Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. These 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 priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they offered strange fire before Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh.”
Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”
Moses counted them according to Yahweh’s word, as he was commanded.
These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.
Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.
Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand five hundred.
The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.
Eliasaph the son of Lael shall be the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.
Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.
The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.
Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.
The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords. Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. You shall take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.”
Moses counted, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh. For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites, you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs); and you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.”
Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites; from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to Yahweh’s word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 22, 24, 25, 28, 31, 32, 36, 38, 39, 41, 50 Or, families and kindreds.
Or, families and kindreds.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 13 Num 3:1 These also [are] the generations of Aaron…
Num 3:1 These also [are] the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day [that] the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.
Ver. 1. Of Aaron and Moses.] Of Aaron by nature, of Moses by education and instruction. See 1Co 4:15 Gal 4:12, {See Trapp on "1Co 4:15"} {See Trapp on "Gal 4:12"} So the Jesuits call themselves padres, and require of their novices blind obedience, which is more than ever Moses did.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 47, 48 These which follow in this chapter are the generations,…
1491
These which follow in this chapter are the generations, i.e. either,
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1. The things done by them; as the word generation is sometimes used, as Gen 6:9; 25:19; 37:2. Or rather,
2. The kindred or family, for that is the subject of this chapter, and not their events or actions.
Object. Aaron’s family indeed is here mentioned, but not Moses’s family.
Answ. Moses’s family and children are here included under the general name of the Amramite, Num 3:27, which includes all the children and grandchildren of Amram, the persons only of Aaron and Moses being excepted. And the generations of Moses are thus obscurely mentioned, because they were but common Levites, the priesthood being given solely to Aaron’s posterity, whence Aaron is here put before Moses, who elsewhere is commonly named after him. In the day that the Lord spake with Moses in Mount Sinai: this seems to be added, because Nadab and Abihu, mentioned Num 3:2, were then alive, though dead at the time of taking this account.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 14, 40 Here, I. The family of Aaron is confirmed in…
Here, I. The family of Aaron is confirmed in the priests' office, Num 3:10. They had been called to it before, and consecrated; here they are appointed to wait on their priests' office: the apostle uses this phrase (Rom 12:7), Let us wait on our ministry. The office of the ministry requires a constant attendance and great diligence; so frequent are the returns of its work, and yet so transient its favourable opportunities, that it must be waited on. Here is repeated what was said before (Num 1:51): The stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death, which forbids the invading of the priest's office by any other person whatsoever; none must come nigh to minister but Aaron and his sons only, all others are strangers. It also lays a charge on the priests, as door-keepers in God's house, to take care that none should come near who were forbidden by the law; they must keep off all intruders, whose approach would be to the profanation of the holy things, telling them that if they came near it was at their peril, they would die by the hand of God, as Uzza did. The Jews say that afterwards there was hung over the door of the temple a golden sword (perhaps alluding to that flaming sword at the entrance of the garden of Eden), on which was engraven, The stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
II. A particular account is given of this family of Aaron; what we have met with before concerning them is here repeated. 1. The consecration of the sons of Aaron, Num 3:3. They were all anointed to minister before the Lord, though it appeared afterwards, and God knew it, that two of them were wise and two were foolish. 2. The fall of the two elder (Num 3:4): they offered strange fire, and died for so doing, before the Lord. This is mentioned here in the preamble to the law concerning the priesthood, for a warning to all succeeding priests; let them know, by this example, that God is a jealous God, and will not be mocked; the holy anointing oil was an honour to the obedient, but not a shelter to the disobedient. It is here said, They had no children, Providence so ordering it, for their greater punishment, that none of their descendants should remain to be priests, and so bear up their name who had profaned God's name. 3. The continuance of the two younger: Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the sight of Aaron. It intimates, (1.) The care they took about their ministration not to make any blunders; they kept under their father's eye, and took instruction from him in all they did, because, probably, Nadab and Abihu got out of their father's sight when they offered strange fire. Note, It is good for young people to act under the direction and inspection of those that are aged and experienced. (2.) The comfort Aaron took in it; it pleased him to see his younger sons behave themselves prudently and gravely, when his two elder had miscarried. Note, It is a great satisfaction to parents to see their children walk in the truth, Jo3 1:4.
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III. A grant is made of the Levites to be assistants to the priests in their work: Give the Levites to Aaron, Num 3:9. Aaron was to have a greater propriety in, and power over, the tribe of Levi than any other of the prices had in and over their respective tribes. There was a great deal of work belonging to the priests' office, and there were now only three pairs of hands to do it all, Aaron's and his two sons'; for it does not appear that they had either of them any children at this time, at least not any that were of age to minister, therefore God appoints the Levites to attend upon them. Note, Those whom God finds work for his will find help for. Here is, 1. The service for which the Levites were designed: they were to minister to the priests in their ministration to the Lord (Num 3:6), and to keep Aaron's charge (Num 3:7), as the deacons to the bishops in the evangelical constitution, serving at tables, while the bishops waited on their ministry. The Levites killed the sacrifices, and then the priests needed only to sprinkle the blood and burn the fat: the Levites prepared the incense, the priests burnt it. They were to keep, not only Aaron's charge, but the charge of the whole congregation. Note, It is a great trust that is reposed in ministers, not only for the glory of Christ, but for the good of his church; so that they must not only keep the charge of the great high priest, but must also be faithful to the souls of men, in trust for whom a dispensation is committed to them. 2. the consideration upon which the Levites were demanded; they were taken instead of the first-born. The preservation of the first-born of Israel, when all the first-born of the Egyptians (with whom they were many of them mingled) were destroyed, was looked upon by him who never makes any unreasonable demands as cause sufficient of the appropriating of all the first-born thenceforward to himself (Num 3:13): All the first-born are mine. That was sufficient to make them his, though he had given no reason for it, for he is the sole fountain and Lord of all beings and powers; but because all obedience must flow from love, and acts of duty must be acts of gratitude, before they were challenged into peculiar services they were crowned with peculiar favours. Note, When he that made us saves us we are thereby laid under further obligations to serve him and live to him. God's right to us by redemption corroborates the right he has to us by creation. Now because the first-born of a family are generally the favourites, and some would think it a disparagement to have their eldest sons servants to the priests, and attending before the door of the tabernacle, God took the tribe of Levi entire for his own, in lieu of the first-born, Num 3:12. Note, God's institutions put no hardships upon men in any of their just interests or reasonable affections. It was presumed that the Israelites would rather part with the Levites than with the first-born, and therefore God graciously ordered the exchange; yet for us he spared not his own Son.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–50 These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses,....…
These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses,.... The descendants of them, those of the former, who is named first, because the eldest, were priests, and those of the latter Levites, and who are not very plainly pointed at, but are included among the Amramites, Num 3:27; the posterity of Moses being very obscure, only Levites, and these not particularly named but swallowed up among the Kohathites: find the following account was as it stood:
in the day that the Lord spoke with Moses in mount Sinai; and not, altogether as it then, was when he spoke to him in the wilderness, of Sinai, for then Aaron had four sons, but now two of them were dead as is after observed; and it seems to be for the sake of this circumstance chiefly that this clause is so put.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 38, 39, 41, 46, 47 In this chapter we have an account,
In this chapter we have an account,
1. Of the priests, ver. 1-4.
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2. The work of the Levites, taken instead of the first-born, ver. 5- 13.
3. Of the number, place and charge of each family; the Gershonites, ver. 14-26. The Kohathites, ver. 27-32. The Merarites, ver. 33-39.
4. Of the first-born, ver. 40-51.
These - Which follow in this chapter. The generations - The kindred or family. Moses his family and children are here included under the general name of the Amramites, ver. 27, which includes all the children and grand-children of Amram, the persons only of Aaron and Moses being excepted. And the generations of Moses are thus obscurely mentioned, because they were but common Levites, the priesthood being given solely to Aaron's posterity, whence Aaron is here put before Moses, who elsewhere is commonly named after him. In Sinai - Nadab and Abihu, were then alive, though dead at the time of taking this account.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 22, 39, 43 The generations of Aaron and Moses, 1-4.
CHAPTER III
The generations of Aaron and Moses, 1-4.
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The tribe of Levi to minister to the Lord under Aaron and his
sons, 5-10.
They are taken in the place of the first-born, 11-13.
Moses is commanded to number them, 14-16.
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the names of the three heads of
families of the Levites, 17.
Of Gershon and his family, 18-21.
Their number, 7,500, ver. 22.
Their place behind the tabernacle, westward, 23.
Their chief, Eliasaph, 24.
Their charge, 25, 26.
Of Kohath and his family, 27.
Their number, 8,600, ver. 28.
Their place, beside the tabernacle, southward, 29.
Their chief, Elizaphan, 30.
Their charge, 31.
The chief of the Levites, Eleazar, son of Aaron, 32.
Of Merari and his family, 33.
Their number, 6,200, ver. 34.
Their chief, Zuriel, they shall pitch beside the tabernacle,
northward, 35.
Their charge, 35-37.
MOSES and AARON to encamp before the tabernacle, eastward, 38.
The amount of all the males among the Levites from a month old
and upwards, 22,000, ver. 39.
Moses is commanded to number the first-born, 40;
and to take the Levites and their cattle, instead of the
first-born of man and beast among the Israelites, 41.
Moses numbers the first-born, who amount to 22,273, ver. 43.
As the first-born were 273 more than the Levites, Moses is
commanded to take from the people five shekels apiece for
them, 44-47,
which is to be given to Aaron and his sons, 48.
Moses does accordingly, and finds the amount of the money to be
1,365 shekels, 49, 50,
which is given to Aaron and his sons, 51.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse 1. The generations of Aaron and Moses] Though Aaron and Moses are both mentioned here, yet the family of Aaron alone appears in the list: hence some have thought that the word Moses was not originally in the text. Others think that the words ואלה תלדות veelleh toledoth, these are the generations, should be rendered these are the acts, or transactions, or the history of the lives, as the same phrase may be understood in Ge 2:4; Ge 6:9. However this may be, it is evident that in this genealogy the family of Aaron are alone mentioned, probably because these belonged to the priesthood. Moses passes by his own family, or immediate descendants; he gave no rank or privilege to them during his life, and left nothing to them at his death. They became incorporated with the Levites, from or amongst whom they are never distinguished. What a strong proof is this of the celestial origin of his religion! Had it been of man, it must have had the gratification of some impure passion for its object; lust, ambition, or avarice: but none of these ever appear during the whole of his administration amongst the Israelites, though he had it constantly in his power to have gratified each. What an essential difference between the religion of the Pentateuch and that of the Koran! The former is God's workmanship; the latter is a motley mixture of all bad crafts, with here and there a portion of heavenly fire, stolen from the Divine altar in the Old and New Testaments, to give some vitality to the otherwise inert mass.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 25, 27, 31, 32, 38, 39, 41, 46, 47 Num 3:1. All the other tribes being mustered and…
Num 3:1. All the other tribes being mustered and registered, and the genealogy of each stated, next follows all account of the priests and Levites, first of their descent from the two principal heads of their families; namely, Aaron and Moses; and then of the particular services allotted to each family. These — Which follow in this chapter; are the generations — The kindred or family. Moses’s family and children are here included under the general name of the Amramites, (Num 3:27,) which includes all the children and grand-children of Amram, the persons only of Aaron and Moses being excepted. And the generations of Moses are thus obscurely mentioned, because they were but common Levites, the priesthood being given solely to Aaron’s posterity, whence Aaron is here put before Moses, after whom he is elsewhere commonly named. In Sinai — Nadab and Abihu were then alive, though dead at the time of taking this account.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 7, 13, 26, 27, 39, 43, 44 The “generations” (see Gen 2:4) now given, though entitled…
The “generations” (see Gen 2:4) now given, though entitled those of Aaron and Moses (Aaron standing first as the older brother), are those of Aaron only. The personal dignity of Moses, though it gave him rank as at the head of his tribe, was not hereditary. He had, and desired to have Num 14:12; Exo 32:10, no successor in his office but the distant prophet like unto himself Deu 18:18. Aaron was the ancestor of a regular succession of priests.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 38, 39, 41, 46 Generations; descendants of Aaron, whose names are specified; and…
Generations; descendants of Aaron, whose names are specified; and of Moses, whose children are left unnoticed among the rest of the Levites, ver. 27. This enhances the merit of the Jewish legislator, and shews his modesty and disinterestedness. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Separation of the Levites to the service of the…
SECOND SECTION
Separation of the Levites to the service of the Tabernacle as the king’s tent and the ensign (the banner) of Jehovah
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Numbers 3, 4
The muster and encampment of the tribe of Levi
Num_3:1-51
1These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day that the Lord 2spake with Moses in mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; 3Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, 12whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no 3children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.
