Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“The Lord said to Moses, "You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats. Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord's part. From the Israelites' half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord's tabernacle." So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.
The half share of those who fought in the battle was:
337,500 sheep, of which the tribute for the Lord was 675;
36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;
30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;
16,000 people, of which the tribute for the Lord was 32.
Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord's part, as the Lord commanded Moses.
The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men - the community's half—was 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys and 16,000 people. From the Israelites' half, Moses selected one out of every fifty persons and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord's tabernacle.
Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds — went to Moses and said to him, "Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing. So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord." Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels. Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.” Numbers 31:25-54
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Tribute
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English tribut, from Latin tributum, from neuter of tributus, past participle of tribuere to allot, bestow, grant, pay, from tribus tribe
Date: 14th century
1 a: a payment by one ruler or nation to another in acknowledgment of
submission or as the price of protection; also : the tax levied for such a payment
b (1): an excessive tax, rental, or tariff imposed by a government, sovereign, lord, or landlord (2): an exorbitant charge levied by a person or group having the power of coercion c: the liability to pay tribute
2 a: something given or contributed voluntarily as due or deserved; especially : a gift or service showing respect, gratitude, or affection
b: something (as material evidence or a formal attestation) that indicates the
worth, virtue, or effectiveness of the one in question
The army had returned from their conquest of the Midianites. Judgment had been carried out in accordance with the Lord’s expectations as passed through Moses. Now there was the matter of the spoils taken from Midian.
Addressing this matter, the Lord gives Moses the following guidance:
“You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats. Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord's part. From the Israelites' half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord's tabernacle."
Scripture tells us that “Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded”.
Note that the spoils were divided in an interesting way. The total plunder was divided between “those who fought in the battle” and the Israelite community. Each received:
337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 people
From this division, there was a secondary one with a portion of each of the halves going to the Lord and Levites.
From “the soldiers who fought in the battle”, the Lord commanded that “one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats” to be “set apart as tribute for the Lord”. The tribute was to be given to “Eleazar the priest” and the following totals were given to represent the Lord’s share:
From the 337,500 sheep, the Lord was given 675.
From the 36,000 cattle, the Lord was given 72.
From the 30,500 donkeys, the Lord was given 61.
and from the 16,000 people, the Lord was given 32.
All these were given as a tribute to the Lord by Moses to Eleazar as the Lord had commanded.
Meanwhile, the Israelite community was also supposed to provide a share of their spoils but instead of to the Lord, their portion was to go to the Levites, those Israelites set apart by God to care for His Holy Tabernacle and the worship within. Their share equaled the share set apart for the Lord.
This scripture’s overall theme of paying tribute got me thinking about us and how well we either do or don’t pay tribute to the Lord. How well do we honor Him each and every day that He blesses us with? What forms of tribute are we expected to pay to Him each and every day? In answer to these questions, I offer the following thoughts:
First, as we consider what we should pay to the Lord in tribute we could easily start to brainstorm specific things we can give Him to show Him how much we value and honor Him. But we don’t need to make this hard. The answer is actually very simple. How can we properly pay tribute to the Lord? By giving Him our everything…because that is what He has given us.
Consider everything you have in life. Have you stopped every day to thank God for it? For everything we have been given, everything we are being given in the present and everything we will be given in the future is all from God’s divine provision and providence…from His rich and abundance blessing on us. All we have is from Him alone and no one else but Him.
But God didn’t stop at just providing for us materially. No…He went well beyond that. For seeing how we were in such a helpless, destructive state if left to our own sinfulness, He chose to sacrifice His one and only Son, Jesus, so that through His death, we might live. There was a price that needed paid for our disobedience…our willingness to do what we wanted to do instead of what God willed for us to do…our obstinate insistence to act as if everything we have was a result of our own doing, not the Lord’s.
Truly, God has given us His all. And the only appropriate tribute we can possibly give…the only thing we can give to Him as being due deserved…the only proper gift or service that shows our respect, gratitude or affection…is the gift of ourselves. May we ever strive to do just that…give to the Lord our all…just as He has given us. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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