Where did the bulls/sheep/goats come from?

[Crumpy]

…In Exodus and Leviticus?

You now? The Israelites seemed to be grumbling about one thing or another in the desert. At various points God provided manna, quail, and water from a rock.

So, in those books, where did the Israelites pick up all the cattle, sheep, and goats to use for the holy sacrifices? Doesn’t seem that they should have been so hungry if they had all those animals around them. Yes, they seemed to have had them when they needed them. But, where did they come from? Did they leave Egypt with all these flocks?

 

[utunumsint]

…In Exodus and Leviticus?

You now? The Israelites seemed to be grumbling about one thing or another in the desert. At various points God provided manna, quail, and water from a rock.

So, in those books, where did the Israelites pick up all the cattle, sheep, and goats to use for the holy sacrifices? Doesn’t seem that they should have been so hungry if they had all those animals around them. Yes, they seemed to have had them when they needed them. But, where did they come from? Did they leave Egypt with all these flocks?

When Pharaoh finally sends the Isrealites away, he says in Ex 12:31-32

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Leave my people at once, you and the Israelites with you! Go and worship the LORD as you said. Take your flocks, too, and your herds, as you demanded, and be gone; and you will be doing me a favor.”

This was one fo the sticking points between Pharaoh and Moses. Moses insisted that they needed their flocks in order to have something to sacrifice, so I’m assuming the flocks were dedicated for this purpose, and there were probably not enough to feed the entire group. The grain supply would have gone fairly quickly as well.

God bless,’
Ut

 

[LilyM]

Remember they were in the desert for forty years. There were a lot of them. I don’t imagine animals would do especially well in a desert for that length of time, so they would’ve run out fairly quickly.

Remember God had to send quails for them so they could have meat to go with the manna, so these were probably what was sacrificed to Him too.

 

[bogeydogg]

Actually, they were in the wilderness and not necessarily a desert. There are many places where animals can survive but that you and I would find most inhospitable. The area north of sinai and east of the jordan is certainly arid, but remember that the people did have water so that took care of itself. Also recall that while the flocks would have been enormous, the Bible unequivocally states that God so provided for the people that not even a sandal wore out out, not even a sandal strap. Their clothes did not wear out and they were fed every day for forty years in spite of their faithlessness in the presence of these miracles. So it is not a stretch to say that we may not clearly understand how it is that so many animals and people could have survived for so very long however we can be certain that the animals were provided for as well as the people by God.

BTW, the same is true for us today.