5And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 6Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. 7And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the 4tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8And they shall keep all the 5instruments of the ctabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. 10And thou shalt 6appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to 11death. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; 13Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine they shall be: I am the Lord.
14And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15Number the children of Levi after 7the house of their fathers, by their families: every male 16from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. And Moses xnumbered them according to the 8word of the Lord, as he was commanded. 17And these were 18the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei. 19And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families 21of the Levites eaccording to the house of their fathers. Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. 22Those that were xnumbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were xnumbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. 23The families of the Gershonites shall 24pitch behind the tabernacle westward. And the 9chief of the 10house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the ctabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the 11hanging for the door of the ctabernacle of the congregation, 26And the hangings of the court, and the hcurtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it, for all the service thereof.
27And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. 28In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle 30southward. And the fchief of the ghouse of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hhanging, and all the service thereof.
32And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be 12chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.
33Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. 34And those that were xnumbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and 35two hundred. And the fchief of the ghouse of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward. 36And 13under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto, 37And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.
38But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the ctabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 39All that were xnumbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, 14throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.
40And the Lord said unto Moses, xNumber all the firstborn 15of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. 41And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the 42firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. And Moses xnumbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were xnumbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.
44And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 45Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their 46cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. And 16for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; 47Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary 17shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) 48And thou shalt give the money, 18wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons. 49And Moses took the 19redemption money of them that were over and above them that were 20redeemed by the Levites: 50Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 51And Moses gave the money of them that were predeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num_3:3. מִלֵּא יָד .מִלֵּא יָדָם לְכַהֵן “to fill the hand” is a natural and graphic idiom for consecration, just as installation is in English. The latter signifies that one is placed and there he must always be found. The former that one “has his hands full,” and has no leisure for other business. The ceremony of consecration, Exo_29:9-28, symbolizes this idea, especially in Num_3:24. Naturally מִלֵּא alone, and the substantive מִלֻּא become the abbreviated form for the same notion. See Smith’s Bib. Dict. Art. Priest, consecration.
Num_3:9. נתונם נתונם, see Num_8:16. The repetition is for the sake of emphasis, signifying complete surrender, see Ewald, § 313.
Num_3:13. לי אני יהיה “to me, myself, Jehovah,” Maurer, Keil. The Bib. Comm. So also in Num_3:41; Num_3:45.
Num_3:30. The dots above ואהרן “can have, it is supposed, no other meaning than to intimate that the word is wanting in some Codd. It is wanting in 8 codd. of Ken. and in 4 of Ross.; also in the Sam., Syr., and Copt. This would agree with Num_3:5,” Maurer. Not sufficient reason for omission, comp. Num_4:34; Num_4:37; Num_4:41; Num_4:45, Keil.
Num_3:51. The K’thibh חַפִּדְיֹם the correct reading, Keil.—Tr.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
[The generations, Num_3:1. “These are the res gestæ, that happened to them,” Fagius, Vatablus, Ab. Ezra, Piscator. The act of birth is only the first in the series. On this use of the word comp. Gen_5:1; Gen_6:9; Gen_25:18 and Bush, in loc.—Tr.].
Order or the Levitical Service (Chap. 3).
A. The Calling of the Tribe of Levi. This calling was foreshadowed in the religious zeal of the brothers Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34), and in the judgment of their father Jacob upon their act (Genesis 49). The two brothers resembled each other, as did also their deed and their destiny; they were scattered in Israel. But while Simeon gradually disappears in Israel, Levi looms up greater and greater, until at the summit of his elevation he destroys himself, in the person of Caiaphas. In this contrast the two natures of youthful, religious zeal come out in relief. In the one, religious zeal passes over into fanaticism, into fleshly passion, the glow becomes smoke and vapor; in the other, the flame clears itself from smoke, the seething must becomes pure wine. It should be borne in mind, that Israel owes its theocratical and historical salvation to the tribe of Levi: even a weak maid, Miriam, had a large share in the rescue of Moses; and the latter, the saved saviour (Muscha Mosche) of his people, was in a large measure supported by his brother Aaron. Soon, however, after the moment when Aaron wavered, the tribe of Levi stood manfully at the side of Moses for the re-establishment of the fear of Jehovah; and afterwards, when Phineas executed summary judgment, it displayed a bravery which received quite a mysterious acknowledgment in the blessing of Moses, Deu_33:8. Thus the vocation of Levi was ontological; but the historical development took place gradually. The prophetic starting place of the Levitic calling is found in the person of Moses; and the self-renunciation, with which he calls his brother Aaron to the priesthood, and allows the priestly dignity to pass over to the descendants of the latter, while his own sons attend Aaron as mere serving Levites, is the sign and the seal of the divine purity which ruled, in combination with divine revelation, at the institution of the Levitical vocation. Three stages can be distinguished in the development of this vocation: first, the historical reason for their call, (Exodus 32); second, their preliminary appointment; third, the establishment and definition of the services of the office, given in the present section; special modifications follow hereafter, especially the elevated position of the order.
We distinguish regarding the hierarchical organization the following gradations:—(1) The people of the tribe, embracing the families as well as the men, the emeriti and demeriti, as well as the serving members. The boys were set apart for the Levitical service after the first month of their age; for no rule can be set for the earliness of spiritual illumination, as the history of Samuel proves. The entrance upon the general duties begins at the age of twenty-five; for the proper high-priestly and priestly duties, as well as for the Levitical ministration in the care of the Sanctuary, the age of thirty years was required. The typical hierarchy descends in the following gradations.:—(1) Aaron and his sons; (2) The priestly Levitical assistants; (3) The Levites in general as devoted to God and the priestly service (נְתוּנִים); (4) The servants, afterwards attached to the tribe, of non-Levitical and even of non-Israelitish blood (נְתִיגִים). Although the tribe of Levi, after the division of the tribe of Joseph into two separate tribes, seems to form a thirteenth tribe; yet this would be an entirely false conception, since it represents the first-born, the priestly dignity of all twelve tribes.
B. The Relations of the Levites. In relation to Moses and Aaron, they are to be regarded as the spiritual family (Num_3:2-4); Aaron appears as the priestly head. With reference to their ministerial functions, they are presented to the high-priest, and are devoted to him as his servants. With reference to the tribes, however, they have this advantage, that they represent the first-born of all the tribes; they are an eminent tribe wholly made up of native first-born; and the complete infatuation of the company of Korah is shown by the fact that they were not content with that eminence. However they did not form a caste, like the Brahmins in India and the Magi in Media, because their physical condition was subject to a strict moral censorship, and because their importance was greatly limited by the prophetic order on the one hand, and on the other by the princely order. Hence they first attained to a hierarchical power in the time of Zerubbabel, when the princely power had become extinct and the prophetic authority was on the point of dying out.
C. The numbering of the Levites. The numbers of the tribe branches, 7,500, 8,600, and 6,200, added together give the sum 22,300; whereas the number given is only 22,000. We think the Rabbinical solution of this apparent discrepancy of numbers quite well founded, notwithstanding the doubts of Knobel and Keil. If the sum total of the Levites was to determine the ratio which they bore to the sums of the first-born in the other tribes, because the surplus of the first-born had to be redeemed with money, then the first-born among the Levites should certainly not be included in the count, else there would be nullity in the calculation. For them 300 was therefore deducted. This seems to us a much more evident explanation than the supposition of a blunder in the text, (see Keil, p. 204) [who conjectures that in Num_3:28 שׁלשׁ should be read for שׁשׁ or 8,300 for 8,600.—Tr.]. We do not at all assume that the first-born of the tribes paid a ransom to the Levites on account of the worship which they conducted for them, for they were by that in a certain measure superseded (chap. 16); at all events the Levites had a favored position, and in that case, too, all the first-born would have had to pay, and not merely the excess of 273. We have already seen that the mention here is of a numbering of the first-born from the first month on to twenty years, being a contrast with the numbering of the first-born from twenty years and over, but forming a parallel to the Levites who were over a month old. These young first-born are represented by the young Levites, and hence their excess must be ransomed by a payment to the high-priestly tribe. And this not indeed because the Levites represented them at the Sanctuary generally, but because they took their place at the theocratic headquarters. It was a kind of a military tax for minors. Thus we read in chap. 7 of the great offerings which the heads of tribes presented for the care of the Tabernacle—they had already given their contributions for the building of the Tabernacle (Exo_35:27). In that case, as also in that of the shekel of the Sanctuary, their payment was properly a religious tax; here it was a sort of war tax. [“The ransom money, reckoning the shekel at half a crown, would amount to 12s. 6d.” Dr. Jamison.—Tr.]. And when it is likewise laid down that the cattle of the Levites should represent the first-born of the cattle of the individual tribes, which they had to offer up, it doubtless means that they were not slaughtered immediately on their being offered, but were taken into the herds of the Levites, which even consisted wholly of sacrificial beasts, according to the needs of worship. On the meaning of the first-birth see Knobel, p. 13.
D. The organic basis of the camping of the Levites. The sons of Levi were called: Gershon, (stranger, banishment); Kohath (assembly, congregation); Merari.—From Gershon came: Libni (white), and Shimei (Jah is prince of praise). From Kohath sprang: Amram (people of the high one?); Izehar (oil); Hebron (union); and, Uzziel (power of God). The sons of Merari were: Mahli (a tender one, according to Fuerst), and Mushi (drawn upward? allied to Moses). The aggregate see in the text.
E. Levitical Camping Order. The Gershonites encamp behind the tent, that is, westward: their chief was Eliasaph (whom God has added—similar to Joseph), son of Lael (for God, consecrated to God). Their charge is over the external parts of the Sanctuary, viz., the coverings and hangings, except the screen of the Holy of Holies. The Kohathites camp to the south-ward. Their chief was called Elizaphan (whom God guards), son of Uzziel (God is power). To their care are entrusted all the interior parts of the Sanctuary, viz., the Ark of the Covenant. Thus they have an exalted occupation, as, indeed, they embrace also the priestly branch, whence, also, Eleazar, the son of Aaron, is the superior of all the individual Levitic chiefs. Opposite the Kohathites upon the northern side, camp the families of Merari: their chief was named Zuriel (God is rock), son of Abahail (father of strength; or, father the strength); they attend to all that belongs to the frame work of the Tabernacle. In front of the entrance to the Tabernacle towards the east encamped Moses and Aaron with his sons, who performed the sacred acts of the worship. All intrusion of strangers to this place was forbidden on the pain of death. [Num_3:10; Num_3:38, the stranger, זר see on Num_1:51.—Tr.]
[On the difficulty presented by the proportion of first-born to the sum-total of men fit for service, see Introduction, § 7 b. Num_3:49. The redeemed of the Levites mean those ransomed by the equal member of the Levites.—Tr.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
[See under Numbers 1.
