OK, you don’t hate them – you just avoid them. All those names and numbers and details about sacrifices and building materials…what are you supposed to get out of that?
You read ninety verses in Numbers chapter 7 describing the same dedication offering by each of the twelve tribe leaders. After the first two or three guys, you realize it’s repeating. The silver plate, the silver basin, the flour and oil, the golden dish, the incense, the bull, the ram. the male goat, the oxen and rams, and more lambs and goats. Oh, and don’t forget the exact weights and amounts and ages – that’s described, too. You’re tempted to go, “Yeah -- whatever.” Why not just tell it once and say they all brought the same thing?
I think at least one reason is this: Your God is very precise. In all those lists of people with funny names, in the numbing intricacies of sin offerings, and in the fastidious instructions for building the tabernacle, God is not wishy-washy or vague. Some things are important and require precision. Unlike me, God does not have a “whatever” attitude. So, sure, read quick and skim, but don’t miss this:
People, sin, and connecting with God, matter.
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