Num 7:1, Now it came about on the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed it and consecrated it with all its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils; he anointed them and consecrated them also. 
	We have before us a chapter that, when read with some understanding, reveals more of the glory and the majesty of God and His dealings with His people. It is one that needs to be dealt with in the appreciative attitude of what it meant for the Children of Israel to have Yahweh as both their Lord and their God. Everything is presented with that consummate appreciation of what it meant to bring offerings unto God and for God to receive those offerings with His grace and mercy in full display.
	Primarily, as we regard this chapter remember that it is immediately following the Aaronic Blessing of Chapter 6. There, the Lord taught His Priests how to pronounce His blessing on the people. As a result of that blessing, the people were now bringing forth the offerings that would serve to honor God in abundance and in quality. These were the finest that the twelve tribes had to offer unto God in order to signify that they wanted Him to have the very best of all that they had to give. All was arranged with the manner in which the people would bless the Lord and would receive His blessing upon them.
	Initially, we have the giving of the carts and the oxen for the carrying of the completed Tent of Meeting and all the supplies and articles that were part of it as the Children of Israel would be marching forward through the wilderness regions. Everything had been constructed and built and the priests were ready to perform their service as we read in Ex 40:17-19. 
Ex 40:17-19, Now it came about in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was erected. And Moses erected the tabernacle and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars and erected its pillars. And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 
As we consider the details of how the carts were apportioned among those serving the various aspects of the carrying of the Tent of Meeting, it struck me as strange that the sons of Kohath did not receive any carts or oxen until I realized that they were the one who were to carry the Ark of the Covenant along with all the other holy objects. They were to do so by hand, with the poles and other elements that would offer the items carried the same honor and reverence that should always be offered up unto God. These were not things that could be carried utilitarianly, as could the other items. They had to be dealt with in a very precise manner, not just during the times of their service, but always, just as was true of the Lord. He is always to be honored and to be revered. 
	King David would later discover this as he tried to move the Ark of the Covenant with carts and oxen, and Uzzah paid the price with his life when he tried to keep the Ark from falling. These holy elements were just that, holy and consecrated to the Lord. This is the key to the fact of why the leaders of each tribe were bringing these offerings to the Lord God Jehovah. 
	Returning to the immediate history before us, as a reminder, the Lord gave very detailed instructions as to how to dedicate and consecrate all the holy elements in Ex 30:23-30, if you would turn back to that passage. Ex 30:23-30, "Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty, and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. And you shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. And with it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me. 
    	In Lev 8:10+11 is detailed exactly what Moses had to do as he so anointed the articles that were holy from that point forward. Lev 8:10+11, Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 
This was the same action as described in the verse of this morning, Num 7:1. Now it came about on the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed it and consecrated it with all its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils; he anointed them and consecrated them also. 
Moses anointed the elements of the Tent of Meeting, thus setting them apart as holy unto the Lord. They would no longer be just furnishings and utensils and various other objects of man’s handiwork. They were now singly for the use of the service unto the Lord God Almighty, and to be utterly and absolutely considered in that special way as unique and sanctified for that precise purpose. 
We see this sanctification as holy unto the Lord throughout the scripture starting in Gen 2:3, at the very time of creation as God sanctified the seventh day as blessed and holy as a day of rest for God and for man. Gen 2:3, Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 
Then, in Ex 13:2, the Lord gave the instruction that every first born was to be considered as set apart as God’s own. Ex 13:2, "Sanctify to Me every first-born, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me." The idea that there were those who belonged completely to the Lord flowed forth to even the priests as they would be the ones who would redeem the firstborn of Israel as we considered not too long ago.
Returning then to our current reflection, the manner and the process of the sacrifices that were to purify and to make atonement for the altar itself were laid out for Moses in Ex 29:36+37. Ex 29:36+37, And each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it to consecrate it. For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy. 
    	The altar needed to be consecrated as well as every utensil to be used in the holy work of the priests. Some of those items were part of the offerings brought by the leaders of the tribes in our morning’s reading. They brought the bowls, the dishes, and the pans that would be used for the various grain offerings, the incense offerings, and the collection and pouring out of the blood at the altar. All of these were given by the people and consecrated unto the Lord in accordance with the gifting from the heart of His people to so honor Jehovah. 
	The altar held a most special place of holiness as the means by which the nation would figuratively come to the entrance of the holy of holies with the intent to seek the fullness of God’s presence. They could not enter therein, only the High priest could do so. But the altar represented the means by which that entrance could be in place. The altar, itself, was the gateway, so to speak unto the presence of God. It was upon the altar that the offerings were placed and the sacrifices were laid in order that all the people’s requests and petitions for forgiveness and their evidence of repentance was set before the very presence of God. 
