Rev. David Holwick X Make It Count, #5
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 31, 2011
Numbers 7:10-17
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I. Honoring what you value.
A. Wedding gifts.
1) The summer is a big time for weddings.
a) Marion Noyes got married on Friday.
b) Unfortunately, I had to miss it because of VBS program.
2) Many weddings in Celeste's family this summer.
a) I have started a tradition of making each of them a
Tiffany-style lamp.
b) I am on my fifth one now.
c) I wish her family didn't have so many kids!
3) Some people go all-out on gifts.
Kim Kardashian has a wedding gift registry at Gearys
Beverly Hills.
You can get her the Christofle "1925" Coffee/Tea Set, for
$3,360.
If that is too rich for you, you can get her a Torchon
Silver Serving Fork for $880.
That's one single fork.
Real estate used to be popular.
In 1661, King Charles II gave his bride the city of Tangier.
Prince William and Catherine Middleton wanted to be more
modern and suggested people donate to charity.
But the South African discount airline, Kulula, sent the
couple a traditional gift of a herd of cows.
This is to compensate the bride's family for the loss of
their daughter.
#63446
B. Israel's gifts for God's first house.
1) The gifts were for the dedication of the altar.
2) Second longest chapter in the Bible.
a) Only Psalm 119 is longer.
1> But by most accounts, this one is the most boring.
b) The epitome of repetition.
1> Every offering is identical.
2> Then a total is given.
3) In the Bible, repetition shows importance.
a) It is not enough to say it once.
b) Saying it twelve times gives it oomph!
c) They even included wagons for carrying it all.
C. Honoring God is something to be esteemed.
1) These princes made their offering without being asked.
2) They gave generously, from the heart.
3) What does our giving say about us?
II. The background of their gifts.
A. It happened at Mount Sinai.
1) The Law had just been given to Israel.
a) We often view the Law as negative: rules and punishment.
b) They saw it as a wonderful thing and responded with
grateful hearts.
2) Law and grace should go hand-in-hand.
B. Leaders led the way.
1) Only the first contributor, Nahshon (7:12), is not called
a leader.
Later rabbis said this was because he got the honor to go
first and God didn't want him to get a big head!
[Rayburn]
2) True leaders, lead by example.
3) Presumably, all their people were chipping in as well.
C. They gave expensive stuff.
1) Lots of silver and gold, to be used for priestly utensils.
a) Modern people like to know what it was worth.
b) Like my opening illustrations, we value things more
if they have a bigger price tag.
c) It is impossible to price these objects with today's
values, but you can be sure they dug deep.
1> God was worth it to them.
2) Large mammals don't come cheap either.
a) Our friend in Ohio, Kenny Brenneman, once bought a calf
to raise for a 4-H project.
It was $250, which was a lot of money in those days.
But it won the best-of-county award so his family
felt it was well worthwhile.
b) These animals were donated as sacrifices for the whole
nation.
D. Types of offerings.
1) Burnt, sin and fellowship offerings.
a) These were the regular sacrifices for worship.
b) They covered the people's sin and also provided
opportunities to share a meal in fellowship with God.
2) Only the guilt offering is omitted.
a) This was probably because it was reserved for especially
serious sins by individuals.
III. The universal principle of generous giving.
A. Blessed people give spontaneously.
1) If you are excited about knowing God, generosity should
be a part of your life.
2) Actually, those who know they are blessed do this.
3) People who have been blessed but are oblivious to the work
of God in their lives will be tightwads like everyone
else.
B. Church finances are directly related to faith and commitment.
1) (I did not realize Marilyn was going to make a plug on
our tight finances today - I am just continuing a series)
2) If God's people are grateful for what God has done for them,
and committed to him, the church will always have enough.
3) An example from the Bible is the contributions that were
given to Moses for the construction of the tabernacle.
a) They gave so much he had to stop them from giving more.
b) If I ever had to do this, the newspapers and TV would
pick it up!
C. God enjoys our giving.
1) All the repetition in this chapter shows that God is
interested in the details.
a) He notes what each tribal leader is donating.
b) It is not like a Rutgers University graduation where it
is too large to be personalized.
2) The heart of Christian experience is to have fellowship
with the Father and the Son through the Spirit. 1 Jn 1:3
a) It is a two-way street where we enjoy God and he enjoys
us.
b) The modern church has lost much of this emphasis.
IV. What do we give today?
A. Silver and gold are fine, but keep your animals.
1) Seriously, in modern life we have a money-based economy.
a) It makes sense to give money offerings to God.
b) But giving your time and talent is an offering as well.
1> The beautiful renovation of our dining room while
we were on vacation is a wonderful example of this.
2) We also accept your cast-offs for church rummage sales.
3) The book of Hebrews also says the praise of our lips is a
sacrifice that God loves to receive. Heb 13:15
B. Our offerings can be independent of circumstances.
1) We don't have to read a newspaper to know if God has blessed
us.
2) But of course we are all affected by the current economy.
a) Many are still unemployed in our church, or
under-employed.
1> You can't give what you don't have.
2> God accepts that.
b) Congressional debt debacle weighs on us. Solved today?
3) Don't let finances or circumstances steal your joy with God.
C. Don't let your offerings become manipulative.
1) The Hebrew word for gifts in this chapter is "corban."
2) Jesus uses this word in Matthew 7:11 to talk about dedicating
things to God that you really want to use for yourself.
3) Offerings should never become weapons with ulterior motives.
V. You can't out-give God.
A. Our gifts reveal our priorities, and our faith.
1) What do they reveal about you?
2) Do we believe God can still provide for you?
B. The best gifts don't have a price tag.
1) God offers us eternal salvation.
2) Even better, that salvation starts right now. 7:89
a) Notice that when the offerings of Numbers 7 were
concluded, Moses had an intimate encounter with God.
b) It was in the context of the ark and the cherubim -
symbols of atonement.
C. Draw near to God.
1) If you feel God is distant from you, perhaps it is due to
your lack of commitment and response.
2) Challenge of Malachi 3:10 - bring the full tithe, and
God will prove his goodness to you.
3) But also remember - the gifts in Numbers 7 were in response
to God's goodness to them, not a ploy to get more.
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#63446 “You Can Blow A Lot On A Wedding,” by David Holwick (contains
the original sources).
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Much of the sermon outline follows James Philip, Mastering the Old
Testament
Copyright © 2026 by Rev. David Holwick
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