On the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it with all its furniture, and the altar with all its vessels, and had anointed and sanctified them; the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, offered. These were the princes of the tribes. These are they who were over those who were counted; and they brought their offering before Yahweh, six covered wagons and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox. They presented them before the tabernacle. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the Tent of Meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.”
Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, according to their service. He gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged to them; they carried it on their shoulders.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 Or, vessels.
Or, vessels.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2, 8, 9 Num 7:2 That the princes of Israel, heads of…
Num 7:2 That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who [were] the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:
Ver. 2. The princes of Israel offered.] So they did at the making of the tabernacle, and at the building of the temple, {Exo 35:27 1Ch 29:6-8} which was but to give God of his own; as David aeknowledgeth with all thankfulness, {1Ch 29:14} τα σα εκ των σων σοι προσφερομεν. {a} Of thine own we offer unto thee, said Justinian, when he had offered up, in the temple of Sophia, at Constantinople, a communion table that had in it, saith the author, all the riches of land and sea.
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{a} Cedrenus.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 On the day; either,
On the day; either,
1. Precisely; and so this history, as many others, is put out of its proper place, and this chapter, and the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th, should follow next after Exo 40 and this day is the same on which the tabernacle was erected, which was the first day of the first month of the second year, Exo 40:17,18. Or,
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2. Largely, day being put for time, and
on the day for about the time, or, a little after the time. And thus it seems to be taken here, because all the princes did not offer these things upon one and the same day, but on several days, as here it follows. And so there is no disorder in the history, and this chapter comes in its proper place, and those things were done in the second month of the second year after the tabernacle, and altar, and all other instruments thereof were anointed, as is here expressed; and after the Levites were separated to the service of the tabernacle, and appointed to their several works, as is manifest from Num 7:5-9, which was done about a month after the tabernacle was erected, &c.; and after the numbering of the people, Num 1, when the princes here employed in the offerings were first constituted; and after the disposal of the tribes about the tabernacle, the order of which is here observed in the time of their offerings. Anointed it, Lev 8:10.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 Here is the offering of the princes to the…
Here is the offering of the princes to the service of the tabernacle. Observe,
I. When it was; not till it was fully set up, Num 7:1. When all things were done both about the tabernacle itself, and the camp of Israel which surrounded it, according to the directions given, then they began their presents, probably about the eighth day of the second month. Note, Necessary observances must always take place of free-will offerings: first those, and then these.
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II. Who it was that offered: The princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, Num 7:2. Note, Those that are above others in power and dignity ought to go before others, and endeavour to go beyond them, in every thing that is good. The more any are advanced the more is expected from them, on account of the greater opportunity they have of serving God and their generation. What are wealth and authority good for, but as they enable a man to do so much the more good in the world?
III. What was offered: six wagons, with each of them a yoke of oxen to draw them, Num 7:3. Doubtless these wagons were agreeable to the rest of the furniture of the tabernacle and its appurtenances, the best of the kind, like the carriages which great princes use when they go in procession. Some think that God, by Moses, intimated to them what they should bring, or their own consideration perhaps suggested to them to make this present. Though God's wisdom had ordained all the essentials of the tabernacle, yet it seems these accidental conveniences were left to be provided by their own discretion, which was to set in order that which was wanting (Tit 1:5), and these wagons were not refused, though no pattern of them was shown to Moses in the mount. Note, It must not be expected that the divine institution of ordinances should descend to all those circumstances which are determinable, and are fit to be left alterable, by human prudence, that wisdom which is profitable to direct. Observe, No sooner is the tabernacle fully set up than this provision is made for the removal of it. Note, Even when we are but just settled in the world, and think we are beginning to take root, we must be preparing for changes and removes, especially for the great change. While we are here in this world, every thing must be accommodated to a militant and movable state. When the tabernacle was framing, the princes were very generous in their offerings, for then they brought precious stones, and stones to be set (Exo 35:27), yet now they bring more presents. Note, Those that have done good should study to abound therein yet more and more, and not be weary of well-doing.
IV. How the offering was disposed of, and what use was made of it: the wagons and oxen were given to the Levites, to be used in carrying the tabernacle, both for their ease (for God would not have any of his servants overburdened with work), and for the more safe and right conveyance of the several parts of the tabernacle, which would be best kept together, and sheltered from the weather, in wagons. 1. The Gershonites, that had the light carriage, the curtains and hangings, had but two wagons, and two yoke of oxen (Num 7:7); when they had loaded these, they must carry the rest, if any remained, upon their shoulders. 2. The Merarites, that had the heavy carriage, and that which was most unwieldy, the boards, pillars, sockets, etc., had four wagons, and four yoke of oxen allotted them (Num 7:8); and yet, if they had not more wagons of their own, they would be obliged to carry a great deal upon their backs too, for the silver sockets alone weighed 100 talents, which was above four tons, and that was enough to load four wagons that were drawn but by one yoke of oxen a-piece. But each socket being a talent weight, which is about a man's burden (as appears, Kg2 5:23) probably they carried those on their backs, and put the boards and pillars into the wagons. Observe here, How God wisely and graciously ordered the most strength to those that had the most work. Each had wagons according to their service. Whatever burden God in his providence lays upon us, he will by his sufficient grace proportion the strength to it, Co1 10:13. 3. The Kohathites, that had the most sacred carriage, had no wagons at all, because they were to carry their charge upon their shoulders (Num 7:9), with a particular care and veneration. When in David's time they carried the ark in a cart, God made them to know to their terror, by the death of Uzza, that they did not seek him in the due order. See Ch1 15:13.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–9 And it came to pass on the day that…
And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle,.... Not on the very exact day on which it was first reared up, for that was on the first day of the first month of the second year from the coming up of Israel out of Egypt, Exo 40:17; whereas the following offerings of the princes were not offered, and many other things previous to them, recorded in the preceding chapters, were not done, until after the first day of the second month of that year, Num 1:1; though the Jews say (e) the first of Nisan, or of the first month, was the first for various things, and the first on which the princes offered; but no one particular day can be intended, because the princes were twelve days successively offering their offerings; wherefore "the day" here only denotes the time about which it was when this service was performed; when the tabernacle was not only set up, but "fully" set up, when everything relating to it was in its proper place and order; when not only it was put together, and all the vessels and instruments of it in their due place, but also when the people of Israel, for whose sake it was erected, that the Lord God might dwell among them, were numbered, and their camps formed and pitched around the tabernacle; and the Levites were taken and numbered also, who were to serve at it, and their place and service were appointed unto them about it; for then, and not till then, was the service of it completed, and its proper place and situation fixed and settled:
and had anointed it; with the holy oil Moses was directed to make and anoint it with, Exo 30:23,
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and sanctified it: set it apart for holy use and service, to be an habitation for God, and the place of his worship:
and all the instruments thereof; the ark, table, candlestick, &c.
both the altars, and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them,
and sanctified them; the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering, and all appertaining: thereunto; according to Ben Gersom, this finishing of the whole was at the end of the seven days of consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exo 29:35.
(e) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 7. p. 21. Baal Hatturim in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 9 The offerings of the princes upon the dedication of…
The offerings of the princes upon the dedication of the tabernacle, ver. 1-9. Upon the dedication of the altar, ver. 10-88, Which God graciously accepts, ver. 89.
On the day - It seems day is for time, and on the day, for about the time. For all the princes did not offer these things upon one and the same day, but on several days, as here it follows. And so this chapter comes in its proper place, and those things were done in the second month of the second year after the tabernacle and altar, and all other instruments thereof were anointed, as is here expressed; and after the Levites were separated to the service of the tabernacle, and appointed to their several works, which was done about a month after the tabernacle was erected, and after the numbering of the people, chap. i, 2-49, when the princes here employed in the offerings were first constituted; and after the disposal of the tribes about the tabernacle, the order of which is here observed in the time of their offerings.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 When the tabernacle was fully set up, it appeared…
CHAPTER VII
When the tabernacle was fully set up, it appeared that the
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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, 1-3.
Moses is commanded to receive this offering, and distribute the
whole to the Levites according to their service, 4, 5.
Moses does so, and gives two wagons and four oxen to the sons of
Gershon, 6, 7;
and four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, 8.
The sons of Kohath have none, because they were to bear the ark,
c., on their shoulders, 9.
Each prince is to take a day for presenting his offerings,
10, 11.
On the first day Nahshon, of the tribe of JUDAH, offers a
silver charger, a silver bowl, a golden spoon, a young
bullock, a ram, a lamb, and a kid, for a
SIN-OFFERING two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five lambs,
for a PEACE-OFFERING, 12-17.
On the second day Nethaneel, of the tribe of ISSACHAR,
offers the like, 18-23.
On the third day Eliab, of the tribe of ZEBULUN, offers
the like, 24-29.
On the fourth day Elizur, of the tribe of REUBEN, offers
the like, 30-35.
On the fifth day Shelumiel, of the tribe of SIMEON, made a
similar offering, 36-41.
On the sixth day Eliasaph, of the tribe of GAD, made his
offering, 42-47.
On the seventh day Elishama, of the tribe of EPHRAIM, made
his offering, 48-53.
On the eighth day Gamaliel, of the tribe of MANASSEH, made
his offering, 54-59.
On the ninth day Abidan, of the tribe of BENJAMIN, made
his offering, 60-65.
On the tenth day Ahiezer, of the tribe of DAN, made his
offering, 66-71.
On the eleventh day Pagiel, of the tribe of ASHER, made
his offering, 72-77.
On the twelfth day Ahira, of the tribe of NAPHTALI, made
the same kind of offering, 78-83.
The sum total of all vessels and cattle which were offered was
twelve silver chargers, and twelve silver bowls; twelve
golden spoons; twelve bullocks, twelve rams, and twelve kids;
twenty-four bullocks, sixty rams, sixty he-goats, and sixty
lambs, 84-88.
The offerings being ended, Moses goes into the tabernacle, and
hears the voice of the Lord from the mercy-seat, 89.
NOTES ON CHAP. VII
Verse 1. On the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle] The transactions mentioned in this chapter took place on the second day of the second month of the second year after their departure from Egypt; and the proper place of this account is immediately after the tenth chapter of Leviticus.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 9 Num 7:1. On the day that Moses had fully…
Num 7:1. On the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle — Which he did on the first day of the first month of the second year after their coming out of Egypt, Exo 40:17-18. Here we may observe, as in many other places, particularly Gen 2:4; Gen 35:3, that day is put for an indefinite time, and on the day is a Hebraism signifying about, or after such a time, (see Num 7:84; Num 7:88.) Therefore, it might be better rendered, What time Moses had fully set up, &c.; for the offerings here mentioned were made in the second month of the second year after the tabernacle and altar and all other instruments thereof were anointed, as is here expressed; after the Levites were separated to the service of the tabernacle, and appointed to their several works, which was about a month after the tabernacle was erected; after the numbering of the people, (chap. 1,) when the princes here employed in the offerings were first constituted; and after the disposal of the tribes about the tabernacle, the order of which is here observed in the time of their offerings.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 7 On the day that - i. e. “at the…
On the day that - i. e. “at the time that,” compare Gen 2:4. The presentation of the gifts in fact occupied twelve days, as the sequel shows.
The enactments set forth in the chapters from Lev. 10 to Num. 6 inclusive, were doubtless promulgated at various times between the consecration of the tabernacle and the departure from Sinai, but are for convenience set out connectedly. The contents of the present chapter are accordingly placed after them. The order pursued throughout is justly noted as one which would naturally suggest itself to a narrator who was contemporary with the events.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 8, 9 The day. The second of the second month, the…
The day. The second of the second month, the year after the Hebrews left Egypt. We might read this chapter immediately after the 10th of Leviticus.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Chaps. 7, 8
SEVENTH SECTION
Chaps. 7, 8
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The Endowment of the Tabernacle as the Future Centre of the Army of God, the Dwelling of Jehovah, by the Offering of the Princes
Num_7:1-89
1And it came to pass on the day that Moses had 1fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the 2instruments thereof, 3both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them; 2That the princes of Israel, heads of 4the house of their fathers, 5who were the princes of the tribes, 6eand were over them that were 7numbered, offered: 3And they brought their 8offering before the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle. 4, 5And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the 9tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt 6give them unto the Levites, to every man according 10to his service. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites. 7Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according hto their service: 8And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according hunto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary 11belonging unto them 12 was that they should bear upon their shoulders.
10And the princes offered 13for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was 11anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar. And the Lord said unto Moses, They shall offer their foffering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.
12And he that offered his foffering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, 13of the tribe of Judah: And his foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil 14, 15for a 14meat offering: One 15spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense: One 16young bullock, one ram, one lamb 16of the first year, for a burnt offering: One 17kid of the goats for a sin offering: 17And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
18On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer: 19He offered for his foffering one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; 20both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One nspoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense: 21One young bullock, one ram, one 22lamb oof the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 23And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.
24On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did 25offer: His foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; 26both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 27One young bullock, one ram, one lamb oof 28the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 29And for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Eliab the son of Helon.
30On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, 31did offer; His foffering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both 32of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 33One young bullock, one ram, one lamb oof the first 34year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 35And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.
36On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of 37Simeon, did offer: His foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: 38One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 39One young bullock, one ram, 40one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 41And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
42On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, 43offered: His foffering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, a silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: both 44of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 45One young bullock, one ram, one lamb oof the first 46year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 47And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
48On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of 49Ephraim, offered: His foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: 50One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 51One young bullock, one ram, 52one lamb oof the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 53And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.
54On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children 55of Manasseh: His foffering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 56both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One golden nspoon of ten shekels full of incense: 57One young bullock, one ram, one lamb oof 58the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 59And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
60On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, 61offered: His foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 62both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 63One young bullock, one ram, one lamb oof 64the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 65And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.
66On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of 67Dan, offered: His foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: 68One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 69One young bullock, one ram, 70one lambo of the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 71And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
72On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, 73offered: His foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; 74both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 75One young bullock, one ram, one 76lamb oof the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 77And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.
78On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, 79offered: His foffering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 80both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mmeat offering: One golden nspoon of ten shekels, full of incense: 81One young bullock, one ram, one 82lamb oof the first year, for a burnt offering: One pkid of the goats for a sin offering: 83And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs oof the first year: this was the foffering of Ahira the son of Enan.
84This was the 1dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve nspoons of gold: 85Each charger of silver weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, 86after the shekel of the sanctuary: The golden nspoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the nspoons was a hundred and twenty shekels. 87All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs oof the first year twelve, with their mmeat offering: and the pkids of the goats for sin-offering twelve. 88And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace-offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was the 1dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed. 89And when Moses was gone into the gtabernacle of the congregation to speak with 18him, then he heard the voice 19of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spake unto him.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. In this section, also, we have not to do with scattered elements, but solely with the furnishing of the Tabernacle for leading the campaign, viz., so far as this is affected by the offering of the princes of the tribe, and (in chap. 8) by the office of Moses, the functions of Aaron and the service of the Levites.
The expression on the day that Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, Num_7:1, must not be pressed, as if the gifts of the princes began immediately after the erection of the Tabernacle and the anointing of the Sanctuary [see the view of Keil and others at i. 1—Tr.]. The actual order, according to which the gifts of the princes follow here, must also have its foundation in the order of time. Between the erection of the Tabernacle on the first day of the first month (Exo_40:17) and the beginning of the march from Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month (Num_10:11) there intervened about fifty days. Of these, say, ten were used for the anointings and consecration of the priests, at the end, say, twenty for the preparations (8–10:10), then there remain still twenty days for the outline of legislation that lies between, especially as the numbering of the people fell in this period only in respect to its formal conclusion. Beside this, there is no necessity to force a literal redaction into this period.
2. The significance of this whole section [including chap. 8] appears at once from the offering first made by the princes in common: six wagons (see more particularly in Knobel and Keil) and twelve oxen. Of these, Moses gave two wagons [with the four accompanying oxen] to the Gersonites, because they had in charge the transportation of the lighter articles, the coverings. To the Merarites he gave four wagons [and eight oxen] because they must transport the heavy planks and pillars. The Kohathites got no wagons, because they were to carry the holy vessels, the actual Sanctuary, on bearing-poles. עֶגְלֹת צָב is rendered “state carriages by the LXX.; “freight wagons” by the Vulgate. Knobel says: wagons that went gently or softly, which could be true only of four-wheeled wagons, whereas Keil says two-wheeled wagons.
3. Num_7:10-88. Following the preceding gift, the princes give singly their offerings for the requirements of the Tabernacle itself, but all of them the same quota, and that in the order in which they were named at the numbering of the people. The particularization of the gifts is made prominent by each one having his particular day for making his offering. The offerings are as follows:
1) A silver charger of 130 shekels weight; 2) a silver bowl (both filled with sacrificial flour and oil for a meal-offering); 3) a golden paten full of incense; 4) a bullock, a ram, a male sheep of a year old for a burnt-offering; 5) a mature he-goat for a sin-offering; 6) two oxen, five rams, five young he-goats, and five male sheep a year old for a thank-offering. The adding up of all the offerings follows in Num_7:84-88. The sum of all the silver is reckoned at 2,400 shekels; the sum of all the gold at 120 shekels.
[“If a silver shekel be taken, roughly, as weighing 2.5 of a shilling, and a golden shekel 1.15 of a sovereign, the intrinsic worth, by weight, of each silver charger will be 325s., of each bowl 175s., of each golden spoon 230s. Consequently the aggregate worth, by weight, of the whole of the offerings will be £438. But the real worth of such a sum, when measured by the prices of clothing and food at that time, must have been vastly greater. It must not be forgotten, too, that the Tabernacle itself had been recently constructed at a vast cost.” The Bib. Comm.–Tr.].
