Feb 13, 2010 Numbers 7:60-10:10

The ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni of the tribe of Benjamin brought his offering.
The tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai of the tribe of Dan brought his offering.
The eleventh day Pagiel son of Ocran of the tribe of Asher brought his offering.
The twelfth day Ahira son of Enan of the tribe of Naphtali brought his offering.

Many people wonder why the bible lists the offerings for each tribe separately repeating the exact same list 12 times. I believe the reason is rather simple. By describing the events in this way favor was not given to any single tribe. Each tribe was accorded its own day for offering. There was no competition for "the best" gift for God. Knowing us completely as God does, he knew it was absolutely necessary that each gift be identical in as many ways as possible. He knows we tend to fight about nearly everything if it's possible, so He eliminated favoritism by listing each identical offering completely and separately.

I like the final tally at the end of Chapter 7:
-12 silver plates and 12 silver sprinkling bowls weighing 2,400 shekels.
-12 gold dishes filled with incense weighing 120 shekels.
Burnt offering animals - 12 young bulls, 12 rams, 12 male lambs a year old, together with their grain offering.
Sin offering animals - 12 male goats.
Fellowship offering animals - 24 oxen, 60 rams, 60 male goats and 60 male lambs a year old.
This tells me that the dedication of the altar was extremely important.

In chapter 8 the Lord told Moses that the lamp is supposed to be set up to illuminate the area in front of it.
Then the Lord told Moses to set apart the Levite men ages 25-50 who were to work in the Tent of Meeting and assist in the work of the tabernacle. All the people were gathered to witness the ceremonial cleansing ritual. Aaron was to present the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites. In this process God claimed them as his own in place of the firstborn of Israel.

The Passover was to be celebrated on the 14th day of the 1st month by everyone. If they were ceremonially unclean or on a journey they were to celebrate it on the 14th day of the 2nd month. They were to follow the regulations just as they had been commanded.

There was a cloud of fire over the tabernacle from the glory of God who lived there and sat on the mercy seat. That was the place on the cover of the ark between the cherubim wings. When the Israelites saw the cloud they stayed put, when it lifted, that was a sign for them to travel. They did what God commanded them to do.

Chapter 10 describes two silver trumpets made to call the community together and as a signal when each tribe was to travel. It would be a mess if they just all started out all at once. Different signals were used to mean different things. I imagine that the Israelites campground was HUGE! It must have been hard to communicate between tribes and from one end to the other.

Tomorrow read Numbers 10:11-13:16