Some things are all about perspective. If you’ve ever attended a high school or university graduation ceremony, you understand that there’s a big difference between whether you’re sitting in the chair waiting to receive your diploma after years or hard work, or you’re in the bleachers just waiting for the event to “keep moving.” The ceremony can either add to the gravity and the momentousness of the occasion, or it can be an aggravating obstacle to other things in the day. It’s all about perspective.

The same is true for passages in the Bible. Take, for instance, the entire book of Leviticus. For someone just trying to get through their read-the-Bible-in-a-year resolution they made a few months back at the start of the new year, wading through the details of animal sacrifices, food laws, and medical inspections of skin diseases can be enough to derail the entire enterprise. But if you have the perspective to place yourself into the shoes of the newly-delivered Israelites—who only a month before had been the victims of brutal treatment at the hands of a narcissistic dictator, had just crossed over a large body of water without getting your feet wet, has camped at the foot of a mountain enclosed in thick clouds and punctuated with deafening claps of thunder, and had just contributed to the erection of a tabernacle where that God who had just rescued you and has been revealing how this new relationship with your people was going to work is now planning to dwell right in the midst of your camp—if you were that person, I think you’d want to know what had to be done to make sure this God could live among you and you could have an ongoing relationship with Him. Leviticus told them how.

Another passage of the Bible that relies on proper perspective to understand is the seventh chapter of the book of Numbers. This is, in fact, the longest chapter in the book and one of the longest chapters in the whole Bible. It narrates ceremony of gifts that were offered by the tribes of Israel at the dedication of the bronze altar that stood in the courtyard of the newly completed tabernacle (Num. 7:1; cf. Exod. 40:17). After describing the contribution of the tribes to aid the Levites in their arduous work of transporting the tabernacle complex through the wilderness (Num 7:2–9), it lists in splendidly-long detail the offering of each tribe. The contributions occurred over the course of twelve days, as a representative leader from each tribe presented his tribe’s gift to Aaron and Moses, each on successive days.

Each gift was, in fact, identical, consisting of a silver plate weighings about 3 pounds, a silver dish weighing about 2 pounds, and a gold pan weighing around 4 ounces. Each dish was accompanied by materials for a grain offering and incense. Additionally, they each supplied twenty-one animals to be offered on the altar:

• A male goat for a sin offering to atone for uncleanness
• A bull, a ram, and a male yearling lamb for a burnt offering to find acceptance before Yahweh
• Two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five yearling rams for a peace offering to symbolize the fellowship each tribe enjoyed with God

Now, we probably wouldn’t mind it if Moses, the narrator of the book, were to tell us what had happened in mere summary fashion. And he does just that! In Numbers 7:84–88 he gives a summary of all the tribal gifts, with totals of each category of item—but not before he lists out in full detail the offering (identical!) of all twelve tribes. With six verses devoted to each tribe, that’s a total of seventy-two verses! With the exception of the names of each tribe and their respective leader, you’re essentially reading the same six verses twelve times in a row. What gives? Why would Moses want to do that?

Here’s the deal—it’s all about perspective. As a twenty-first century reader who’s just trying to complete a New Year’s resolution, your perspective is: this is tedious! But as an Israelite represented by one of these leaders, this is a momentous occasion. This is a twelve-day celebration to remember! I like how Ronald Allen captures the mood of the text from the perspective an Israelite reader:

How are we to regard his seeming excess of repetitive detail throughout the long chapter? Is it not possible that in this daily listing we catch a glimpse of the magnificent pomp and ceremony attending these gifts? Do we not see the genuine spirit of worship of each of the successive tribes as their turn came to bring gifts to the Lord? And finally, do we not see the joy of the Lord in his reception of these gifts? This chapter has a stately charm, a leisurely pace, and a studied sense of magnificence as each tribe in its turn was able to make gifts to God that he received with pleasure. —Ronald B. Allen, “Numbers,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Numbers–Ruth (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 155.