The gradual presentation of these offerings, with festive pauses, before the eyes of the nation, served not merely to awaken universal sacrificial rejoicing; the nation must also have a view of the glittering treasures which, as the army of God, it was for the future to protect, and which were so much the more valuable to it because they served as a symbol of the spiritual treasures of Israel, and for the mediation of those treasures. [It is natural to inquire, why this prolixity in narrating the principal transactions of this chapter? For substance the whole is told in Num_7:10-11; Num_7:84-88. Why then this great repetition? The suggestions of Dr. Lange above may be some explanation of the immediate effect intended by these transactions, which it is conjectured, and no doubt correctly, took place in a public and solemn way. But that does not account for the manner of recording the transactions. That was written, not for their sakes alone, but for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope (Rom_4:23; Rom_15:4). On this point the comment of M. Henry represents the proper view. “God appointed that it should thus be done on several days: that an equal honor might thereby be put on each several tribe; in Aaron’s breast-plate each had his precious stone, so in this offering each had his day. All their offerings were exactly the same, without any variation, though it is probable that neither the princes nor the tribes were all alike rich. But thus it was intimated that all the tribes of Israel had an equal share in the altar, and an equal interest in the sacrifices that were offered upon it. Though one tribe was posted more honorably in the camp than another, yet they and their services were all alike acceptable to God. Nor must we have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect to persons, Jam_2:1. Though the offerings were all the same, yet the account of them is repeated at large for each tribe, in the same words. We are sure there are no vain repetitions in scripture; what then shall we make of these repetitions? Might it not have served, to say of this noble jury, that the same offering which their foreman brought, each on his day brought likewise? No, God would have it specified for each tribe. And why so? (1) It was for the encouragement of these princes, and of their respective tribes, that, each of their offerings being recorded at large, no slight might seem to be put upon them; for rich and poor meet together before God. (2) It was for the encouragement of all generous acts of piety and charity, by letting us know that what is given is lent to the Lord, and He carefully records it, with every ones name prefixed to his gift, because what is so given He will pay again. He is not unrighteous to forget either the cost or the labor of love (Heb_6:10). We find Christ taking particular notice of what was cast into the treasury (Mar_12:41).”
We have thus a sample of sacred, divine book-keeping, whose separate lesson is that God is careful in all dealings with His people down to details and minutiæ .And this revelation is so comforting that we must not grudge the large apace allowed to these entries, and wish that they were replaced by records that would clear up many things in this part of Scripture that are now very obscure.
Moreover this chapter may be appealed to in proof of the genuineness of this book. A later author would never have dreamed of composing such a record as this.—Tr.].
According to Keil, all these sacrificial beasts were immediately sacrificed day by day as they were presented. “And, indeed, not as provision for the future, but for immediate consumption according to usage.” Keil seems to distinguish too little between offering and killing. The expression וַיַּקְרִיִבוּ applies equally well to the offerings of wagons and of metallic vessels. Such an aimless consumption of so valuable a stock of animals close on the departure of the expedition is not intimated by any mention of sacrificial ceremony in the narrower sense. Moreover the complete consecration of the altar took place, according to Leviticus 9, directly after the erection of the Tabernacle. The expression הֲנֻכָּה [“dedication-gift,” Num_7:10; Num_7:84; Num_7:88], according to the verb and Psa_30:1, does not so much designate the first, solemn consecration, but the consecration by the first continuous use. Were the one hundred oxen, etc., that, according to Ezr_6:17, served for the consecration of the new temple, slaughtered on one day or feast? This, says Num_7:88, is the dedication of the altar after it had been anointed.
4. And when Moses was gone into the Tent of Meeting. Num_7:89. The proper soul of the Tabernacle was God’s spirit of revelation as it conversed with Moses, and through him made itself known to the people. When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting (it was primarily a tent of the meeting of Jehovah with Moses) to speak with Him (i. e., of course with Jehovah who was there enthroned). The discourse of Jehovah alternated with the inquiries and petitions, with the prayer-life of the prophet. Then he heard the voice of Him that made Himself speak (מִדַּבֵּר Hithp. the one condescending to converse) with him from off the mercy seat.—There came to him the voice of revelation from off the mercy-seat that was on the ark between the cherubim. Keil seems to assume that only one occurrence is spoken of here. But obviously what is spoken of is the form of revelation that obtained continually during the expedition of the army.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
[The following edifying reflections are from M. Henry, whose comments often most sparkle with wit and wisdom from above where others find the record dry as a ledger.
On Num_7:2. “Those that are above others in power and dignity, ought to go before others, and endeavor to go beyond them, in everything that is good. The more any are advanced, the more is expected from them, for the greater opportunity they have of serving God and their generation. What are wealth and authority good for, but as they enable a man to do so much more good in the world.”
“No sooner is the Tabernacle fully set up, than this provision is made for the removal of it. Note. Even when we are but just settled in the world, and think we are beginning to take root, we must be preparing for changes and removes, especially for the great change. When we are here in this world, everything must be accommodated to a militant and moveable state.”
On Num_7:7-9. “Observe here, how God wisely and graciously ordered the most strength to those that had the most work. Each had wagons according to their service. Whatever burden God in His providence lays upon us, He will, by His sufficient grace, proportion the strength to it (1Co_10:13).”
On Num_7:10-88. “They brought some things to remain for standing service; twelve large silver dishes and as many large silver cups or bowls; the former to be used for the meat-offerings, the latter for the drink-offerings; the former for the flesh of the sacrifice, the latter for the blood. The latter was God’s table, (as it were), and it was fit that so great a King should be served in plate.—Note. In works of piety and charity, we ought to be generous according as our ability is. The Israelites indeed might well afford to part with their gold and silver in abundance to the services of the sanctuary, for they needed it not to buy meat, and victual their camp, who were, daily fed with bread from heaven; nor did they need it to buy bread, or pay their army, who were shortly to be put in possession of Canaan.”
“They brought their offerings each on a several day, in the order that they had lately been put into, so that the solemnity lasted twelve days.—Thus it would be done more decently and in order; God’s work should not be done confusedly, and in a hurry; take time, and we shall have done the sooner, or, at least, we shall have done the better.—God hereby signified how much pleased He is, and how much pleased we should be with the exercises of piety and devotion. The repetition of them should be a continual pleasure to us, and we must not be weary of well-doing. If extraordinary services come to be done for twelve days together, we must not shrink from it, nor call it a task and burden.”
“Nahshon, the prince of the tribe of Judah, offered first, because God had given that tribe the first post of honor in the camp. Judah, of which tribe Christ came, first, and then the rest. Thus, in the dedication of souls to God, every man is presented in his own order, Christ the First-Fruits (1Co_15:23).”—Tr.].
HOMILETICAL HINTS
Numbers 7. The gifts (temple tax) of the princes. The duty of the princes that of all magnates generally. The slow procession of the princes with their gifts—a festal contemplation for the nation. An example for all. Silver and gold are the Lord’s (Hag_2:9). The external treasures of the Temple commended to the protection of the congregation. An image of the spiritual treasure of the Temple that is entrusted to the congregation, and for which it must pledge its life (word, sacrament and confession).
Footnotes:
[1]finished setting up.
[2]vessels.
[3]and.
[4]their fathers houses.
[5]these.
[6]Heb. who stood.
[7]mustered.
[8]oblation.
[9]Tent of Meeting.
[10]to the proportion of.
[11]belonged.
[12]they bare.
[13]a dedication-gift.
[14]meal-offering.
[15]bowl; saucer, Bunsen, Zunz.
[16]a year old.
[17]he-goat.
[18]That is, God.
[19]omit of one.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 6 the princes of Israel . . . brought their…
the princes of Israel . . . brought their offering before the Lord--The finishing of the sacred edifice would, it may well be imagined, be hailed as an auspicious occasion, diffusing great joy and thankfulness throughout the whole population of Israel. But the leading men, not content with participating in the general expression of satisfaction, distinguished themselves by a movement, which, while purely spontaneous, was at the same time so appropriate in the circumstances and so equal in character, as indicates it to have been the result of concerted and previous arrangement. It was an offer of the means of carriage, suitable to the migratory state of the nation in the wilderness, for transporting the tabernacle from place to place. In the pattern of that sacred tent exhibited on the mount, and to which its symbolic and typical character required a faithful adherence, no provision had been made for its removal in the frequent journeyings of the Israelites. That not being essential to the plan of the divine architect, it was left to be accomplished by voluntary liberality; and whether we look to the judicious character of the gifts, or to the public manner in which they were presented, we have unmistakable evidence of the pious and patriotic feelings from which they emanated and the extensive interest the occasion produced. The offerers were "the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers," and the offering consisted of six covered wagons or little cars, and twelve oxen, two of the princes being partners in a wagon, and each furnishing an ox.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 1. On the day — Yom is here used…
1. On the day — Yom is here used indefinitely for the whole period of twelve days occupied in presenting the gifts.
Anointed it — Because the sanctuary and altar were the principal things and sanctified the oblations. Mat_23:17; Mat_23:19; see Gen_28:18; Lev_8:10-11, notes.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 7, 9 1. on the day that] If this is understood…
1. on the day that] If this is understood strictly, it is the date given in Exo_40:17, and is one month earlier than the date of Num_1:1. But the following verse (‘them that were numbered’) presupposes the census and the appointment of the tribal chiefs which occurred after the erection of the Tabernacle. Either the writer of this chapter was later than the writer of ch. 1, and failed to notice the discrepancy, or ‘on the day that’ must be understood loosely to mean ‘at the time when’—‘after.’ Cf. Num_7:84 (‘in the day when it was anointed’) with Num_7:88 (‘after that it was anointed’).
The anointing of the Tabernacle and the Altar was commanded in Exo_40:9 f.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 7
Numbers 7
This is the very longest section in the entire Book of Numbers. It contains a detailed statement of the names of the twelve princes of the congregation, and of their respective offerings on the occasion of the setting up of the tabernacle. "It came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them, that the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered. And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox; and they brought them before the tabernacle. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took: the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service. and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none; because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders." Verses 1-9.
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We noticed, when meditating on Numbers 3 and 4, 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.
"And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar. And the Lord said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar."
An unspiritual reader, in running his eye over this unusually long chapter, might feel disposed to ask why so much space is occupied, in an inspired document, with what might be given in the compass of a dozen lines. If a man were giving an account of the transaction of those twelve days, he would, in all probability, have very briefly summed up all in one statement, and told us that the twelve princes offered each such and such things.
But that would not have suited the divine mind at all. God’s thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor His ways as our ways. Nothing could satisfy Him but the fullest and most detailed account of each man’s name, of the tribe which he represented, and of the offering which we made to the sanctuary of God. Hence this long chapter of eighty-nine verses. Each name shines out in its own distinctness. Each offering is minutely described and duly estimated. The names and the offerings are not huddled promiscuously together. This would not be like our God; and He can only act like Himself, in whatever He does, and speak like Himself, whatever He says. Man may pass hastily or carelessly over gifts and offerings; but God never can, never does, and never will. He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing; and not only does He not forget it Himself, but He takes special pains that untold millions shall read the record. How little did those twelve princes imagine that their names and their offerings were to be handed down, from age to age, to be read by countless generations! Yet so it was, for God would have it so. He will enter upon what might seem to us tedious detail, yea, if you please, what man might deem tautology, rather than omit a single name of any of His servants, or a single item of their work.
Thus, in the chapter before us, "each prince" gets his own appointed day for the presenting of his offering, and his own allotted space on the eternal page of inspiration, in the which the most complete record of his gifts is inscribed by God the Holy Ghost.
This is divine. And may we not say that this seventh chapter of Numbers is one of those specimen pages from the book of eternity, on which the finger of God has engraved the names of His servants, and the record of their work We believe it is; and if the reader will turn to the twenty-third of second Samuel, and the sixteenth of Romans, he will find two similar pages. In the former, we have the names and the deeds of David’s worthies; in the latter, the names and the deeds of Paul’s friends at Rome. In both we have an illustration of what, we feel persuaded, is true of all the saints of God, and the servants of Christ, from first to last. Each one has his own special place on the roll, and each one his place in the Master’s heart; and all will come out by and by. Amongst David’s mighty men, we have "the first three" - "the three" and "the thirty." Not one of "the thirty" ever attained a place among "the three;" nor did one of "the three" ever reach to "the first three."
Nor this only. Every act is faithfully set down; and the substance and style most accurately put before us. We have the name of the man, what he did, and how he did it. All is recorded, with sedulous care and minuteness, by the unerring and impartial pen of the Holy Ghost.
So also, when we turn to that remarkable sample page furnished in Romans 16. we have all about Phebe, what she was and what she did, and what a solid basis she had on which to rest her claim upon the sympathy and succour of the assembly at Rome. Then we have Priscilla and Aquila - the wife put first - and how they had laid down their own necks for the life of the blessed apostle, and earned his thanks and that of all the churches of the Gentiles. Next we have "the well beloved Epaenetus;" and "Mary who bestowed," not merely labour, but "much labour" on the apostle. It would not have expressed the mind of the Spirit, or the heart of Christ, merely to say that Epaenetus was "beloved," or that Mary had bestowed "labour." No; the little adjuncts "well" and "much" were necessary in order to set forth the exact status of each.
But we must not enlarge, and we shall merely call the reader’s attention to verse 12. Why does not the inspired penman place "Tryphena, Tryphosa," and "the beloved Persis" under one head Why does he not assign them one and the same position? The reason is perfectly beautiful; because he could only say of the two former that they had "laboured in the Lord," whereas it was due to the latter to add that she had "laboured much in the Lord." Can anything be more discriminating? It is "the three" - "the first three" - and "the thirty" over again. There is no promiscuous jumbling of names and services together; no haste; no inaccuracy. We are told what each one was, and what he did. Each one gets his own place, and receives his own meed of praise.
And this, be it observed, is a specimen page from the book of eternity. How solemn And yet, how encouraging There is not a single act of service which we render to our Lord that will not be set down in His book; and not only the substance of the act, but the style of it also, for God appreciates style as well as we do. - He loves a cheerful giver, and a cheerful worker, because that is precisely what He is Himself. It was grateful to His heart to see the tide of liberality flowing around His sanctuary from the representatives of the twelve tribes. It was grateful to his heart to mark the actings of David’s worthies, in the day of his rejection. It was grateful to His heart to trace the devoted path of the Priscillas, the Aquilas, and the Phebes of a later date. And, we may add, it is grateful to His heart, in this day of so much lukewarmness and vapid profession, to behold, here and there, a true-hearted lover of Christ, and a devoted worker in His vineyard.
May God’s Spirit stir up our hearts to more thorough devotedness! May the love of Christ constrain us, more and more, to live, not unto ourselves, but unto Him who loved us and washed us from our scarlet sins in His most precious blood, and made us all we are, or ever hope to be.
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 THE OFFERINGS OF THE PRINCES (chapter 7).
THE OFFERINGS OF THE PRINCES (chapter 7).
On the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle. This expression, "on the day" (Hebrew, Septuagint, h hmera ), has given rise to considerable difficulty. Strictly speaking it should mean the first day of the first month of the second year; (Exo_40:17) and so the Targum of Palestine, "It was on the day which begins the month Nisan." It is, however, quite clear from the narrative itself, as well as from its position, that the offerings were not actually made until after the taking of the census and the distribution of their respective duties to the Levitical families, i.e., until the eve of the departure from Sinai. Moreover, since the same phrase, occurs in verse 10, it is certain that it cannot apply to the actual presentation of the offerings, which was spread over twelve days (verse 11). The majority, therefore, of the commentators would read here as in Gen_2:4, "at the time." It is, however, impossible to admit that there is any similarity whatever between the two passages. In Gen_2:4 the context itself, as well as the subject matter, oblige us to understand the phrase in the looser sense; but in a plain historical account such as the present the obligation is all the other way. Either the date here given is a mistake (which, on any supposition, is most improbable), or it must be referred to the intention and inception of the princely offerings, the actual presentation being made at the time indicated in the narrative, i.e., in the first half of the second month. And had anointed it. From Lev_8:10, as compared with Exo_40:35, it would rather appear that Moses did not anoint the tabernacle on the day it was set up, but on some subsequent day. It is, however, a mistake to suppose that the tabernacle and the holy things were anointed through seven successive days: the statement in Lev_8:33-35 refers only to the consecration of the priests. Since the anointing of the tabernacle was connected with the setting of it up, as the last act of one ceremonial, and was only unavoidably postponed, there is nothing remarkable in the two things being spoken of as if they had taken place on one and the same day.
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Chapter 7. Acceptable offerings.
In this chapter we have, spiritually, the free-will offering, acceptable unto God, of what they have and what they are, by his people. Consider, therefore
I THAT THE OFFERINGS WERE CONNECTED IN TIME WITH THE DAY OF CONSECRATION, BUT WERE ACTUALLY PRESENTED LATER. Even so all Christian offerings, whether of ourselves or of our substance, date from the day when the altar of the cross was consecrated, and the mercy-seat sprinkled with the precious blood; it is from that day they draw their inward inspiration and their meaning, but they are outwardly dispersed through many days. (2Co_5:14)
II THAT THE COMMON OFFERING OF THE PRINCES WAS FOR THE EASIER ONWARD MOVEMENT OF THE SANCTUARY, the pattern, center, and microcosm of the Church.
Even so all the faithful are bound to give common help to further the onward progress of the Church in her ceaseless extension and her journey towards her consummation.
