"Now these are the records of the generation of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. These then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom He ordained to serve as priests..."
This passage must be viewed and understood in context with other revelations God made to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai (as recorded in the books of Exodus and Leviticus), beginning, Exodus 19:1-6 says "...in the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the very day when they came into the wilderness of Sinai" (after having spent 430 years in bondage)! And He said that if the sons of Israel would "indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then they shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"!
Then (in Exodus 20-24) He gave Moses the ten commandments and all the ordinances for them to live by! And, in 25:8-9, told him to "let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them...according to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture!" And He gave them detailed instructions for building the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat, and the table of showbread, and the golden lampstand; and for making garments for the priests; and for offering sacrifices on the altar! "There (He said) I will meet with you!"
Then, in Exodus 28:1, He told Moses, "to bring near to yourself Aaron your brother and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest to Me"!
But, as Numbers 3:4 says, "...Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fires before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron." (And we learn, as Gordon Wenham notes, "the mortal danger men face in dealing with a holy God"!)
And so, with only Eleazar and Ithamar left, God selected the entire tribe of Levi (instead of the firstborn sons of Israel!) to attend to all the religious needs of Israel! Numbers 3:6-7 says God told Moses "to bring them near Aaron the priest... that they may perform the duties for him and the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle"! (MacArthur notes that even though the Lord, at the exodus, spared and claimed for Himself the firstborn of Israel's males to act as the family priest, He transferred the priestly duties to the Levites, perhaps partly because of their holy zeal in the golden calf incident," recorded in Exodus 32!)
Wenham notes that the Hebrew phrases (in verses 7-10)...specify that "the two main functions of the Levites were to keep guard and do the heavy work of dismantling, transporting and erecting the tabernacle" (as they wander through the wilderness and march to the promised land)!
In Numbers 3:14-15 the Lord calls for Moses to "number the sons of Levi by their fathers' households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward...! " And so, in the following verses (vs. 21-37) we learn abou the names of the families of each of the sons of Levi (Gerhom, Kohath, and Merari), where they were to camp in relation to the tabernacle, their number, and the designated leader of their father's households!
And rather than trying to explain it, I considered it best to give the exact words as written and inspired (in verses 21-38):
What about Moses and Aaron?
Verses 38 says, "Now those who were to camp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise (Isn't that interesting?), are Moses and the sons of Aaron (no mention of the sons of Moses), performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel; but the layman coming near was to put to death."
And verse 39 sums it up! "All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000!"
So now the tent of meeting of the Lord (with His presence among them) is surrounded by the Levites as they camp and set out to march through the wilderness to the promised land!
Wenham writes: "On the march the Gershonites and Merarites go before the Kohathites, but that is for a practical reason; they were to erect the tent before the Kohathites arrive carrying the ark and the other vessels which are housed inside the tabernacle!"
But now, in verses 40-43, we have yet another census--"of every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward," and came up with 22,273--or 273 more than the firstborn sons of Levi! And so the Lord required a ransom of the 273 to be paid to Aaron and his sons! So that they could be redeemed!
Constable writes that "God took as substitutes 22,000 of the Levites in place of the firstborn Israelites and specified the redemption price of the remaining 273 firstborn Israelites not replaced by the Levites. And so the Israelites had to pay five shekels to the priests for each of these males, thus freeing the firstborn of Israel from God's claim on them for sanctuary service!"
And verse 51 says the ransom was paid! Just as Christ paid the ransom for our sin by His shed blood on the cross!
Ephesians 1:7 says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight!"
Revelation 4:9 says, "And they (the 24 elders in heaven, representing the redeemed church) sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open the seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation"!
And so we saw from this lesson a God who's holy and paid the ransom for our redemption, and wants to dwell among us, and is into numbers, and wants our worship and service!
And we want to sing about it!
"Rise Up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things...!"
"What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus...!"
"Redeemed I'm so happy in Jesus, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb...!"
"I'm so glad I'm apart of the family of God; I've been washed in the fountains, cleansed by His blood, joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, for I'm part of the family, the family of God..."
And so, go with God this week, men, and be a blessing!
Til we meet again!
Lowell
This passage must be viewed and understood in context with other revelations God made to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai (as recorded in the books of Exodus and Leviticus), beginning, Exodus 19:1-6 says "...in the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the very day when they came into the wilderness of Sinai" (after having spent 430 years in bondage)! And He said that if the sons of Israel would "indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then they shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"!
