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Chapter 7: The Offerings of the Leaders of the Tribes
Having covered the organization (Num 2:1-4:20) and the purification (Num 5:1-6:27) of the wilderness camp on the first day of the second month, this part of the narrative takes us back a month earlier, to the first of the first month (Abib), when the Sanctuary was erected and consecrated (Ex 40:1, 17). The focus of this section is on those details that made the function of the Sanctuary operative. The section includes the list of gifts of that included silver and gold sacrificial vessels and the ingredients that accompanied the sacrifices (i.e., incense), instruction in the proper mounting of the seven Menorah lamps in the Holy Place, and the dedication ceremony for the Levites as Yahweh's lesser ministers.
Chronological time line for events in Numbers Chapters 1-10:
| Numbers 7:1 | Numbers 9:1 | Numbers 1:1 | Numbers 10:11 |
| 1st month 1st day 2nd year | 1st month 14th – 21st 2nd year | 2nd month 1st day 2nd year | 2nd month 20th day 2nd year |
| -Sanctuary dedicated (Ex 40:17-35) -Gifts of the tribal leaders after Sanctuary dedication in 12 day ceremony (Num 7:1-3, 10-11) -Priests Dedicated in 7 day ceremony (Ex Lev 8), assuming their duties on the 8th day (Lev 9:1-24) -Levites dedicated after priests in 2nd week (Num 8)* | Passover/Unleavened Bread celebrated at Sinai (Num 9:1-5) | -Census of the 12 tribes of Israel (Num 1:1-2:34) -Census of the Levites (Num 3:1-4:49) | Departure from Mt. Sinai |
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* The time frame announced in Num 7:1 is at the time when the Sanctuary was dedicated.
Numbers 7:1-9 The Offering of the Wagons
These gifts were not the first contributions made by the chieftains.
Question: What other costly gifts had they provided when the materials to construct the Sanctuary were being collected? See Ex 28:15-30; 35:27-28.
Answer: The tribal leaders donated the precious gem stones that were needed to create the "Breastplate of Judgment" worn by the high priest.
Question: What was the combined gift of the twelve chieftains?
Answer: Together the chieftains brought six wagons and twelve oxen.
Numbers 7:10-88 The Dedicated Offerings of the Leaders
In addition to the combined gift of the wagons and oxen, the chieftains of the twelve tribes (counting the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh as separate tribes) also brought individual gifts.
Question: Why did God command that the individual offerings of the chieftains be spread out over a twelve day period?
Answer: Probably so that the generosity of each man, representing his tribe, could be observed and acknowledged separately by the people.
The offerings of the chieftains are given in a formula that is repeated twelve times representing each of the twelve days the gifts were offered by individual tribal chieftains.
Numbers 7:11-17 The Offering of Nahshon of Judah
Numbers 7:18-23 The Offering of Nethanel of Issachar
Numbers 7:24-29 The Offering of Eliab of Zebulun
Numbers 7:30-35 The Offering of Elizur of Reuben
Numbers 7:36-41 Shelumiel of Simeon
Numbers 7:42-47 Eliasaph of Gad
Numbers 7:48-53 Elishama of Ephraim
Numbers 7:54-59 Gamaliel of Manasseh
Numbers 7:60-65 Abidan of Benjamin
Numbers 7:66-71 Ahiezer of Dan
Numbers 7:72-77 Pagiel of Asher
Numbers 7:78-83 Ahira of Naphtali
Question: What did each chieftain bring?
Answer: The gifts of the chieftains fall into three categories: vessels, commodities that fill the vessels, and sacrificial animals:
- One large silver bowl filled with fine flour mixed with oil
- One medium sized silver [basin] sprinkling bowl filled with fine flour mixed with oil
- One small golden bowl [ladle] filled with incense
- One young bull calf for a burnt offering
- One ram for a burnt offering
- One male yearling lamb for a burnt offering
- One he-goat as a sin sacrifice
- Two bulls for a communion sacrifice
- Five rams for a communion sacrifice
- Five he-goats for a communion sacrifice
- Five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice
Numbers 7:84-88 Conclusion
In all twelve of the formula passages and in verse 84 the Hebrew word translated "offering" is the Hebrew word korban. It is one of the key words in the study of Leviticus and literally means "to draw near" [to God]. The term korban applies to both the filled vessels and the animals listed among the gifts.