III THAT ALL THE SEVERAL OFFERINGS OF THE PRINCES WERE RECEIVED WITH LIKE FAVOUR AND SOLEMNITY: that of Dan as much as that of Judah. Even so all equal offering or sacrifice on the part of Christian Churches or individuals is equally acceptable with God, and comes into the same remembrance with him. Only this equality is not now a material equality (as then), but is proportioned to advantages and opportunities. (Mar_12:43 Luk_12:48 2Co_8:12)
IV THAT THE OFFERINGS WERE IN EACH CASE MINUTELY RECORDED, having evidently been entered in some roll kept in the sanctuary. Even so there is nothing, however trivial, done for God or given to him which shall ever be forgotten. (Mal_3:16 Mat_10:42 Mat_25:40 Heb_6:10 Heb_13:16)
V THAT WHILE THE BURNT OFFERINGS AND (STILL MORE) THE PEACE OFFERINGS WERE MULTIPLIED, THE SIN OFFERING REMAINED (IN EACH CASE) BUT ONE. Even so it is open to all good people to multiply their self-oblations and their offerings of thankfulness and praise, but there is for each (and can be) but the one offering for sin, even he who was in himself the Lamb of God, and yet in respect of the sin which be assumed, and the curse he endured, was as it were "the shaggy one of the goats." Note that this word, sa "eer, is translated "devil", (Lev_17:7 2Ch_11:15) and "satyr" in Isa_13:21; 34:14, being a most manifest type of Christ.
VI THAT GOD SPAKE UNTO MOSES ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE, FROM ABOVE THE MERCY-SEAT (anwyen tou ilasthriou ). Even so the Divine intercourse with man in Christ rests upon the incarnation and the atonement, of which the ark and the mercy-seat were the types. But note that whereas these holy things were but figures, God hath now spoken unto us plainly by his Son, whom he set forth as the propitiation through faith (o proeyeto ilasthrion dia thv pistewv ). And note that then the voice spake out of the darkness behind the veil, but in Christ the veil is taken away, and heaven laid open, and God himself revealed and declared. (Mat_27:51Jo Mat_1:18 2Co_3:14 Heb_9:8)
VII THAT WHENEVER (AS IT WOULD SEEM) MOSES WENT IN TO SPEAK UNTO GOD HE HEARD THE DIVINE VOICE SPEAKING TO HIM. Even so as often as we go to God in Christ, having somewhat really to say to him, we shall not fail also to hear the Divine voice speaking unto us in answer.
HOMILIES BY W. BINNIE Chapter 7. The princes and their princely offering.
Here is perhaps the longest chapter in all the Bible. What is it occupied with? It is, in effect, a List of Subscribers. Certain costly articles were wanted to complete the furnishing of the tabernacle. Twelve men of chief note in their respective tribes came forward, of their own accord, and offered to provide the articles. The offer was accepted; and in this chapter of God"s word the Holy Spirit has inscribed, one by one, the names of the donors, together with an inventory of the articles which each of them brought. Some people affect to despise the piety which expresses itself in costly gifts to the Church of Christ, and deem Lists of Subscribers an exhibition of ostentatious vulgarity. But in this chapter there is the best of warrants for these despised features of our modern Christianity.
I Observe the OCCASION of the gifts here commemorated. The Lord"s tabernacle has been constructed, furnished, anointed, and (what is best of all) occupied by the King whose pavilion it was intended for. Yes; and the construction and furniture of this royal tent have been effected by the voluntary gifts of a willing people. The tabernacle and its furniture are completed according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mount. No necessary part is wanting. Still there is room for some supplementary gifts. Take two examples.
1. When the tabernacle was first dedicated there would no doubt he a golden spoon for Aaron"s use when he burned incense at the golden altar. One such spoon was all that was strictly necessary. But it would occasionally happen that there would be more than one call to burn incense about the same time, and it was evidently unbecoming that in the palace of the King any worshipper should have to wait till the golden spoon was available. Hence the gift of the twelve golden spoons now presented by the princes.
2. The Levites have been appointed to bear the tabernacle and its furniture. They are able to do it; but not without difficulty, especially during the sojourn in the wilderness, where it is to be emphatically a moving tent. There was room, therefore, for a present of carriages and draught oxen. There are Christian congregations to whom this chapter teaches a much-needed lesson. The roll of their membership includes men of substance, yet they suffer the sanctuary to wear an aspect of threadbare penury and its services to be hunger-bitten. This ought not so to be.
II THE INVENTORY OF THE GIFTS.
1. Some were for the tabernacle in its wandering state. Six wagons were provided, they seem to have been small covered chariots, and a yoke of oxen was attached to each. These wagons were distributed among the Levitical families according to the nature and amount of the burdens which had been assigned them respectively.
2. Others were for the hand-selling of the tabernacle service. These consisted partly of gold and silver utensils for the stated service; partly of offerings to be presently consumed. The offerings included all the principal kinds in use under the law. There were burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings. The first sort and the last were much the most numerous. It was a time when the congregation might well rejoice before the Lord freely devoting themselves to him, and expatiating on the blessedness of communion with him. A time of spontaneous bountifulness in God"s service is always a time of gladness. Yet even at such times we are not to forget that we are sinners. The sin offering may not be prominent in this chapter of gifts, yet it has a place in every one of the twelve lists of offerings. What has been said about the nature of the gifts will explain the circumstance that the presenting of them was spread over twelve days. The peace offerings far exceeded in number all the rest. While the sin offering in each case consisted of a solitary kid, and the burnt offering consisted of only three animals, a bullock, a ram, and a lamb, the animals included in the peace offering were no fewer than seventeen. Now the specialty of the peace offering was this, that the person who presented it thereafter feasted upon it with his friends before the Lord. It was a becoming arrangement, therefore, that the disposal of this offering should be spread over several days.
III A word or two about THE MEN by whom the gifts were brought. They were the hereditary princes of the tribes the princes of the congregation who had taken charge of the census. This deserves to be noted, for it explains a certain feature of the present gifts in which they differ from almost all other gifts recorded in Scripture. The rule laid down in the Bible for all ordinary cases is that every man is to give according as God hath prospered him. Here, on the contrary, the gifts of the princes are identical in number and value doubtless by prior concert. There would be richer and poorer among the princes, yet they all give alike. It was not so at the erection of the tabernacle. On that occasion there was the utmost diversity: the mite of the poor widow was made as welcome as the rich man"s ingot of gold. Although a man could bring no more than a handful of goat"s hair, he was not denied the honour of having a share in the work. There are times for both sorts of giving. When a place of worship, where rich and poor are to meet together, is to be built, it would be wrong to exclude any from the subscription list, however poor. When a college of sacred learning is to be built or endowed, it may be the fittest plan to limit the subscription list to twelve or twenty "princes of the congregation" who are able to contribute every man his thousand or his five thousand pounds. It is a good omen for a nation when its "nobles put their necks to the work of the Lord." And it is good for the nobles themselves when they have the heart to do this. They who are honourable should show themselves serviceable. Noblesse oblige. When the nobles forget their duty in this respect, God will not long maintain their nobility.
IV Does any hearer complain that we have been doing him wrong in preaching today from this chapter of the law barren and secular (as he thinks) instead of conducting him into the green pastures of the gospel? Let such a hearer remember how Christ sat over against the treasury and marked what every one cast into it. That scene in the gospel and this chapter in the law is not the scope of them the very same? B.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT Vers. 1-88. The free-will offering of the princes.
The completion of the tabernacle was celebrated by offerings of the princes, as representatives of the tribes. Lessons may be derived from two points noted, viz.
I THEIR SPONTANEITY.
II THEIR UNIFORMITY.
I 1. The princes had already given offerings towards the erection of the tabernacle, (Exo_35:27, Exo_35:28) and now they bring further offerings for its conveyance (verse 3) and for its complete furnishing (verses 10-17). The power and will to give are a "grace" bestowed, (2Co_8:7) and the more we give the more of the grace of giving we may enjoy. (Mat_13:12)
2. If regarded simply as a duty, it was right that the princes should take the lead, as now it is a duty for men in authority and men of wealth, pastors and officers in Christ"s Church, to be "zealous for good works.
3. But the chief excellence of these and similar gifts was the "willing mind". (2Co_8:12) Under the law of Moses much was left to spontaneity, (cf. Exo_35:5 Lev_1:3, etc.) how much more under the law of Christ. (Mat_10:8 2Co_9:7) The absence of willinghood may change the fine gold into base metal in the sight of God.
II 1. The uniformity of the gifts might possibly have been the result of fashion; Nahshon, of the tribe of Judah, setting the fashion, and the other princes following it. The "fashion" of generous giving may well be set and followed, that the illiberal may be shamed out of their mean devices. But,
2. The uniformity here was probably the result of previous arrangement, and the sign of an honourable emulation. This God approves, (Heb_10:24) and St. Paul seeks to employ. (2Co 8:1-7:9:1-5) With this object public benefactions (subscription-lists, etc.)are acceptable to God if the spirit of the precept (Mat_6:3, Mat_6:4) is not violated. The details here published for posterity remind us that every particular of our gifts and services is recorded before God. E.g., a coin and its value, absolute and relative. (Mar_12:41-44) A jewel, a family heirloom, and how much it cost to give it up. (2Sa_24:15)
3. The uniformity was a sign that each tribe had an equal share in the altar and its blessings; even as different families, races, and individuals, have in the world-wide redemption of Christ. P. (Rom_10:11-13)
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-9. The wagons for the Levites.
This chapter describes two sets of gifts, one of wagons to help the Levites in transporting the tabernacle, the other for the dedication at the anointing of the altar. The first gift, when we look into it, is seen to be peculiarly beautiful and significant.
I IT WAS VOLUNTARY. Jehovah had made no provision that these wagons should be got. The Levites had the bearing of the tabernacle assigned them, and there was nothing to show but they must use their own backs and hands for the purpose. What was essential had been pointed out. But this did not prevent voluntary additions where such did not contradict commands already given. There were men enough at least, so it would seem among the Gershonites and Merarites to have borne the heavy furniture. God had not laid on them a work beyond their skill and strength. We may conclude, therefore, that the gift of the wagons was an act of pure good will from these princes to the Levites. It was a fresh bond in the unity of the nation.
II IT WAS SUITABLE. Many gifts of good will are mere ornaments. Sometimes they are white elephants. It is a great deal when a gift shows both a loving heart and a sound judgment. These wagons and oxen were just the thing to help. Probably there had been careful estimates, so as to secure a sufficient number. These wagons were well used (see Nu 33).
III IT WAS A UNITED GIFT. Something to express the interest of all Israel in the Levites. The whole nation, in an indirect yet real way, had its part in the service of the tabernacle. It is a good thing to have many joined in a good work. It is better to have a hundred people interested in a hundred good institutions to the extent of a pound a piece, than one man in one institution to the extent of a hundred pounds. God sends down his clouds in the wide-scattering, tiny drops of rain.
IV IT WAS DULY PROPORTIONATE. Each tribe had its share in the gift and its share in the credit. It was such a kind of gift that each tribe might reasonably give an equal share. It was the gift of all and the gift of each. The niggardliness of the individual should not be bidden away in the munificence of the community.
V IT WAS ACCEPTED OF GOD. A contrast with the way in which he treated the rashness and presumption of Nadab and Abihu. God is glad to have us lighten burdens and help one another, when it does not lead to a mean shirking of personal duties. It was right for these princes to take care that the strength of the bearers of burdens should not be decayed. (Neh_4:10) We see moreover a certain honour put upon the lower creation; it was an honour to be used for sacrifice, an honour to bear the tabernacle furniture.
VI When accepted, THE GIFT WAS PROPORTIONED BY GOD. The princes gave, but God arranged. It was not fit that brute beasts should carry the vessels of the sanctuary, therefore the Kohathites could not avail themselves of the wagons. The Merarites, we may presume, had more to bear than the Gershonites, and they had more in the way of help. If even among these minute specifications of God"s commands to Moses there was this room for voluntary gifts, how much more under the gospel. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, a great deal more liberty in giving than most believers avail themselves of. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 5 The princes of Israel . . . brought their…
Num_7:1-4
The princes of Israel . . . brought their offering.
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The offering of the princes
The offering of the princes is set out by certain circumstances, of the time when they offered, when Moses had fully set up the tabernacle and had sanctified it, &c., of the persons which offered, the princes of the tribes, the heads of the house of their fathers, and of the place where they are offered, it was before the Lord. Then their offering is described by the particulars that were offered, which is performed jointly or severally. The doctrine from hence is this, that a good work begun, especially furthering Gods worship, is not to be intermitted until it be brought to perfection. We see this in Ezr_5:1-2; Ezr_6:14. The like zeal and forwardness we see in Neh_4:3-4, &c. The apostle persuading the Corinthians to liberality toward the saints, willeth them readily to perform that which they had willingly begun. The reasons are plain.
1. The God of heaven will prosper weak beginnings if there be a readiness and cheerfulness in us. This should be a great encouragement unto us, as it was to Nehemiah (Neh_2:20).
2. If we look back we are not apt to Gods kingdom (Luk_9:62). If we give over we lose our labour, we miss our reward.
3. It is better not to begin than, having begun, not to proceed; better never to lay the first stone in the building than, having laid a good foundation, not to make an end, because it will be said to our reproach (Luk_14:30).
1. This serves, first, to reprove such as give over their profession, resting in a good work begun and in weak and small beginnings.
2. Secondly, it reproveth such as stand at a stay, such as neither go forward nor backward, but are always the same men, and look where you left them, there you shall be sure to find them. These are earthly minded and savour only of the earth.
3. Thirdly, such deserve to be reproved who hate those that go before and beyond them in the duties of piety, in gifts of knowledge and understanding.
4. Fourthly, it is our duty to proceed in sanctification, and labour to bring forth fruit evermore in old age (Psa_92:15). (W. Attersoll.)
Suitable offerings for Gods house
Why do they offer chariots, and oxen to draw them? Because these things were fit and good for the use of the tabernacle, to carry at removes such things as were to be carried, and to carry them dry. Learn by it that good hearts to Godward do not only give, but they give fit things, such as are most requisite for the service of God, the comeliness of His Church, the use of the minister, and the benefit of the whole congregation; yea, they to this end cast their heads, and observe what is wanting; what would do wall if it were had, what is now unseemly, and what would be more seemly for the reverence of Gods house, giving themselves no rest till either by themselves, at their own private charge, or by the parish at their public charge, such things be prepared. They are affected to Gods houses, as others are to their own, who are ever decking them with all necessaries till they are to their liking. Such a virtue as I may boldly say, God would sooner cease to be God, which we know is impossible, than forget to reward it. Do we remember in our own houses who gave us this and who gave us that, of plate, of household, of ornaments, or whatsoever, and will God forget in His house who gave anything for the necessary use, or greater beautifying it? We cannot think it, and our consciences tell us it cannot be. But even a thousand times more will God respect such love than any man can do. Make use of it then, I beg of you, and so show your heart to God in adorning His house and advancing His service, as living and dying He may fill your heart with His sweet comforts for it, bless you, and bless your friends after you, which He will do, even as He is God. (Bp. Babington.)
Princely liberality:
A wealthy European monarch has been fired with enthusiasm for Africa. When I visited King Leopold I asked him, What makes you so earnest about Africa? I was touched with his reply. He said, You know God took away from me my son, my only son, and then He laid Africa upon my heart. I am not spending the revenue of Belgium on it, but my own private resources, and I have made arrangements that when I die this civilising and evangelising work in Africa shall still go on. At the present time the king is expending £80,000 a year in Africa out of his private purse. (Grattan Guinness.)
Princely solicitude in regard to duty:
During the illness of King Edward the Sixth, who died in the sixteenth year of his age, Ridley, in a sermon which he preached before him, much commended works of charity, and showed that they were enjoined on all men, especially on those in higher stations. The same day, after dinner, the king sent for the doctor into the gallery, made him sit in a chair by him, and would not suffer him to be uncovered. After thanking him for his sermon, he repeated the chief points of it, and added, I took myself to be chiefly touched by your discourse; for as in the kingdom I am next under God, so must I most nearly approach to Him in goodness and mercy. As our miseries stand most in the need of help from Him, so are we the greatest debtors. And therefore, as you have given me this general exhortation, direct me, I entreat you, by what particular act I may best discharge my duty.
Prayer as a gauge of liberality
A gentleman canvassing for an important benevolent enterprise was about to call on a certain wealthy professor of religion who was more devout than generous. Ignorant of this fact, he asked his last contributor how much he thought the man would give. I dont know, was the reply; if you could hear him pray youd think he would give all he is worth. The collector called on the rich man, and to his surprise received a flat refusal. As he was taking his leave, it occurred to him to repeat what he had been told. I asked a man, said he, how much you would probably give, and he replied, If you could hear that man pray, youd think he would give all he is worth. The rich mans head dropped, and his eyes filled with tears. He took out his pocket-book, and handed his visitor a liberal contribution.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 7
SANCTUARY AND PASSOVER
1. THE OFFERINGS OF THE PRINCES
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Numbers 7
THE opening verses of the chapter seem to imply that immediately after the erection of the tabernacle the gifts of the princes were brought by way of thank offering. The note of time, "on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the tabernacle," appears very precise. It has been made a difficulty that, according to the narrative of Exodus, a considerable time had elapsed since the work was finished. But this account of the oblations of the princes, like a good many other ancient records incorporated in the present book, has a place given it from the desire to include everything that seemed to belong to the time of the wilderness. All incidents could not be arranged in consecutive order, because, let us suppose, the Book of Exodus to which this and others properly belonged was already complete. Numbers is the more fragmentary book. The expression, "on the day," must apparently be taken in a general sense as in Gen_2:4 "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven." In Num_9:15 the same note of time. "on the day that the tabernacle was reared up," marks the beginning of another reminiscence or tradition. The setting up of the tabernacle and consecration of the altar gave occasion presumably for this manifestation of generosity. But the offerings described could not be provided immediately; they must have taken time to prepare. Golden spoons of ten shekels weight were not to be found ready-made in the camp; nor were the oil and fine flour to be had at a days notice. Of course the gifts might have been prepared in anticipation.