Num_3:14 sq. “The Levites of a month old could not honor God and serve the Tabernacle as those that were grown up; yet out of the mouths of babes and sucklings the Levites’ praise was perfected. Let not little children be hindered from being enrolled among the disciples of Christ, for such was the tribe of Levi; of such is the kingdom of heaven, that kingdom of priests. The redemption of the first-born was reckoned from a month old (Num_18:15-16), therefore from that age the Levites were numbered.” M. Henry.
Num_3:44-51. The relation of money and religion is illustrated by the ransom for the 273 in excess of the 22,000 first-born of the Levites. Money cannot measure the value of spiritual things, but it can express that they have value. It cannot pay the debt we owe to God, but it can express that we do owe Him much. Five shekels, paid under the conditions here specified, could express that the payer owed himself to God’s service, and that the payee accepted the position of substitute. While money has the place that men assign it, it must have its religious use. Where there is much money, much of it must flow into the Lord’s treasury, or there is little religion there.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1]Heb. whose hand he filled.
[2]whose hand they had filled to be priests.
[3]sons.
[4]Tent of Meeting.
[5]utensils.
[6]muster, mustered.
[7]their fathers-houses.
[8]Heb. mouth.
[9]prince.
[10]fathers-house.
[11]screen.
[12]prince of the princes.
[13]Heb. the office of the charge of.
[14]by.
[15]omit of the.
[16]as ransom of the two hundred, &c.
[17]thou shalt take, twenty gerahs the shekel.
[18]the ransom of those over and above among them.
[19]ransom.
[20]ransomed.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 9, 11, 14, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41 And these are the names of the sons of…
And these are the names of the sons of Aaron--All the sons of Aaron, four in number, were consecrated to minister in the priest's office. The two oldest enjoyed but a brief term of office (Lev 10:1-2; Num 3:4; Num 26:61); but Eleazar and Ithamar, the other two, were dutiful, and performed the sacred service during the lifetime of their father, as his assistants, and under his superintendence.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 25, 26, 30, 39, 40, 41, 44, 47 THE SONS OF AARON CONSECRATED, Num_3:1-4.
THE SONS OF AARON CONSECRATED, Num_3:1-4.
Because man is a religious being whose hopes and fears are constantly grasping the invisible and the immortal, his imperative religious wants require the ministry of a class of men set apart from secular cares and dedicated solely to sacred offices. Since they touch the deepest springs of human action and national character, it can never be a matter of indifference who shall sway the influence of the priestly office. “He who would rule a nation must first conciliate its priests.” Augustus did not complete the subversion of the Roman Republic until he created himself Pontifex Maximus. It is the prerogative of God to select his own priesthood. They are to be his apostles to man, and man’s representatives before him. Chosen by reason of their personal fitness, they hold their sacred office only so long as that fitness shall continue. The Lord chose Aaron for the office of high priest. That there might be some always in training for the succession, he made the priesthood conditionally hereditary. When one branch of the family became hopelessly corrupt, it was either disqualified for the headship or wholly repudiated, and another branch was chosen. 1Sa_2:27-36.
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1. The generations — Hebrews, toldoth — as in Gen_5:1 — the descendants. This term as here used indicates the Levitical families generally, because Aaron and Moses, when Jehovah spake on Sinai, were exalted to be the spiritual fathers of the tribe of Levi, of which they were members.
Of Aaron — Aaron is placed before Moses because of his high priesthood. The generations of a person are commonly inserted in Scripture history at a “crisis when either a signal and accomplished fulfilment of the Divine counsels is to be indicated, or a stage has been reached which establishes a basis for a fulfilment to be narrated at large in the sequel.”
And Moses — The posterity of Moses may be expected to follow, but it is not found. For this omission we find no very satisfactory explanation. Prof. Bush partially relieves the difficulty when he says that “Moses’s lineage is probably included under the general name Amramite, Num_3:27, embracing all the children and grandchildren of Amram, with the exceptions only of Moses and Aaron.” The sons of Moses were ranked as Levites, since their father’s extraordinary office was not hereditary. Hence his sons are enumerated as Levites, (see 1 Chronicles xxiii, 14,) where the family record of Moses is inserted.
In the day — This was the register of Aaron’s sons then living when Moses went up to the summit of Sinai. But two were judicially smitten by Jehovah before the awful transactions of the mount were concluded, so that at the time of the present enumeration they were not living.
Mount Sinai — Of the Sinaitic group, the peak which bears the name of Jebel Musa, or Mount of Moses, was formerly identified by travellers as Mount Sinai. But the hypothesis that this peak is the peak from which the Decalogue was proclaimed to man must be abandoned, because the plain at its base is, in the words of Stanley, “rough, uneven, and narrow,” and utterly insufficient for the vast Hebrew host who are represented as spectators of that tremendous manifestation of Divine power. Military surveys confirm this conclusion, and hence Jebel Musa, the traditional Mount Sinai, has been abandoned. At the northern extremity of the Sinaitic range is found Ras Suf-safeh, with two wadies or valleys opening from its foot, where there is space for the entire assembly of Israel to gaze upon its summit, taking the highest estimate of their number. Modern travellers are quite unanimous in the opinion that this peak is Sinai. See notes on Exo_3:1; Exo_19:2. Dr. Robinson, who rejects the claims of Jebel Musa, says of the peak Ras Sufsafeh, which he calls Horeb: “We were surprised, as well as gratified, to find here, in the inmost recesses of these dark granite cliffs, this fine plain spread out before the mountain, because even to the present day it is a current opinion among scholars that no open space exists among these mountains; and I know not when I have felt a thrill of stronger emotion than when, in first crossing the plain, the dark precipices of Horeb rising in solemn grandeur before us, we became aware of the entire adaptedness of the scene to the purposes for which it was chosen by the Hebrew legislator.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 21, 23, 25, 26, 28, 31, 32, 36, 38, 40, 41, 46, 47 1. these are the generations] A formula occurring several…
1. these are the generations] A formula occurring several times in P ; Gen_5:1; Gen_6:9; Gen_10:1; Gen_11:10; Gen_11:27; Gen_25:12; Gen_25:19; Gen_36:1; Gen_36:9; Gen_37:2. It marks a fresh start in the history. ‘Generations,’ lit. origins, means ‘an account of a man and his genealogical descendants.’
Aaron and Moses] The two most important representatives of the tribe of Levi. Moses is usually mentioned first, but here Aaron has the precedence because the passage deals with his descendants only.
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in the day, &c.] The words are attached very loosely to the context, and describe the point of time at which the new development—the organization of the tribe of Levi—begins.
1–4. The generations of Aaron.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, 23, 25, 26, 29, 32, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (1) These also are the generations of Aaron and…
III.
(1) These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses . . . —The name of Aaron is placed first, not only because he was the elder brother, but also because the ministry of Moses was restricted to his own person, and his sons are merely classed amongst the rest of the Levitical families in 1Ch_23:14; whereas the office of Aaron was perpetuated in the persons of his descendants. Hence we find no mention made in this place of the sons of Moses, but only of those of Aaron. The word generations here, as in the book of Genesis (e.g., Gen_6:9; Gen_25:19) and elsewhere, is used to denote the history; and in this sense the present and the following chapters pertain as much to Moses as to Aaron. Or the reference may be to the fact that Moses and Aaron were made the heads of the whole tribe of Levi, and therefore that the Levitical families generally are traced up equally to both.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 3 - 4
Numbers 3 - 4
What a marvellous spectacle was the camp of Israel, in that waste howling wilderness! What a spectacle to angels, to men, and to devils! God’s eye ever rested upon it. His presence was there. He dwelt in the midst of His militant people. It was there He found His habitation. He did not, He could not, find His abode amid the splendours of Egypt, of Assyria, or of Babylon. No doubt those nations presented much that was attractive to nature’s eye. The arts and sciences were cultivated amongst them. Civilization had reached a far loftier point amongst those ancient nations than we moderns are disposed to admit. Refinement and luxury were probably carried to as great an extent there as amongst those who put forth very lofty pretensions.
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But, be it remembered, Jehovah was not known among those nations. His name had never been revealed to them. He did not dwell in their midst. True, there, were the ten thousand testimonies to His creative power. And moreover, His superintending providence was over them. He gave them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness. The blessings and benefits of His liberal hand were showered upon them, from day to day, and year to year. His showers fertilized their fields, His sunbeams gladdened their hearts. But they knew Him not, and cared not for Him. His dwelling was not there. Not one of those nations could say, "Jehovah is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare will an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him." Exodus 15: 2.
Jehovah found His abode in the bosom of His redeemed people, and nowhere else. Redemption was the necessary basis of God’s habitation amongst men. Apart from redemption the divine presence could only prove the destruction of men; but, redemption being known, that presence secures man’s highest privilege and brightest glory.
God dwelt in the midst of His people Israel. He came down from heaven, not only to redeem them out of the land of Egypt, but to be their travelling companion through the wilderness. What a thought! The most High God taking up His abode on the sand of the desert, and in the very bosom of His redeemed congregation! Truly there was nothing like that throughout the wide, wide world. There was that host of six hundred thousand men, beside women and children, in a sterile desert, where there was not a blade of grass, not a drop of water - no visible source of subsistence. How were they to be fed? God was there! How were they to be kept in order God was there! How were they to track their way through a howling wilderness where there was no way? God was there!
In a word, God’s presence secured everything. Unbelief might say, "What! are three millions of people to be fed on air? Who has charge of the commissariat? Where are the military stores? Where is the baggage? Who is to attend to the clothing?" Faith alone could answer, and its answer brief, and conclusive:" God was there!" And that was quite sufficient. All is comprehended in that one sentence. In faith’s arithmetic, God is the only significant figure, and, having Him, you may add as many ciphers as you please. If all your springs are in the living God, it ceases to be a question of your need, and resolves itself into a question of His sufficiency.
What were six hundred thousand footmen to the Almighty God? What the varied necessities of their wives and children? In man’s estimation, these things might seem overwhelming. England has just sent out ten thousand troops to Abyssinia; but only think of the enormous expense and labour; think of the number of transports required to convey provisions and other necessaries for that small army. But imagine an army sixty times the size, together with the women and children. Conceive this enormous host entering upon a march that was to extend over the space of forty years, through "a great and terrible wilderness," in which there was no corn, no grass, no water-spring. How were they to be sustained? No supplies with them - no arrangements entered into with friendly nations to forward supplies - no transports despatched to meet them at various points along their route - in short, not a single visible source of supply - nothing that nature would consider available.
All this is something worth pondering. But we must ponder it in the divine presence. It is of no possible use for reason to sit down and try to solve this mighty problem by human arithmetic. No, reader; it is only faith that can solve it, and that, moreover, by the word of the living God. Here lies the precious solution. Bring God in, and you want no other factors to work out your answer. Leave Him out, and the more powerful your reason, and the more profound your arithmetic, the more hopeless must be your perplexity.
Thus it is that faith settles the question. God was in the midst of His people. He was there in all the fullness of His grace and mercy - there in His perfect knowledge of His people’s wants, and of the difficulties of their path - there in His almighty power and boundless resources, to meet these difficulties and supply these wants. And so fully did He enter into all these things, that He was able, at the close of their long wilderness wanderings, to appeal to their hearts in the following touching accents, "for the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand; he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing." And again, "Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years." Deut. 2: 7; Deut. 8: 4.
Now, in all these things, the camp of Israel was a type - a vivid, striking type. A type of what? A type of the Church of God passing through this world. The testimony of scripture is so distinct on this point, as to leave no room and no demand for the exercise of imagination. "all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." 1 Cor. 10: 11.
