Numbers 7:24

Numbers 7:24 says, On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer:  Eliab, the prince of Zebulun, was to bring his offering on the third day.  Verse twenty-five adds, His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:  Verse twenty-six continues, One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:  These were the more permanent offerings, which could be used in the tabernacle, combined with temporary sacrifices.  Verse twenty-seven states, One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:  Verse twenty-eight adds, One kid of the goats for a sin offering:  Verse twenty-nine continues, And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.  These offerings were for sacrificial purposes.  We need to meet both temporary and lasting purposes of God with our sacrices.  Verse thirty says, On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer:  Elizur, the prince of Rueben, was to bring his offerings on the fourth day.  The order in which they were to bring their offerings was determined by God, and not by the priests themselves, so there could be no arguing about the order.  As long as we give when God directs us to, there should be no concern about when someone else gives.  Verse thirty-one adds, His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:  Verse thirty-two continues, One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:  These offerings were both permanent and temporary mixed.  Verse thirty-three states, One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:  Verse thirty-four adds, One kid of the goats for a sin offering:  Verse thirty-five continues, And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.  These were temporary offerings used for sacrifice.  Verse thirty-six says, On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer:  Shelumiel the priest of Simeon was to bring his offering on the fifth day.  Verse thirty-seven adds, His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:  Verse thirty-eight continues, One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:  These were the mixed offerings.  Verse thirty-nine states, One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering: Verse forty adds, One kid of the goats for a sin offering:  Verse forty-one continues, And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.  These were the sacrifice offerings.

Numbers 7:10

Numbers 7:10 says, And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.  There was a day set up for the various princes offer their sacrifices to dedicate the altar.  The princes, or leaders of the tribes of Israel, were given a day in which to offer their offerings before the altar when it was dedicated.   Again, God operates in an orderly fashion as He accomplshes His work today, and we cannot all do the same thing at the same time.  Verse eleven adds, And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.  This was not Moses decision, but God's.  We need to make sure that we are working by God's plan and not our own.  Verse twelve states, And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah:  Nahshon, of the tribe of Judah was to be the first to bring his offering.  This did not make him or the tribe of Judah better than the others.  It only meant that they were following God's directions.  No matter what or when we are doing what God directs us to do, we must never feel that we are better than other Christians.  Verse thirteen adds, And his offering was one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:  Verse fourteen continues, One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense:  These were the permanent gifts offered with a temporary sacrifice. Verse fifteen says, One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:  Verse sixteen adds, One kid of the goats for a sin offering:  Verse seventeen continues, And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.  Then Nashon for the people of Judsh was to present the things used for temporary offerings. We are told all that Nashun and the tribe of Judah offered, and I believe that we must acknowledge that this was done freely, but under God's guidance.   We need to also give freely to God's work today, but to it under His guidance.   Verse eighteen states, On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer:  On the second day, Nethaneel of the tribe of Issachar was to bring his offering.  Once more, this did not make his offering more or less important than anyone elses.  Verse nineteen adds, He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:  Again, we first have the permanent gifts mixed with the temporary offerings.  Verse twenty continues. One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense:  Verse twenty-one says, One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:  Verse twenty-two adds, One kid of the goats for a sin offering: Verse twenty-three continues, And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.  Then, we have the gifts offered to be used in temporary sacrifices.  We are told of the offering of Nethaneel and the tribe of Issachar.  We should note that in these offerings, some of it was of a more permanent nature and some was to be used quickly.   This should be the nature of our offerings to God today.  

Numbers 7:1

Numbers 7:1 says, And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;  Moses set up and sanctified the tabernacle in accordance with God's directions.   We need to set up our tabernacles, or places of worship and I believe even the house we live in, which should be dedicated to God, in accordance with His guidance.  Verse two adds, That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:  Verse three continues, And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle.  The princes, or heads of the houses of Israel brought their sacrifices to God, which was six wagons and rwelve oxen.  Matthew Henry says these were not included in God's design, but since they were a sacrifice to God, Moses received them. We may at times spontaneously give to the church as a sacrifice to God, and if we do, then it should be graciously received under the guidance of God.  Verse four states, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse five adds, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.  God instructed Moses to take the offerings and give them to the Levites.  We should likewise generously support those who are doing God's work today, especially the God called preachers and music directors.  Verse six says, And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.  Moses did what God told him to do, and so should we.  Verse seven adds, Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service:  Verse eight continues, And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.  The wagons and oxen were given to the Levites based on their service, or need.  We should not all expect to receive the same blessings from God materially.  If our material blessings are based on our service to God, some of us may be left out.  Verse nine says, But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.  The tribe of Kohath didn't receive any wagons or oxen, because they would not have fit with their service.  We should not all expect the same provisions while doing God's work.

