So this was the dedication offering brought by the leaders of Israel at the time the altar was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver basins, and twelve gold incense containers. Each silver platter weighed 3 1⁄4 pounds, and each silver basin weighed 1 3⁄4 pounds. The total weight of the silver was 60 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). Each of the twelve gold containers that was filled with incense weighed four ounces (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). The total weight of the gold was three pounds. Twelve young bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old male lambs were donated for the burnt offerings, along with their prescribed grain offerings. Twelve male goats were brought for the sin offerings. Twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty one-year-old male lambs were donated for the peace offerings. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed. [Numbers 7.84-88]
Once again, I am faced with the fact that the Israelites were carrying, on their journey - their flight from Egypt - not only enough stuff to build the Tabernacle, but to furnish it, as evidenced in the scripture above.
As reading goes, today's reading was mundane as might be expected from such repetitive prose. However, in reading through today's reading, I found myself not distracted by the repetition, but intrigued by the only difference between them all - their order!
Here is the order in which the tribes brought their offerings: Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, Naphtali.
Is this order significant? I would assume it was. And, I would assume Moses decided the order.
First, in considering this, it is important (maybe?) to consider that Levi is missing from the list above as is Joseph. However, Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, replace him.
As I considered their order, all I could think of was Jacob's blessing on each one before he died. From Genesis 49, here is that information in the order their offerings (above) were brought (not the order Jacob blessed them in):
Judah: "Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you. Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor. He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk."
Issachar: "Issachar is a sturdy donkey, resting between two saddlepacks. When he sees how good the countryside is and how pleasant the land, he will bend his shoulder to the load and submit himself to hard labor."
Zebulun: "Zebulun will settle by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships; his borders will extend to Sidon."
Reuben: "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power. But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer. For you went to bed with my wife; you defiled my marriage couch."
Simeon: “Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence. May I never join in their meetings; may I never be a party to their plans. For in their anger they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport. A curse on their anger, for it is fierce; a curse on their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob; I will disperse them throughout Israel." [Levi is not included in the list of tribes bringing offerings]
Gad: "Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat."
Ephraim (Joseph): "Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—one of the wild donkeys on the ridge. Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him. But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers."
Manasseh (Joseph): "Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—one of the wild donkeys on the ridge. Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him. But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers."
Benjamin: "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing his plunder in the evening."
Dan: "Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel. Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path that bites the horse’s hooves so its rider is thrown off. I trust in you for salvation, O Lord!"
Asher: "Asher will dine on rich foods and produce food fit for kings."
Naphtali: "Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns."
Is there any significance to the order of these tribes' offerings? I just don't know, but it is interesting to group them in this way (order) to see the progression (or digression?) as the list goes...
Father, there is a lot I do not understand about the Bible. Help me to consider every detail of it when considering the whole. And, help me to keep the whole as my focus even as details reveal themselves.
Is this order significant? I would assume it was. And, I would assume Moses decided the order.
First, in considering this, it is important (maybe?) to consider that Levi is missing from the list above as is Joseph. However, Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, replace him.
As I considered their order, all I could think of was Jacob's blessing on each one before he died. From Genesis 49, here is that information in the order their offerings (above) were brought (not the order Jacob blessed them in):
Judah: "Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you. Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor. He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk."
Issachar: "Issachar is a sturdy donkey, resting between two saddlepacks. When he sees how good the countryside is and how pleasant the land, he will bend his shoulder to the load and submit himself to hard labor."
Zebulun: "Zebulun will settle by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships; his borders will extend to Sidon."
Reuben: "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power. But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer. For you went to bed with my wife; you defiled my marriage couch."
Simeon: “Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence. May I never join in their meetings; may I never be a party to their plans. For in their anger they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport. A curse on their anger, for it is fierce; a curse on their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob; I will disperse them throughout Israel." [Levi is not included in the list of tribes bringing offerings]
Gad: "Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat."
Ephraim (Joseph): "Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—one of the wild donkeys on the ridge. Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him. But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers."
Manasseh (Joseph): "Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—one of the wild donkeys on the ridge. Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him. But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers."
Benjamin: "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing his plunder in the evening."
Dan: "Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel. Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path that bites the horse’s hooves so its rider is thrown off. I trust in you for salvation, O Lord!"
Asher: "Asher will dine on rich foods and produce food fit for kings."
Naphtali: "Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns."
Is there any significance to the order of these tribes' offerings? I just don't know, but it is interesting to group them in this way (order) to see the progression (or digression?) as the list goes...
Father, there is a lot I do not understand about the Bible. Help me to consider every detail of it when considering the whole. And, help me to keep the whole as my focus even as details reveal themselves.
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