Hence, therefore, we may draw near and gaze, with intense interest upon that marvellous spectacle, and seek to gather up the precious lessons which it is so eminently fitted to teach. and, oh, what lessons! Who can duly estimate them? Look at that mysterious camp in the desert, composed, as we have said, of warriors, workers, and worshippers! what separation from all the nations of the world! What utter helplessness! What exposure! What absolute dependence upon God! They had nothing - could do nothing - could know nothing. They had not a morsel of food, nor a drop of water, but as they received it day by day from the immediate hand of God. When they retired to rest at night, there was not a single atom of provision for the morrow. There was no storehouse, no larder, no visible source of supply, nothing that nature could take any account of.
But God was there, and that, in the judgement of faith, was quite enough. They were shut up to God. This is the one grand reality. Faith owns nothing real, nothing solid, nothing true, but the one true, living, eternal God. Nature might cast a longing look at the granaries of Egypt, and see something tangible, something substantial there. Faith looks up to heaven and finds all its springs there.
Thus it was with the camp in the desert; and thus it is with the Church in the world. There was not a single exigency, not a single contingency, not a single need of any sort whatsoever, for which the Divine Presence was not an all-sufficient answer. The nations of the uncircumcised might look on and marvel. They might, in the bewilderment of blind unbelief, raise many a question as to how such a host could ever be fed, clothed, and kept in order. Most certainly they had no eyes to see how- it could be done. They knew not Jehovah, the Lord God of the Hebrews; and therefore to tell them that He was going to undertake for that vast assembly would indeed seem like idle tales.
And so it is now, in reference to the assembly of God, in this world, which may truly be termed a moral wilderness. Looked at from God’s point of view, that assembly is not of the world; it is in complete separation. It is as thoroughly apart from the world, as the camp of Israel was apart from Egypt. The waters of the Red Sea rolled between that camp and Egypt; and the deeper and darker waters of the death of Christ roll between the Church of God and this present evil world. It is impossible to conceive separation more complete. "They," says our Lord Christ, "are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." John 17.
Then, as to entire dependence; what can be more dependent than the church of God in this world? She has nothing in or of herself. She is set down in the midst of a moral desert, a dreary waste, a vast howling wilderness, in the which there is literally nothing on which she can live. There is not one drop of water, not a single morsel of suited food for the Church of God, throughout the entire compass of this world.
So also as to the matter of exposure to all sorts of hostile influences. Nothing can exceed it. There is not so much as one friendly influence. All is against her. She is in the midst of this world like an exotic plant belonging to a foreign clime, and set down in a sphere where both the soil and the atmosphere are uncongenial.
Such is the Church of God in the world - a separated - dependent - defenceless thing, wholly cast upon the living God. It is calculated to give great vividness, force, and clearness to our thoughts about the Church, to view it as the antitype of the camp in the desert; and that it is in no wise fanciful or far-fetched to view it thus, 1 Corinthians 10: 11 does most clearly show. We are fully warranted in saying that what the camp of Israel was literally, that the Church is morally and spiritually. And, farther, that what the wilderness was literally to Israel, that the world is, morally and spiritually, to the Church of God. The wilderness was the sphere of Israel’s toil and danger, not of their supplies or their enjoyment; and the world is the sphere of the Church’s toil and danger, not of its supplies or its enjoyment.
It is well to seize this fact, in all its moral power. The assembly of God in the world, like "the congregation in the wilderness," is wholly cast upon the living God. we speak, be it remembered, from the divine standpoint - of what the Church is in God’s sight. Looked at from man’s point of view - looked at as she is, in her own actual practical state, it is, alas! another thing. We are now only occupied with the normal, the true, the divine idea of God’s assembly is this world.
And let it not be forgotten, for one moment, that, as truly as there was a camp in the desert, of old - a congregation in the wilderness - so truly is there the Church of God, the body of Christ, in the world now. Doubtless, the nations of the world knew little, and cared less, about that congregation of old; but that did not weaken or touch the great living fact. So now, the men of the world know little and care less about the assembly of God - the body of Christ; but that, in no wise, touches the grand living truth that there is such a thing actually existing in this world, and has been ever since the Holy Ghost descended on the day of Pentecost. True, the congregation, of old, had its trials, its conflicts, its sorrows, its temptations, its strifes, its controversies - its internal commotions - its numberless and nameless difficulties, calling for the varied resources that were in God - the precious ministrations of prophet, priest, and king which God had provided; for, as we know, Moses was there as "king in Jeshurun," and as the prophet raised up of God; and Aaron was there to exercise all the priestly functions.
But, in spite of all these things that we have named - in spite of the weakness, the failure, the sin, the rebellion, the strife - still there was the striking fact, to be taken cognisance of by men, by devils, and by angels, namely, a vast congregation, amounting to something like three millions of people (according to the usual mode of computation) journeying through a wilderness, wholly dependent upon an unseen arm, guided and cared for by the eternal God, whose eye was never for one moment withdrawn from that mysterious typical host; yea, He dwelt in their midst, and never left them, in all their unbelief, their forgetfulness, their ingratitude, and rebellion. God was there to sustain and guide, to guard and keep them day and night. He fed them with bread from heaven, day by day; and He brought them forth water out of the flinty rock.
This, assuredly, was a stupendous fact - a profound mystery. God had a congregation in the wilderness - apart from the nations around, shut up to Himself. It may be the nations of the world knew nothing, cared nothing, thought nothing, about this assembly. It is certain the desert yielded nothing in the way of sustenance or refreshment. There were serpents and scorpions - there were snares and dangers - drought, barrenness, and desolation. But there was that wonderful assembly maintained in a manner that baffled and confounded human reason.
And, reader, remember this was a type. A type of what? a type of something that has been in existence for over eighteen centuries; is in existence still; and shall be in existence until the moment that our Lord Christ rises from His present position, and descends into the air. In one word, a type of the Church of God in the world. How important to recognise this fact! How sadly it has been lost sight of! How little understood even now! and yet every Christian is solemnly responsible to recognise, and practically to confess it. There is no escaping it. Is it true that there is something in this world, at this very moment, answering to the camp in the desert? Yes, verily; there is, in very truth, the Church in the wilderness. There is an assembly passing through this world, just as the literal Israel passed through the literal desert and, moreover, the world is, morally and spiritually, to that Church what the desert was, literally and practically, to Israel of old. Israel found no springs in the desert; and the Church of God should find no springs in the world. If she does, she proves false to her Lord. Israel was not of the desert, but passing through it; and the Church of God is not of the world, but passing through it.
If this be thoroughly entered into by the reader, it will show him the place of complete separation which belongs to the Church of God as a whole, and to each individual member thereof. The Church, in God’s view of her, is as thoroughly marked off from this present world, as the camp of Israel was marked off from. the surrounding desert. There is as little in common between the Church and the world, as there was between Israel and the sand of the desert. The most brilliant attractions and bewitching fascinations of the world are to the Church of God what the serpents and scorpions, and the ten thousand other dangers of the wilderness, were to Israel.
Such is the divine idea, of the Church; and it is with this idea that we are now occupied. Alas! alas! how different it is with that which calls itself the Church! But we want the reader to dwell, for the present, on the true thing. We want him to place himself, by faith, at God’s standpoint, and view the Church from thence. It is only by so doing that he can have anything like a true idea of what the Church is, or of his own personal responsibility with respect to it. God has a Church in the world. There is a body now on the earth, indwelt by God the Spirit, and united to Christ the Head. This Church - this body - is composed of all those who truly believe on the Son of God, and who are united by the grand fact of the presence of the Holy Ghost.
And, be it observed, this is not a matter of opinion - a certain thing which we may take up or lay down at pleasure. It is a divine fact. It is a grand truth, whether we will hear or whether we will forbear. The Church is an existing thing, and we, if believers, are members thereof. We cannot avoid this. We cannot ignore it. We are actually in the relationship - baptised into it by the Holy Ghost. It is as real and as positive a thing as the birth of a child into a family. The birth has taken place, the relationship is formed, and we have only to recognise it, and walk in the sense of it, from day to day. The very moment in the which a soul is born again - born from above, and sealed by the Holy Ghost - he is incorporated into the body of Christ. He can no longer view himself as a solitary individual - an independent person - an isolated atom; he is a member of a body, just as the hand or the foot is a member of the human body. He is a member of the Church of God, and cannot, properly or truly, be a member of anything else. How could my arm be a member of any other body? And, on the same principle, we may ask, how could a member of the body of Christ be a member of any other body?
What a glorious truth is this respecting the Church of God - the antitype of the camp in the desert, "the congregation in the wilderness!" What a fact to be governed by! There is such a thing as the Church of God, amid all the ruin and the wreck, the strife and the discord, the confusion and division, the sects and parties. This surely is a most precious truth. But not only is it most precious, it is also most practical and formative. We are as bound to recognise, by faith, this Church in the world, as the Israelite was bound to recognise, by sight, the camp in the desert. There was one camp, one congregation, and the true Israelite belonged thereto; there is one Church - one body, and the true Christian belongs to it.
But how is this body organised? By the Holy Ghost, as it is written, "By one Spirit are we all baptised into one body." (1 Cor. 12: 13.) How is it maintained? By its living Head, through the Spirit, and by the word, as it is written, "No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church." (Eph. 5: 29) Is not this enough? Is not the Lord Christ sufficient? Doth not the Holy Ghost suffice? Do we want anything more than the varied virtues that are lodged in the name of Jesus? Are not the gifts of the eternal Spirit quite sufficient for the growth and maintenance of the Church of God? Doth not the fact of the Divine presence in the Church secure all that the Church can possibly need? Is it not sufficient for the exigence of every hour!" Faith says, and says it with emphasis and decision - "Yes!" Unbelief - human reason, says, "No! we want a great many things as well." What is our brief reply! Simply this, "If God be not sufficient, we know not whither to turn. If the name of Jesus doth not suffice, we know not what to do. If the Holy Ghost cannot meet all our need, in communion, in ministry, and in worship, we know not what to say."
It may, however, be said that "Things are not as they were in apostolic times. the professing church has failed; Pentecostal gifts have ceased; the palmy days of the Church’s first love have passed away; and therefore we must adopt the best means in our power for the organisation and maintenance of our churches." To all this we reply, "God has not failed. Christ the Head of the Church has not failed. The Holy Spirit has not failed. Not one jot or tittle of God’s word has failed." This is the true ground of faith. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." He has said, "Lo, I am with you." How long! During the days of first love? during apostolic times? so long as the Church shall continue faithful? No; "I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." (Matt. 28) So also, at an earlier moment when, for the first time in the whole canon of scripture, the Church, properly so called, is named, we have those memorable words," On this rock [the Son of the living God] I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16.
Now, the question is," Is that Church on the earth at this moment?" Most assuredly. It is as true that there is a Church now on this earth, as that there was a camp in the desert of old. Yes; and as truly as God was in that camp to meet every exigence, so truly is He, now, in the Church to order and guide in everything, as we read, "Ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph. 2) This is quite sufficient. All we want is to lay hold, by a simple faith, of this grand reality. The name of Jesus is as sufficient for all the exigencies of the Church of God as it is for the soul’s salvation. The one is as true as the other. "Where two or three are gathered together in (or, unto) my name, there am I in the midst." (Matt. 18.) Has this ceased to be true? And if not, is not Christ’s presence quite enough for His Church? Do we need to set about planning or working for ourselves in church matters? No more than in the matter of the soul’s salvation. What do we say to the sinner? Trust Christ. ’What do we say to the saint? Trust Christ. What do we say to an assembly of saints, few or many! Trust Christ. Is there anything that He cannot manage? "Is there a thing too hard for Him?" Has His treasury of gift and grace become exhausted? Is He not able to supply ministerial gifts? Can He not furnish evangelists, pastors, and teachers? Can He not perfectly meet all the manifold necessities of His Church in the wilderness? If not, where are we? What shall we do: Whither shall we turn? What had the congregation of old to do? To look to Jehovah. For everything? Yes, for everything; for food, for water, for clothing, for guidance, for protection, for all. All their springs were in Him. Must we turn to some one else? Never. Our Lord Christ is amply sufficient, in spite of all our failure and ruin, our sin and unfaithfulness. He has sent down the Holy Ghost, the blessed Paraclete, to dwell with and in His people - to form them into one body, and unite them to their living Head in heaven. He is the power of unity, of communion, of ministry, and of worship. He has not left us, and He never will. Only let as trust Him; let us use Him; let us give Him room to act. Let us carefully guard against everything that might tend to quench, to hinder, or to grieve Him. Let us acknowledge Him, in His own proper place in the assembly, and yield ourselves, in all things, to His guidance and authority.
