Numbers 7:1-17; Numbers 7:84-88
This long chapter is taken up with the offerings of the twelve princes. The first: six covered wagons and twelve oxen allocated to the Levites speak to us of the practical help we can bring to the Lord’s servants to facilitate their ministry: hospitality, means of transport, etc. . . . These offerings made to the Levites "to every man according to his service" (v. 5), assure us that the Lord always provides the means for His own to accomplish the task He has entrusted to them. Then come the offerings for the dedication of the altar. To serve the brethren and help them in material things is not everything; chargers, bowls, spoons filled to the brim with that which speaks of the perfections and the excellent fragrance of Christ, correspond to the adoration of true worshippers. The various sacrifices also forming a part of it evoke the different aspects of the work of the cross. But why does God give such prominence to these offerings when all could be comprised in a single paragraph? Let us seize hold of this: He gives its full value to that which each one brings and leaves out nothing of all that is done for Him. Let us not then be afraid of repetition, and let us remember that the Father Himself never grows weary of the declaration of the glories of His well-beloved Son.