Numbers 6:13

Numbers 6:13 says, And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:  Verse fourteen adds, And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,  Verse fifteen continues, And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.  After completion of the Nazarite vow, there were instructions for sacrifices to be made by the person completing the vow.  They were to bring specific unblemished animals for sin, burnt, and peace sacrifices., as well as unleavened bread and wafers of unleavened bread for their meat and drink offerings.   Having completed a vow to God does not free us from continuing to be a living sacrifice to Him.  Verse sixteen states, And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:  Verse seventeen adds, And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.  The Nazarite did not offer the sacrifices, but brought them to the priest, and the priest offered them to God.  We as followers of Christ cannot offer an acceptable sacrifice to God to redeem us from sin, but we must offer ourselves to Jesus Christ, Who made the sacrifice for us.  Verse eighteen says, And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.  The Nazarite was then to shave his head and burn the hair under the sacrifice of the peace offering.   We are told that a man or a woman could take the Nazarite vow, but all the instructions refer to them as he, but I would think that the rules applied to both.  Verse nineteen adds, And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:  Verse twenty continues, And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wne.  The priest was then to do a wave and heave offering, after which the Nazarite would be free to drink wine once more.  If we have taken a vow to give something up for God for a specified time, and this does not mean something that is a sin, after the time is fulfilled, we are free to start doing whatever it was once again.  Verse twenty-one concludes, This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.  This freed the person from the physical requirements of the vow of the Nazarite, but the spiritual things that were vowed were still in effect.  We may have given up something physical for God today for a specified time,  but completing that time does not free us from continuing to spiritually do what the physical act represents.  Verse twenty-two says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse twenty-three adds, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,   God then spoke to Moses with instructions to Aaron and his sons about how to bless the people of Israel.   We do not have to go to anyone to know how to be blessed by God, but He does use preachers, teachers, and fellow Christians to help us do so.  Verse twenty-four states, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:  Aaron was to start by saying that the LORD would bless and keep His people, and God will bless and keep His people today if we are faithful to Him.  Verse twenty-five adds, The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  Aaron was then to tell the people that God would make His face shine on them and be gracious to them.  No matter how much or how little we have materially today, as followers of Christ, God does shine His face on us and is merciful to us everyday.  Verse twenty-six continues, The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. As Aaron told the people then, if we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord,  God will give us peace as long as we are obedient to Him.  Verse twenty-seven concludes, And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.  As Christians, God has put His name on us and will bless us.  

Numbers 6:1

Numbers 6:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:  Being a Nazarite was not a matter of birth, but of choice and applied to both men and women, something we seldom see in the Bible.  Matthew Henry says these were not Nazerites for life, like John the Baptist, but for a specified time.  Verse three continues, He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.  The man who became a Nazarite, or separated himself to the service of God, was to avoid all alcoholic drinks.  I personally believe if we are to serve God effectively today, we need to avoid alcohol, but this is not really stated in the Bible.  Verse four concludes, All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.  While set aside to God's service, the man was to avoid eating or drinking anything grown on a vine.  Verse five adds, All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no rasor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.  The men were not to shave or cut their hair during the time of their vow.  We can tend to judge men by whether they have shaved and cut their hair or not, but maybe the best thing to do is to leave it up to God and them.  The only thing that really matters now is a person's relationship with Jesus Christ.  Verse six states, All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.  Verse seven adds, He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.  A person who had taken a vow tobe a Nazarite was not to touch a dead person, even if it was their father, mother, sister, or brother, since doing so would have made them spiritually unclean.  Verse eight continues, All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.  For all the time of his vow, the man was considered to be holy unto the LORD.  We as followers of Christ today are considered to be Holy unto the Lord, since we have taken a vow to Jesus Christ, so we should avoid anything that would corrupt us spiritually.  Verse nine says, And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.  The men were given instructions for what to do if a person died suddenly and touched them.  They were to shave their head on the seventh day of their cleansing.  This was an physical sign of their obedience, and as Christians we really don't have any today, except baptism and observing the Lord’s Supper.  Verse ten adds, And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:  Verse eleven continues, And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.  On the eighth day, the man was to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the door of the tabernacle and give them to the priest there, and the priest would offer one as a sin sacrifice and the other as a burnt offering to atone for the man's sin.  This applied to when the man who had taken a vow as Nazarite unavoidably came in to contact with a dead person, and not when he deliberately did so.  Today, as followers of Christ, all our sins have been atoned for by the blood of Jesus. Verse twelve concludes, And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.  The man was also to bring a lamb less than a year old as a trespass offering, and the days of his vow as a Nazarite would start over.  We cannot expect the days we have faithfully followed Jesus Christ to exempt us from sins we may commit today.  If we do fall into sin, we must confess our sins and begin to walk faithfully with Jesus Christ once more.  He is the sacrifice for our sins, and will always be the only sacrifice that will matter.