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Chapter 7
The Uniqueness of Israel's Divine Election, Israel's War Policy and the Hazards Associated with Occupying the Land of Canaan
In this part of his homily, Moses turns to the dangers to faith and obedience the Israelites will face during and after the conquest of Canaan. Dangers include fear of a more powerful enemy, the seduction of the Canaanite's idolatry (chapter 7), the sense of self-sufficiency that might arise from the prosperity they will experience in possessing the land that might cause Israel to forget her dependency on God (chapter 8), and a mistaken belief that the success of the conquest is proof of Israel's righteousness (chapters 9-10).
Deuteronomy 7:1-6
Israel's Divine Election and Her Obligations after her Victories over her Enemies
In Genesis 15:19-20, God named ten nations that inhabit Canaan, but in this passage Moses only names seven. Seven is one of the "perfect" numbers; therefore, the seven nations listed represent the total of the nations/city-states who will be dispossessed of the Promised Land according to the will of God.
Question: How is Israel commanded to treat the nations living in Canaan?
Answer: Israel must:
- Put them under the curse of destruction
- Make no treaty with them
- No alliances through intermarriage
- Burn their idols, destroy their altars, other cult objects and religious artifacts
The restriction to intermarriage did not apply to converts, as in the case of Rahab the Canaanite heroine of Jericho and Ruth the Moabitess, both of whom were ancestors of King David and Jesus.
Question: Why must the Israelites avoid becoming contaminated by the sins of the inhabitants of the land they are going to conquer? See Ex 19:6; Lev 11:43-45; 19:2; 20:7; Num 15:40; Dt 7:6; 14:2, 21; 26:19; 28:9.
Answer: The Israelites must not be contaminated by the sinful inhabitants of the land because they have been sanctified and divinely elected to be Yahweh's possession-the holy people of a holy God.
Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people consecrated to Yahweh your God; of all the peoples on earth, you have been chosen by Yahweh your God to be his own people.
Moses declares Israel's divine election to be dedicated as a people who belong to God. It was a divine election Yahweh Himself announced to Moses in Exodus 19:4-6 and which Moses will repeat in 14:2. Israel's divine election will also be repeated by the prophets (i.e., Is 62:12; Am 3:2 and Jer 2:3), and in St. Paul's letter to the Romans, he will list Israel's eight privileges of divine election, including identifying the Israelites as the people from whom the Messiah came to redeem mankind (see Rom 9:4-5 and the list of "Israel's Divine Prerogatives" in the Charts/New Testament/Epistles of St. Paul section).
Question: Are Christians also divinely election to be dedicated to Christ? See Rom 8:14-16.
Answer: Yes, through the Sacrament of Christian baptism Christians die to sin and are resurrection with Christ, becoming sanctified and re-born into the family of God as adopted children of the divine Father. In our divine election, we become joint-heirs with Christ and willing partners in His mission-sharing His suffering in the conquest against sin so that we may also share in His glory in receiving the eternal blessings of heaven.
Deuteronomy 7:7-11 The Reason for Israel's Divine Election
Question: What was Yahweh's one reason for reveling Himself to Israel? See Dt 4:37; 7:8; 10:15 and CCC 218.
Answer: God's one reason for reveling Himself to Israel and choosing them to be His holy people was because of love. Despite their many failures in the course of their history, God never abandoned them nor did He abandon His plan that the promised Redeemer-Messiah and His mother should come from the people of Israel.
