And he that offered his offering--for a glad free-will offering it was--on the first day was Nahshon, Nahshon the son of Amminadab, Nahshon the prince of the tribe of Judah; and his offering was one charger--a silver charger, and a weighty one; the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty shekels: one bowl, also of silver, of seventy shekels weight; not the light shekels of commerce, but the weighty shekels of the Sanctuary. Nor were these vessels empty: both of them were full--full of flour, fine flour, and mingled with oil, destined for a meat-offering. One spoon was the next gift, yet more precious, a spoon of solid gold, of no less than ten shekels weight. It, too, was full--full of incense. Next were brought one young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year--all for a burnt-offering. Any one of these might have been offered; Nahshon, however, brought them all, and all to be wholly consumed on the altar, for the enjoyment and satisfaction of GOD alone. But Nahshon was a sinner, and the tribe he represented were sinful men; a sin-offering therefore was not neglected; and in the order of enumeration this is next mentioned, though, as we have said before, it was offered first--one kid of the goats for a sin-offering. And, lastly, a princely offering for a sacrifice of peace-offerings; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year--sacrifices on which GOD feasted, as it were, together with His people, and in which the sacrificing priest, the offerer and all his friends had their full share. And this, all this, was the offering of Nahshon, Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Twelve times is all this detail repeated--a most emphatic evidence that GOD never wearies in noting the service of each one of His people. But even this is not all. In the 84th and following verses of this long chapter we read:-- "This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold. Each charger of silver weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary. The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing twelve shekels apiece, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels. "All the oxen for the burnt-offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat-offering; and the kids of the goats for sin-offering twelve. And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace-offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. "This"--_all this_--"was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed." THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ALTAR.