Here, we are persuaded, lies the true secret of power and blessing. Do we deny the ruin? How could we? Alas! alas! it stands forth as a fact too palpable and glaring to admit of denial. Do we seek to deny our share in the ruin - our folly and sin? Would to God we felt it more deeply! But shall we add to our sin by denying our Lord’s grace and power to meet us in our folly and ruin? Shall we forsake Him, the fountain of living waters, and hew out for ourselves broken cisterns that can hold no water? Shall we turn from the Rock of Ages and lean upon the broken reeds of our own devising? God forbid! Rather let the language of our hearts be, as we think of the name of Jesus,
"Salvation in that name is found,
Cure for my grief and care;
A healing balm for every wound,
all, all I want is There."
But let not the reader suppose that we want to lend the smallest countenance to ecclesiastical pretension. We perfectly abhor any such thing. We look upon it as utterly contemptible. We believe we cannot possibly take too low a place. A low place and a lowly spirit are what alone become us in view of our common sin and shame. All we seek to maintain is this, the all sufficiency of the name of Jesus for all the exigencies of the Church of God, at all times, and under all circumstances. There was all power in that name in apostolic times; and why not now? Has any change passed over that glorious name? No, blessed be God! Well then it is sufficient for us, at this moment, and all we want is to confide in it fully, and to show that we so confide by discarding thoroughly every other ground of confidence, and coming out, with bold decision, to that peerless and precious name. He has, blessed be His name, come down to the smallest congregation - the smallest plurality, inasmuch as He has said," Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I." Does this still hold good? Has it lost its power? Does it no longer apply? Where has it been repealed?
Oh! Christian reader, we call upon you, by every argument which ought to weigh with your heart, to give your cordial assent and consent to this one eternal truth, namely, The all-sufficiency of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the assembly of God, in every possible condition in which it can be found, throughout its entire history* We call upon you not merely to hold this as a true theory, but, to confess it practically and then, assuredly, you will taste the deep blessedness of the presence of Jesus in the outside place - a blessedness which must be tasted in order to be known; But, when once really tasted, it can never be forgotten or surrendered for anything beside.
{*In using the expression, "The all-sufficiency of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," we understand by it all that is secured to His people in that name - life; righteousness; acceptance; the presence of the Holy Ghost with all His varied gifts: a divine centre or gathering point. In a word, we believe that everything that the Church can possibly need, for time or eternity, is comprehended in that one glorious name, The Lord Jesus Christ.}
But we had no intention of pursuing the foregoing line of thought so far, or of penning such a lengthened introduction to the section of our book which lies open before us, and to which we shall now invite the reader’s particular attention.
On looking attentively at "the congregation in the wilderness" (Acts 7: 38), we find it composed of three distinct elements, namely, warriors, workers, and worshippers. There was a nation of warriors, a tribe of workers, a family of worshippers or priests. We have glanced at the first of these and seen each one according to his "pedigree," taking up his position by his "standard," according to the direct appointment of Jehovah; and we shall now dwell for a few moments on the second, and see each one at his work and service, according to the same appointment. we have considered the warriors; let us meditate on the workers.
The Levites were distinctly marked off from all the other tribes, and called to a very specific place and service. Thus we read of them, "But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. For the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying, Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel. But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. and the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony." (Num. 1: 47-53.) And again we read, "But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses." Num. 2: 33.
But why the Levites? why was this tribe specially marked off from all the others, and set apart for so holy and elevated a service? Was there any special sanctity or goodness about them to account for their being so distinguished? Not by nature, certainly, nor yet by practice, as we may see by the following words "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O, my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Genesis 49.Such was Levi by nature and by practice - self-willed, fierce, and cruel. How remarkable that such an one should be singled out and brought into a place of such high and holy privilege! Surely we may say it was grace from first to last. It is the way of grace to take up the very worst cases. It stoops to the lowest depths and gathers up its brightest trophies from thence. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." (2 Tim. 1: 16) "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Ephesians 3.
But how striking the language, "O, my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united." God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity. God could not come into Levi’s secret, or be united unto his assembly. That was impossible. God could have nought to do with self-will, fierceness, and cruelty. But yet He could bring Levi into His secret, and unite him to His assembly. He could take him out of his habitation, wherein were instruments of cruelty, and bring him into the tabernacle to be occupied with the holy instruments and vessels that were there. This was grace - free, sovereign grace; and herein must be sought the basis of all Levi’s blessed and elevated service. So far as he was personally concerned there was an immeasurable distance between him and a holy God - a chasm which no human art or power could bridge. A holy God could have nothing to do with self-will fierceness, and cruelty; but a God of grace could have to do with Levi. He could visit such an one in sovereign mercy, and raise him up from the depths of his moral degradation, and bring him into a place of nearness to Himself.
And oh what a marvellous contrast between Levi’s position by nature, and his position by grace! between the instruments of cruelty and the vessels of the sanctuary! between Levi in Genesis 34 and Levi in Numbers 3 and 4.
But let us look at the mode of God’s dealing with Levi - the ground on which he was brought into such a place of blessing. In doing this, it will be needful for us to refer to Numbers 8, and there we are let into the secret of the whole matter. We shall see that there was, and could be, no allowance of anything that belonged to Levi, no sanction of any of his ways; and yet there was the most perfect display of grace - grace reigning through righteousness. We speak of the type and its significance. We do so in view of that statement already referred to: "Now all these things happened unto them for types." It is not a question of how far the Levites saw through these things. This is not at all the point. We are not to ask, What did the Levites see in God’s dealings with them? But, What do we learn?
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean." Num. 8: 5-7.
Here we have, in type, the only divine principle of cleansing. It is the application of death to nature and all its habits. It is the word of God brought to bear upon the heart and conscience, in a living way. Nothing can be more expressive than the double action presented in the above passage. Moses was to sprinkle water of purifying upon them; and then they were to shave off all their hair, and wash their garments. There is great beauty and precision here. Moses, as representing the claims of God, cleanses the Levites according to those claims; and they, being cleansed, are able to bring the sharp razor to bear upon all that was the mere growth of nature, and to wash their garments, which expresses, in typical form, the cleansing their habits according to the word of God. This was God’s way of meeting all that appertained to Levi’s natural state - the self-will, the fierceness, and the cruelty. the pure water and the sharp razor were called into action-the washing and shaving had to go on, ere Levi was fit to approach the vessels of the sanctuary.
Thus it is in every case. There is, there can be, no allowance of nature among God’s workers. There never was a more fatal mistake than to attempt to enlist nature in the service of God. It matters not how you may endeavour to improve or regulate it. It is not improvement, but death that will avail. It is of the very last possible importance for the reader to lay hold, with clearness and force, of this great practical truth. Man has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. The plummet has been applied to him, and he has been found crooked. It is of no possible use seeking to reform. Nothing will do save the water and the razor. God has closed up man’s history. He has brought to an end in the death of Christ. The first grand fact that the Holy Ghost presses upon the human conscience is, that God has delivered His solemn verdict upon human nature, and that each one must accept that verdict against himself personally. It is not a matter of opinion, or a matter of feeling. A person may say, "I do not see, or I do not feel, that I am so bad as you seem to make out." We reply, That does not affect the question in the least. God has declared His judgement about us, and it is man’s first duty to fall in with, and bow to that. Of what use would it have been for Levi to say that he did not agree with what God’s word had said about him Would that - could that, have altered the question as to him? In no wise. The divine record remained the same whether Levi felt it or not; but clearly, it was the first step in wisdom’s pathway to bow down under the weight of that record.
All this is expressed, in type, in the "water" and the "razor’’ the "washing" and the "shaving." Nothing could be more significant or impressive. These acts set forth the solemn truth of the sentence of death upon nature, and the execution of judgement upon all that nature produces.
And what, let us ask, is the meaning of the initiatory act of Christianity - the act of baptism? Does it not set forth the blessed fact that "our old man" - our fallen nature - is completely set aside, and that we are introduced into an entirely new position Truly so. And how do we use the razor? By rigid self-judgment, day by day; by the stern disallowance of all that is of nature’s growth. This is the true path for all God’s workers in the wilderness. When we look at Levi’s conduct at Shechem, in Genesis 34, and the record concerning him in Genesis 49, we may ask, How can such an one ever be allowed to carry the vessels of the sanctuary? The answer is, Grace shines in Levi’s call; and holiness shines in Levi’s cleansing. He was called to the work, according to the riches of divine grace; but he was fitted for the work according to the claims of divine holiness.
Thus it must be with all God’s workers. We are most thoroughly convinced that we are fit for God’s work just so far as nature is brought under the power of the cross, and the sharp razor of self-judgment. Self-will can never be made available in the service of God; nay, it must be set aside, if we would know what true service is. There is, alas! A large amount of what which passes for service which, if judged in the light of the divine presence, would be seen to be but the fruit of a restless will. This is most solemn, and demands our most earnest attention. We cannot exercise too severe a censorship over ourselves, in this very thing. The heart is so deceitful that we may be led to imagine that we are doing the Lord’s work, when, in reality, we are only pleasing ourselves. But, if we would tread the path of true service, we must seek to be, more and more, apart from nature. The self-willed Levi must pass through the typical process of washing and shaving, ere he can be employed in that elevated service assigned him by the direct appointment of the God of Israel.
But, ere proceeding to examine particularly the work and service of the Levites, we must look for a moment at a scene in Exodus 32, in which they act a very prominent and a very remarkable part. We allude, as the reader will at once perceive, to the golden calf. During the absence of Moses, the people so completely lost sight of God and His claims as to set up a molten calf and bow down thereto. This terrible act called for summary judgement. "And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies:) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. and he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." Exodus 32: 25-29.
This was a testing moment. It could not be otherwise, when this great question was pressed home upon the heart and conscience, "Who is on the Lord’s side?" nothing could be more searching. The question was not, "Who is willing to work?’ No! it was a far deeper and more searching question. It was not who will go here or there - do this or that? There might be a vast amount of doing and going, and, all the while, it might be but the impulse of an unbroken will which, acting upon religious nature, gave an appearance of devotedness and piety imminently calculated to deceive oneself and others.
But to be "on the Lord’s side" implies the surrender of one’s own will - yea, the surrender of oneself, and this is essential to the true servant - the real workman. Saul of Tarsus was on this ground when he exclaimed, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" What words, from the self-willed, fierce, and cruel persecutor of the Church of God!
"Who is on the Lord’s side?" Reader, art thou? Search and see. Examine thyself closely. Remember, the question is not at all "What art thou doing?’ No; it is far deeper. If thou art on the Lord’s side, thou art ready for anything and everything. Thou art ready to stand still, or ready to go forward; ready to go to the right or to the left; ready to be active, and ready to be quiet; ready to stand on thy feet, and ready to lie on thy back. the grand point is this, namely, the surrender of thyself to the claims of another, and that other the Lord Christ.