The account of the bringing of the offerings by the princes on twelve successive days, one Sabbath at least included, gives the impression of a festival display. The narrator dwells with some pride on the exhibition of religious zeal and liberality, a fine example set to the people by men in high position. The gifts had not been asked by Moses; they were purely voluntary. Considering the value of precious metals at the time, and the poverty of the Israelites, they were handsome, though not extravagant. It is estimated that the gold and silver of each prince would equal in value about seven hundred and thirty of our shillings, and so the whole amount contributed, without regarding the changed value of the metals, would be equivalent to some four hundred and thirty-eight pounds sterling. In addition there were the fine flour and oil, and the bullocks, rams, lambs, and kids for sacrifice.
It is an obvious remark here that spontaneous liberality has in the very form of the narrative the very highest commendation. Nothing could be more fitted to create in the minds of the people respect for the sanctuary and the worship associated with it than this hearty dedication of their wealth by the heads of the tribes. As the people saw the slow processions moving day by day from the different parts of the camp, and joined in raising their hallelujahs of joy and praise, a spirit of generous devotion would be kindled in many hearts. It appears a singular agreement that each prince of a tribe gave precisely the same as his neighbour. But by this arrangement one was not put to shame by the greater liberality of another. Often, as we know, there is in giving, quite as much of human rivalry as of holy generosity. One must not be outdone by his neighbour, would rather surpass his neighbour. Here all appears to be done in the brotherly spirit.
Does the author of Numbers present an ideal for us to keep in view in our dedication of riches to the service of the Gospel? It was in full accord with the symbolic nature of Hebrew religion that believers should enrich the tabernacle and give its services an air of splendour. Almost the only way for the Israelites to honour God in harmony with their separation from others as His people, was that of making glorious the house in which He set His name, the whole arrangements for sacrifice and festival and priestly ministration. In the temple of Solomon that idea culminated which on this occasion fixed the value and use of the princes gifts. But under Christianity the service of God is the service of mankind. When the thought and labour of the disciples of Christ are devoted to the needs of men there is a tribute to the glory of God. "It has been said-it is true-that a better and more honourable offering is made to our Master in ministry to the poor, in extending the knowledge of His name, in the practice of the virtues by which that name is hallowed, than in material gifts to His temple. Assuredly it is so: woe to all who think that any other kind or manner of offering may in any way take the place of these." The decoration of the house used for worship, its stateliness and charm, are secondary to the upbuilding of that temple of which believing men and women are the eternal stones, for basement, pillar, and wall. In the development of Judaism the temple with its costly sacrifices and ministries swallowed up the means and enthusiasm of the people. Israel recognised no duty to the outside world. Even its prophets, because they were not identified with the temple worship, were in the main neglected and left to penury. It is a mistaken use of the teaching of the Old Testament to take across its love of splendour in sanctuary and worship, while the spread of Christian truth abroad and among the poor is scantily provided for.
But the liberality of the leaders of the tribes, and of all who in the times of the old covenant gave freely to the support of religion, stands before us today as a noble example. In greater gratitude for a purer faith, a larger hope, we should be more generous. Devoting ourselves first as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, we should count it an honour to give in proportion to our ability. One after another, every prince, every father of a family, every servant of the Lord, to the poorest widow, should bring a becoming gift.
The chapter closes with a verse apparently quite detached from the narrative as well as from what follows, which, however, has a singular importance as embodying the law of the oracle. "And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spake unto Him." At first this may seem exceedingly anthropomorphic. It is a human voice that is heard by Moses speaking in response to his inquiries. One is there, in the darkness behind the veil, who converses with the prophet as friend communicates with friend. Yet, on reflection, it will be felt that the statement is marked by a grave idealism and has an air of mystery befitting the circumstances. There is no form or visible manifestation, no angel or being in human likeness, representing God. It is only a Voice that is heard. And that Voice, as proceeding from above the mercy-seat which covered the law, is a revelation of what is in harmony with the righteousness and truth, as well as the compassion, of the Unseen God. The separateness of Jehovah is very strikingly suggested. Here only, in this tent of meeting, apart from the common life of humanity, can the one prophet-mediator receive the sacred oracles. And the veil still separates even Moses from the mystic Voice. Yet God is so akin to men that He can use their words, make His message intelligible through Moses to those who are not holy enough to hear for themselves, but are capable of responding in obedient faith.
Whatever is elsewhere said in regard to the Divine communications that were given through Moses must be interpreted by this general statement. The revelations to Israel came in the silence and mystery of this place of audience, when the leader of the people had withdrawn from the bustle and strain of his common tasks. He must be in the exalted mood this highest of all offices requires. With patient, earnest soul he must wait for the Word of God. There is nothing sudden, no violent flash of light on the ecstatic mind. All is calm and grave.
2. THE CANDELABRUM
Num_8:1-4
The seven-branched candlestick with its lamps stood in the outer chamber of the tabernacle into which the priests had frequently to go. When the curtain at the entrance of the tent was drawn aside during the day there was abundance of light in the Holy Place, and then the lamps were not required. It may indeed appear from Exo_27:20, that one lamp of the seven fixed on the candelabrum was to be kept burning by day as well as by night. Doubt, however, is thrown on this by the command, repeated Lev_24:1-4, that Aaron shall order it "from evening to morning"; and Rabbi Kimehis statement that the "western lamp" was always found burning cannot be accepted as conclusive. In the wilderness, at all events, no lamp could be kept always alight: and from 1Sa_3:3 we learn that the Divine voice was heard by the child-prophet when Eli was laid down in his place, "and the lamp of God was not yet gone out" in the temple where the ark of God was. The candelabrum therefore seems to have been designed not specially as a symbol, but for use. And here direction is given, "When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick." All were to be so placed upon the supports that they might shine across the Holy Place, and illuminate the altar of incense and the table of shewbread.
The text goes on to state that the candlestick was all of beaten work of gold; "unto the base thereof and unto the flowers thereof, it was beaten work," and the pattern was that which Jehovah had showed Moses. The material, the workmanship, and the form, not particularly important in themselves, are anew referred to because of the special sacredness belonging to all the furniture of the tabernacle.
The attempt to fasten typical meanings to the seven lights of the candelabrum, to the ornaments and position, and especially to project those meanings into the Christian Church, has little warrant even from the Book of Revelation, where Christ speaks as "He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." There can be no doubt, however, that symbolic references may be found, illustrating in various ways the subjects of revelation and the Christian life.
The "tent of meeting" may represent to us that chamber or temple of reverent inquiry where the voice of the Eternal is heard, and His glory and holiness are realised by the seeker after God. It is a chamber silent, solemn, and dark, curtained in such gloom, indeed, that some have maintained there is no revelation to be had, no glimpse of Divine life or love. But as the morning sunshine flowed into the Holy Place when the hangings were drawn aside, so from the natural world light may enter the chamber in which fellowship with God is sought. "The invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity." The world is not God, its forces are not in the true sense elemental-do not belong to the being of the Supreme. But it bears witness to the infinite mind, the omnipotent will it cannot fitly represent. In the silence of the tent of meeting, when the light of nature shines through the door that opens to the sunrise, we realise that the inner mystery must be in profound accord with the outer revelation-that He who makes the light of the natural world must be in Himself the light of the spiritual world; that He who maintains order in the great movements and cycles of the material universe, maintains a like order in the changes and evolutions of the immaterial creation.
Yet the light of the natural world shining thus into the sacred chamber, while it aids the seeker after God in no small degree, fails at a certain point. It is too hard and glaring for the hour of most intimate communion. By night, as it were, when the world is veiled and silent, when the soul is shut alone in earnest desire and thought, then it is that the highest possibilities of intercourse with the unseen life are realised. And then, as the seven-branched candlestick with its lamps illuminated the Holy Place, a radiance which belongs to the sanctuary of life must supply the souls need. On the curtained walls, on the altar, on the veil whose heavy folds guard the most holy mysteries, this light must shine. Nature does not reveal the life of the Ever-Living, the love of the All-Loving, the will of the All-Holy. In the conscious life and love of the soul, created anew after the plan and likeness of God in Christ, -here is the light. The unseen God is the Father of our spirits. The lamps of purified reason, Christ-born faith and love, holy aspiration, are those which dispel the darkness on our side the veil. The Word and the Spirit give the oil by which those lamps are fed.
Must we say that with the Father, Christ also, who once lived on earth, is in the inner chamber which our gaze cannot penetrate? Even so. A thick curtain is interposed between the earthly and the heavenly. Yet while by the light which shines in his own soul the seeker after God regards the outer chamber-its altar, its shewbread, its walls, and canopy-his thought passes beyond the veil. The altar is fashioned according to a pattern and used according to a law which God has given. It points to prayer, thanksgiving, devotion, that have their place in human life because facts exist out of which they arise-the beneficence, the care, the claims of God. The table of shewbread represents the spiritual provision made for the soul which cannot live but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God. The continuity of the outer chamber with the inner suggests the close union there is between the living soul and the living God-and the veil itself, though it separates, is no jealous and impenetrable wall of division. Every sound on this side can be heard within; and the Voice from the mercy seat, declaring the will of the Father through the enthroned Word, easily reaches the waiting worshipper to guide, comfort, and instruct. By the light of the lamps kindled in our spiritual nature the things of God are seen; and the lamps themselves are witnesses to God. They burn and shine by laws He has ordained, in virtue of powers that are not fortuitous nor of the earth. The illumination they give on this side the veil proves clearly that within it the Parent Light, glorious, never-fading, shines - transcendent reason, pure and almighty will, unchanging love-the lifewhich animates the universe.
Again, the symbolism of the candlestick has an application suggested by Rev_1:20. Now, the outer chamber of the tabernacle in which the lamps shine represents the whole world of human life. The temple is vast; it is the temple of the universe. Still the veil exists; it separates the life of men on earth from the life in heaven, with God. Isaiah in his oracles of redemption spoke of a coming revolution which should open the world to Divine light. "He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that is cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." And the light itself, still as proceeding from a Hebrew centre, is described in the second book of the Isaiah prophecies: "For Zions sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalems sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. And the nations shall see thy righteousness and all kings thy glory." But the prediction was not fulfilled until the Hebrew merged in the human and He came who, as the Son of Man, is the true light which lighteth every man coming into the world.
Dark was the outer chamber of the great temple when the Light of life first shone, and the darkness comprehended it not. When the Church was organised, and the apostles of our Lord, bearing the gospel of Divine grace, went through the lands, they addressed a world still under the veil of which Isaiah spoke. But the spiritual enlightenment of mankind proceeded; the lamps of the candlestick, set in their places, showed the new altar, the new table of heavenly bread, a feast spread for all nations, and made the ignorant and earthly aware that they stood within a temple consecrated by the offering of Christ. St. John saw in Asia, amid the gross darkness of its seven great cities, seven lamp-stands with their lights, some increasing, some waning in brightness. The sacred flame was carried from country to country, and in every centre of population a lamp was kindled. There was no seven-branched candelabrum merely, but one of a hundred, of a thousand arms. And all drew their oil from the one sacred source, cast more or less bravely the same Divine illumination on the dark eye of earth.
True, the world had its philosophy and poetry, using, often with no little power, the themes of natural religion. In the outer chamber of the temple the light of nature gleamed on the altar, on the shewbread, on the veil. But interpretation failed, faith in the unseen was mixed with dreams, no real knowledge was gained of what the folds of the curtain hid-the mercy-seat, the holy law that called for pure worship and love of one Living and True God. And then the darkness that fell when the Saviour hung on the cross, the darkness of universal sin and condemnation, was made so deeply felt that in the shadow of it the true light might be seen, and the lamp of every church might glow, a beacon of Divine mercy shining across the troubled life of man. And the world has responded, will respond, with greater comprehension and joy, as the Gospel is proclaimed with finer spirit, embodied with greater zeal in lives of faith and love. Christ in the truth, Christ in the sacraments, Christ in the words and deeds of those who compose His Church-this is the light. The candlestick of every life, of every body of believers, should be as of beaten gold. no base metal mixed with that which is precious. He who fashions his character as a Christian is to have the Divine idea before him and re-think it; those who build the Church are to seek its purity, strength, and grace. But still the light must come from God, not from man, the light that burned on the altar of the Divine sacrifice and shines from the glorious personality of the risen Lord.
3. THE PASSOVER
Num_9:1-14
The day fixed by statute for the feast which commemorated the deliverance from Egypt was the fourteenth of the first month-the year beginning with the month of the exodus. Chapter 9 opens by reiterating this statute, already recorded in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23, and proceeds to narrate the observance of the Passover in the second year. A supplementary provision follows which met the case of those excluded from the feast through ceremonial uncleanness. In one passage it is assumed that the statutes and ordinances of the celebration are already known. The feast proper, ordered to be kept between the two evenings of the fourteenth day, is, however, alone spoken of; there is no mention of the week of unleavened bread {Exo_12:15 Lev_23:6}, nor of the holy convocations with which that week was to open and close. It is almost impossible to avoid the conclusion that the Passover in the wilderness was a simple family festival at which every head of a household officiated in a priestly capacity. The supplementary Passover of this chapter was, according to the rabbis, distinguished from the great feast by the rites lasting only one day instead of seven, and by other variations. There is, however, no trace of such a difference between the one observance and the other. What was done by the congregation on the fourteenth of Abib was apparently to be done at the "Little Passover" of the following month.
On every male Israelite old enough to understand the meaning of the Passover, the observance of it was imperative. Lest the supplementary feast should be made an excuse for failure to keep the fourteenth day of the first month, it is enacted {Num_9:13} that he who wilfully neglects shall be "cut off from his people." For strangers who sojourn among the Israelites provision is made that if they wish to keep the feast they may do so under the regulations applied to the Hebrews: these, of course, including the indispensable rite of circumcision, which had to precede any observance of a feast in honour of God. Noticeable are the terms with which this statute concludes: "Ye shall have one statute, both for the stranger and for him that is born in the land." The settlement in Canaan is assumed.
Regarding the Passover in the wilderness, difficulties have been raised on the ground that a sufficient number of lambs, males of the first year. could scarcely have been provided, and that the sacrificing of the lambs by Aaron and his two sons within the prescribed time would have been impossible. The second point of difficulty disappears if this Passover was, as we have seen reason to believe, a family festival like that observed on the occasion of the exodus. Again. the number of yearling male lambs required would depend on the number who partook of the feast. Calculations made on the basis that one lamb sufficed for about fifteen, and that men alone ate the Passover, leave the matter in apparent doubt. Some fifty thousand lambs would still be needed. Keeping by the enumeration of the Israelites given in the muster-roll of Numbers, some writers explain that the desert tribes might supply large numbers of lambs, and that kids also were available. The difficulty, however, remains, and it is one of those which point to the conclusion that the numbers given have somehow been increased in the transcription of the ancient records century after century.
The case of certain men who could not partake of the Passover in the first month, because they were unclean through the dead, was brought before Moses and Aaron. The men felt it to be a great loss of privilege, especially as the march was about to begin, and they might not have another opportunity of observing the feast. Who indeed could tell whether in the first conflict it might not be his lot to fall by the sword? "We are unclean by the nephesh of a man," they said: "wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer the oblation of the Lord in its appointed season among the children of Israel?" The result of the appeal was the new law providing that two disabilities, and two only, should be acknowledged. The supplementary Passover of the second month was appointed for those unclean by the dead, and those on a journey who found themselves too far off to reach in time the precincts of the sanctuary. Those unclean would be in a month presumably free from defilement; those on a journey would probably have returned. The concession is a note of the gracious reasonableness that in many ways distinguished the Hebrew religion; and the Passover observances of Jews at the present day are based on the conviction that what is practicable is accepted by God, though statute and form cannot be kept.
The question presents itself, why keeping of the Passover should be necessary to covenant union with Jehovah. And the reply bears on Christian duty with regard to the analogous sacrament of the Lords Supper, for it rests on the historical sanction and continuity of faith. If God was to be trusted as a Saviour by the Hebrew, certain facts in the nations history had to be known, believed, and kept in clear remembrance; otherwise no reality could be found in the covenant. And under the new covenant the same holds good. The historical fact of Christs crucifixion must be kept in view, and constantly revived by the Lords Supper. In either case redemption is the main idea presented by the commemorative ordinance. The Hebrew festival is not to be held on the anniversary of the giving of the law; it recalls the great deliverance connected with the death of the first-born in Egypt. So the Christian festival points to the deliverance of humanity through the death of Christ.
Remarkable is the congruity between the view of the law presented by Paul and the fact that the great commemorative feast of Hebraism is attached, not to the legislation of Sinai, but to the rescue from Egyptian bondage. The law kept the Hebrew nation in ward (Gal_3:23); "it was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise had been made" (Gal_3:19); it "came in beside, that the trespass might abound" (Rom_5:20). The Hebrews were not required to commemorate that ordinance which laid on them a heavy burden and was found, as time went on, to be "unto death" (Rom_7:10). And, in like manner, the feast of Christianity does not recall the nativity of our Lord, nor that agony in the garden which showed Him in the depths of human sorrow, but that triumphant act of His soul which carried Him, and humanity with Him, through the shadow of death into the free life of spiritual energy and peace. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is the commemoration of a victory by which we are enfranchised. Partaking of it in faith, we realise our rescue from the Egypt of slavery and fear, our unity with Christ and with one another as "an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Gods own possession." The wilderness journey lies before us still; but in liberty we press on as the ransomed of the Lord.