Deuteronomy 7:12-16 An Exhortation to Remain Faithful and Promised Blessings for Obedience
All other gods are rivals for Yahweh's affection and potential challengers to His role as Israel's divine Suzerain. Yahweh's jealousy is both the jealousy of a husband who demands His covenant bride's affection is only for Him and the King who demands that His vassal gives his allegiance to no other ruler. In Hittite covenant treaties the vassal was require to report any member of the community who offered his service to another lord (Levenson, Sinai & Zion, page 66). Such an action was not only a covenant breach but a traitorous act and possibly the beginnings of an insurrection. In Deuteronomy 13:7/6-19/18, Israelites will also be held accountable for reporting such actions in the community or in their own families.
Question: What blessings does Moses tell the people are theirs if they are loyal to Yahweh's covenant and His commands concerning the Promised Land?
Answer:
- Yahweh will love Israel
- The Israelites will have many children, increasing the numbers of the nation
- Their land will be fertile
- Their herds and flocks will be fertile
- They will be healthy and free from sicknesses and plagues
Deuteronomy 7:17-26 Israel's Power is in Yahweh
Twice Moses urges the people "do not be afraid" (verses 18 and 21). The reasons they might be afraid are the same reasons their father's gave when they refused to invade Canaan thirty-eight years earlier at Kadesh-Barnea (Num 13:27-29, 31-33).
Question: Why doesn't it matter that the nations that inhabit Canaan are more powerful than the Israelites?
Answer: God will be fighting for them.
Question: Is the victory to be accomplished quickly? Why?
Answer: No, the victory will be a process. If too many of the inhabitants and their cities are destroyed at once, the wild animal population will increase at a significant rate and become a problem for the Israelites.
After the Assyrians depopulated the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC they brought in five other groups of peoples from their eastern provinces to inhabit the land of Israel. These people became the Samaritans. The first problem the newly settled populations faced was that they were being ravaged by wild animals (2 Kng 17:5-6, 24-26).
Deuteronomy 7:26: You must not bring any detestable thing into your house: or you, like it, will come under the curse of destruction. You must regard them as unclean and loathsome, for they are under the curse of destruction.'
Question: Why did God command that nothing associated with the sinful pagan peoples of Canaan be brought into Israelite houses? See Lev 27:28.
Answer: Everything associated with the pagan peoples was to be put under the curse of destruction and belonged to Yahweh. To possess any object belonging to the pagans could become a trap for the Israelites to follow their pagan practices. The Israelites were to completely destroy the people of Canaan and their religion.
Madonna and Child with the Book (Raphael)
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A Daily Defense
Day 58 Madonna and Child Images
CHALLENGE: “The pagan roots of Christianity are shown by the popular Madonna-and-Child images depicting Mary and the baby Jesus. Similar images depicting a goddess and her child are found in pagan religions all over the world.”
DEFENSE: Images of the Madonna and Child neither date from the origin of Christianity nor prove it has a pagan origin.
Images of Mary and the baby Jesus did not become common in Christian art until the fifth century. There are a few possible examples of them from the second to the fourth centuries, but none from the first. These images do not go back to the founding of Christianity and thus cannot show it to have pagan origins.
Solly Madonna (Raphael)
The most they could show is that at some point Christian artists drew on themes that were already present in pagan art, but there is nothing sinister or surprising about mother and child images. They appear in every culture because of a simple fact: There are mothers with children in every culture! What’s more, you don’t have to be a goddess to be represented in such images. Today, every mother has photos of herself holding each baby she has had, and before the invention of photography, families could have drawings or paintings of such scenes.
The depiction of mothers with children is a natural expression of mankind’s artistic impulse. Motherhood is a profound aspect of the human experience, and it is naturally reflected in a culture’s art. In cultures that believed in goddesses, it was natural to depict some of them with their children, but that is not what is happening in Madonna and Child images.
The Holy Family (Raphael)
Although Jesus is God, Mary is a human being—not a goddess. She is a noteworthy biblical figure who is mentioned in multiple books of the New Testament, and it is natural that she would find a place in Christian art. One of the easiest ways to indicate her identity in a work of art is to depict her with her even more famous Son. The fact that two Gospels have infancy narratives in which people visit Mary and the child Jesus (Matt. 2:11; Luke 2:16) made it certain that such images would be depicted in Christian art.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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