Asbury Bible Commentary – G. Gifts for Tabernacle Usage (7:1-89)
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G. Gifts for Tabernacle Usage (7:1-89)

G. Gifts for Tabernacle Usage (7:1-89)

According to Nu 7, Israel’s twelve tribal leaders jointly contributed gifts to the completed and consecrated tabernacle consisting of six covered carts and twelve oxen for the Gershonite and Merarite Levites to haul the dismantled tabernacle (vv.1-8). (The Kohathites, however, were to carry the holy things of the Tabernacle on their shoulders, not on carts—v. 9.)

Then, individually and spread over twelve days, each leader contributed to the anointed altar the identical gift, as follows: one silver plate and one silver bowl, each filled with fine flour and oil for cereal offerings; one gold ladle filled with incense; and twenty-one sacrificial animals for the burnt/sin/fellowship offerings (vv.10-83).

Finally, the contribution of each leader is duly recorded, and the totals for each gift are provided (vv.84-88), followed by a brief reference to Moses standing once again in God’s presence (v.89).

Clearly, chronological concerns have been subordinated to thematic and theological concerns in the book of Numbers. Most, if not all, of the material in Nu 7 (the longest chapter in the Pentateuch) could have been distributed throughout Ex 40-Nu 6. For example, data about the twelve gifts of sacrificial animals might have been squeezed into Lev 1-7, or the gifts of draught carts for two branches of the Levites could have as reasonably appeared back in ch. 4.

Chs. 5-8 focus on the responsibility of the laity, from Nazirites to husbands/wives to tribal leaders. One of those responsibilities included the generous provision of offerings to the sanctuary priests to be used in public worship whenever needed. Liberality was the order of the day. There was no room for penny-pinching scrooges.