This is an immense point. Indeed we know of nothing more important, at the present moment, than this searching question," Who is on the Lord’s side?" We live in days of immense self-will. Man exults in his liberty. And this comes out, very prominently, in religious matters. Just as it was in the camp of Israel, in the days of the thirty-second of Exodus - the days of The golden calf. Moses was out of sight, and the human will was at work; the graving tool was called into operation. And what was the result? The molten calf; and when Moses returned, he found the people in idolatry and nakedness. Then came forth the solemn and testing question, "Who is on the Lord’s side" This brought things to an issue, or rather it put people to the test. Nor is it other wise now. Man’s will is rampant, and that too in matters of religion. Man boasts of his lights, of the freedom of his will, the freedom of his judgement. There is the denial of the Lordship of Christ; and therefore it behoves us to look well to it, and see that we really are taking sides with the Lord against ourselves; that we are in the attitude of simple subjection to His authority. Then we shall not be occupied with the amount or character of our service; it will be our one object to do the will of our Lord.
Now, to act thus under the Lord may often give an appearance of narrowness to our sphere of action; but with this we have nothing whatever to do. If a master tells his servant to stand in the hall, and not to stir until he rings the bell, what is the servant’s duty? Clearly to stand still; nor should he be moved from this position or this attitude, even though his fellow-servants should find fault with his apparent inactivity and good-for-nothingness; he may rest assured his Master will approve and vindicate. This is enough for any true-hearted servant, whose one desire will ever be not so much to do a great deal, as to do the will of his Lord.
In a word, then, the question for the camp of Israel, in the day of the golden calf, and the question for the Church, in this day of human will, is this, "Who is on the Lord’s side?" Momentous question! It is not, Who is on the side of religiousness, philanthropy, or moral reform? There may be a large amount of any or all of these things, and yet the will be thoroughly unbroken. Let us not forget this; nay, rather we should say, let us continually bear it in mind. We may be very zealous in promoting all the various schemes of philanthropy, religiousness, and moral reform, and, all the while, be ministering to self, and feeding self-will. This is a most solemn and weighty consideration; and it behoves us to give earnest heed to it. We are passing through a moment in the which man’s will is being pampered with unparalleled diligence. We believe, most assuredly, that the true remedy for this evil will be found wrapped up in this one weighty question, "Who is on the Lord’s side" There is immense practical power in this question. To be really on the Lord’s side is to be ready for anything to which He may see fit to call us, no matter what. If the soul is brought to say, in real truth, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth," then we are ready for everything. Hence, in the case of the Levites, they were called to "slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour." This was terrible work for flesh and blood. But the moment demanded it. God’s claims had been openly and grossly dishonoured. Human invention had been at work, with the graving tool, and a calf had been set up. The glory of God had been changed into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass; and therefore all who were on the Lord’s side were called to gird on the sword. Nature might say, "No; let us be tender, and gentle, and gracious. We shall accomplish more by kindness than by severity. It can do no good to wound people. There is far more power in love than in harshness. Let us love one another." Thus might nature throw out its suggestions - thus it might reason and argue. But the command was distinct and decisive: "Put every man his sword by his side." The sword was the only thing when the golden calf was there. To talk of love at such a moment, would be to fling over-board the just claims of the God of Israel. It belongs to the true spirit of obedience to render the very service which suits the occasion. A servant has no business to reason, he is simply to do as he is bid. To raise a question, or put forth a demur, is to abandon our place as a servant. It might seem most dreadful work to have to slay a brother, a companion, or a neighbour; but the word of the Lord was imperative. It left no room for evasion; and the Levites, through grace, yielded a full and ready obedience. "The children of Levi did according to the word of Moses."
This is the only true path for those who will be God’s workers, and Christ’s servants in this world where self-will is dominant. It is immensely important to have the truth of the Lordship of Christ deeply engraved upon the heart. It is the only regulator of the course and conduct. It settles a thousand questions. If the heart be really subject to the authority of Christ, it is in readiness for anything and everything to which He calls us, be it to stand still or to go forward, to do little or much, to be active or passive. To a really obedient heart, the question is not at all," What am I doing? or where am I going?" It is simply, "am I doing the will of my Lord?"
Such was the ground occupied by Levi. And mark: the divine comment on this, as given in Malachi. "And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity." (Mal. 2: 4-6.) Mark also the blessing pronounced by the lips of Moses, "And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children; for they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgements, and Israel thy law; they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again." (Deut 33: 8-11.)
It might have appeared unwarrantably harsh and severe in Levi not to have seen his parents or known or acknowledged his brethren. But God’s claims are paramount; and our Lord Christ hath declared these solemn words, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14: 26.
These are plain words; and they let us into the secret of what it is which lies at the bottom of all true service. Let no one imagine that we are to be without natural affection. Far be the thought. To be so would be to connect us, morally, with the apostasy of the last days. (See 2 Tim. 3: 3) But when the claims of natural affection are allowed to stand in the way of our whole-hearted service to Christ, and when the so-called love of our brethren receives a higher place than faithfulness to Christ, then are we unfit for His service and unworthy of the name of His servants. Let it be carefully noted that what formed the moral ground of Levi’s title to be employed in the Lord’s service was the fact that he did not see his parents, acknowledge his brethren, or know his children. In a word, he was enabled to set the claims of nature completely aside, and to give the claims of Jehovah the paramount place in his heart. This, we repeat, is the only true basis of the servant’s character.
This is a most weighty consideration, and one which demands the most serious attention of the Christian reader. There may be a vast amount of what looks like service - a great deal of activity, of coming and going, of doing and saying - and, all the while, there may not be a single atom of true Levite service, yea, it may, in God’s estimation, be only the restless activity of the will. "What," it may be said, "can the will show itself in the service of God - in matters of religion?" Alas, alas, it can and does. And very often the apparent energy and fruitfulness in work and service is just in proportion to the energy of the will. This is peculiarly solemn. It calls for the most rigid self-judgment, in the light of the divine presence. True service doth not consist in great activity, but in profound subjection to the will of our Lord, and where this exists there will be the readiness to sink the claims of parents, brethren, and children, in order to carry out the will of Him whom we own as Lord. True, we should love our parents, our brethren, and our children. It is not that we should love these less, but we should love Christ more. He and His claims must ever have the paramount place in the heart, if we would be true workers for God, true servants of Christ, true Levites in the wilderness. It was this that marked the actings of Levi, on the occasion to which we are referring. God’s claims were in question, and hence the claims of nature were not to be entertained for a moment. Parents, brethren, and children, how dear soever these might be, were not to stand in the way when the glory of the God of Israel had been changed into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
Here lies the whole question, in all its weight and magnitude. The ties of natural relationship, with all the claims, duties, and responsibilities arising out of such ties, Will ever get their proper place, their due respect, from those whose hearts, and minds, and consciences have been brought under the adjusting power of the truth of God. Nought save what is really due to God and His Christ should ever be suffered to infringe those rights which are founded upon natural relationship. This is a most necessary and wholesome consideration, and one which we would particularly press upon the young Christian reader. We have ever to be on our guard against a spirit of self-will and self-pleasing which is never so dangerous as when it clothes itself in the garb of religious service, and work so called. It behoves us to be very sure indeed that we are directly and simply governed by the claims of God when we disregard the claims of natural relationship. In Levi’s case, the matter was as clear as a sunbeam, and hence the "sword" of judgement, not the kiss of affection, befitted the critical moment. So, also, in our history, there are moments in which it would be open disloyalty to our Lord Christ to hearken, for one instant, to the voice of natural relationship.
The above remarks may help the reader to understand the actings of the Levites to Exodus 32, and the words of our Lord in Luke 14: 26. May God’s Spirit enable us to realise and exhibit the adjusting power of truth!
We shall now dwell, for a few moments, on the consecration of the Levites, in Numbers 8, in order that we may have the whole subject before our minds. Truly it is a theme full of instruction for all who desire to be workers for God.
After the ceremonial acts of "washing" and "shaving" already referred to, we read, "Then let them (i.e., the Levites) take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly or the children of Israel together. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks; and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites."
Here we have presented to us, in type, the two grand aspects of the death of Christ. The sin offering furnishes the one; the burnt offering furnishes the other. Into the details of those offerings we do not enter here, having sought to do so in the opening chapters of our "Notes on Leviticus." We would merely observe here, that, in the sin offering, we see Christ bearing sin in His own body on the tree, and enduring the wrath of God against sin. In the burnt offering, we see Christ glorifying God even in the very matter of making atonement for sin. Atonement is made in both; but in the former, it is atonement according to the depth of the sinner’s need; in the latter, it is atonement according to the measure of Christ’s devotedness to God. In that, we see the hatefulness of sin; in this, the preciousness of Christ. It is, we need hardly say, the same atoning death of Christ, but presented in two distinct aspects.*
{*For further instruction on the doctrine of the sin offering and the burnt offering, the reader is referred to "Notes on Leviticus," Lev. 1: 4. This little volume can be had of the publisher.}
Now, the Levites laid their hands on both the sin offering and the burnt offering; and this act of the imposition of hands expressed the simple fact of identification. But how different the result in each case When Levi laid his hands on the head of the sin offering, it involved the transfer of all his sins, of all his guilt, of all his fierceness, cruelty, and self-will to the victim. And on the other hand, when he laid his hands on the head of the burnt offering, it involved the transfer of all the acceptableness of the sacrifice, of all its perfectness, to Levi. Of course, we speak of what the type set forth. We do not undertake to state anything as to Levi’s intelligent entrance into these things; we merely seek to unfold the meaning of the ceremonial figure; and, most assuredly, no figure could be more expressive than the imposition of hands, whether we view it in the case of the sin offering, or in the case of the burnt offering. The doctrine of all this is embodied in that most weighty passage at the close of 2 Corinthians 5, "He hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him." "And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, and after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering. For they are wholly given unto ME from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them For myself. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary. And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them." Numbers 8: 13-20.
How forcibly are we reminded, by the foregoing lines, of the words of our Lord in John 17, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.... I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them." Verses 6-10.
The Levites were a separated people - God’s special possession. They took the place of all the firstborn in Israel - of those who were saved from the sword of the destroyer by the blood of the lamb. They were, typically, a dead and risen people, set apart to God, and by Him presented as a gift to Aaron the high priest, to do the service of the tabernacle.
What a place for the self-willed, fierce, and cruel Levi! What a triumph of grace! What an illustration of the efficacy of the blood of atonement and the water of purification! ’They were, by nature and by practice, far off from God; but the "blood" of atonement, and the" water" of cleansing, and the ’’razor" of self-judgment had done their blessed work, and hence the Levites were in a condition to be presented as a gift to Aaron and to his sons, to be associated with them in the hallowed services of the tabernacle of the congregation.
In all this the Levites were a striking type of God’s people now. These latter have been lifted from the depths of their degradation and ruin as sinners. They are washed in the precious blood of Christ, purified by the application of the word, and called to the exercise of habitual and rigid self-judgment, Thus are they fitted for that holy service to the which they are called. God has given them to His Son in order that they may be His workers in this world. "Thine they were and thou gavest them me." Wondrous thought! To think that such as we could be thus spoken of! To think of our being God’s property and God’s gift to His Son! Well may we say it surpasses all human thought. It is not merely that we are saved from hell; that is true. It is not, merely that we are pardoned, justified, and accepted; all this is true; but we are called to the high and holy work of bearing through this world the Name, the testimony, the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is our work as true Levites. As men of war, we are called to fight; as priests, we are privileged to worship; but as Levites, we are responsible to serve, and our service is to carry through this dreary desert scene the antitype of the tabernacle, and that tabernacle was the figure of Christ. This is our distinct line of service. To this we are called - to this we are set apart.