Mr. Morley has said, not without reason, that "the modern argument in favour of the supernatural origin of the Christian religion, drawn from its suitableness to our needs and its Divine response to our aspirations," is insufficient to prove it the absolute religion. "The argument," he says, "can never carry us beyond the relativity of religious truth." Christians may not assume that "their aspirations are the absolute measure of those of humanity in every stage." To dispense with faith in the historical facts of the life of Christ, His claims, and the significance of His cross, to leave these in the haze of the past as doubtful, incapable of satisfactory proof, and to rest all on the subjective experience which any one may reckon sufficient, is to obliterate the covenant and destroy the unity of the Church. Hence, as the Hebrews had their Passover, and the observance of it gave them coherence as a people and as a religious body, so we have the Supper. No local centre, indeed, is appointed at which alone our symbolic feast can be observed. Wherever a few renew their covenant with God in proclaiming the Lords death till He come, there the souls of the faithful are nourished and inspired through fellowship with Him who brought spiritual life and liberty to our world.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 In this chapter we have the narrative of the…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
In this chapter we have the narrative of the presentation of gifts by the princes of the tribes at the dedication of the altar. “This presentation took place at the time (יוֹם) when Moses, after having completed the erection of the tabernacle, anointed and sanctified the dwelling and the altar, together with their furniture (Lev_8:10-11). Chronologically considered, this ought to have been noticed after Lev_8:10. But in order to avoid interrupting the connection of the Sinaitic laws, it is introduced for the first time at this point, and placed at the head of the events which immediately preceded the departure of the people from Sinai, because these gifts consisted in part of materials that were indispensably necessary for the transport of the tabernacle during the march through the desert. Moreover, there was only an interval of at the most forty days between the anointing of the tabernacle, which commenced after the first day of the first month (cf. Exo_40:16, and Lev_8:10), and lasted eight days, and the departure from Sinai, on the twentieth day of the second month (Num_10:2), and from this we have to deduct six days for the Passover, which took place before their departure (Num_9:1 sqq.); and it was within this period that the laws and ordinances from Leviticus 11 to Numbers 6 had to be published, and the dedicatory offerings to be presented. Now, as the presentation itself was distributed, according to Num_7:11 sqq., over twelve or thirteen days, we may very well assume that it did not entirely precede the publication of the laws referred to, but was carried on in part contemporaneously with it. The presentation of the dedicatory gifts of one tribe-prince might possibly occupy only a few hours of the day appointed for the purpose, and the rest of the day, therefore, might very conveniently be made use of by Moses for publishing the laws. In this case the short space of a month and a few days would be amply sufficient for everything that took place.”—Keil and Del.
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Num_7:2. The princes of the tribes, and were over them, etc. Margin: Who stood over, etc. Keil and Del: “Those who stood over those that were numbered, i.e., who were their leaders or rulers” (see Num_1:4-16).
Num_7:3. Covered wagons. Gesenius and De Wette translate: “litter wagons;” but their rendering “can neither be defended etymologically, nor based upon צַבִּים in Isa_66:20.”—Keil and Del. The rendering of the LXX is ἁμάξας λαμπηνίκας, which, according to Euseb. Emis. signifies two-wheeled vehicles. Dr. A. Clarke renders: “tilted wagons.” And Dr. H. E. J. Howard: “tilted wains.” They use the word tilted in the sense of tented, or, as in the A. V., covered; and this seems to be the meaning of the original.
The service of the sanctuary. Heb. lit., “the holy,” i.e., the holy things (see Num_4:5-20).
Num_7:10, In the day. Keil and Del., “That is, at the time ‘that they anointed it.’ ‘Day,’ as in Gen_2:4.”
Num_7:13. One silver charger. A dish, or deep bowl. (See Exo_25:29.) One silver bowl. A basin to receive the blood of the sacrifice in.
Num_7:14. One spoon. A censer, on which they placed the incense, as in Exo_25:29.
Num_7:84-86. Attersol (1618) reckons the whole of the dishes, basins, and censers to be worth about £420. Dr. A. Clarke (1836), in loco, gives his calculation in detail, and makes the total £627 is. 11¼d. The Speaker’s Comm. (1871): “If a silver shekel be taken roughly as weighing 2.5 of a shilling, and a golden shekel 1.15 of a sovereign, the intrinsic worth, by weight of each silver charger, will be 325s., of each bowl 175s., of each golden spoon 230s. Consequently the aggregate worth, by weight, of the whole of the offerings will be £438. But the real worth of such a sum, when measured by the prices of clothing and food at that time, must have been vastly greater. It must not be forgotten, too, that the tabernacle itself had been recently constructed at a vast cost.”
Num_7:89. The tabernacle of the congregation. Heb., “The tent of meeting.” To speak with Him, i.e., with God, as in the margin; for “the name Jehovah, though not expressly mentioned before, is contained implicite in ohel moëd, ‘the tent of meeting.’ ” He heard the voice of one speaking. Rather, “he heard the voice speaking,” or “conversing.”
Proceeding to our Homiletical treatment of the chapter, we have in the first paragraph—
AN ANCIENT OFFERING, AND ITS MODERN LESSONS
(Num_7:1-9)
These verses suggest the following lessons—
1. That they who hold the most honourable positons should be most liberal in contributions to worthy objects.
The princes of the tribes of Israel are here prominent in bringing their offering for the service of the Tabernacle. They present an example well worthy the imitation of those who are exalted in rank, rich in possessions, or great in power. Such persons are under all the ordinary obligations to help forward every good work. They, in common with all men, are required to use their talents, means, and opportunities so as to accomplish the greatest amount of good. They are also under special obligations to advance every true and good cause amongst men, because of the conspicuousness of their position, and the extent of their influence. The extent of our obligations is determined by our opportunities. Privilege is the measure of responsibility. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him will they ask the more.”
1. Great honours should incite to great efforts to do good. Those upon whom God has bestowed great wealth, or whom He has raised to exalted stations, should manifest their thankfulness by generously promoting those objects which accord with the Divine will. “The more any are advanced, the more is expected from them, on account of the greater opportunity they have of serving God and their generation. What are wealth and authority good for, but as they enable a man to do so much the more good in the world?”
2. Great influence involves great obligation. The example of persons in high station is extensively observed; their exalted position gives conspicuousness to their life and conduct. Their example is also very effective, for persons are generally prone to copy it, when that of persons in lowly stations would be disregarded. So their influence is very great; and the possession of great influence is a sacred and solemn trust. So “superior rank demands superior worth.” They who are exalted in station should cultivate the exalted in character and conduct; and so their great influence will be a great blessing.
“Since by your greatness you
Are nearer Heaven in place, be nearer it
In goodness. Rich men should transcend the poor,
As clouds the earth; raised by the comfort of
The sun, to water dry and barren grounds.”
Tourneive. (a)
II. That they who are not entirely engaged in religious ministries should seek to help those who are so engaged.
These princes of the tribes were not set apart for religious duties; but by this offering of wagons and oxen for the service of the tabernacle, they evinced their desire to assist the Levites in discharging their sacred duties. “You know,” says Babington, “how the Levites were to carry upon their shoulders the things belonging to the tabernacle when they removed, but now they shall be eased by these chariots and oxen. So the laity careth for the clergy, to help them, to ease them, to comfort them in their duties belonging to God. And O! how could I dwell in the meditation of it a whole day, it is so sweet. Will you note it and think of it? I trust you will, and so I commit it to you.” There are still many ways in which Christian men and women may, and in which some of them do, assist their ministers. It is the privilege and duty of every disciple of Christ Jesus to engage in some work for the good of others; and when every one is so engaged, the labours of the ministers of the Gospel, which in some instances are very arduous and continuous, will be much lightened, and from many things, which by reason of the sloth or unreasonableness of the churches they now have to do, though they pertain not to their work, they will then be entirely free. The offering of the princes of the tribes manifests a thoughtfulness and appropriateness, which are well worthy of commendation and imitation. They gave with wise judgment such things as proved most useful in the service of the tabernacle. (b)
III. That God is graciously pleased to accept of man’s offerings.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.” Thus God signifies his acceptance of their offering. Surely it is a great honour which God confers upon us in accepting our gifts in His service. If our heart be sincere the offering of even the smallest gift, or the feeblest effort in His cause, He accepts, approves, and, in His great grace, will reward. “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” Let this be to us an incentive to liberal and hearty giving, and faithful and diligent working in His cause.
IV. That gifts for religious purposes should be used in accordance with the will of God.
“Thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershom, according to their service,” etc. The offering was faithfully applied by Moses in such a way as to gratify the wishes of the givers, serve the interests of the people, and comply with the directions of the Lord. Here is a lesson which is very wide in its applications, and which is urgently needed in some quarters today. The offerings which are contributed to the cause of God, should be used not for the mere increase and aggrandisement of a sect or party, not for the mere advocacy and spread of any pet notions, favourite theories, or sectarian creeds, but for the promotion of the cause and glory of God in the well-being of humanity. This is attained by doing the largest amount of good in the most Christlike spirit. The money or property, which in past ages, was left for purposes which were then useful and worthy, but which, in the altered circumstances of this age, have very much ceased to be so, should be applied to such purposes as shall be at once productive of the most good to the community, and most nearly in accord with the wishes of the giver, as far as they can be ascertained. To attempt to monopolise such gifts, or restrict the benefits which might be attained by them, on the ground of the wishes of the “pious donor,” or “founder,” is, to say the least, utterly unworthy of Christian men.
V. That in the Divine arrangements help is granted unto men according to their respective needs.
“Thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the waggons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites,” etc., Num_7:5-9. The principle of distribution which Moses adopted, was laid down by God Himself; “Give to every man according to his service.” In harmony with this principle, the Merarites, to whom was assigned the most burdensome part of the service (Num_4:29-33), received four wagons and eight oxen; the Gershonites, whose service was less burdensome (Num_4:21-26), received two wagons and four oxen; while the Kohathites, who had to carry the most holy things upon their shoulders, and were provided with poles for that purpose (Num_4:4-20), received neither wagon nor oxen. There is a proportion between the burden imposed and the strength imparted. “God proportions the burden to the back,” says Trapp. But it is both more correct and more inspiring to say, God proportions the back to the burden. (Comp. 1Co_10:13, with 2Co_12:9.) God will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, because as the power of temptation increases, He will increase our power of resistance. As our need increases He increases the communications of His grace; and the infinitude of His resources must ever immeasurably surpass our utmost need. And as His knowledge of us and kindness toward us are infinite, we may rest assured that He will not fail to proportion His assistance to our necessities. What an encouragement is this as we look on to the future, with its unknown experiences, its possibilities of sore trial, of insuperably difficult labour, etc. Infinite resources of patience and power, grace and courage, are pledged to us. Apart from Christ we can do nothing; but with the help of the Holy one of Israel even a “worm shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff.” (See Isa_41:13-16.) “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” “When I am weak, then am I strong;” for Christ’s strength is made perfect in His people’s weakness. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (c)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) They that are great, and worthy to be so, Hide not their rays from meanest plants that grow.
Why is the sun set on a throne so high,
But to give light to each inferior eye?
His radiant eyes distribute lively grace
To all according to their worth and place;
And from the humble ground these vapours drain,
Which are sent down in fruitful drops of rain.—Beaumont.
(b) We want labourers; persons who can distribute tracts silently, and persons who can speak a word in season; we want rich men who can go in carriages, and poor men who can only walk; we want ladies who are muffled and furred with all the armour of a luxurious civilization, and poor women whose hearts are warm with a glowing love to the Saviour: we want persons who can teach ragged children, and persons who can address ragged men: Who will come? Don’t oppress those who are working too much already. There is a vast amount of non-productive energy in the Church. There are men and women voluntarily dumb, they must speak; there are Christians who have an enormous talent for sleeping, they must be awakened; there are disciples who imagine that their Christian duties are discharged when they have criticised other people, they must be persuaded or provoked into activity; as with the body, so with the soul—we cannot do our duty with mere empty words;—“if a brother or a sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, and be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful for the body; what doth it profit?” So with the soul. It is not enough to erect your buildings, you must go out, and with all the gentle violence of love “compel men to come in.”.… You can bring in the millennium when you please; God is waiting; the Redeemer is at hand; “Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, until there shall not be room enough to contain it.” That is the challenge; who will accept it? God says He waits to be gracious; then let us wait patiently upon God! The rain will come if we pray for it. The battle will be given to Israel if we hold up the hands of His servant.—Jos. Parker, D.D.
(c) Christianity boldly, undisguisedly declares to every human being under sin, that he has no complete power beforehand, as in reference to anything really good. And then it calls him to be good, on the express condition always that he is to have powers, stimulants, increments, accruing as he wants them; that on these, or the promise of them, he may rest his faith, and so go forward. It says to the struggling and misgiving penitent, “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me.” It calls every man to earnest and hopeful endeavour, by the consideration of an all-supporting grace that cannot fail; “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you.” It shows the Christian testifying in sublimity of confidence, “When I am weak, then am I strong; I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.” It promises the faithful man all the support needed for his exigencies as they arise, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” It also establishes, in a manner to comprehend everything, a doctrine of Divine concourse by the Holy Spirit, which carries in it the pledge of all-accruing grace, and light, and might, and holy impulsion; “Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened.” Indeed, the doctrine or fact of the Holy Spirit is only another way of generalizing the truth that God will co-work invigoratively, correctively, and directively in all the good struggles of believing souls; and so will bring in, at all times and junctures, those increments of power that are necessary to success.
All the simplest, most living, and most genuine Christians of our own time are such as rest their souls, day by day, on this confidence and promise of accruing power, and make themselves responsible, not for what they have in some inherent ability, but for what they can have in their times of stress and peril, and in the continual raising of their own personal quantity and power. They throw themselves on works wholly above their ability, and get accruing power in their works for others still higher and greater. Instead of gathering in their souls timorously beforehand upon the little sufficiency they find in possession, they look upon the great world God has made, and all the greater world of the Saviour’s kingdom in it, as being friendly and tributary, ready to pour in help, minister light, and strengthen them to victory, just according to their faith. And so they grow in courage, confidence, personal volume, efficiency of every kind, and instead of slinking into their graves out of impotent lives, they lie down in the honours of heroes.
Go to your duty, every man, and trust yourselves to Christ; for He will give you all supply just as fast as you need it. You will have just as much power as you believe you can have. Be a Christian, throw yourself upon God’s work, and get the ability you want in it.—H. Bushnell, D.D.
THE OFFERINGS FOR DEDICATING THE ALTAR, AND THEIR MORAL SUGGESTIONS
(Num_7:10-88)
Two introductory points are suggested:
First: The obligation of man to honour God with his possessions. The princes of the tribes liberally contributed to the erection and furnishing of the tabernacle, that the Lord might be honoured amongst the people. And all men are under the most solemn obligations to employ their possessions in such a way as to honour God thereby. He is the sole proprietor of all things. “Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” The wealthiest man has nothing that he can really call his own; his relation to his temporal possessions is not that of ownership but of stewardship. In giving to the cause of God, or to the needs of man, we only give God His own. Well did king David say, “All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.” To the “rich in this world” it is a charge from God, “that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.” And according to his ability every man is required to communicate unto others, and so to distribute his worldly goods, that God shall be honoured thereby. Our business is not to selfishly hoard, but to generously dispense; not vainly to accumulate, but wisely to use the goods with which God has entrusted us. He will one day call us to give account of our stewardship. What account will the selfish and useless be able to render unto Him? (a)
Second: The obligation of man to continue in a right and good course. These princes of the tribes had already liberally contributed to the construction of the tabernacle (Exo_35:27-28); they had also presented the wagons and the oxen for its removal from place to place; and now they are offering their gifts for the dedication of the altar. Having begun this good work, they continued therein until it was brought to perfection. As man accustoms himself to give for the promotion of worthy objects, both his disposition to give and his power to give are increased. His disposition to give is increased; for he learns the joy of giving; he increasingly proves that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” His power to give is also increased; for “there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
“There was a man,—some men did count him mad—
The more he gave away the more he had.”
Good beginnings must be carried onward to perfect endings. Continuance and progress in duty and service are required from us. Having given much, let us endeavour to give more. Having done well, let us try to do better. “Forgetting those things which are behind,” etc. (Php_3:13-14). “Let us go on unto perfection.”
Let us now proceed to consider—
I. The Significance of the Offerings for the Dedication of the Altar.
1. Their offerings express the sense of of equality of obligation. Every tribe, by its prince, presents the same kind of offering, and in the same quantity, as an expression of their equal indebtedness to God. By Him they all alike had been emancipated from slavery and cruelty in Egypt; by Him they were all alike protected, provisioned and led; and it was fitting that each should thus testify to their equality of obligation. There are certain mercies which all men have in common; certain Divine gifts which are bestowed upon all men; Christ “died for all” men; and there are certain obligations to God in which all men share. “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,” etc.