Like I said, it’s all about perspective. After all, how would you like it if you spent four or five years working hard to earn a degree only to stand among a sea of other hard-working individuals for a ten-minute ceremony where you received your hard-earned diploma en mass? Wouldn’t you want that time and energy to culminate in hearing your name announced, striding across the stage with gratitude and fulfillment as you shake hands with the university president, receive your diploma, and enjoy the recognition of all your efforts? This is why we have ceremonies; because ceremony captures the gravity and pomp of the occasion. In a world of fast everything—fast cars, fast computers, fast internet, fast food—some things aren’t supposed to go fast. Some things need to be self and savored.

One memory that still lingers vividly from my childhood memory is visiting Arlington National Cemetery and observing the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This is a solemn event. It’s eerily quiet. There’s a respectful hush that presides over this particular section of the cemetery, and in particular during this event. Here’s a description of the ceremony taken from the Arlington National Cemetery website:

The military guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is changed in an elaborate ceremony which happens every hour on the hour from October 1 through March 31, and every half hour from April 1 through September 30.

Twenty-four hours a day, soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard,” stand watch over the Tomb. The Tomb Guards, also called Sentinels, are chosen for this prestigious and highly selective post only after rigorous training and a demanding series of examinations (see below). The Old Guard has held this distinguished duty since 1948.  

An impeccably uniformed relief commander appears on the plaza to announce the changing of the guard. Soon, the new Sentinel leaves the Tomb Guard quarters and unlocks the bolt of his or her M-14 rifle, signaling to the relief commander to begin the ceremony. The relief commander walks out to the Tomb and salutes, then faces the spectators and asks them to stand and remain silent during the ceremony.

The relief commander conducts a detailed white-glove inspection of the weapon, checking each part of the rifle once. Then, the relief commander and the relieving Sentinel meet the retiring Sentinel at the center of the black mat in front of the Tomb. All three salute the Unknown Soldiers who have symbolically been given the Medal of Honor. The relief commander orders the relieved Sentinel, “Pass on your orders.” The current Sentinel commands, “Post and orders, remain as directed.” The newly posted Sentinel replies, “Orders acknowledged,” and steps into position on the mat. When the relief commander passes, the new Sentinel begins walking at a cadence of 90 steps per minute.

The Tomb Guard marches exactly 21 steps down the black mat behind the Tomb, turns, faces east for 21 seconds, turns and faces north for 21 seconds, then takes 21 steps down the mat and repeats the process.  (The number 21 symbolizes the highest military honor that can be bestowed, the 21-gun salute.) Next, the Sentinel executes a sharp “shoulder-arms” movement to place the weapon on the shoulder closest to the visitors, signifying that he or she stands between the Tomb and any possible threat.

Why go through all that ceremony? What use does it serve? Because the sober stateliness communicates something about the gravity of the event. It symbolizes the seriousness of the occasion.

What I hope you see in all of this is that there are reasons for why the Bible spends time detailing things that we might brush off as, the put it in Ronald Allen’s words, “excess of repetitive detail.” Our attitudes towards these passages exposes our own contemporary values as they contrast with the values of those who lived during the time of the Bible and composed the books that make up our Bible. If we are to be good students of Scripture, one of our first responsibilities is to stop trying to bring the Bible into relevance with our own world and experience and instead try, as best we can at least, to place ourselves into the world of the ones of wrote these words. Let their world affect our own, rather than expecting our world to influence theirs. And if we can do that, we might be able to appreciate the Bible in a way that refreshes our souls. We might be able to see the depth of it’s value for us who, although removed from their time and their world by millennia, still face the same challenges. If Paul’s assertion is true—and I believe wholeheartedly that it is—that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable (2 Tim. 3:16), then we should be challenged to see these passages which exhibit an “excess of repetitive detail” has profitable to do what Scripture does: teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness.

In the end, as evangelicals who believe in inspiration, we have to practice that conviction. If we say Numbers 7 is inspired, but it really isn’t profitable for us today, what we’ve really said is, it’s not inspired. Inspiration guarantees profitability. If it’s not profitable, it’s not inspired. On the flip side of that argument, if it is inspired, then it means it’s profitable. And it’s our job to dig into God’s living and sanctifying Word to find, by the aid of the residing Holy Spirit, how God desires to use this inspired Word, to change how we think, how we act, how we speak, and how we live, to conform more and more into the image of Jesus Christ.

See, I told you it’s all about perspective…