I wonder: Was the giving in Numbers 7 a spontaneous response to God’s blessing in chapter 6?
Have you noticed that Numbers 7 is one of the longest chapters in the Bible? Some might also consider it boringly repetitive, but obviously God considers every verse to be essential. Will you consider Heaven’s Reward Day boring when “each one’s praise will come from God” (1 Cor 4:5)? Many of us have waited at graduation ceremonies, listening to the seemingly endless repetition of names. Why? For that one name we love! But don’t you see that God loves all His people and delights in the generosity of their hearts! The twelve men listed were leaders of the tribes and wonderful examples of the giving spirit of their God. Back in Exodus 35:27-28, they had already given bountifully with some of the most expensive gifts for the tabernacle: “…onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.” But that had been specifically requested. The oxen to move the tabernacle (Num 7:3) were a voluntary corban (Heb.) which Jesus explained in Mark 7:11 as “a gift to God.” But the leaders’ giving was not merely an event; it seemed to be a lifestyle. Now, over the next 12 days, they each brought an identical chanukkah, or dedication gift: “one silver platter…and one silver bowl…both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; one gold pan…full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; one kid of the goats as a sin offering; and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year” (Num 7:13-17). Wow! We may not be able to give with the same amount as these men, but can we give with the same consistent and willing hearts?