2. Their offerings express symbolically the Divine calling of the nation to be holy unto the Lord. All the vessels presented were for sacrificial uses, all the animals were ceremonially clean and such as were proper for sacrifices; all the other gifts were of the best quality and were to be used in the worship of God. By these things it was indicated that the people were to be a separate people, entirely dedicated to God, and that God was to dwell in their midst. The lesson for us is, that God is to be worshipped with our highest and best. The best of our affections, of our thoughts, of our actions, of our possessions, we should cheerfully consecrate to Him. Beautifully was this illustrated by Mary of Bethany, when, with glowing gratitude and reverent and rapturous love she poured the precious ointment on the head and feet of her adored Lord. (b)
3. Their offerings express symbolically the great truths taught by the different sacrifices. They brought a “kid of the goats for a sin-offering.” The sin-offering expressed the consciousness of sin on the part of the offerer, the need of forgiveness and tatonement. with God, and the belief that these were to be obtained through the sacrifice of the appointed victim. They offered “one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt-offering.” The burnt-offering was wholly consumed upon the altar to the honour of God; and its main idea is that it represents the entire devotion of the offerer to God, that he gives himself wholly and for ever to Him. Canon Barry well says that “the best comment upon it is the exhortation in Rom_12:1, to ‘present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.’ ” They also brought “for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five lambs of the first year.” The peace-offerings were expressions of the gratitude of the worshipper to God; they “were simply offerings to God of His own best gifts, as a sign of thankful homage, and as a means of maintaining His service and His servants.” All these ideas and feelings, therefore, which these sacrifices represent, were expressed in the offerings which the princes, each one representing his respective tribe, presented to the Lord. And should not the ideas and feelings which these offerings were intended to express be ours? Do not we need forgiveness? Let us seek it in faith through the One great Sin-Offering. Are not we under the most sacred and binding obligations to consecrate ourselves entirely unto God? “Know ye not that ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,” etc. Have not we many and moving reasons, for most fervent gratitude to God? “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” Let us present to Him the offering of sincere and ardent praise. “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” (c)
II. The Significance of the Record of the Offerings for the Dedication of the Altar.
It is remarkable that the particulars are given of each offering, in the case of each one of the princes, though each of the offerings was exactly similar to the others. The repetition seems uninteresting, tedious, wearisome. But is there not some reason for this minuteness of statement? In a Book where subjects of deep interest are mentioned and dismissed sometimes in a few words, a Book moreover which is inspired by God—is there not significance in this wearisome repetition of uninteresting details? What does it mean? It seems to us to suggest—
1. The pleasure of God in the gifts of His people. “That everything is so particularly noted,” says Babington, “and the weight so precisely mentioned, may teach us to our comfort, what an observation there is in God of the gifts we bestow on Him in promoting His glory, advancing his service, maintaining His ministers in a liberal manner, relieving the poor, and doing such good things as with God and man are praiseworthy. Surely the number, the measure, with all circumstances, are observed; and the Lord is a plenteous Rewarder of all love to Him.” “Man may pass hastily or carelessly over gifts and offerings; but God never can, never does, and never will. He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing; and not only does He not forget it Himself, but He takes special pains that untold millions shall read the record. How little did those twelve princes imagine that their names and their offerings were to be handed down, from age to age, to be read by countless generations! Yet so it was, for God would have it so.” They who honour Him with their offerings, He will honour with His expressed approbation. Mary’s offering of her precious ointment is known in all the world where the Gospel is preached (Mat_26:13). And the widow who cast into the treasury of the temple “all that she had,” though that “all” was only “two mites,” has been crowned by Christ with similar immortality and fame (Mar_12:41-44). “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love,” etc. (Heb_6:10).
2. The permanence of good works. When any one does a kind or noble deed, or bestows a generous gift from worthy motives, he does a permanent an imperishable thing. The breath of an immortal life is in such deeds. God remembers and will reward them. The grateful heart will for ever cherish the memory of the kind service or generous gift. “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” The noble deed shall live, and bring forth fruit. And the doer himself by his deed has gained somewhat of nobility and strength as a permanent acquisition in his own being. (d)
Conclusion.
Our subject is most fruitful of encouragement to—
1. Liberality of giving to promote worthy objects.
2. Diligence in working to promote worthy objects.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) There is nothing made for itself, nothing whose powers and influences are entirely circumscribed to self. Whatever a creature receives it gives out, with the modification and increase of its own force. The clouds borrow water of the ocean, but they pour it forth again in refreshing showers upon the thirsty hills, which, in their turn, send them amongst the valleys. Planets borrow light of their centres, and forthwith fling their rays abroad upon the dark regions of space through which they roll. The tree borrows from every part of the world in order to build up itself, but it gives out, in return, beauty, fragrance, and fruit. Thus all things give what they appropriate. The material is but the emblem of the spiritual, and thus all nature typifies man’s distributive function. Is not he who appropriates and does not give an anomaly in the universe?—David Thomas, D.D.
There is a popular but unfounded axiom respecting the use of wealth, namely, that “a man may do what he will with his own.” Christianity denies this assertion. Every man has indeed a legal right to the disposal of his own property; but religion interdicts his right to spend it in vanity or vice; or if he be exempt from these grosser temptations, she still abridges his right to monopolize it. Christianity expects that the deserving and the distressed shall come in for such a proportion of his wealth as an enlightened conscience shall dictate. The Divine Person who refused, in a legal sense, to be a divider or a judge over a contested property, did not fail to graft on the question He avoided answering, the imperative caution, Take head, and beware of covetousness.—Gleanings.
It has been found, by persons disposed to distribute of their substance, that they have supposed themselves more liberal than has really been the case. They have seemed to give frequently, and perhaps have done so; and have at times feared that they were exceeding proper bounds, when at last, resolving to set apart a certain portion of their income for the specific object, they have been surprised at the end of the year to find their funds not exhausted, even though their applications had seemed as numerous, as urgent, and as liberally attended to as before.
Let it be remembered that the sums which some give, however large, may be given without the self-privation of a single worldly comfort, or even of the luxurious enjoyment of the good things of this life, and thence be as sacrifices that cost nothing. The Christian had need to enquire in his closet concerning the faithful discharge of his stewardship.—Ibid.
(b) The act once taken as an homage to the Saviour, recommends itself to us by the sentiments which appear to have inspired it. That homage is agreeable to Jesus Christ, not only because it is addressed to Him, but because it is worthy of Him. That homage, whatever may be said as to its form, expresses all that a Christian soul must feel for Jesus Christ. What ought we, in truth, to say to that God-man, and what ought we to find in our hearts when we render Him homage? What? Admiration? Respect? An estimation of Him above all sages, all heroes, all men? No! but that as He has given Himself for us, we, in our turn, give ourselves to Him; that we exist for Him; that everything we have is held not for ourselves, but for Him; that no sacrifice on our part appears to bear any proportion to that which He has made for us? and that we are ready to abandon everything for His service and for His glory. Now what is the language of the act of Mary, but all this at once? See her search amongst her whole possessions for the most precious and the most valued thing, that she may consume it in honour of Jesus Christ—for it is truly a loss or waste which she intended to make,—and the objection of the disciples, To what purpose is this waste? expresses the true meaning of the act better than they imagined. It was not enough to employ this perfume if she did not expend it wholly. And since it is to lose or waste it to pour it all out at once over the head of Jesus Christ, she resolves to waste it. She is better pleased to waste it by consecrating it directly to the honour of Jesus Christ than to employ it more usefully, perhaps, in another way. Ah! this perfume was doubtless the most precious thing she could find in her stores! Doubtless if she had possessed a single thing more precious, she would have preferred to sacrifice it, since, not content with having in a moment bestowed so valuable an object, she broke (needless sacrifice) the alabaster vase in which the ointment was contained. It was then that Judas might cry out with displeasure, “To what purpose is this waste?” since the perfume spread around might minister gratification, but not the broken box. But in this the character of the first of these acts might be misapprehended. Mary had in view in pouring out like water this perfumed ointment, not to afford pleasure, but to subject herself to a loss. She wished at once to express and to prove her feeling that nothing was so dear to her as her Saviour, that she was prepared for all sacrifices for His sake, and that, not having it in her power to make all sacrifices at once, she made that the opportunity of which presented itself, that which was at once a sacrifice and an act of homage. She united in one act the reality and the symbol—she gave and she adored. It was with this view she poured out the ointment, it was with this view she broke the box. And has she no other sacrifice to make for the sake of Him who for her gave up everything, sacrificed everything? Cannot she devote herself? She did so, my brethren, she did this at the moment when the perfumed ointment flowed in streams over the blessed forehead of her Master. She broke another vase whence issued odours still more sweet. She broke her own penitent heart; and grief, love, and hope, perfumes more exquisite than spikenard, myrrh, and incense, spread themselves around and filled the house. You perceived nothing of this, O, intolerant disciples! in vain is this perfume spread around you; but your Master has breathed it; He has understood an action incomprehensible by your proud hearts; He has seen the sorrow of heart of that poor Mary; He has discerned the tears of her repentance, which perhaps could not get outward vent, roll drop by drop from her heart; He knows the secret of that mute grief;—the Saviour and the sinner understand each other, and there passes between them, silently, something sublime, something ineffable, which you will not be able to comprehend unless you, yourselves, come, transported with sorrow and love, to pour perfumes also on the head of Jesus, to shed tears at His feet, and to break your hearts before Him.—Alex. Vinet, D.D.
(c) Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Had not David a most heavenly spirit, who was so much in this heavenly work? Doth it not sometimes raise our hearts, when we only read the Song of Moses, and the Psalms of David? How much more would it raise and refresh us to be skilful and frequent in the work ourselves! Oh, the loss to many of the saints who drench their spirits in continual sadness, and waste their days in complaints and groans, and so make themselves, both in body and mind, unfit for this sweet and heavenly work! Instead of being employed in the praises of God, they are questioning their worthiness, and studying their miseries, and so rob God of His glory, and themselves of their consolation.—Gleanings.
(d) There is nothing, no, nothing innocent or good, that dies, and is forgotten: let us hold to that faith, or none. An infant, a prattling child, dying in its cradle, will live again in the better thoughts of those who loved it; and play its part, through them, in the redeeming actions of the world, though its body be burnt to ashes, or drowned in the deepest sea. There is not an angel added to the host of heaven but does its blessed work on earth in those that loved it here. Forgotten! oh, if the good deeds of human creatures could be traced to their source, how beautiful would even death appear; for how much charity, mercy, and purfied affection would be seen to have their growth in dusty graves.—Charles Dickens.
Thousands of men breathe, move, and live, pass off the stage of life, and are heard of no more. Why? They do not partake of good in the world, and none were blessed by them; none could point to them as the means of their redemption; not a line they wrote, not a word they spake, could be recalled; and so they perished; their light went out in darkness, and they were not remembered more than insects of yesterday. Will you thus live and die, O man immortal? Live for something. Do good, and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy. Write your name in kindness, love, and mercy, on the hearts of thousands you come in contact with year by year; you will never be forgotten. No, your name, your deeds will be as legible on the hearts you leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will shine as the stars of heaven.—Chalmers.
THE SUPPORT OF RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS
(Num_7:88)
“This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed.”
In this chapter we see how the altar was dedicated; and we learn that God expects His people to provide for and to carry on His work. This dedication of the altar
I. Suggests to us some of the responsibilities of the wealthy.
Wealth is a talent. God will demand an account of it. He holds the wealthy responsible—
1. To give of their wealth to carry on His work. God claims a share of all we get; how much that shall be He leaves to our conscience. He looks not so much at the amount as at the motive. He measures our gifts by our hearts. To Christ the “two mites” was the greatest offering in the Treasury of the Temple for that reason. God expects us to take care of His house and work; not to do so is a sin. David was in distress because he lived in a better house than the Ark of God had; that is the right feeling. Surely we ought to take as good care of God’s house as of our own. Were it so, the treasury of God’s house would never be empty.
2. To take the lead in doing good—to be examples in giving. The wealthy are looked up to; if they fail to do their duty, not only do they fail to do good, but they also check and prevent others from doing so.
II. Is a striking illustration of the voluntary principle.
It teaches us the true method of giving for the support of religious institutions.
1. God has left His work to be carried on by His people.
2. The voluntary principle is the most effective for doing this.
(1) Because conscience is brought into action by it: giving becomes an act of worship.
(2) Because man is then on his honour.
(3) As a matter of fact it has never failed. See how much it produced here in the wilderness. The Church in the present age supplies ample proof of its success. (a)
3. God is greatly pleased with it. He approves of it. Read Num_7:89 with the text. He approves—
(1) Because voluntary giving evinces real interest in His work—shows that it is done from love. The free-will offering is a good guage of the people’s hearts and interest.
(2) He will accept nothing that is done from constraint.
(3) He testifies to His pleasure, in His Word and by blessing those who so help His work. “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.” Those who give to God are ever blessed by Him. Our Master pays well; we never lose by serving Him faithfully. “He which soweth, bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”—David Lloyd.
ILLUSTRATION
(a) In Scotland, during the last seventeen years (1861), an experiment has been made on a large scale of the power of the voluntary principle, and made, too, by men who had but little faith in it at first. Of course, I now refer to the “Free Church of Scotland.” The alternative was placed before the Church of Scotland, to give up their rights of self-government or to give up State pay. And 478 ministers and professors said, We will give up the pay, we will be free, whatever may be the result. They left their homes, and the churches in which their fathers had worshipped, trusting in God to provide for them. And what the results have been I am now about to lay before you. Let us first look at what they have done, in sixteen years, in the way of providing accommodation for religious worship. They have built—
£
s.
d.
£
s.
d.
300 Churches at an average cost of
918
6
0
total 734,641
1
2
565 Manses, ditto
600
0
0
total 339,000
0
0
620 Schools, ditto
335
0
0
total 207,700
0
0
Carried forward
1,281,341
1
2
Brought forward
£128,341
1
2
Edinburgh College, total cost
33,879
5
1
Glasgow College, total cost
11,220
0
0
Aberdeen College, total cost
2,360
0
0
Edinburgh and Glasgow Normal Schools
22,564
9
6
Assembly Hall and site. Edinburgh
8,500
0
0
Church Offices in Mound-place
7,500
0
0
Churches, Manses, School, erected at the expense of individuals, not appearing in the public accounts
50,000
0
0
Aggregate cost of buildings
£1,422,364
15
9
From this large amount of money spent in buildings, there are two small deductions to be made. First, the existing debt upon them is estimated at £90,000; and second, towards the erection of the schools they have received £20,000 from the Government. Deducting these there is the noble sum of £1,312,364 15s. 9d. left, which in sixteen years the Free Church of Scotland has invested in lime, stone, and land! Let us now look at the ministry of the Free Church. There were 478 ministers who left their emoluments and status in the Established Church. In the first year of the Free Church each of these received a stipend from £105 and upwards. In the year 1859 the number of ministers had increased to 784, and the lowest stipend was then £138. Besides which, 565 of them had a pleasant manse, built by the free-will offerings of the people.
But perhaps it may be thought that all the energies of the Free Church have been confined to building churches and schools, and providing for their own wants at home; but this has not been the case. They have been doing much for others in various ways, and in many lands. Allow me to read you the income for the year 1859, for various religious objects:—
Building Fund. Genral and Lo al
£50, 519
16
0½
Sustentation Fund
126,282
14
6
Congregational Fund
94,481
19
6
Education Fund
17,764
15
3
College Fund
9,000
8
5
General Trustees and Miscellaneous
36,619
4
7½
Carried forward
334,668
18
4
Brought forward
£334,668
18
4
Glasgow Evangelisation
2,539
11
1
Missions to the Highlan’s
1,314
3
2
Missions to the Colonies
4,487
15
9
Missions to the Continent
2,456
19
8
Foreign Missions
19,210
2
6
Missions to the Jews
7,678
13
3
Making a total income for 1859 of
£342,723
12
4½
You will see from these figures that the seal of the Free Church is expansive. If they begin at home they do not stay there. From the year 1843 to 1859, a period of sixteen years, the Free Church raised for all purposes £4 883,13212s. 6¾d. And after sixteen years’ experience the income of the Free Church still increases. “Leaving out of view the building funds which are temporary, the aggregate of all the other funds has been steadily, year by year, increasing; so that the yearly average of the last five years is twenty-five per cent, above the yearly average of the first five years.”—Marmaduke Miller.
THE CONDESCENSION OF GOD AND THE PRIVILEGES OF MAN
(Num_7:89)
Already the Lord had promised Moses that He would meet with him, and commune with him from above the mercy-seat (Exo_25:22); and now He fulfils that promise. The tribes had cheerfully contributed everything necessary for the tabernacle and its sacred services! and now the Most High acknowledges His acceptance of their offerings by manifesting His Presence in thus speaking to Moses in the holy of holies. Let us consider,—
1. The great condescension of God.
“When Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, then he heard the Voice of One speaking unto him,” etc. Moses heard the Voice conversing with him. Great is the condescension of the Lord in thus speaking with Moses, and through Moses to the people. Let us notice here—
1. The sacred place in which He speaks. It was in the holy of holies in “the tabernacle of meeting.” It was in this place that he had promised to meet with His servant. “There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee,” etc. He is represented as dweling in this place, and as enthroned between the cherubim. It was the place of His special self-manifestation. God is everywhere present.
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and gather blackberries.”
The thoughtful and reverent mind beholds signs of the presence and activity of God on every hand. We see his glory in the countless orbs of heaven, and in the exquisite pencillings and perfumes of the flowers of earth, etc. But still He specially manifests Himself to man in His house. In the proclamation of the glorious Gospel, in the administration of the holy sacraments, and in the presentation of reverent worship to Him, man most often and fully realses the presence and hears the Voice of God (compare Exo_20:24; 2Ch_6:18; and Mat_18:20).
2. The grand medium through which He speaks. “Speaking unto him from off the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims.” The mercy-seat was “the massive golden cover of the ark of the covenant, on which the glory of Jehovah appeared between the cherubim. It was that upon which especially the blood of the propitiatory sacrifice was sprinkled on the day of atonement (Lev_16:15), and from this circumstance apparently, the propitiation taking place on it, it obtained its name of ἱλαστήριον. It was the footstool of God (1Ch_28:2; Psa_99:5). The spot where He, the God of the covenant, met with Israel, the people of the covenant.” It is also called “the oracle” (1Ki_6:19-20; 1Ki_6:23). Now the mercy-seat is an illustration, perhaps a type, of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true Mercy-seat, the Divine ἱλαστήριον (Rom_3:25). By the shedding of His blood, the great atonement for the sins of the world was made. In Him God draws near to man, and communes with him. He is the true Divine Oracle; through Him the most precious revelations of God have been made; in Him we hear the voice of God most clearly and graciously (Heb_1:1-3).
