Next, let’s look at chapter 7 of the Book of Numbers.
The term that immediately comes to mind when I try to describe this chapter is 'literary suicide.'
After the completion of the Holy Tabernacle and altar, the twelve tribes of Israel are called upon by God to make a sacrifice commemorating this important event. And so they do, one by one:
On the first day Nahshon son of Amminadab, leader of the tribe of Judah, presented his offering.
His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 pound (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.
For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Nahshon son of Amminadab.
This is an interesting passage, I suppose, but nothing most people would obsess over.
And God found it interesting enough to describe the identical offering, with identical language, for the head and representative of each tribe on each consecutive day. And there were twelve tribes of Israel.
The passage you just read is essentially repeated twelve times! Numbers 7 is the third longest chapter in the Bible, and it consists almost entirely of the most exasperating repetition you are likely to find in a book.
Why would God do this? Adam and Eve's ending is illogical, but this is just… well, annoying. The offering could easily have been summed up just once, and the heads of the tribes presented in a compact list. What reason could even God have for stretching it out into such a painfully protracted drudge?
Well, I only have one theological theory, and it ain't much: it emphasizes the importance of the individual tribes of Israel. These tribes are of resounding importance in the history of Israel and this was still a very early period in their development. And at this crucial moment of the dedication of the Tabernacle, God saw fit to honour each tribe by including their sacrifices in full.
*Shrug.*
But I do have another point to make which seems relevant here: God has a sense of humour.
God is not an idiot. He knew exactly how much this stupid chapter would confound his people through the ages. Maybe, just maybe, it is the Greatest Practical Joke Ever Pulled? Maybe when he sees us struggling to stay focused as we read it, wanting to scream as we copy it out, or spending our valuable time analyzing and justifying it the way I am now, he is snickering into his chest? Maybe he and Moses shared a private laugh as Moses recorded it!
But seriously folks, I have one further reflection on Numbers 7: the fact that it exists in its lumbering original form is a testament to the faith of generation after generation of God's people. For thousands of years the Bible was written out by hand, and though they might have groaned when they reached this chapter, scribes all over the world faithfully insisted on writing it as God spoke it. They knew that, however strange it might seem to us, it is God's word, and not to be edited in any way, shape or form.
The very absurdity of the chapter makes crucial statements about the beauty of faithful submission to the Lord, and I bless and praise him for it!
The term that immediately comes to mind when I try to describe this chapter is 'literary suicide.'
After the completion of the Holy Tabernacle and altar, the twelve tribes of Israel are called upon by God to make a sacrifice commemorating this important event. And so they do, one by one:
On the first day Nahshon son of Amminadab, leader of the tribe of Judah, presented his offering.
His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 pound (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.
For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Nahshon son of Amminadab.
This is an interesting passage, I suppose, but nothing most people would obsess over.
And God found it interesting enough to describe the identical offering, with identical language, for the head and representative of each tribe on each consecutive day. And there were twelve tribes of Israel.
The passage you just read is essentially repeated twelve times! Numbers 7 is the third longest chapter in the Bible, and it consists almost entirely of the most exasperating repetition you are likely to find in a book.
Why would God do this? Adam and Eve's ending is illogical, but this is just… well, annoying. The offering could easily have been summed up just once, and the heads of the tribes presented in a compact list. What reason could even God have for stretching it out into such a painfully protracted drudge?
Well, I only have one theological theory, and it ain't much: it emphasizes the importance of the individual tribes of Israel. These tribes are of resounding importance in the history of Israel and this was still a very early period in their development. And at this crucial moment of the dedication of the Tabernacle, God saw fit to honour each tribe by including their sacrifices in full.
*Shrug.*
But I do have another point to make which seems relevant here: God has a sense of humour.
God is not an idiot. He knew exactly how much this stupid chapter would confound his people through the ages. Maybe, just maybe, it is the Greatest Practical Joke Ever Pulled? Maybe when he sees us struggling to stay focused as we read it, wanting to scream as we copy it out, or spending our valuable time analyzing and justifying it the way I am now, he is snickering into his chest? Maybe he and Moses shared a private laugh as Moses recorded it!
But seriously folks, I have one further reflection on Numbers 7: the fact that it exists in its lumbering original form is a testament to the faith of generation after generation of God's people. For thousands of years the Bible was written out by hand, and though they might have groaned when they reached this chapter, scribes all over the world faithfully insisted on writing it as God spoke it. They knew that, however strange it might seem to us, it is God's word, and not to be edited in any way, shape or form.
The very absurdity of the chapter makes crucial statements about the beauty of faithful submission to the Lord, and I bless and praise him for it!
