future productivity. Offering a bull is the equivalent of offering capital, not cash.
Why it matters to God
God is teaching Israel that prosperity must never become sovereignty. Wealth is not neutral, it shapes allegiance. Bulls offered to God declare that economic power does not rule the people.
Why it should be our joy
Joy comes when abundance becomes a tool, not a master. Giving wealth away reorders the heart and keeps provision from becoming identity.
What it represents
The goat is consistently tied to sin offerings. It represents the cost of disorder and what it takes to repair breach and restore alignment.
Why it is costly
Sin always costs something: a life, time, resources, innocence. The goat reminds Israel that forgiveness is never abstract.
Why it matters to God
God refuses to let sin be treated lightly. Repair requires acknowledgment, substitution, and humility.
Why it should be our joy
Joy grows when sin is dealt with honestly. The goat teaches us that unconfessed sin is heavier than repentance. Freedom follows truth.
What it represents
Grain offerings represent human work: planting, harvesting, grinding, preparing. Unlike animals, this is the product of time and effort, not life itself.
Why it is costly
Grain requires patience, skill, planning, and endurance. You can’t rush flour.
Why it matters to God
God receives not just life, but labor. Work itself becomes worship when it is returned to Him.
Why it should be our joy
Joy comes when work is no longer just survival, but participation in God’s provision. Grain offerings say, “My effort belongs to You.”
What it represents
Oil symbolizes richness, anointing, and vitality. It enhances grain; it is never offered alone. Oil represents the best part, not leftovers.
Why it is costly
Oil requires: crushing, processing, and patience. It is concentrated value.
Why it matters to God
God is honored by quality, not excess. Oil says, “I give You what makes life rich, not just what keeps it running.”
Why it should be our joy
Joy comes when excellence is offered freely. God does not need our oil, we need to give it to remain free.
What it represents
Wine represents joy poured out. It accompanies offerings as celebration, not obligation.
Why it is costly
Wine takes time, patience, risk, and delayed gratification. It cannot be rushed.
Why it matters to God
God does not merely accept duty, He welcomes joy. Wine declares that covenant life is meant to be celebrated, not endured.
Why it should be our joy
Joy multiplies when it is shared. Wine teaches us that gratitude expressed is joy completed.
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In our modern day, we live under the impression that all you need to do is go to the market, pick these things up with our money, then drop it off at church. That’s today’s way of giving. But that’s not how it really worked. These things were personal. Every offering trained us to say:
“My life is not mine”
“My strength is not mine”
“My work is not mine”
“My joy is not mine”
And paradoxically, that is where shalom is found. The offerings teach us that life, strength, labor, wealth, and joy only become whole when they are willingly returned to God. And that surrender is not loss, but the restoration of shalom.
So what is it Abba really wants us to bring?
Us. All of us.
Let’s distill these offerings down and see what they mean for us today:
Twice daily, we give to Him. We double that on Shabbat. We then give even more at the appointed times. And this isn’t simply an exercise in discipline. It also isn’t a checklist for us to gain His favor. It’s how shalom permeates every nook and cranny within our lives. We can’t escape it.
He doesn’t need these things to be sustained as the King of the Universe. He wants them because they are proof that we see Him as such. This is a fragrant aroma to Him.
Avraham was set to give up the son of promise when, at the last minute, a ram was substituted showcasing mature strength, responsibility and authority being given over to his Abba. Oh, how fragrant that was! So fragrant, in fact, that you and I are standing here today blessed because of it.
All He asks of us is to turn over to Him our current provision, future provision, our work, our time, and greater still, our joy. Bring it and continue to bring it. Everyday, forever.
They say that what you give is what you get.
Say with me today: “I give my life away”