3. The gracious purpose for which He speaks. In this instance, the voice from between the cherubim doubtless announced to Moses the gracious acceptance by Jehovah of the cheerful offerings of the princes of the tribes; and intimated that He had taken up His abode in their midst. All the utterances of God are for the benefit of man. Even the proclamation of His law is an expression of His benevolence to our race. “Law is love defined.” “The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just, and good.” But how gracious are His utterances to us by Christ Jesus! “All wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.” “Never man spake like this Man.” “The words that I speak unto you are spirit, and are life.” “Thou hast the words of eternal life.” The grand purpose for which God speaks to us through Christ is that we might be saved from sin, and restored to the perfect likeness and the intimate fellowship of Himself. Jesus Christ is pre-eminently the Word of God; He is the fullest, grandest, most eloquent expression of the Divine love; and the great object of His incarnation was the redemption of man from evil, and the conference upon him of eternal and blessed life. How great is the condescension of God in all this. (a)
II. The great privileges of man.
Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Jehovah, and he heard the voice conversing with him: and he spake unto Him. Here is a twofold privilege which through Jesus Christ every man may enjoy:—
1. We may speak unto God. He invites us to do so, and promises us a gracious audience. “Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High; and call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.” (See Isa_65:24; Dan_9:20-23; Mal_3:16-17; Mat_18:19-20; Joh_16:23-27.) In all ages godly souls have proved the reality and the preciousness of this privilege. In time of grief or gladness, of perplexity or penitence, of doubt or dread, of triumph or tribulation, we may speak unto God in praise or prayer, or in the silent language of the heart, which He perfectly comprehends, assured that He will hear us graciously, and bless us generously. Blessed privilege! (b)
2. We may receive communications from God. The soul which, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, is brought into sympathy with Him, receives communications from Him through many voices. In the melodies and minstrelsies of nature such a soul hears with reverent delight the Divine music of the Father’s voice. We receive messages from Him through the sacred Scriptures, through the operations of His providence, and through the mysterious and gracious ministry of His Spirit. And how precious and helpful are His communications! Pardon to the guilty, peace to the penitent, joy to the sorrowful, direction to the perplexed, hope to the despondent, etc. Unspeakably great and blessed are our privileges. (c)
III. The consequent duty of man.
The possession of privileges always involves corresponding obligations. Since man possesses these privileges, it becomes his duty—
1. To wait upon God in His house. No one can neglect public worship without sinning against his own soul and God.
2. To address God in His house. Since He invites us to do so, we cannot neglect the privilege of uniting in praise and prayer without sin.
3. To listen for the Voice of God in His house. The wise and godly soul resorts to the temple of God not to be charmed with the eloquence, or stimulated by the reasoning, or moved by the pathos of the preacher; not to be gratified by the spectacles of a gorgeous ritualism, or delighted by the musical performances of professional choirs; but with humble reverence to speak to God, and with devout attention to listen to His voice. (d)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) A king might have the whole of his reign crowded with the enterprises of his glory; and by the might of his arms, and the wisdom of his counsels, might win the first reputation among the potentates of the world, and be idolized throughout all his provinces for the wealth and the security that he had spread around them—and still it is conceivable, that by the act of a single day in behalf of a single family; by some soothing visitation of tenderness to a poor and solitary cottage; by some deed of compassion, which conferred enlargement and relief on one despairing sufferer; by some graceful movement of sensibility at a tale of wretchedness; by some noble effort of self-denial, in virtue of which he subdued his every purpose of revenge, and spread the mantle of a generous oblivion over the fault of the man who had insulted and aggrieved him; above all, by an exercise of pardon so skilfully administered, as that, instead of bringing him down to a state of defencelessness against the provocation of future injuries, it threw a deeper sacredness over him, and stamped a more inviolable dignity than ever on his person and character:—why, on the strength of one such performance, done in a single hour, and reaching no farther in its immediate effects than to one house or one individual, it is a most possible thing, that the highest monarch upon earth might draw such a lustre around him, as would eclipse the renown of all his public achievements—and that such a display of magnanimity, or of worth, beaming from the secrecy of his familiar movements, might awaken a more cordial veneration in every bosom, than all the splendour of his conspicous history—ay, and that it might pass down to posterity as a more enduring monument of greatness, and raise him farther, by its moral elevation, above the level of ordinary praise; and when he passes in review before the men of distant ages, may this deed of modest, gentle, unobtrusive virtue, be at all times appealed to as the most sublime and touching memorial of his name.
In like manner did the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, surrounded as He is with the splendours of a wide and everlasting monarchy, turn Him to our humble habitation; and the footsteps of God manifest in the flesh, have been on the narrow spot of ground we occupy; and small though our mansion be amid the orbs and the systems of immensity, hither hath the King of glory bent His mysterious way, and entered the tabernacle of men, and in the disguise of a servant did He sojourn for years under the roof which canopies our obscure and solitary world. Yea, it is but a twinkling atom in the peopled infinity of worlds that are around it—but look to the moral grandeur of the transaction, and not to the material extent of the field upon which it was executed—and from the retirement of our dwelling-place, there may issue forth such a display of the Godhead, as will circulate the glories of His name amongst all His worshippers. Here sin entered. Here was the kind and universal beneficence of a Father repaid by the ingratitude of a whole family. Here the law of God was dishonoured, and that too in the face of its proclaimed and unalterable sanctions. Here the mighty contest of the attributes was ended—and when justice put forth its demands, and truth called for the fulfilment of its warnings, and the immutability of God would not recede by a single iota from any one of its positions, and all the severities He had ever uttered against the children of iniquity, seemed to gather into one cloud of threatening vengeance on the tenement that held us—did the visit of the only begotten Son chase away all these obstacles to the triumph of mercy—and humble as the tenement may be, deeply shaded in the obscurity of insignificance as it is, among the statelier mansions which are on every side of it—yet will the recall of its exiled family never be forgotten, and the illustration that has been given here of the mingled grace and majesty of God will never lose its place among the themes and the acclamations of eternity.—Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D.
(b) Prayer is not asking for something. I have nothing to ask for since I have known what God’s fatherhood meant. I have but one petition, and that is, “Thy will be done.” It is not for me to wake the sun. It is not for me to call the summer. It is not for me to ask for colours in the heavens. All these things are abundantly provided. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, and I am God’s beloved. He died for me by His Son Jesus Christ. He thinks of me. Do I ever forget my children? Shall a mother forget her baby, cradled in her arms, by day or by night? And shall God forget us in that great rolling sea of His thoughts, in that everlasting fecundity of His love, in the infinite bound of the Divine tenderness and mercy for man? Is there anything left to ask for? When I am tired I carry my weariness there, and lay it down. When I am in sorrow, I am glad when I think of the Sorrowing One. The God of all comfort is my God. When my burden is heavy, it is not so heavy as was His cross. Ten thousand thoughts of this kind that spring from every side of human experience and touch human life in every part—these are elements of prayer. So that when I pray, I rejoice; as the Apostle would say, “Giving thanks in prayer.” Prayer is cheerful to me. Prayer is sweet to me; it is not ascetic I know that I am wicked; I know that I grieve God; I know that there are times when I am glad to say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” So there are times for the majesty of storms in summer. But thunderstorms do not march in procession all the way across the bosom of the summer. There is more brightness than darkness, more tranquil fruitfulness than agitation and thunder.—H. W. Beecher.
(c) What we want in this English land, and down in the midst of this busy nineteenth century—want as a gain that would be to us as life from the dead, is a firm persuasion of God’s presence with our human affairs, and of His influence, not only about us, but within us. If He be not thus present with us, where can be the object—the rationality of prayer? Religious men of all creeds have been praying men—must pray. In fact, the Light of the World is ever knocking at the door, now by frustrating our fond earthly schemes, now by bringing us face to face with the judgment-seat through disease or accident; now summoning us to look upon our loved ones dead—in a thousand ways like these does the Incarnate One appeal to our susceptibilities of religious life, and we hearken to His voice, and bid Him welcome, or we heed Him not, and bid Him go His way until some more convenient season. We have to do with a living God. We are in the midst of a living universe. Influences between heaven and earth, like the figures seen on the mystic ladder, are constantly descending and ascending, and spirits have been passing through all time, like an ever-widening stream of light, from this lower world to the higher, where the Highest Himself receives them as His own.—Robert Vaughan, D.D.
(d) Hear the Word with constant self-application. Hear not for others, but for yourselves. What should we think of a person who, after accepting an invitation to a feast, and taking his place at the table, instead of partaking of the repast, amused himself with speculating on the nature of the provisions, or the manner in which they were prepared, and their adaptation to the temperament of the several guests, without tasting a single article? Such, however, is the conduct of those who hear the Word without applying it to themselves, or considering the aspect it bears on their individual character. Go to the house of God with a serious expectation and desire of meeting with something suited to your particular state; something that shall lay the axe to the root of your corruptions; mortify your easily-besetting sin, and confirm the graces in which you are most deficient. A little attention will be sufficient to give you that insight into your character, which will teach what you need; what the peculiar temptations to which you are exposed, and on what account you feel most shame and humiliation before God. Every one may know, if he pleases, the plague of his own heart. Keep your eye upon it while you are hearing, and eagerly lay hold upon what is best adapted to heal and correct it. Remember that religion is a personal thing, an individual concern; for every one of us must give an account of himself to God, and every man bear his own burden.
Receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. It you choose to converse with, your fellow-Christians on what you have been hearing, a practice which, if rightly conducted, may be very edifying, let your conversation turn more upon the tendency, the spiritual beauty and glory, of these great things of God which have engaged your attention, than on the merit of the preacher. We may readily suppose that Cornelius and his friends, after hearing Peter, employed very few words in discussing the oratorical talents of that great Apostle; any more than the three thousand, who at the day of Pentecost were pricked to the heart; their minds were too much occupied by the momentous truths they had been listening to, to leave room for such reflections. Yet this is the only kind of religious conversation (if it deserves the application) in which too many professors engage. “Give me,” says the incomparable Fenelon, “the preacher who imbues my mind with such a love of the Word of God, as makes me desirous of hearing is from any mouth.”—Robert Hall, A.M.
MAN’S ACCESS TO GOD, AND GOD’S WORD TO MAN
(Num_7:89)
The high priest alone had access to the holy of holies; he alone could approach the mercy-seat, and there enjoy the immediate and special presence of God. But Moses seems to have been an exceptional case; a privileged person; for he was permitted to approach God in a way, and to an extent, which was the peculiar privilege of the high priest alone. This may be explained by the fact that Moses was a subordinate mediator between God and Israel in the desert; he is called a mediator in one of the epistles of the New Testament. And that would show that he had an office, an elevation, and a relationship to God, which none else had in that economy, and which gave him, therefore, privileges which none else were permitted to enjoy. But now every Christian has all the right that Moses had. The humblest believer in the house of God is a priest in the truest and only existing sense of the word; and has access as a priest into the immediate presence of God (comp. Eph_2:18).
What was this way of access by which Moses drew near to God, and by which we draw near? There never was but one, there never will be but one way by which fallen man can draw near to God—Christ the way, the truth, and the life. The mode of revealing it has differed, but the way itself has always been the same. Moses did not see it as clearly as we do, but he trod the same path, nevertheless.
When Moses approached to God, what was the object that he had first in view? Moses drew near to Him to speak to Him. But to speak how? No doubt about it, to pray. And to speak in what manner? No doubt in the name of Jesus, with all freedom (see Heb_4:14-16). Moses went into the presence of God to tell Him what the wants, the sorrows, the sufferings, the fears, the difficulties of Israel were We, too, are welcome to go into the very chancel of the universe, into the very presence of Deity, and to tell God our least and our worst cares; for there is no trouble so trivial that God will refuse to listen to it, and there is no trouble so bitter and so burdensome that God will not either remove or give strength to bear.
Not only did Moses go to speak to God, but we read that God spoke to him. I know not which is most precious; that we may speak to God, or that God has spoken to us (Heb_1:1-2). Many persons think it strange that God should give a revelation of Himself to us. It would seem, on the contrary, that it would be strange if God did not give us a revelation of Himself. If it be true that we have lost Him, that we cannot by any searching find Him, is it not reasonable—is it not probable that the Father of us all should tell us where He is, what He is, who we are, and whither we are going? Does not the father instruct the children? Does not ripe age warn and teach unripe youth? The Great Father will teach His children, etc.
But how and by whom has God spoken to us? Moses says it was from the mercy-seat, and from between the cherubim. What was that the symbol of? The Apostle tells us, in his epistle to the Romans (Num_3:25), “Propitiation,” literally, “Mercy-seat.” When God, therefore, spoke from the mercy-seat, and from between the cherubim, where the Shecinah or the glory shone, it was speaking then, translated into New Testament language, by Christ, the Mediator between God and us. All that can be known of God, He has made known; all that can be seen of God, He is; all that can be heard of God, He speaks. Christ thus is the medium of this communication.
The Book that the Spirit inspired—the Bible—is the depository of what God said from between the cherubim; or, translated into our language, what God spoke by Jesus Christ. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Whatever is not in the Bible, however true, is not essential to salvation; whatever contradicts the Bible, however popular, is not true. But all that is in the Bible is profitable for instruction, for correction in righteousness; for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is the Word perpetuated in ceaseless echoes along the centuries as God spake it in and by Christ Jesus.
We may presume that the Book thus inspired is at least an intelligible Book. There is not a more intelligible book than the Bible. It is not asserted that every word of the Book is plain; but if there be darkness, it is because of the infinitude of the subject, and our imperfection; not because of the inadequacy of the writer or the Inspirer of it. Finite minds cannot comprehend all-infinite truth. We must, therefore, expect that there will be some pages difficult, because the subjects are infinite; but we do find that the passages that relate to our personal well-being are so plain, that he who reads may run while he reads.
The preacher, or the minister, is simply the expositor of this Book. He is not to add to it, nor is he to subtract from it; but he is simply to set it forth, to explain allusions to customs that have passed away; to set its truths in clear light, applying them to modern circumstances, and to the varying phases of every social system.
We have reason to believe that this revelation is God’s last communication to man in this dispensation (Heb_1:1-2). We cannot add to it; it is not a discovery which man has made, and man can mend; but a revelation which God has given, and which man, therefore, cannot improve.
God spoke “from between the cherubim.” Angels desire to look into these things. They are hearers; we are actors. They can afford to look; but we cannot afford to be passive spectators. It is to us it is spoken; it is about us that God speaks; our responsibility is increased by hearing it.
And what God has put in this Book is of infinite importance. God has not bowed the heavens to make known an idle or a useless tale. It is of infinite value, unspeakably precious. If so, let us be thankful we have heard it, that we have the Word uncorrupted, a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. And if we are thankful for it, how diligently, how devoutly should we study it! And, appreciating this blessed Book ourselves, we ought to circulate and spread it among all mankind.—John Cumming, D.D.
THE CHERUBIM AND THE MERCY-SEAT
(Num_7:89)
Surely there was some design in bringing together all these different objects into one great symbol or type;—the tables of the law, the covering of the mercy-seat, the representation of the cherubim, and the glory of God, the cloud of the Divine presence surmounting them. They teach us that betwixt law and grace; betwixt the administration of grace to man and the heavenly world; and betwixt the whole of this dispensation and arrangement, and the glorious manifested presence of Jehovah, there is a close and interesting connexion.
I. There is now a relation betwixt law and grace.
Why are the tables of the law, which were “a witness against” the people (Deu_31:26), placed in the sanctuary where everything spake of mercy? (1Ki_8:9).
1. Because the law is eternal, and must therefore harmonise with every dispensation of religion to man. The whole Gospel is founded upon the eternity of the law; for if its authority did not continue, we could not sin against it, and should therefore need no mercy. The very nature of the law bears with it internal evidence that it must endure for ever; it is holy, and just, and good. Wherever, then, you look for the Gospel you will find the law.
2. Because it was the violation of the law by which the dispensation of mercy was rendered necessary. If man had never sinned, there would have been no need of sacrifice, no need of mediation. The very Gospel implies our guilt. The tables are put into the ark to teach us, that if they were not there, we could expect nothing but the law’s malediction, and the execution of its sentence.
3. To intimate to us that the grand end of the administration of grace to man is the re-establishment of the law’s dominion over him. The grand end of this dispensation is certainly, in the first instance, to deliver us from the guilt and penalty of sin; and then, in the next place, by the almighty grace of Christ, to implant within us principles which the influences of the Spirit shall carry on to maturity, that we may be tilled with all the fruits of righteousness for ever.
4. To indicate that the administration of grace is in every part consistent with law. The mercy-seat was God’s throne of grace founded upon law. It was sprinkled with the blood of atonement (comp. Rom_3:25-26; Heb_9:13-14; 1Pe_2:24; Isa_53:5).… Wherever these three principles unite—that the righteous character of the Governor is upheld; that men are deterred from offences; that the authority of the law is maintained, and its purity and excellence declared;—there is a righteous government; and such is the government of God, even while He is abundant in mercy, waiteth to be gracious, and is ever ready to forgive.
II. There is an harmonious relation betwixt the dispensation of grace to man and the heavenly world.
Over the mercy-seat the cherubim were placed. Cherubim are placed before us in Scripture under two views. First, they are presented to us as the ministers of Divine vegeance (Gen_3:24). But in the tabernacle, from the very position in which they were placed, hiding the ark with their wings, “shadowing the mercy-seat,” bending, as if looking down upon it, they are represented as interested spectators of the administration of the grace of God to men, through the atonement and sacrifice of the Saviour.
1. Angelic powers have an intellectual interest in this great subject. (Comp. 1Pe_1:12.)
2. The connexion of the angelic world with the Christian system is likewise one of large and important moral benefit. We may fairiy infer this from Eph_3:10. If to any being already pure, brighter views of God, more important degrees of moral knowledge be communicated, such communications of knowledge must always be the instrument of an increase both of holiness and felicity. And there must be great subjects with which the angels must become better acquainted than they ever could have been, but for the occurrences and history of our redemption. We may see this in relation to the evil of sin, the love of God, the power of God, the power of grace in man, etc.
3. Angelic beings are ministers to the Church and ministers to individuals (see Col_1:20; Heb_1:14.) God Himself is the Friend of those who are reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ; and all His agents, whether angels or men, are ministers to do them good (Rom_8:28.)
III. There was the presence of God crowning the whole.
In the sanctuary was the visible symbol of the Divine presence. Thus are we shown that all things are of Him, and by Him, and for Him (2Ch_6:41). As creation is from the will of God, so is redemption. All is the result of His benevolence (2Co_5:18).
