Today's Reading: Numbers 8
The replacements-
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Numbers 8:5–6 (ESV)5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. Numbers 8:12–13 (ESV)12 Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.
Personalize it method (Rick Warren's 40 Days in the Word): Lord please speak to me today in your Word and let me find the application that you have for me in this text. I ask this in Jesus name, amen.
From the Matthew Henry Commentary- That we are all utterly unworthy and unfit to be admitted into and employed in the service of God, till atonement be made for sin, and thereby our peace made with God. That interposing cloud must be scattered before there can be any comfortable communion settled between God and our souls. 2. That it is by sacrifice, by Christ the great sacrifice, that we are reconciled to God, and made fit to be offered to him. It is by him that Christians are sanctified to the work of their Christianity, and ministers to the work of their ministry. The learned bishop Patrick’s notion of the sacrifice offered by the Levites is that the Levites were themselves considered as an expiatory sacrifice, for they were given to make atonement for the children of Israel, (v. 19), and yet not being devoted to death, any more than the first-born were, these two sacrifices were substituted in their stead, upon which therefore they were to lay their hands, that the sin which the children of Israel laid upon them (v. 10) might be transferred to these beasts.
From the Bible Knowledge Commentary-
Next the Levites placed their hands on the heads of the sacrificial animals, transferring to them their own sense of both guilt and commitment. The reason for setting the Levites apart was that they were to serve as substitutes for the firstborn of all Israel who rightfully belonged to the Lord because He had redeemed them from death in the 10th plague in Egypt (vv. 15-18; cf. comments on 3:11-13). Since the Levites were the Lord’s it was His prerogative to give them as gifts to Aaron and the priests so they might care for the tabernacle and its precincts and so deliver the secular community from the danger of coming into direct contact with the holy things of God (8:19; cf. 1:53).
Remember Jeff that the Levites stood on my side when Moses came down from the mountain the first time to find all the other tribes partaking in idol worship…
Exodus 32:26 (ESV)26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
Lord, thank you for this beautiful picture of Moses' family surrounding him (Moses and Aaron were Levites) to take a stand for you against what was accepted amongst their nation. This picture of men standing together, bound in your service and against all that would challenge you, even their fellow Israelites. This group of men were given the awful duty of delivering your wrath this day and you consecrated the tribe of Levi to your service on this day by calling them to spill the blood of 3,000 idol worshipers from amongst their countrymen.
Even so Jeff, they needed cleansing to formally enter into this service. See that pastors and teachers are merely men and they too need to covering of my Son's blood. Give them not too much and assume that they are without fault. Know that they are chosen and gifted but not immune from error or transgression.
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From amongst us-
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Numbers 8:9–11 (ESV)9 And you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. 10 When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord.
See that I bring servants from amongst my church to work on behalf of the whole. I do not call everyone to serve as pastors or leaders in the church but all should participate in supporting and encouraging them. See that the whole congregation of Israel laid hands on the Levites. So too should every member of the church be partaking in supporting the ministries I put in place and they should be using their own gifts in support of the staff and full-time ministers.
From the Matthew Henry Commentary-
They presented them to God as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable, to perform a reasonable service; and therefore, as the offerers in all other cases did, they laid their hands upon them, desiring that their service might be accepted in lieu of the attendance of the whole congregation, particularly the first-born, which they acknowledge God might have insisted on. This will not serve to prove a power in the people to ordain ministers; for this imposition of hands by the children of Israel upon the Levites did not make them ministers of the sanctuary, but only signified the people’s parting with that tribe out of their militia, and civil incorporations, in order to their being made ministers by Aaron, who was to offer them before the Lord. All the congregation of the children of Israel could not lay hands on them, but it is probable that the rulers and elders did it as the representative body of the people. Some think that the first-born did it because in their stead the Levites were consecrated to God. Whatever God calls for from us to serve his own glory by, we must cheerfully resign it, lay our hands upon it, not to detain it but to surrender it, and let it go to him that is entitled to it. | |
Protection-
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Numbers 8:19 (ESV)19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”
From the Matthew Henry Commentary-
They must act for the people. They were taken to do the service of the children of Israel, that is, not only to do the service which they should do, but to serve their interests, and do that which would really redound to the honour, safety, and prosperity of the whole nation. Note, Those that faithfully perform the service of God do one of the best services that can be done to the public; God’s ministers, while they keep within the sphere of their office and conscientiously discharge the duty of it, must be looked upon as some of the most useful servants of their country. The children of Israel can as ill spare the tribe of Levi as any of their tribes. But what is the service they do the children of Israel? It follows, it is to make an atonement for them, that there be no plague among them. It was the priests’ work to make atonement by sacrifice, but the Levites made atonement by attendance, and preserved the peace with heaven which was made by sacrifice. If the service of the priests in the tabernacle had been left to all the first-born of Israel promiscuously, it would have been either neglected or done unskillfully and irreverently, being done by those that were not so closely tied to it, nor so diligently trained to it, nor so constantly used to it, as the Levites were; and this would bring a plague among the children of Israel—meaning, perhaps, the death of the first-born themselves, which was the last and greatest of the plagues of Egypt. To prevent this, and to preserve the atonement, the Levites were appointed to do this service, who should be bred up to it under their parents from their infancy, and therefore would be well versed in it; and so the children of Israel, that is, the first-born, should not need to come nigh to the sanctuary; or, when any Israelites had occasion, the Levites would be ready to instruct them, and introduce them, and so prevent any fatal miscarriage or mistake. Note, It is a very great kindness to the church that ministers are appointed to go before the people in the things of God, as guides, overseers, and rulers, in religious worship, and to make that their business. When Christ ascended on high, he gave these gifts, Eph. 4:8, 11, 12.
So my servants are serving as protection of the whole congregation Jeff. Those devoted to my service are guarding the others from accidental injury from inappropriate approach of the tabernacle. They are also engaged in service that must be done with great care to avoid injury or death while in the tabernacle. This buffer of protection is not unlike what I call my servants to today Jeff. I desire that you would watch out for one another and protect one another from the deceitfulness of sin. Do not let your brothers be caught in the thorns. Men should band together and support one another to ensure that none are coming to the tabernacle inappropriately and to ensure that the tabernacle of their heart is adorned beautifully as I require for the benefit of all who would observe.
Application and prayer:
Thank you Lord for choosing the Levites as you did and for giving us the beautiful picture of them coming to stand on your side. Please let my family and my friends always encircle Moses. Let us always stand on your side despite the world, despite our flesh, despite the enemy's best efforts to distract us or put us in the thorns. Let me and my house always serve you Lord. Use me and my family in whatever way that you desire Lord and let us be content whether you give or take away. I ask this in Jesus name, amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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