71 When Moses finished setting up The Dwelling, he anointed it and consecrated it along with all that went with it. At the same time he anointed and consecrated the Altar and its accessories. 2 The leaders of Israel, the heads of the ancestral tribes who had carried out the census, brought offerings. 3 They presented before God six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon from each pair of leaders and an ox from each leader. 4 God spoke to Moses: 5 ''Receive these so that they can be used to transport the Tent of Meeting. Give them to the Levites according to what they need for their work." 6 Moses took the wagons and oxen and gave them to the Levites. 7 He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites for their work 8 and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites for their work. They were all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 9 Moses didn't give any to the Kohathites because they had to carry the holy things for which they were responsible on their shoulders.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 7:1-9
Commentary on Numbers 7:1-9
(Read Numbers 7:1-9)
The offering of the princes to the service of the tabernacle was not made till it was fully set up. Necessary observances must always take place of free-will offerings. The more any are advanced, the greater opportunity they have of serving God and their generation. No sooner was the tabernacle set up, than provision is made for the removal of it. Even when but just settled in the world, we must be preparing for changes and removes, especially for the great change.