This indicates, too, the necessity of Divine agency. As He originated the whole scheme of redemption, so must He be present with it to give it power and efficacy. This was felt under the law (comp. Psa_80:1-2; Psa_132:8-9). As the most beautiful arrangements of the temple would have been insufficient without the cloud of the Divine presence, so, unless God be especially present, even with Christianity, it cannot profit.
The whole points out the everlasting presence of God with His Church (comp. Isa_12:6; Psa_132:13-16).
The people of God dwell already in the outer courts; but they are waiting till they shall be permitted to pass “within the vail, whither the Forerunner is for them entered.” There God Himself shall be with them, and be their God for ever and ever.—Richard Watson.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Subdivision 4. (Num 7:1-89; Num 8:1-26; Num 9:1-23; Num…
Subdivision 4. (Num 7:1-89; Num 8:1-26; Num 9:1-23; Num 10:1-10.)
Need met for the way.
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In the last subdivision here we have now the need for the way met, beginning with the gifts of the princes, both for the Levite service and for the maintenance of the altar, and closing with the account of the method by which as their divine Leader Jehovah communicated to them His will. The connection of points here which at first seems difficult to trace, will be best brought out as we take them Up in detail.
1. The gifts of the princes provide, as already said, for the Levite service and for the altar. As free gifts of the tribal heads they have special importance as showing the spirit animating the people, the unanimity prevailing among them, and the equal place they have before God. Their different places in the camp, and in relation to one another, do not affect this. They are the one people of God, alike in His love, and to serve in love, that is, freely, though in necessary obedience. This is strongly emphasized here in this long chapter, full of what may seem tedious repetitions, but which show how equally divine love values the response of man’s heart to it, wherever found. Each prince has his day, each offering its record, nothing is omitted, nothing passed hastily over, and how important all this is is shown by the word itself. Assuredly, the Spirit of God would not take up so much space with what was of secondary importance: that in the inspired page would be impossible. We may be assured, therefore, if there be question with us, how necessary this is as a provision for the road we travel together, that we should enter into and realize thoroughly that Father’s heart which is toward His children, not to be measured by their different service or capacities or honors. The children of a king may be variously ranked and decorated, yet they are in absolute equality as his children. So for us who have our common place in the family of God, and our common acceptance in the Beloved. To appreciate this will do much to unite us in mind and heart together, and how much to fortify us for the various difficulties, peculiar to each, which we shall encounter in the way. Pursuing it with such assurance, our difficulties will not divide but unite us together, our different places and capacities furnish only the occasion of mutual ministry which will link us more and more to one another.
The gifts are first of all for the service of the Levites, such help as one may render to another, without interfering with any special responsibility. The wagons and oxen are divided to them according to their service, the Merarites getting two thirds of all, the Gershonites one third, while the Kohathites get none. This does not seem, and yet is, an equal distribution. The burden of the Kohathites is too sacred to be transferred to the oxen, who made bad work of it at a later time, and their shoulders cannot be released from the toilsome honor. So with us often: the heaviest-laden are but the most trusted, and in the distribution of burdens there is more equality than seems.
The second class of gifts is for the altar, which went to maintain the offerings, Israel’s constant service of praise. These offerings again were, as we well know, types of Christ and His offering, which God saw thus in the offerings of His people, as they continually rose up to Him. Is it not so in fact still and ever that in His people’s praise God sees afresh, as it were, His Son’s glorious work? Our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving are but the confession of His name. (Heb 13:15.)
Here, then, we have the first need of the way met, oneness of heart upon the part of the people, a practical spirit of praise, which is answered on God’s part with an equal love and acceptance that inwraps the whole people. A different place in service does not imply a difference in His favor, which in Christ is toward us all. How sweet an assurance with which to start! and how will the realization of it unite our hearts together!
2. The second thing we find here is a plain example once more of how the typical meaning governs all. Why should a commandment as to lighting the lamps come in at this place? ending, too, as it does, with a description in part of the lamp-stand itself! For the last Keil can only account as being quite in keeping with the antiquated style of narrative adopted in these book’s"!
But how plain is it all when we reach the spiritual meaning which underlies it! For where must we find the pattern for our walk but in Christ Himself, realizing too that He is in glory, of which we have seen already the lamp-stand speaks? Thus the reference to the work of the lamp-stand is fully accounted for, coming as it does after the statement that it was the office of the lamps to throw their light upon the lamp-stand itself. This seems to be wholly misunderstood by the commentators, who would have it that the light was to be thrown out upon the part of the sanctuary opposite to the lamp-stand. It is rather that the lamps themselves on the end of the branches issuing from it are opposite the shaft, just in the place for lighting it up; and if that be a strange thing for the lamps, that their duty should be to light up the lamp-stand, the spiritual meaning is not strange at all, that it is the work of the Spirit to glorify Christ, and that this is the sure test of what is the true work of the Spirit any where, while it is that which we need for our wilderness-walk at all times. To have our eyes upon Christ in glory is to find sure guidance for the way, as well as power to walk in it: how completely, then, here does every thing find its place!
3. The consecration of the Levites takes place after this, for Christ’s glory before our eyes must be our competence for such work as is represented here. First, they are purified typically from sin, the whole body shaved -the mere growth of nature removed, the clothes washed, -the habits purified according to the Word. They are then presented before Jehovah, and offered, on the part of the people, to do what as a whole they were responsible for. The Levites are thus the people’s representatives, and their service (typically) belongs to the people of God at large. Thus they become the Lord’s, being, as taken instead of the first-born, His in virtue of redemption, and then given to the priests for the service of the tent of meeting..
The term of service is here extended on both sides of the twenty years of burden-bearing. They entered at twenty-five, and after fifty ministered with their brethren, but had no proper charge.
4. We have next the command to keep the passover, and the appointment of a second for those who were hindered by distance or defilement from keeping the first. For the trials of a wilderness-life, how necessary to carry with them the remembrance and joy of redemption -the knowledge, therefore, of God for them in grace, whatever the difficulties through which they might have to find their way! This redemption, let us remember, was a matter of experience; and so for us, although it is true that it is an experience of faith. But the cloud of apprehension has gone from our souls: God has been realized for us; the lamb has been fed upon; the pillar of cloud and fire have been with us in the way. The power of such experience, for those whose walk has been maintained with God, no trials can wear out. They are a provision for the way sweeter and more assuring than was the passover for Israel.
Now if any thing has come in to hinder this joy with us, -distance (which for us, of course, must be moral), or defilement with that which is under death, -thank God, there is gracious provision for us. Partake in uncleanness, we cannot. God has ordained that joy in Christ shall not go on with looseness of life and unjudged ways. And yet He has not shut us out, nor would keep us out, from return. The principle of His words to Laodicea remains ever true, "If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in, and sup with him, and he with Me." For the heart that truly seeks
Christ, there is no dreary pathway of penance enjoined by which to get back to His presence. He does not even say here, "Let him come to Me," blessed as that would be, but -oh the grace of it! -"I will come in, and sup with him."
Such grace shines out for us in this second passover. It is not that any whit of holiness can be given up (in the type here the due order of the feast is fully preserved, -nay, insisted on), but that grace is the only way of cleansing as of keeping clean; and grace, thank God, reigns.
5. And now, in the last section of this subdivision, we find the people in possession of the unspeakable blessing of Jehovah’s presence with them. Cloud by day and fire by night, still and ever in contrast with the world, and thus rendering them independent of it, that glorious Presence led them on. There was no way for them but that which thus was made for them. Where the Pillar stopped they stopped, and for whatever time; when it moved, they moved. For us, there is still what answers to such guidance: with us, though unseen, more wondrous. Do you know it, reader? Ah! not to know it is indeed to be astray, lost in a pathless wilderness! You may think even you have little need, -your circumstances shaped for you, or shrewd, careful judgment exercised as to all your steps; but there is never for any one of us a path in which we can do without Him, neither so hedged in nor so marked out. And who that has one right thought would desire it? Who would desire to be left to himself, or to government by others, or to chance guidance, when God is inviting to a walk with Him? Test us, of course, this will; but, on the other hand, what manifestations of God will it not afford us! Let us well understand: there is no walk with God but after this manner; faith needed for it ever; yet a path in light, not in obscurity; the least difficult really of all paths, just because of the infinite resources of Him who goeth with us, and of the tenderness of love which upholds the weakest.
(2) It is very manifest how the silver trumpets connect themselves with this. There is a personal presence of God with His people, and a personal guidance as the result of that presence; but we need also the balancing-truth that this guidance is according to the Word, and that all that purports to be such must be tested by the Word. These trumpets, therefore, are two, as the number of sufficient testimony; "silver," as being the voice of the Redeemer; "of beaten work," because involving suffering on His part who has come down among men to fill that place. Then they have two special uses, -for journeying, and for assembling together. In the latter case, one blast is enough to gather the princes (are they expected to have quicker ears than the rest?), but for the whole assembly there are repeated blasts. Alas! do God’s people now think of any need of the Word of God to summon them together? For the journeying, it was an "alarm" -a sustained note: Scripture does in fact prolong this strain.
But there were many other occasions for the silver trumpets, which were to be in priestly hands, for the spirit of worship alone can use the Word of God aright. In the day of the prevalence of the enemy’s power, the sound of the trumpets would bring in the delivering hand of God. And in the day of rejoicing, no less than in the day of trial and oppression, in their set times, and the new moons, -the times of revival and renewed hope, over their burnt-offerings and peace-offerings (as justifying their acceptance and characterizing fellowship with God) the note of the silver trumpet was to be heard. All this is of easy interpretation no doubt; but there is still great need of calling it to mind. To know and do are, alas! by no means the same thing; yet all the blessing of the precious Word of God is found as it is received in the humble and obedient heart.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of…
The Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of the Altar
The twelve princes, each representing his tribe, presented gold and silver vessels for use in sacrifices, sacrificial animals, and wagons and oxen for the transport of the tabernacle: see Num_4:29-49; The dedication of these offerings occupied twelve days, and was a service of thanksgiving.
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13. Charger] a large dish, as in Mat_14:8.
89. To speak with him] i.e. with Jehovah.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v3 they brought
they brought
It is beautiful to observe that, though the offerings of the princes were identical, each is separately recorded by the pen of inspiration. (Cf) Mar 12:41-44.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 5. The Offerings of the Princes
5. The Offerings of the Princes
CHAPTER 7
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1. The princes present their offerings (Num 7:1-3)
2. The command concerning these offerings and the Levites (Num 7:4-11)
3. The twelve princes and what they offered (Num 7:12-88)
4. Moses hears the voice from the mercy-seat (Num 7:89)
This is the longest chapter in Numbers. The princes of Israel appear to bring their free-will offerings in six covered wagons drawn each by two oxen. No command had been given. With a willing heart they devoted of their possessions to the service of the sanctuary. The Lord accepting the offerings gave directions that the Gershonites and Merarites were to receive the wagons and the oxen for their service. The sons of Gershon received two wagons and four oxen and the sons of Merari four wagons and eight oxen. The gift was according to the service into which Jehovah had called them. The Merarites had to take care of the heavy boards and the Lord provided the means to carry the burden and render the service. For all service into which He calls His people, He also provides the strength and the means for the service. The sons of Kohath received nothing. They needed no wagons and oxen; their service was to carry the precious things upon their shoulders.
The critics of the Word of God have found fault with the lengthy statements and repetitions concerning the twelve princes and their offerings. If these critics had penned this chapter, they would have given these offerings in a verse or two. But what unbelief belittles and rejects, is precious to faith. The details of the offerings and repetitions are written by the Holy Spirit, that we may know that Jehovah takes notice of the devotion and sacrifice of His people. He keeps a record of it all. The same eye, which followed the princes as they approached the tabernacle with their wagons, saw the two mites, which the poor widow deposited into the treasury; the same eye sees us. He will not forget the least service rendered unto Him.
All the twelve are called princes, except Nahshon of Judah. He, as the leader, the representative of Judah, must be the type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is more than a prince. We give a bird’s eye view of the persons named and their gifts.
Jehovah expressed His approval and His joy, after the offerings had been presented, by speaking to Moses in an audible voice, from between the Cherubim. The promise given in Exo 25:21-22 was fulfilled.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Gifts of the Princes.
The Gifts of the Princes.
The incident which is here related took place just after the Tabernacle had been erected, its equipment put into place, and the entire Sanctuary with all its furniture consecrated to the Lord, Leviticus 8-10. In order not to interrupt the connection of the legislation, Moses inserted the story of this important happening at this point.
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v. 1. And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the Tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them,
v. 2. that the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, the same ones that are mentioned Num 1:5-15 as having been in actual charge of the census, offered.
v. 3. And they brought their offering before the Lord: six covered wagons, probably on the order of our prairie schooners of a few decades ago, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox; and they brought them before the Tabernacle.
v. 4. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 5. Take it of them that they may be to do the service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service, according to the work which he was expected to perform in moving the Tabernacle and its equipment from one station to another.
v. 6. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, accepted them for the Lord, and gave them unto the Levites, placed them at their disposal.
v. 7. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon according to their service, for they were entrusted with the transportation of the lighter articles, the various coverings with the exception of the veil of the Most Holy Place;
v. 8. and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, for they had charge of the transportation of the heavy planks and pillars, under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest.
v. 9. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the Sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders; they carried the furniture and the holy vessels on bearing-poles.
v. 10. And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, in things which were necessary for the dedicating of the altar, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.
v. 11. And the Lord said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, to be used at once, and on consecutive days, lest the amount be too great for the priests to handle at one time, for the dedicating of the altar.
v. 12. And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah;
v. 13. and his offering was one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels (a little more than four pounds), one silver bowl of seventy shekels (somewhat more than two pounds), after the shekel of the Sanctuary, that is, standard weight; both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering, all ready for the sacrifice;
v. 14. one spoon, or paten, of ten shekels of gold (at 253 grains each), full of incense;
v. 15. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, less than a year old, for a burnt offering;
v. 16. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, Lev 4:23;
v. 17. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.
v. 18. On the second day Nethaneel, the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer.
v. 19. He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 20. one spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 21. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 22. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 23. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Nethaneel, the son of Zuar.
v. 24. On the third day Eliab, the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer;
v. 25. his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 26. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 27. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 28. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 29. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Eliab, the son of Helon.
v. 30. On the fourth day Elizur, the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer;
v. 31. his offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 32. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 33. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 34. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 35. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Elizur, the son of Shedeur.
v. 36. On the fifth day Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer;
v. 37. his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 38. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 39. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 40. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 41. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.
v. 42. On the sixth day Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered;
v. 43. his offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 44. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 45. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 46. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 47. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.
v. 48. On the seventh day Elishama, the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered;
v. 49. his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 50. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 51. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 52. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 53. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Elishama, the son of Ammihud.
v. 54. On the eighth day offered Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh;
v. 55. his offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;
v. 56. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 57. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 58. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 59. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.
v. 60. On the ninth day Abidan, the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered;
v. 61. his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 62. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 63. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 64. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 65. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Abidan, the son of Gideoni.
v. 66. On the tenth day Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered;
v. 67. his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 68. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 69. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 70. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 71. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.
v. 72. On the eleventh day Pagiel, the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered;
v. 73. his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 74. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 75. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 76. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 77. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Pagiel, the son of Ocran.
v. 78. On the twelfth day Ahira, the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered;
v. 79. his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering;
v. 80. one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;
v. 81. one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;
v. 82. one kid of the goats for a sin-offering;
v. 83. and for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Ahira, the son of Enan. So all the tribes of the children of Israel were equally represented in these initiatory sacrifices and gifts, both as to their number and as to their value. They all had an equal share in the altar, and an equal interest in the sacrifices that were offered upon it.
v. 84. This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel; twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold;
v. 85. each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy; all the silver bowls weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary (about seventy-five pounds);
v. 86. the golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons was an hundred and twenty shekels (worth almost $1,200).
v. 87. All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat-offering; and the kids of the goats for sin-offering twelve.
v. 88. And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace-offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was the dedication of the altar after that it was anointed.
v. 89. And when Moses was gone into the Tabernacle of the Congregation to speak with Him, to commune with the Lord, then he heard the voice of One speaking unto him from off the Mercy-seat that was upon the Ark of Testimony, for there it was that God condescended to communicate with His servant, Exo 25:22, from between the two cherubim; and He spake unto him, this being the usual form of revelation and communication during the wilderness journey.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 9 Moses completed the tabernacle
Moses completed the tabernacle
"Moses finished setting up the tabernacle"
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the leaders of Israel ... the heads of their ancestor's families
These two phrases describe the same group of people two different ways. AT: "the leaders of Israel who are also the heads of their ancestors families" (See: Parallelism)
the heads of their ancestor's families
Here the leaders of the families are referred to as "heads." AT: "the leaders of their ancestor's families" (See: Metonymy)
had overseen the counting of the men
The abstract noun "counting" can be stated as a verb. AT: "had helped Aaron and Moses to count the men" (See: Abstract Nouns)
They brought their offerings before Yahweh ... They presented these things in front of the tabernacle
This means that they gave their offerings to Yahweh and brought them to the tabernacle. These phrases may be combined to add clarity. AT: "They brought their offerings to Yahweh and presented them to him in front of the tabernacle" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
six covered carts and twelve oxen
"6 covered carts and 12 oxen" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
Moses
tabernacle
anoint
set apart
Yahweh
altar
Israel
head
family
sacrifice
tribe
oversee
census
cow
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 9 7:1-89 This detailed description of offerings presented by Israel’s…
7:1-89 This detailed description of offerings presented by Israel’s twelve tribes at the dedication of the Tabernacle includes the dedicatory gifts brought on twelve successive days.
7:1 The day Moses set up the Tabernacle was the first day of the second year after the Exodus (Exod 40:1-2). • Once Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed and set apart (or consecrated) its furnishings, the altar, and its utensils (cp. Exod 40:9-10; Lev 8:10-11). As the locus of sacrifice, the altar held special importance among the sacred furniture.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.