	In 1 Kings 8:64, on the day that the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon, the altar was not sufficient to handle the tremendous outpouring of the nation of God. King Solomon had to consecrate the entire middle of the Temple courtyard unto the Lord for the purpose of bringing unto God all the offerings from the heart of the people. 
1 Kings 8:64, On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, because there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings; for the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings. The entire courtyard was set apart for the service of bringing the offerings of thanksgiving and peace unto the Lord from the entire nation. Such was the honor felt in the heart of the people to come before God with rejoicing and with gratitude and with awe and with reverence. 
	Coming before the altar of the Lord was held as an esteemed thing in the hearts of the priests and the people because it was there that the door to entrance unto the presence of the Lord was set. All the offerings, no matter what the occasion were placed on the altar for God’s consideration. Yet it soon happened that man forgot the purpose and began to honor the means, thinking in terms of the quantity of the offering as a measurement of the holiness of the person instead of the honoring the Lord. The focal point became centered in who brought the greatest and the best offerings rather than unto Whom those offerings were be presented. 
	Our Lord Jesus dealt with the entire emphasis of this hypocrisy in Matt 23:19-22, when He so severely rebuked those Pharisees who were blinded by their traditions and their self-centered holier-than-thou attitudes. Matt 23:19-22, "You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? "Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. "And he who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. "And he who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. 
As so declared by Our Lord, the offerings were sanctified by their placement on the altar, which was consecrated as holy unto the Lord. It was set apart for service unto Yahweh, Alone, and that was often forgotten in the minds and the hearts of those who tried to bring honor unto themselves rather than to the Lord.
	Returning to our current reading then, please know that this is a chapter that brings the pomp and circumstance of honoring the Lord into the foreground. This is something that we have lost in the truth that God was the One Who set before the Children of Israel the manner in which these offerings were to be presented. He is the One Who deigned that they would make a daily celebration over the course of the twelve days that would showcase each tribes offering.
	The reason that it is important to know that God ordained this is because in our current day, there is a backlash that has swept through the Christian church to anything that is organized and formal and set in ceremonial detail. Yet it is so very apparent that these are the exact elements that God, Himself, ordained. Each aspect from the manner of the preparation of the priests, through the specific way in which the sacrifices were handled, as well as the details in which the celebrations were to be conducted was strictly scripted by God. It was a direct means of showcasing the care and the deliberation and the reverence and the precision that He demands from His people.
	While we do not want to get all caught up in the rituals and the customs, we do need to take to heart the fact that our coming to worship God demands preparation and detail and reverence and precision and timeliness that is often found in order and in pomp and circumstance. We dare not neglect the fact that our sloppy and slovenly demeanor and attire and attitudes and lack of preparation and tardiness most often betray a careless disregard for the holiness and the awesomeness and the majesty and the sovereignty of God. The respect for Who God is would have been so very much on display in the manner of the twelve days of offerings that were poured out unto God by each of the tribal leaders.
	Several other elements regarding this daily, tribal offering, is that the order of the giving was the same as the order of the way the tribes would march forth under the direction of the Lord. It also corresponded to the placement of each tribe when encamped around the Tent of Meeting. It was not based on the birthright, but on the stipulated organization of the standing given by God. The tribe of Judah was given the preeminence in this regard as being the first to march forth and the one that was encamped to the east, which was the direction of greatest honor since it faced the rising sun.
	The other thing that is set in this twelve days of offering is that each tribe was given the opportunity to celebrate the goodness of the Lord in their offering and to consequently receive the smile from the face of God, the Aaronic Blessing for that set day, before all the people. That is probably the reason that the writer of Numbers so set each offering of each tribe in place. Rather than just making a lump statement that each tribe brought their offerings and this was the total given, the leader of each tribe is named and the specific offerings are detailed. To us, when we read this, we think of the repetitiveness and we may get frustrated reading the same thing over and over again. 
	However, this is the way that each tribe would be given the recognition before man and before God for their honor so offered unto Jehovah. They each had their day in the sunshine of God’s grace and mercy as they so fully and freely gave from the full measure of their hearts unto the Lord. Think of it like a graduation ceremony in which each name is read and each graduate walks across the stage to receive the hand shake and the diploma. It was set in this way as opposed to the general graduation ceremony in which the graduates stand as a class, a general statement is read congratulating them as a whole and then their diplomas are mailed to them in 3 to 6 weeks. 
	The Lord made certain that each tribe received the honor and the opportunity to celebrate His goodness before all the people. It was also the manner in which they received His displayed blessing for these offerings of honor. 
This is why we must never try to make the Word of God fit our ideas of even the structure of its composition. We must read it and accept it as being fully directed and inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is to be held in our hearts and minds as holy and consecrated unto God and for His plan and purposes in His Church. So be it!    
	Now it came about on the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed it and consecrated it with all its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils; he anointed them and consecrated them also. Amen. 

This morning’s benediction is Rom 16:25-27. Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.