Then (in Exodus 20-24) He gave Moses the ten commandments and all the ordinances for them to live by! And, in 25:8-9, told him to "let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them...according to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture!" And He gave them detailed instructions for building the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat, and the table of showbread, and the golden lampstand; and for making garments for the priests; and for offering sacrifices on the altar! "There (He said) I will meet with you!"
Then, in Exodus 28:1, He told Moses, "to bring near to yourself Aaron your brother and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest to Me"!
But, as Numbers 3:4 says, "...Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fires before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron." (And we learn, as Gordon Wenham notes, "the mortal danger men face in dealing with a holy God"!)
And so, with only Eleazar and Ithamar left, God selected the entire tribe of Levi (instead of the firstborn sons of Israel!) to attend to all the religious needs of Israel! Numbers 3:6-7 says God told Moses "to bring them near Aaron the priest... that they may perform the duties for him and the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle"! (MacArthur notes that even though the Lord, at the exodus, spared and claimed for Himself the firstborn of Israel's males to act as the family priest, He transferred the priestly duties to the Levites, perhaps partly because of their holy zeal in the golden calf incident," recorded in Exodus 32!)
Wenham notes that the Hebrew phrases (in verses 7-10)...specify that "the two main functions of the Levites were to keep guard and do the heavy work of dismantling, transporting and erecting the tabernacle" (as they wander through the wilderness and march to the promised land)!
In Numbers 3:14-15 the Lord calls for Moses to "number the sons of Levi by their fathers' households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward...! " And so, in the following verses (vs. 21-37) we learn abou the names of the families of each of the sons of Levi (Gerhom, Kohath, and Merari), where they were to camp in relation to the tabernacle, their number, and the designated leader of their father's households!
And rather than trying to explain it, I considered it best to give the exact words as written and inspired (in verses 21-38):
- Of Gershom was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites...Their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7,500. The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward, and the leader of the fathers' household of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Laele. Now the duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service concerning them"!
- Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites...In the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary. The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the southward side of the tabernacle, and the leader of the fathers' households of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. Now their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service concerning them; and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the chiel of the leaders of Levi, and had the oversight of those who perform the duties of the sanctuary."
- "Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites... Their numbered men in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward were 6,200. The leader of the fathers' households of the families of Merari was Zuriel...They were to camp on the northside of the tabernacle. Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, and all the equipment, and the service concerning them, and the pillars around the court with their sockets and the peg and their cords."
What about Moses and Aaron?
Verses 38 says, "Now those who were to camp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise (Isn't that interesting?), are Moses and the sons of Aaron (no mention of the sons of Moses), performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel; but the layman coming near was to put to death."
And verse 39 sums it up! "All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000!"
So now the tent of meeting of the Lord (with His presence among them) is surrounded by the Levites as they camp and set out to march through the wilderness to the promised land!
Wenham writes: "On the march the Gershonites and Merarites go before the Kohathites, but that is for a practical reason; they were to erect the tent before the Kohathites arrive carrying the ark and the other vessels which are housed inside the tabernacle!"
But now, in verses 40-43, we have yet another census--"of every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward," and came up with 22,273--or 273 more than the firstborn sons of Levi! And so the Lord required a ransom of the 273 to be paid to Aaron and his sons! So that they could be redeemed!
Constable writes that "God took as substitutes 22,000 of the Levites in place of the firstborn Israelites and specified the redemption price of the remaining 273 firstborn Israelites not replaced by the Levites. And so the Israelites had to pay five shekels to the priests for each of these males, thus freeing the firstborn of Israel from God's claim on them for sanctuary service!"
And verse 51 says the ransom was paid! Just as Christ paid the ransom for our sin by His shed blood on the cross!
Ephesians 1:7 says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight!"
Revelation 4:9 says, "And they (the 24 elders in heaven, representing the redeemed church) sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open the seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation"!
And so we saw from this lesson a God who's holy and paid the ransom for our redemption, and wants to dwell among us, and is into numbers, and wants our worship and service!
And we want to sing about it!
"Rise Up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things...!"
"What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus...!"
"Redeemed I'm so happy in Jesus, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb...!"
"I'm so glad I'm apart of the family of God; I've been washed in the fountains, cleansed by His blood, joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, for I'm part of the family, the family of God..."
And so, go with God this week, men, and be a blessing!
Til we meet again!
Lowell
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