2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
September 18, 2019
Numbers 7
Chapter 7:1-3. This chapter is the second longest chapter in the bible after Psalm 119. This chapter talks about what the individual tribes of Israel gave in order to support the work of God. Chapter 7 is probably the most repetitive chapter in the bible. Most of this chapter effectively says Israelite tribe "x" made a donation to help the priests serve God. They gave a specific amount of gold, a specific amount of silver and gave a specific quantity of animals and food to help the priests. Then the next paragraph of this chapter says tribe "y" gave the exact same quantity of those same items. This chapter repeats that exact same story for each of the tribes of Israel, other than the "priestly tribe.” Know that the text goes into great detail to repeat the exact same information that each tribe gave. The book of Numbers is out of chronological order here. This special offering may have happened before the events of Numbers l. Chapter 7 takes place at the same time that Exodus 40 takes place. In both of these chapters, it mentions the tabernacle structure being finished. That leads to these verses. They say in effect, once the structure was built, Moses "anointed" it. Then the leaders of the tribes of Israel brought forth their gifts once the structure was built and once Moses declared, "it is now ready to be used.” At this point, we can actually talk about the gifts themselves that were brought by the twelve tribes of Israel. In these verses, it says the leaders from each of the twelve tribes brought a total of six carts and twelve oxen. In modern terms, it would be like saying that they brought six pickup trucks for the priests to haul this portable tabernacle around. Notice this gift was not a requirement. They presented it out of gratitude for God rescuing them out of slavery. Also, notice the tribes worked together. It wasn't like "Tribe #1” gave this cart and "Tribe #2" gave three oxen. The idea is that all the tribes worked together and the leaders brought this total of six carts and 12 oxen to pull the 12 carts. It is interesting to note that this was not a command. As far as we know, Moses never commanded this to be brought. The Israelites just thought, this would be a good idea and it was a practical gift to be brought. The point for you and I is we look around our church or our community and we see a need and then God calls on us to do our best to fulfill that need. That is what is happening here. Why repeat the exact same story over and over again in this chapter? The only difference in every single paragraph is the name of the tribe that made each gift and who was the leader of that tribe. One reason is to show that it takes the entire community to support God's work. Another reason is to show that God cares about all believers. That is why the leaders of each tribe were specifically listed as well as the name of each tribe.
Verses 4-9. The LORD said to Moses, "Accept these from them, that they may be used in the work at the Tent of Meeting. Give them to the Levites as each man's work requires.” To understand these verses, remember that God instructed Moses on how to build this portable tabernacle structure. When these gifts of carts and oxen to pull the disassembled tabernacle were given, Moses sought God whether or not this gift is ok. God tells Moses to accept these gifts. This effort shows that God's desire to be worshipped is a community effort. Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites. He gave two carts and four oxen to the Gershonites, as their work required, and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites, as their work required. They were all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. But Moses did not give any to the Kohathites, because they were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, for which they were responsible. The Levites who camped to the south of the tabernacle. They were supposed to carry the interior items, (i.e., the ark itself, the oil based candlestick, the sacrificial alter, the prayer alter, etc.) on their shoulders. Many of these items had sticks placed through them so they could be carried. That is why this group (the Kohathites) that didn't get any carts as they had the shoulder-burden. The point here is that Moses, the civil leader of the group did not get a specific command from God on how to distribute these carts and gifts, but he did the logical thing based on needs and based on what God did command as far as one group bearing the important items on our shoulders.
Verses 10-11. Twelve leaders of the twelve tribes were to bring dedication gifts to the tabernacle, one on each day for twelve days. This dedication is "God ordained.” Verse 11 said that God commanded that each tribe, one day at a time, present an offering. The repetition of these offerings teaches that some planning went into this giving. Since each tribe gave the exact same gift, the tribal leaders must have worked as a team to figure out what to give and what order to present it. Since each gift was a specific amount of gold and other things, the leaders had to plan all of this. Notice the tribes all gave the same amount.
Verses 12-88. Each Tribal leader brought a silver platter and a silver bowl, each full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; a gold pan with incense, a bull, a ram, a male lamb, a young goat, two oxen, five rams, five adult goats, and five more lambs. Each silver plate weighed about three pounds, each silver bowl about two pounds, and a gold shovel about four ounces. Clearly, this was generous giving. Promised Land people are generous, because they trust in a God who promised to meet all their needs. Each tribal leader brought exactly the same offering over the twelve days. Clearly, this was humble giving. By requiring the same gift from every tribe, God made sure that no tribe or tribal leader glorified himself through his giving. We must resist the tendency to give in order to be seen of men. Promised Land people care about God's glory, not their own. The beautiful thing about this is that this shows God treating all the tribes equally.
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