The head of each tribe brings offerings to the tabernacle at its dedication. In yesterday's study we learned that Nahshon, of the tribe of Judah, brought on the first day after the dedication these items: a silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, a silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, each filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels filled with incense; one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old for a fellowship offering.
The man who is the head of each of the other tribes will bring the same offering. Zuar, the leader of Issachar, brought his offering on the second day. Eliab, the leader of the people of Zebulun, brought his offering on the third day. Elizur, the head of Reuben, brought his offering on the fourth day. On the fifth day Shelumiel, the leader of the people of Simeon, brought his offering. Eliasaph, the leader of Gad, brought his offering on the sixth day. Elishama, the leader of the people of Ephraim, brought his offering on the seventh day. On the eighth day Gamaliel, the leader of Manasseh, brought his offering. Abidan, the leader of the people of Benjamin, brought his offering on the ninth day. On the tenth day Ahiezer, the leader of Dan, brought his offering. Pagiel, the leader of the people of Asher, brought his offering on the eleventh day. Ahira, the leader of Naphtali, brought his offering on the twelfth day. (Numbers 7:18-83)
You'll notice I chose to summarize verses 18 through 83 since the items the head of each tribe brought are exactly the same. The Lord, however, did not choose to summarize any of this list but instead mentioned the head of every tribe by name and listed each item he brought. I believe the Lord felt it important to specifically name each tribe and the leader of each tribe, even though it meant making a long and repetitive list. The Lord wanted to acknowledge each individual leader, each individual tribe, and each individual offering. These offerings were costly. It probably took some time for the leader of each tribe to gather, from among his people, the materials needed to fashion the silver plates and the silver sprinkling bowls and the gold dishes. Then artisans would have had to melt down the objects of precious metals in order to form a liquid to cast the bowls and plates and dishes---and each of them had to come out at a specific weight. It took some time to gather up the flour and olive oil and incense, also to get together all the animals and shepherd them to the tabernacle. The offerings brought to the tabernacle represent a personal sacrifice all the people have made of their time, their money, their thoughts and prayers, and their livestock. It meant something to the Lord that all these people came together and gave to the tabernacle. He wanted to take time to acknowledge the sacrifice the people of each tribe made.
The Lord notices every sacrifice you and I make in His name. Our sacrifice may be of prayer, or it may be of money, or it may be of time spent ministering in various ways to our brothers and sisters in Christ. But you can be certain that the Lord takes note of the works we do on His behalf and on behalf of our fellow man. "God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them." (Hebrews 6:10) You may have done good works in love, for the sake of the Lord, that no one on earth has seemed to notice or appreciate. But that's okay because God noticed and appreciated it, and the reward you receive from Him will be eternal. The glory of your reward from Him will far outweigh that of any human acclaim you could have received.
Anytime we see the number twelve in the Scriptures it symbolizes the twelve tribes of Israel. Here we find an offering being brought each day, from a tribe of Israel, for twelve consecutive days. (There is no offering from the priestly tribe of Levi, but since Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons Manasseh and Ephraim as his own, there are still twelve tribes represented here. We don't typically find a tribe called "Joseph" but instead his tribe is reckoned through the lines of both Manasseh and Ephraim.) The tribe of Levi was not expected to join the military, as we learned earlier in Numbers, and the tribe of Levi is not expected in Chapter 7 to bring offerings to the dedication of the tabernacle. Also the tribe of Levi will not be given territories in the promised land but will instead be gifted with towns and cities, for the Levites are called to work for the Lord, not become farmers and shepherds. Since Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons, anytime the tribe of Levi is left out of a count, we still find the number twelve.
"These were the offerings of the Israelite leaders for the dedication of the altar when it was anointed: twelve silver plates, twelve silver sprinkling bowls and twelve gold dishes. Each silver plate weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each sprinkling bowl seventy shekels. Altogether, the silver dishes weighed two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. The twelve gold dishes filled with incense weighed ten shekels each, according to the sanctuary shekel. Altogether, the gold dishes weighed a hundred and twenty shekels. The total number of animals for the burnt offering came to twelve young bulls, twelve rams and twelve male lambs a year old, together with their grain offering. Twelve male goats were used for the sin offering. The total number of animals for the sacrifice of the fellowship offering came to twenty-four oxen, sixty rams, sixty male goats and sixty male lambs a year old. These were the offerings for the dedication of the altar after it was anointed." (Numbers 7:84-88)
If this seems like a lot of sacrificial offerings for the dedication of the tabernacle, just wait til we study the dedication of Solomon's temple in 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5. At that time Israel will have long been established in the promised land and she will be far wealthier than she is now in Numbers 7. In Numbers 7 we find the people giving according to how the Lord has blessed them at this point; in the books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles the people will give according to how the Lord has blessed them at that point. The Lord never asks us for more than He has enabled us to give. In Numbers 7 the people could not possibly have brought to the tabernacle the amount of offerings and sacrifices that a later generation is able to bring to the temple. The Lord does not expect them to bring more than they are able to bring.
If you've been feeling unnoticed and unappreciated for the love and the good works you've shown toward others, allow today's passage from the book of Numbers to encourage you. The Lord thought it was important to have this long list of offerings in Chapter 7 written down in the Bible, including the name of each tribe and the name of the head of each tribe. Long lists like this are the type we have a tendency to skim over, but the Lord never skims over anything. He will not forget your good works or the way you have labored in love toward Him and toward others. I believe that on the day you stand face to face with Him, everything you've done for the sake of His name will be in His book.
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