Lesson date: 03/07/5860AA

I have heard of Chapter 7 as being “the most boring chapter in the Bible”, but is it? Is there nothing that we can learn from Bemidbar Chapter 7, not one nugget or jewel to be found in 89 verses? Here is my challenge, “I will find a life saving fact in the first ten verses that will make the other 79 verses worth reading. Then, toward the end, I will reveal a fact that shows how time was established, from the beginning, hidden in this chapter.

The chapter begins with Mosheh having set up the Dwelling Place, then he anointed it and set it apart and then set-apart all of the furnishings. Next, he set apart the slaughter-place and all of its utensils and then he anointed them and set them apart as well.

Watch carefully as things get more complicated. Each leader of each tribe of the House of Yisra’el and collectively they bring offering before YHVH which consists of six covered wagons and 12 cattle, a wagon for every two of the leaders and for each wagon a bull.

YHVH now instructs Mosheh to accept the wagons and cattle and give them to the Levites but look at what Mosheh does: he gives two wagons and four cattle to the sons of Gershon and then he gives the remainder of the wagons(4) and cattle(8) to the sons of Merari. Merari should have gotten the lion’s share yes because by far they have the heaviest load to bear but the sons of Qehath got none, zip, zero, nada. Why? I told you that I would show you a life saving fact in the first ten verses and here it is: the sons of Qehath had to bear their burdens on their shoulders only: 1Ch 13:6 And Dawiḏ and all Yisra’ěl went up to Ba‛alah, to Qiryath Ye‛arim of Yehuḏah, to bring up from there the ark of Elohim, יהוה, who dwells between the keruḇim, where the Name is called on.

1Ch 13:7 And they placed the ark of Elohim on a new wagon from the house of Aḇinaḏaḇ, and Uzza and Aḥyo were leading the wagon.

1Ch 13:8 And Dawiḏ and all Yisra’ěl were playing before Elohim with all their might, and with songs, and with lyres, and with harps, and with tambourines, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

1Ch 13:9 And when they came to the threshing-floor of Kiḏon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled.

1Ch 13:10 Then the wrath of יהוה burned against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark. And he died there before Elohim.

This is a perfect example of what happens when you try to worship YHVH the way that seems right in your own eyes rather than following the commands of Elohim, death, either spiritual, physical or both.

Now, over the next 12 days the tribes of Yisra’el will bring their gifts before YHVH and they will be exactly alike. It will start with the Tribe of Yehudah on Day One:

Day Two – the Tribe of Yissakar
Day Three – the Tribe of Zebulun
Day Four – the Tribe of  Re’uben
Day Five – the Tribe of Shim’on
Day Six – the Tribe of Gad
Day Seven – the Tribe of Ephrayim
Day Eight – the Tribe of Menashsheh
Day Nine – the Tribe of Benyamin
Day Ten – the Tribe of Dan
Day Eleven – the Tribe of Asher
Day Twelve – the tribe of Naphtali

Each tribe was supposed to bring the exact same gift consisting of:

1 – Silver dish weighing 130 sheqels
1 – Silver bowl weighing 70 sheqels

(Both filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a GRAIN OFFERING)

1 – Gold ladle weighing 10 sheqels filled with incense
1 – Young bull
1 – Ram
1 – Male lamb a year old

(All as ASCENDING OFFERING)

1 – Male goat

(As a SIN OFFERING)

2 – Cattle
5 – Rams
5 – Male goats
5 – Male lambs a year old

(As a PEACE OFFERING)

Please notice, each tribe would bring the same and you will also see that there is a Grain offering, an Ascending offering, a Sin offering and a Peace offering.

This was for the dedication of the slaughter-place, all of which were fulfilled by Yeshu’a Messiah for all 12 tribes of Yisra’el.

Here is where you have to get out your thinking caps, pencils and paper, yes, I know you will use your cell phones, because we have some figuring to do.

These are the totals of the offerings for all twelve tribes:

12 Silver dishes @ 130 sheqels each = 1560 sheqels
12 Silver bowls @ 70 sheqels each = 840 sheqels

Total silver of the vessels = 2400 sheqels, which is approximately 60.2 pounds/27.36 Kg

12 Gold ladles @ 10 sheqels each – 120 sheqels, which is approximately 2.992 pounds/1.36 kg

ASCENDING OFFERING:

12 young bulls, 12 rams, 12 male lambs (with grain offering)

SIN OFFERING:

12 male goats

PEACE OFFERINGS:

24 bulls/cattle, 60 rams, 50 male goats, 60 male lambs a year old

Now let’s add the total of the silver vessel and the gold ladles and we have 2520 sheqels. Now, 2520 is a very interesting number and let me show you why:

2520 divided by 360 (days in the year) = 7 (years cycle)

So we now know that Bereshith, in the beginning, each sabbatical cycle had 2520 days which consisted of 12 months of 360 days. When did this change? With the promise made to Hezekiah.

Please read the companion study “It’s About Time.”

Ahavah vberakhot,