Numbers 5:23

Numbers 5:23 says, And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:  This is still talking about a woman whose husband thinks she is cheating on him, and the priest is to write a curse against her that would apply if she is and to blot it out with bitter water.  Verse twenty-four adds, And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.  The woman would then be forced to drink the bitter water.  It would seem that confession might have been easier, except the husband probably wouldn't have believed her if she didn't confess.  Verse twenty-five continues, Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:  The priest was then to take the jealousy offering from the woman and wave it before before God and offer it on the altar.  It didn't matter whether the woman was guilty or innocent, since this was an offering given because of the husband's jealousy.   Hopefully, when we give offerings to God it will be for a more positive reason than jealousy.  Verse twenty-six states, And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.  The priest was then to burn a handful of the offering, and then have the woman drink the water.  I have to assume that this is just a repeating of the earlier statement about the woman being forced to drink the water and not a second time to drink it.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.  If the woman was guilty, the bitter water would cause her to suffer greatly physically.  It was really not the water though, but God's judgment of the woman’s sin, which was not hidden from Him, that would cause this.  He could have just as easily have caused this to happen without all the ritual, just as He could today.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.  If the woman was innocent, then she would not suffer and would be physically able to have children.  We are not told of a test for a man if the wife was jealous of him, and some people say because of this that God is not an impartial God, but we cannot believe in God as a God of love and forgiveness and see Him as being partial to some people.  Verse twenty-nine says, This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;  Verse thirty adds, Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.  This law applied to both women who were guilty and to those whose husband just believed them to be.  Matthew Henty says that if the husband was also guilty that the woman would not be affected according to Rabbinic teaching, but this does not state that, and that because of this that the ritual became almost unused in time.  We do know that men and women are held equally responsible by God when it comes to adultery.  Verse thirty-one continues, Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.  I believe that the man's iniquity would have been to divorce his wife unjustly, but if she were innocent, he would have still been guilty of allowing his jealousy been guilty of falsely accusing her.  We can never let our own fears or jealous to cause us to accuse someone else of sin and still be effective in our life as followers of Christ. 

Numbers 5:11

Numbers 5:11 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse twelve adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,  Verse thirteen continues, And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;  God then began to speak to Moses about a woman who commits adultery.  God presented the case of a woman committing adultery, but no one knowing about it.  There are many sins committed today that people never find out about, but God knows.  This woman was defiled for her husband, but he didn't really know it.  Verse fourteen states, And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:  God then spoke about the man  becoming jealous, or suspicious, of his wife, which could occur if she was guilty or not.  Some men today are unjustifiably jealous or suspicious of their wives, while others may be justifiably so.  Of course, the same could be said of wives.  Verse fifteen adds, Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.  God then told Moses that the man who was jealous of his wife was to bring her before the priest, along with jealousy offering, which was to be plain barely meal.  The offering was not to have anything added to it, because it was a jealousy offering.  Verse sixteen says, And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:  The woman was to be brought near and set before the LORD, with it still undetermined if she was guilty of adultery or not.  If we have concerns about anything today, we need to bring it to God, and we no longer have to go through a priest.  Verse seventeen adds, And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:  The priest was to mix holy water with the dust of the floor of the tabernacle.  There was really nothing miraculous about this mixture, except that it was what God told the priest to do.  If we expect miraculous things to happen today, we must start by doing what God tells us to do.  Verse eighteen continues, And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:  The priest was to set the woman before the LORD with her head uncovered and the memorial offering in her hand.  This would be the case whether she were innocent or guilty.  Verse nineteen states, And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:  The priest the was to tell the woman that if she were innocent, she would be free from the curse that the water would cause.  Matthew Henry says if she were guilty and confessed that she would have simply been divorced from her husband, and if she were innocent she would still have to go through the same thing.  Sometimes, innocent people suffer because of their presumed guilt.  Verse twenty adds, But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:  Verse twenty-one continues, Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;  The woman was to be given a chance to confess to the priest, and if she didn't, the priest was to continue with the ceremony.  It is always best if we are guilty of sin to just confess it to God, because He already knows about it.  If she was guilty, the water would be a poison to her.  Sin always poisons us spiritually.  Verse twenty-two says, And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.  If she were guilty, the water would affect her physically, and all she could do was say amen and amen.  When we are guilty of sin, all we can do is confess it to God and allow Him to deal with us.  As Christians, we should not expect to sin without God still holding us accountable.  Salvation is not a license to sin just because we know we are already forgiven.