Numbers 7: The Offerings of the Princes of Israel
1 Now it came to pass, when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, that he anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; so he anointed them and consecrated them. 2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, who were the leaders of the tribes and over those who were numbered, made an offering. 3 And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle. 4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 5 “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.” 6 So Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. 7 Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service; 8 and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because theirs was the service of the holy things, which they carried on their shoulders.10 Now the leaders offered the dedication offering for the altar when it was anointed; so the leaders offered their offering before the altar. 11 For the Lord said to Moses, “They shall offer their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”
[Read of the gifts of the leaders of Israel in their respective verses of Numbers, Chapter 7 on the respective days: 12-17 And the one who offered his offering ON THE FIRST DAY was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, from the tribe of JUDAH;18-23 ON THE SECOND DAY Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of ISSACHAR, presented an offering; 24-29 ON THE THIRD DAY Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the children of ZEBULUN, presented an offering;30-35 ON THE FOURTH DAY Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the children of REUBEN, presented an offering; 36-41 ON THE FIFTH DAY Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the children of SIMEON, presented an offering; 42-47 ON THE SIXTH DAY Eliasaph the son of Deuel, leader of the children of GAD, presented an offering; 48-53 ON THE SEVENTH DAY Elishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the children of EPHPHRAIM, presented an offering; 54-59 ON THE EIGHTH DAYGamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the children of MANASSEH, presented an offering; 60-65 ON THE NINETH DAY Abidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the children of BENJAMIN, presented an offering; 66-71 ON THE TENTH DAY Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the children of DAN, presented an offering.; 72-77 ON THE ELEVENTH DAY Pagiel the son of Ocran, leader of the children of ASHER, presented an offering; 78-83 ON THE TWELTH DAY Ahira the son of Enan, leader of the children of NAPHTALI, presented an offering.]
84 This was the dedication offering for the altar from the leaders of Israel, when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold pans. 85 Each silver platter weighed one hundred and thirty shekels and each bowl seventy shekels. All the silver of the vessels weighed two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 86 The twelve gold pans full of incense weighed ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the pans weighed one hundred and twenty shekels. 87 All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs in their first year twelve, with their grain offering, and the kids of the goats as a sin offering twelve. 88 And all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, and the lambs in their first year sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.
89 Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.
“God having set up house (as it were) in the midst of the camp of Israel, the princes of Israel here come a visiting with their presents, as tenants to their landlord, in the name of their respective tribes.” (Matthew Henry) “When the tabernacle was fully set up, it appeared that the princes of the twelve tribes had prepared six covered wagons, drawn by two oxen each, one wagon for two tribes, for the service of the tabernacle, Numbers 7:1-3. Moses is commanded to receive this offering, and distribute the whole to the Levites according to their service, Numbers 7:4, Numbers 7:5. ” (Adam Clarke)
“We noticed, when meditating on Numbers 3:1-51; Numbers 4:1-49, that the sons of Kohath were privileged to carry all that was most precious of the instruments and furniture of the sanctuary. Hence they did not receive any of the princes' offering. It was their high and holy service to bear upon their shoulders, and not to make use of wagons or oxen. The more closely we examine those things which were committed to the custody and charge of the Kohathites, the more we shall see that they set forth, in type, the deeper and fuller manifestations of God in Christ. The Gershonites and Merarites, on the contrary, had to do with those things which were more external. Their work was rougher and more exposed, and therefore they were furnished with the needed help which the liberality of the princes placed at their disposal. The Kohathite did not want the aid of a wagon or an ox in his elevated service. His own shoulder was to bear the precious mystic burden.” (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes)- the things of the Most Holy Place.
According to the word of the Lord: "The Israelites spread the presentation out over 12 days, one per day, because it took a whole day to receive and sacrifice what each tribe presented. Each tribe offered exactly the same gifts. No tribe was superior or inferior to the others in this respect. Each had equal privilege and responsibility before God to worship and serve Him. Moses faithfully recorded the presentation of each gift, even though the record is repetitious, probably because each gift had equal value before God (cf. Hebrews 6:10).
‘The account may strike us as repetitious, but this sort of formula was used by people in the ancient Eastern world to reflect ever-increasing joy: look how much these many people gave for their altar’ [Note: Maarsingh, p. 29.]
‘The chapter stands as a monument to the pleasure of God who took enjoyment from the repetition-for these were grand gifts in the good days of his early relationship with his people. These were the honeymoon days of the marital relationship of the Lord and Israel (see Jeremiah 2:2-3). Each of the gifts is relished, as presentations by a lover in the early days of the bliss of marriage.’ [Note: Allen, p. 756.].” (Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable)
“The offerings of each of the tribes is seen to be identical, so that what is said of Judah's offering applies equally to all the others. The repetition here may seem unnecessary to us, but God is wiser than we, and has perfect reason for what He includes in His word, whether we understand it or not. Each tribe offered on a different day, but each one the same. At least, God is emphasizing the vitally important fact that all are on an equal footing: one is not to be preferred above another. Certainly this is just as true in the assembly, the church of God today. Different individuals have distinct gifts or distinct functions, yet all are of the same value in the eyes of God, all accepted on the same basis.
The offerings of each tribe being the same indicates that all are on the same standing before God. But besides this, we are to look at all these offering as pictures of Christ. If we specially love a person we do not get weary of looking at pictures of the loved one. Just so, God loves His Son and appreciates being reminded of Him by the pictures that each of the tribes presented. Certainly also God desires that we should never weary of appreciating every picture of His beloved Son that is found in the word of God. At least it will certainly not harm us if we read this chapter through carefully and meditatively.
Verse 89 ends the chapter by speaking of Moses entering the tabernacle to speak with God, and God Himself speaking to Moses from above the mercy seat. This was the only seat in the tabernacle, for it symbolizes the throne of God.” (L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible) “Thus was the promise of Exodus 25:20-22 fulfilled; and that as an immediate response on the part of God to the cheerful readiness with which the tribes had made their offerings, and supplied everything needful for the Holy place and its service. All being now complete as God had appointed, and the camp purified from defilements, God meets Moses the mediator of the people, not as before on the peak of Sinai far away, but in the midst of them, in the dwelling-place which He henceforth vouchsafed to tenant.” (Albert Barnes' Notes)