Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings.
Numbers 7:2 (NIV)

This summer, I’ve been overseeing a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at our local community theatre. As far as I know, it’s the first production of Shakespeare in our community in over a decade. One of the things that has excited me as I’ve watched dress rehearsals over the last few days is how well the cast is doing. Made of mostly young people, not one of the cast members had ever done Shakespeare on stage before. It’s a shame that so many people are intimidated and dismissive of Shakespeare. They a missing out on some amazing things.

Throughout my life journey, I’ve had to memorize lines for a lot of different parts in different productions. You might be surprised when I tell you that Shakespeare is among the easiest to memorize. There is a cadence to the iambic pentameter in which it is written. There are often rhymes included as well. One the joys of watching the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in rehearsal is that these young people not only memorized the lines, they’ve come to understand them. That’s what happens when you memorize the lines and repeat them over, and over, and over again. It begins to sink in. All sorts of fun realization and understanding is unlocked, revealing hidden mental gems like finding Easter eggs in a video game. It’s obvious to me as I watch that they have fallen in love with the characters and story they are telling. I guarantee it has transformed the way they think about Shakespeare as they experience the power and meaning of his words, his characters, and his story.

Today’s chapter is, for most modern readers, a head-scratcher of aggravating proportions. It is the longest chapter in the ancient Hebrew scriptures known as the Law of Moses (the first five books, also known as The Torah or The Penteteuch). Not only is it long but it is repetitive. Leaders of all twelve Hebrew tribes bring an offering for the dedication of God’s traveling tent temple. They each bring the same offering. The same offering of the same things are recounted twelve times.

It’s chapters like today’s where many a New Year’s resolution to read the entire Bible hit the wall.

So, what’s up with this?

Two observations.

First, at the end of the last chapter, God gives Moses and Aaron a famous blessing with which to bless the Hebrew people:

The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.

It’s known as the Aaronic blessing or benediction, and thousands of years later you’ll hear it used in countless synagogues and churches every week.

So, I have to step back and look at the larger picture of how the text is structured. Not just the text itself. God has delivered the Hebrews from slavery. He has agreed to live among them. He has given them thorough instructions for how to successfully experience life, health, and community with one another and with God. And, God has now given a perpetual blessing of protection, provision, favor, grace, and peace.

This blessing is immediately followed by the Hebrews offering gifts to God. The offerings are a response to God’s gracious and generous gifts and blessing. This chapter of offerings are a giant, national thank you card.

Which leaves me to meditate on the question, “What have I offered God for His gracious and generous gifts and blessings to me?” I suddenly think of my affluent culture in which we are so blessed with stuff we don’t need that we buy storage bins to put it on storage shelves in storage rooms. Even then we often need to rent extra storage spaces. God has been amazingly generous with me. How generous have I been with God?

The second observation has to do with the simplicity of the lesson in the repetition. This text was written in a time when only a select few people could read or write. Once again, it is the toddler stage of the development of human civilization. How is my toddler granddaughter, Sylvie, learning simple lessons? By having the same books read to her with the same text, the same rhymes over and over and over again…

Big A, little a, what begins with “a?”
Apples, ants, and animals. A, a, a.

God and the scribes of Numbers are making a point about who God is (gracious, ordered, detailed) and about the importance of how we are to respond to God (being generous with what we’ve been blessed, gratefully offering God back a portion of what we’ve been given, not just personally but corporately as God’s people). As the ancient Hebrews heard it read over, and over, and over the lesson was hopefully going to sink in. The repetition is both an object lesson and a training technique.

Which, in the quiet this morning, leads me back to Shakespeare, memorization, and understanding. One of the first disciplines I was taught as a disciple of Jesus was to memorize certain verses like a young actor learning his lines for playing the part of Puck. I’ve watched the cast unlock the understanding, meaning, and joy of Shakespeare’s words. But it had to get off the page and inside their minds and hearts to unlock its power. It is no different than what I have experienced with all of the verses and passages of God’s Words that I’ve memorized across my life journey.

The words are no longer on the page. They are in my head. They’ve penetrated my heart and soul. As I repeat the words over and over and over through the days, weeks, months, and years, they have become a part of me. In that process, something happens spiritually inside me. They start to change the way I think, the way I behave, and the way I respond to others. Because they are always there and always a part of me, they empower God’s Spirit work within me in unspeakable ways.

It’s a shame so many people are intimidated by, and dismissive of, the words of God’s Great Story. They are missing out on some amazing things. Even more amazing than Shakespeare.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

For my local peeps, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is being performed July 24-27, 2025 at the Pella Community Center. You can get tickets online here and all the show information here.