OUR PROPER TRIBUTE

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In Christ, Mark

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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.

Look up the definition of the word “tribute” in the dictionary and you will find this:

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

In yesterday’s message from the first twenty-four verses of Numbers, chapter 24, we saw where the Israelite army had returned from their conquest of the Midianites and having not carried out God’s command appropriately, received judgment from the Lord. As we turn to the final verses of this chapter, we see where the matter of the spoils from battle is addressed with God passing on the following guidance through 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."

The scriptures tell us that “Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded” and we should note that the spoils were divided in an interesting way. For the total plunder was divided between “those who fought in the battle” and the Israelite community with each receiving 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 people.

After this, there was a second dividing of the spoils with one portion going to the Lord and the other to the Levites.

In regard to the Lord’s share, we read that “one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats” were to be “set apart as tribute for the Lord” from “the soldiers who fought in the battle”. This tribute was to be given to “Eleazar, the priest” and when the apportionment ended, the scriptures detailed it as follows:

- 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 to Eleazar as a tribute to the Lord by Moses, just as God had ordered.

Meanwhile, the Israelite community as a whole was supposed to provide a share of their spoils with their portions going to the Levites, those Israelites who the Lord had set apart to care for His holy Tabernacle and the worship within. We see that their share equaled what was given to God.

You know, the overall theme of this passage, paying tribute, got me thinking about believers today and how well we either do or don’t pay proper tribute to the Lord in our own lives. This leads to some self reflecting questions such as:

How well do we honor Him each and every day with what He has blessed us with?

If we do, are we giving Him our best, our first fruits just as He give us His?

Are we intentional every day with wanting to glorify our Lord by giving back a portion of our time, talent, and/or treasure?

In considering these, I want to offer a few things that come to mind.

First, as we consider what we should pay back to the Lord in tribute we could easily over-think the whole process. Let’s not make it hard and know that we only will honor the Lord properly when we choose to give Him our all, whether body, mind, soul, or anything we possess.

To inform this response, we need to carefully consider and inventory all that God has provided. When we do this properly, we should gain a proper appreciation for just how good He has been to us and this should manifest feelings of praise and thanksgiving in our hearts.

The bottom line is that everything we have been given – whether past, present, or future – comes from our Lord’s divine provision and providence as He lavishes us with His rich and abundant blessings.

Further, God didn’t stop at just providing for us materially but went well beyond that. For after seeing how all sinners were in such a helpless, destructive state, destined for an eternity in Hell if left in their sinfulness, He chose to provide atonement through the sacrifice of His one and only Son, Jesus, so that through His death, all who believe in Him would live. Indeed, there was a steep price that needed paid for the willful, transgressive disobedience of sinners and their obstinate insistence in doing what they wanted to do vice what God willed for them. This included a belief that all things earned were through the work of our hands, not the Lord’s.

Brothers and sisters, it’s time for us to step back and reset, seeing that God has given us His all, all that we need in order to fulfill the purposes He has us in this life to accomplish. In response to this, our only appropriate tribute is to show gratitude for His blessings and then use them in ways that bring honor and glory to His holy name.

God gave us His greatest gift by surrendering His only Son. With an attitude of gratitude, the least we can do is give Him everything we have in return as our proper tribute.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.