Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony. And he spoke with him." Numbers 7:89
"The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to Aaron and say to him, 'When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.' " Aaron did so; he set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand, just as the Lord commanded Moses. This is how the lampstand was made: It was made of hammered gold—from its base to its blossoms. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the Lord had shown Moses."
"The Lord said to Moses: "Take the Levites from among the other Israelites and make them ceremonially clean. To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves. Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. Bring the Levites to the front of the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole Israelite community. You are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them. Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord. "After the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, use the one for a sin offering to the Lord and the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering to the Lord. In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine. "After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman. Every firstborn male in Israel, whether man or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself. And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel. Of all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary." Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses. The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord and made atonement for them to purify them. After that, the Levites came to do their work at the Tent of Meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses. The Lord said to Moses, "This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites." Numbers 8
Recall from Numbers, Chapter 3 that a count was made of all Levite males a month old or more. A count was made of the Gershonites, Merarites and Kohathites with the total number documented as 22,000. The Lord then ordered the counting of all Israel’s firstborn, a month old or more, and that total came to 22, 273. After both counts were made, the Lord said this to Moses:
"Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am the LORD." Numbers 3:45
In other words, the 22,000 Levites were a substitute for 22,000 of the firstborn of Israel. You’ll recall that the Israelites had to redeem the other 273 firstborn with redemption money (5 shekels each).
Fast forward now to Chapter 8 where the Levites are dedicated to the Lord’s service. Note that our scripture further elaborates on why the Levites were taken in place of the firstborn of Israel:
"They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman. Every firstborn male in Israel, whether man or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself. And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel. Of all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary." Verses 16-19
Note the comparison to the Passover day in Egypt where God passed over the firstborn of Israel while killing all of Egypt’s firstborn as penalty for Pharoah’s refusal to let the Lord’s people go. Just as the Lord set apart Israel’s firstborn then, now He again sets them apart. Before He took Egypt’s firstborn in their place…now He takes the Levites who will "make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary." The Levites were also to be a gift "to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites".
We read in scripture that the Levites had a process to go through before they could officially assume their duties in the tabernacle. There was a conversion process that took place…a process that first involved preparation which resulted in separation for God and His purpose. The preparation phase was pretty involved and it centered on purification. The Levites were to:
1. Be sprinkled with water to cleanse them (note that water was the cleansing agent here and not blood)
2. Be shaved over their whole bodies (all hair had to be removed because follicles trapped dirt and impurities…the Levites were to be completely cleansed)
3. Wash their clothes (not only were the bodies to be cleansed but what was on the body had to be clean as well
Finally, sacrifices had to be made for atonement. We read where two bulls, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering were required along with a grain offering of "fine flour mixed with oil".
Upon their cleansing, the Levites were brought to the "front of the Tent of Meeting" where "the whole Israelite community" was assembled. Moses was to "bring the Levites before the Lord" and the Israelites were to "lay their hands on them". You’ll recall that In Old Testament times, hands were laid on sacrifices to pass the sins of the person onto the object to be sacrificed (most often an animal). So in this process, the sins of the people were passed onto the Levites but only temporarily. For after Aaron presented the Levites "before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord", the Levites laid "their hands on the heads of the bulls"…"one for a sin offering to the Lord and the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites." The sins of Israel were passed onto the Levites who then in turn passed the sins onto the bulls, serving to atone not only for their sins but the sins of the people.
So through this entire process, the Lord’s end goal was to "set the Levites apart from the other Israelites" so they would belong solely to Him and work at the Tent of Meeting, assisting Aaron and His sons. The preparation led to the separation.
Today God still expects conversion in the hearts of His children. And it still centers on the acts of preparation and separation.
For to truly be considered a Christian and believer in the Father who not only created us but sent His only Son to pay the price for us, we must first be changed…divorced from the world and its ways…ways that too often pull us down into the realm of sinful living instead of the righteous, holy life that the Lord expects us to live. Indeed, He wants us to be baptized just as Jesus was, to fully experience the death and resurrection into new life that Christ experienced…a new life for us that makes us a new creation with everything that was in our past gone and a new life in Christ springing up anew in our hearts and minds (2 Corinthians 5:17). Just as the Levites shaved off all their hair, shedding what was so too are we to shed our old ways…shave off our sinful habits and watch new holy ones grow from the inside out as God transforms our spirits with the Holy Spirit. We need to wash everything away that is not of Christ and put on new clean clothes, ones that radiate His light and love to all who look at us. And we need to dedicate ourselves before the Lord as individual wave offerings, surrendering ourselves to His will and way…devoting ourselves to His service.
And when we do reach the point of preparation where we are truly willing deny ourselves, come after Jesus as faithful, obedient disciples, take up His cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24), then and only then will we have made it to the point of separation…where we have said goodbye to the ways of the world and hello forever to the blessed ways of our Savior…the Way and the Truth and the Life…The One and only One through who we can come to the Father now and forever more.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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