Scripture Daily

Context No. 1626 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 7:26-31: in context

26one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 27one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 28one male goat for a sin offering; 29and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. 30On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, 31gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

In the long record of the tribal leaders' offerings at the dedication of the tabernacle, this passage records the offerings of the third and fourth days: the leader of one tribe on his day, then the leader of another on the next. Each brought his gift on his own appointed day, one after another, tribe by tribe, over twelve days, each leader honored in his turn.

A small thing about the arrangement is worth noticing: each leader had his own day. The twelve did not all crowd forward at once, jostling to present their offerings together; they came in order, one per day, each waiting for his appointed turn. There was a dignity and a patience in that, each leader honored on his own day, and each waiting while the others had theirs. We might not think much of it, but it quietly models something we often find hard: the patience to wait for our turn, and the acceptance that each has his own appointed time. We live in a hurry to be first, reluctant to wait, uneasy when others go before us, wanting our moment now rather than in its appointed order. The tribal leaders came each in his turn, over twelve days, none pushing to the front, each content with his own day. And notice that the leader of the twelfth day was honored no less than the leader of the first; his offering, brought last, is recorded as fully as the first, his day as much his own. There is peace in accepting that we each have our appointed time, that we need not push to be first, that our day will come in its order and will be no less ours for coming later. The one who waits for his turn is not diminished by waiting; each leader's day was fully his, whether it came first or last. To accept our appointed time, to wait our turn without jostling to the front, trusting that our day will come and will be honored, is a quiet grace the twelve days of offerings model.

Am I in a hurry to be first, reluctant to wait my turn, uneasy when others go before me, or can I accept, as the tribal leaders did, that I have my own appointed day, no less mine for coming in its order, and wait my turn without jostling to the front?

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