The reader will, we doubt not, notice, with interest, the fact that it is in this book of Numbers, and here alone, that we are furnished with all the precious and deeply instructive details respecting the Levites. In this we have a fresh illustration of the character of our book. It is from a wilderness standpoint that we get a full and proper view of God’s workers as well as of God’s warriors.
And, now, let us examine for a few moments, the service of the Levites, as detailed in Numbers 3 and 4. "and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel." Num. 3: 5-9.
The Levites represented the whole congregation of Israel, and acted on their behalf. This appears from the fact that the children of Israel laid their hands on the heads of the Levites, just as the Levites laid their hands on the heads of the sacrifices. (See Num. 8: 10) The act of imposition expressed identification, so that, according to this, the Levites furnish a distinct view of’ the people of God in the wilderness. They present them to us as a company of earnest workers, and that too, be it noted, not as mere desultory labourers, running to and fro, and doing each one what seemed right in his own eyes. Nothing of the sort. If the men of war had their pedigree to show and their standard to adhere to, so had the Levites their centre to gather round and their work to do. All was as clear, distinct, and defined as God could make it; and, moreover, all was under the immediate authority and direction of the high priest.
It is most needful for all who would be true Levites, proper workmen, intelligent servants, to weigh, with all seriousness, this point. Levite service was to be regulated by the appointment of the priest. There was no more room for the exercise of self-will in the service of the Levites, that there was the position of the men of war. All was divinely settled; and this was a signal mercy to all whose hearts were in a right condition. To one whose will was unbroken it might seem a hardship and a most irksome task to be obliged to occupy the same position, or to be engaged in precisely the same line of work. Such an one might sigh for something fresh - some variety in his work. But, on the contrary, where the will was subdued, and the heart adjusted, each one would say, "my path is perfectly plain; I have only to obey." This is ever the business of the true servant. It was pre-eminently so with Him Who was the only perfect servant that ever trod the earth. He could say, "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." And again, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."
But there is another fact which claims our attention, in reference to the Levites; and that is, their service had exclusively to do with the tabernacle and its belongings. They had nothing else to do. For a Levite to think of putting his hand to anything beside would have been to deny his calling, to abandon his divinely appointed work, and to fly in the face of God’s commandments.
Just so is it with Christians now. Their exclusive business - their one grand work - their absorbing service, is Christ and His belongings. They have nothing else to do. For a Christian to think of putting his hand to anything beside is to deny his calling, to abandon his divinely-appointed work, and fly in the face of the divine commandments. A true Levite of old could say, "To me to live is the tabernacle;" and a true Christian, now, can say, "To me to live is Christ." The grand question, in every matter which may present itself before the Christian, is this, "Can I connect Christ with it?" If not, I have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
This is the true way to look at things. It is not a question as to the right or wrong of this or that. No; it is simply a question as to how far it concerns the name and glory of Christ. This simplifies everything amazingly. It answers a thousand questions, solves a thousand difficulties, and makes the path of the true and earnest Christian as clear as a sunbeam. A Levite had no difficulty as to his work. It was all settled for him with divine precision. The burden that each had to carry, and the work that each had to do, was laid down with a clearness which left no room for the questionings of the heart. Each man could know his own work and do it; and let us add the work was done by each one discharging his own specific functions. It was not by running hither and thither, and doing this or that; but by each man sedulously adhering to his own particular calling, that the service of the tabernacle was duly discharged.
It is well to bear this in mind. We, as Christians, are very apt to jostle one another; indeed we are sure to do so if we do not each one pursue his own divinely appointed line of work. We say "divinely appointed," and would press the word. We have no right to choose our own work. If the Lord has made one man an evangelist, another a teacher, another a pastor, and another an exhorter, how is the work to go on? surely it is not by the evangelist trying to teach, and the teacher to exhort, or one who is not fitted for either trying to do both. No; it is by each one exercising his own divinely-imparted gift. No doubt it may please the Lord to endow one individual with a variety of gifts; but this does not, in the smallest degree, touch the principle on which we are dwelling, which is simply this, every one of us is responsible to know his own special line and pursue it. If this be lost sight of we shall get into hopeless confusion. God has His quarrymen, His stone-squarers, and His masons. The work progresses by each man attending diligently to his own work. If all were quarry-men, where were the stone-squarers? if all were stone-squarers, where were the masons? The greatest possible damage is done to the cause of Christ, and to the cause of Christ, and to God’s work in the world, by one man aiming at another’s line of things, or seeking to imitate another’s gift. It is a grievous mistake, against which we would solemnly warn the reader. Nothing can be more senseless. God never repeats Himself. There are not two faces alike, not two leaves in the forest alike, not two blades of grass alike. Why then should any one aim at another’s line of work, or affect to possess another’s gift? Let each one be satisfied to be just what His Master has made him. This is the secret of real peace and progress.
All this finds a very vivid illustration in the inspired record concerning the service of the three distinct classes of the Levites, which we shall now proceed to quote at length for the reader. There is nothing, after all, to be compared with the veritable language of holy scripture.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. and Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as He was commanded. And these were the sons of Levi by their names, Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof." (Num. 3: 14-26.) and again, we read, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families; from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens: and they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers’ skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve. At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens. This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest." Numbers 4: 21-28.
Thus much as to Gershon and his work. He, with his brother Merari, had to carry "the tabernacle whereas Kohath was called to bear "the sanctuary," as we read in Numbers 10 "And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon, and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle ..... And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other (i.e., the Gershonites and the Merarites) did set up the tabernacle against they came." (Ver. 17, 21.) There was a strong moral link connecting Gershon and Merari in their service, although their work was perfectly distinct, as we shall see from the following passage.
"As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; from thirty years old and upward, even unto fifty years old, shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden. This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service to the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest." Numbers 4: 29-33.
All this was clear and distinct. Gershon had nothing to do with the boards and pins; and Merari had nothing to do with the curtains or the coverings. And yet they were very intimately connected, as they were mutually dependent. "The boards and sockets" would not do without "the curtains;" and the curtains would not do without the boards and sockets. And as to "the pins," though apparently so insignificant, who could estimate their importance in keeping things together, and maintaining the visible unity of the whole? Thus all worked together to one common end, and that end was gained by each attending to his own special line. If a Gershonite had taken it into his head to abandon "the curtains" and address himself to "the pins," he would have left his own work undone and interfered with the work; of the Merarite. This would never do. It would have thrown everything into hopeless confusion;. whereas by adhering to the divine rule, all was maintained in the most exquisite order.
It must have been perfectly beautiful to mark God’s workers in the wilderness. Each one was at his post, and each moved in his divinely appointed sphere. Hence, the moment the cloud was lifted up, and the order issued to strike, every man knew what he had to do, and he addressed himself to that and to nothing else . No man had any right to think for himself. Jehovah thought for all. The Levites had declared themselves "on the Lord’s side;" they had yielded themselves to His authority; and this fact lay at the very base of all their wilderness work and service. looked at in this light it would be deemed a matter of total indifference whether a man had to carry a pin, a curtain, or a golden candlestick. The grand question for each and for all was simply, "Is this my work? Is his what the Lord has given we to do?"
This settled everything. Had it been left to human thinking or human choosing, one man might like this; another might like that; and a third might like something else. How then could the tabernacle ever be borne along through the wilderness, or set up in its place? Impossible! There could be but one supreme authority, namely Jehovah Himself. He arranged for all, and all had to submit to Him. There was no room at all for the exercise of the human will. This was a signal mercy. It prevented a world of strife and confusion. There must be subjection - there must be a broken will - there must be a cordial yielding to divine authority, otherwise it will turn out to be like the book of Judges, "Every man doing that which is right in his own eyes." A Merarite might say, or think if he did not say it, "what! am I to spend the very best portion of my life upon earth - the days of my prime and vigour - in looking after a few pins? Was this the end for which I was born? Am I to have nothing higher before me as an object in life? Is this to be my occupation from the age of thirty to fifty?"
To such questions there was a twofold reply. In the first place, it was enough for the Merarite to know that Jehovah had assigned him his work. This was sufficient to impart dignity to what nature might esteem the smallest and meanest matter. It does not matter what we are doing, provided always we are doing our divinely appointed work. a man may pursue what his fellows would deem a most brilliant career he may spend his energies, his time, his talents, his fortune, in pursuits which the men of this world esteem grand and glorious, and, all the while, his life may prove to be but a splendid bubble. But, on the other hand, the man that simply does the will of God. whatever that may be - the man who executes his Lord’s commands, whatever such commands may enjoin - that is the man whose path is illuminated by the beams of divine approbation, and whose work shall be remembered! when the most splendid schemes of the children of this world have sunk in eternal oblivion.
But, besides the moral worth attaching always to the act of doing what we are told to do, there was also a special dignity belonging to the work of a Merarite, even though that work was merely attending to a few "pins" or "sockets." Everything connected with the tabernacle was of the very deepest interest and highest value. There was not, in the whole world, anything to be compared with that boarded tent with all its mystic belongings. It was a holy dignity and privilege to be allowed to touch the smallest pin that formed a part of that wonderful tabernacle in the wilderness. It was more glorious, by far, to be a Merarite looking after the pins of the tabernacle, than to wield the sceptre of Egypt or Assyria. True, that Merarite, according to the import of his name, might seem a poor sorrowful, labouring man; but oh! his labour stood connected with the dwelling-place of the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth. His hands handled the things which were the patterns of things in the heavens. Every pin, every socket; every curtain, and every covering was a shadow of good things to come - a foreshadowing of Christ.
We do not mean to assert that the poor labouring Merarite or Gershonite understood these things. This is not, by any means, the point. We can understand them. It is our privilege to bring all these things-the tabernacle and its mystic furniture - under the brilliant light of the New Testament, and there read Christ in all.
While, therefore, we predicate nothing as to the measure of intelligence possessed by the Levites, in their respective work; we at the same time, may say, with confidence, that it was a very precious privilege to be allowed to touch and handle, and bear through the wilderness, the earthly shadows of heavenly realities. Moreover, it was a special mercy to have the authority of a "Thus saith the Lord" for everything they put their hand to. Who can estimate such a mercy - such a privilege? Each member of that marvellous tribe of workers had his own particular line of things marked out by God’s hand, and superintended by God’s priest. It was not each doing what he liked himself, nor one man running in the wake of another, but all bowing to the authority of God, and doing precisely what they were told to do. This was the secret of order throughout the eight thousand five hundred and eighty workers. (Num. 4: 48) and, we may say, with all possible confidence, it is the only true secret of order still. Why is it that we have so much confusion in the professing church? Why such conflicting thoughts, feelings, and opinions? why such clashing one with another? Why such crossing of each other’s path? Simply from the lack of entire and absolute submission to the word of God. Our will is at work, we choose our own ways, instead of allowing God to choose for us. We want that attitude and temper of soul in the which all human thoughts, our own amongst them, shall be put down at what they are really worth; and God’s thoughts shall rise into full unqualified dominion.
This, we feel persuaded, is the grand desideratum - the crying want of the day in which our lot is cast Man’s will is everywhere gaining the ascendant. It is rising like a mighty tide and bearing away those ancient barriers which have, in some measure, kept it in check. Many an old and time-honoured institution is, at this moment, giving way before the rushing torrent. Many an edifice, whose foundations, as we supposed, were laid deep down in the fond and reverent affections of the people, is giving way beneath the battering ram of popular feeling. "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
Such is, pre-eminently, the spirit of the age. What is the antidote? Subjection! Subjection to what? Is it to what is called the authority of the Church? Is it to the voice of tradition? Is it to the commandments and doctrines of men? No; blessed be God, it is not to any of these things, nor to all of them put together. To what then? To the voice of the living God - the voice of holy scripture. This is the grand remedy for self-will, on the one hand, and submission to human authority, on the other. "we must obey." This is the answer to self-will. "We must obey God." This is the answer to mere bowing down to human authority. we see these two elements all around us. The former, self-will, resolves itself into infidelity. The latter, subjection to man, resolves itself into superstition. These two will bear sway over the whole civilized world. They will carry away all save those who are divinely taught to say, and feel, and act upon, that immortal sentence, "We must obey God rather than man."
It was this that enabled the Gershonite, in the wilderness, to look after those rough unattractive looking "badger skins;" and that enabled the Merarite to look after these, apparently, insignificant "pins." Yes, and it is this which will enable the Christian, now, to address himself to that special line of service to which his Lord may see fit to call him. What, though, to human eyes, it seems rough and unattractive, mean and insignificant: it is enough for us that our Lord has assigned us our post, and given us our work; and that our work has direct reference to the Person and glory of Him who is the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. We, too, may have to confine ourselves to the antitype of the rough unsightly badger skin, or the insignificant pin. But let us remember that whatever has reference to Christ - His name - His Person - His cause, in the world, is unspeakably precious to God. It may be very small, in man’s account; but what of that? we must look at things from God’s point of view, we must measure them by His standard, and that is Christ. God measures everything by Christ. Whatever has even the very smallest reference to Christ is interesting and important in God’s account. Whereas the most splendid undertakings, the most gigantic schemes, the most astonishing enterprises of the men of this world, all pass away like the morning cloud and the early dew. Man makes self his centre, his object, his standard. He values things according to the measure in which they exalt himself, and further his interests. Even religion itself, so called, is taken up in the same way, and made a pedestal on which to display himself. Everything, in short, is marked up as capital for self, and used as a reflector to throw light upon, and call attention to, that one object. Thus there is a mighty gulf between God’s thoughts: and man’s thoughts; and the shores of that gulf are as far apart as Christ and self. All that belongs to Christ is of eternal interest and moment. All that belongs to self shall pass away and be forgotten. Hence, therefore, the most fatal mistake into which any man can fall is to make self his object. It must issue in everlasting disappointment. But, on the other hand, the very wisest, safest, best thing that any man can do, is to make Christ his one absorbing object. This must, infallibly, issue in everlasting blessedness and glory.
Beloved reader. pause here a moment and commune with thine own heart and conscience. It seems to us, at this point, that we have a sacred responsibility to discharge in reference to thy soul. We are penning these lines in the solitude of our chamber at Bristol, and you may, perchance, read them in the solitude of thy chamber in New Zealand, Australia, or some other distant spot. we would therefore remember that our object is not to write a book, nor yet, merely, to expound scripture. We desire to be used of God in the blessed work of dealing with thy very inmost soul. Permit us, therefore, to put this solemn and pointed question home to thee, What is thy object? Is it Christ or self? Be honest with thyself before the almighty and all-seeing Searcher of hearts. Sit in stern judgment upon thyself, as in the very light of the divine presence. Be not deceived by any gilding or false colouring. God sees below the surface of things, and He would have thee do so likewise. he presents Christ to thee in contrast with all beside. Hast thou accepted Him? Is He thy wisdom, thy righteousness, thy sanctification, and thy redemption? Canst thou say, without hesitation, "My Beloved is mine, and I am his?" Search and see. Is this a thoroughly settled point, deep down in the very depths of thy soul? If so, art thou making Christ thy exclusive object? Art thou measuring everything by Him?
Ah! dear friend, these are searching questions. Be assured we do not put them to thee without feeling their edge and power for ourselves. As God is our witness, we do feel, though in a very small degree, their weight and seriousness. We are deeply and thoroughly convinced that nothing will stand save that which is connected with Christ; and, moreover, that the very smallest matter which refers, however remotely, to Him is of commanding interest in the judgement of heaven. If we may be permitted to awaken a sense of this in any heart, or to deepen the sense where it has been awakened, we shall feel we have not penned this volume in vain.
We must now, ere closing this lengthened section, glance, for a few moments, at the Kohathites and their work.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers, from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work; in the tabernacle of the congregation. This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things: and when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil, and cover the ark of testimony with it: and shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. and upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: and they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers" skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuff dishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it; and they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers skins, and shall put it upon a bar. And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put to the staves thereof: and they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put them on a bar: and they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon: and they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the flesh-hooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers’ skins, and put to the staves of it. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation." Numbers 4: 1-15.
Here we see what precious mysteries were committed to the charge of the Kohathites. The ark, the golden table, the golden candlestick, the golden altar, and the altar of burnt offering - all these were shadows of good things to come - the patterns of things in the heavens-the figures of the true - the types of Christ, is His Person, His work, and His offices, as we have sought to show in our "Notes on Exodus." (Ex. 24 - 30) They are here presented in the wilderness, and, if we may be allowed the expression, in their travelling dress. With the exception of the ark of the covenant, all these things presented the one unvarying appearance to the human eye, namely, the rough covering of the badgers skins. With the ark there was this difference, that above the badgers’ skins there was "a cloth wholly Of blue," setting forth, doubtless, the entirely heavenly character of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His own divine Person. That which was essentially heavenly in Him lay upon the very surface of His blessed life here below. He was ever the entirely heavenly man - "the Lord from heaven." Underneath this covering of blue were the badger’ skins, which may be viewed as the expression of that which protects from all evil. The ark was the only thing that was covered in this peculiar manner.
With regard to "the table of showbread," which was a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His connection with the twelve tribes of Israel, there was first "a cloth of blue," and then a cloth of scarlet;" and over all, the badgers’ skins. In other words, there was that which is essentially heavenly; then that which expresses human splendour; and above all, that which protects from evil. It is the purpose of God that Israel’s twelve tribes shall be pre-eminent in the earth - that in them the very highest type of human splendour shall be exhibited. Hence the appropriateness of the "scarlet" covering on the table of showbread. The twelve loaves evidently point to the twelve tribes; and as to the scarlet colour, the reader has only to look through scripture in order to see that it sets forth that which man considers splendid.
The coverings of the golden candlestick and of the golden altar were identical, namely, first the heavenly covering; and then the external badgers’ skin. In the candlestick we see our Lord Christ, in connection with the work of the Holy Ghost in light and testimony. The golden altar shows us Christ and the preciousness of His intercession - the fragrance and value of what He is before God. Both these, when passing along the sand of the desert, were wrapped up in that which was heavenly, and protected above by the badgers’ skins.
Finally, in reference to the brazen altar, we observe marked distinction. It was covered with "purple" instead of "blue," or "scarlet." Why was this? Doubtless because the brazen altar prefigured Christ as the one who "suffered for sins," and who shall therefore wield the sceptre of royalty. "Purple" is the royal colour. The One who suffered in this world, shall reign. The One who wore the crown of thorns, shall wear the crown of glory. Hence the moral fitness of the "purple’’ covering on the brazen altar - for on that altar the victim was offered. We know there is nothing in scripture without its own divine meaning, and it is our privilege as well as our duty to seek to know the meaning of all that our God has graciously written for our learning. This, we believe, can only be reached by humble, patient, prayerful waiting upon Him. The One who has penned the Book knows perfectly the scope and object of the book as a whole, and of each division of the book in particular. This will have the effect of checking the unhallowed flights of the imagination. The Spirit of God alone can open scripture to our souls. "God is His own interpreter" in revelation, as well as in providence, and the more we lean on Him, in true self-emptiness, the deeper insight we shall have both into His word and His ways.
We would therefore say to the Christian reader, Take the first fifteen verses of Numbers 4 and read them in the presence of God. Ask Him to explain to thee the meaning of each clause - the meaning of the ark, and why it alone was covered with "a cloth wholly of blue." And so of all the rest. We have ventured, we trust in humility of mind, to suggest the meaning, but we earnestly desire that thou shouldst get it directly from God, for thyself, and not accept it merely from man. We confess we are terribly afraid of imagination; and we know not that we have ever sat down to write on sacred scripture with a deeper sense of this that none but the Holy Ghost can really explain it.
Thou wilt say, then, "Why sit down to write at all?" Well, it is with the fond hope of being permitted, in some feeble manner, to help the earnest student of scripture to catch sight of the rare and exquisite gems that lie scattered along the inspired page, so that he may pick them up for Himself. Thousands of readers might read, again and again, the fourth of Numbers, and not even perceive the fact that the ark was the only part of the mystic furniture of the tabernacle that did not exhibit the badger skin. And if the simple fact be not laid hold of, how can its import be seen? So also, as to the brazen altar, how many have failed to notice that it alone put on the "purple?"
Now, we may rest assured that both these facts are full of spiritual meaning. The ark was the very highest manifestation of God, and, therefore, we may understand why it should exhibit, at first sight, that which was purely heavenly. The brazen altar was the place where sin was judged - it typified Christ in His work as a sin bearer it set forth that most distant place to which He travelled for us; and yet that brazen altar was the only thing that was wrapped in royal covering. Can anything be more exquisite than the teaching here? What infinite wisdom in all these fine distinctions! The ark conducts us to the very highest point in heaven. The brazen altar conducts us to the lowest point on earth. They stood at extreme points in the tabernacle. In the former, we see the One who magnified the law; in the latter, we see the One who was made sin. In the one, that which was heavenly was seen at the first sight; and it was only when you looked deeper, you saw the badger skin; and deeper still, that mysterious veil, the type of Christ’s flesh. But, in the other, the first thing you saw was the badger skin, and deeper down we see the royal covering. Christ in each, though in a different aspect. In the ark, we have Christ maintaining the glory of God, In the brazen altar, we have Christ meeting the sinner’s need. blessed combination for us!
But, further, has the reader noticed that in the entire of this marvellous passage to which we have been calling his particular attention, there is no mention of a certain piece of furniture which we know, from Exodus 30 and other scriptures, occupied a, very important place in the tabernacle? We allude to the brazen laver. Why is this omitted in Numbers 4? It is more than probable that some of our keen-eyed rationalists would find here what they would pronounce an error - a defect - a discrepancy. But is it so? No, thank God! The devout Christian student knows full well that such things are wholly incompatible with the volume of God. He knows and confesses this, even though he may not be able to account for the absence of this or the presence of that particular thing in any given passage. But just in so far as we are enabled, through the mercy of God, to see the spiritual reason of things, do we always find that where the rationalist, sees, or affects to see flaws, the pious student sees brilliant gems.
Thus it is, we doubt not, in reference to the omission of the brazen laver from the catalogue in Numbers 4. It is only one of the ten thousand illustrations of the beauty and perfectness of the inspired volume.
But, the reader may enquire, "Why is the laver omitted?" The reason may be found is the double fact of what that laver was made from, and what it was made for. This double fact we have noticed in Exodus. The laver was made of the looking-glasses of the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Ex. 38: 8) This was its material. And, as to its object, it was provided as a means of purification for man. Now, in all those things which formed the special burden and charge of the Kohathites, we see only the varied manifestations of God in Christ, from the ark in the holiest of all, to the brazen altar in the court of the tabernacle; and, inasmuch as the laver was not a manifestation of God, But a purification for man, it is therefore not found in the custody and charge of the Kohathites.
But we must now leave the reader to meditate alone on this most profound section of our book, (Num. 3 - 4) It is really inexhaustible. We might go on expatiating upon it until we had filled volumes instead of pages, and, after all, we should feel as though we had barely penetrated the surface of a mine whose depth never can be sounded - whose treasures never can be exhausted. What human pen can bring out the marvellous instruction contained in the inspired account of the tribe of Levi? who can attempt to unfold that sovereign grace which shines in the fact that the self-willed Levi should be the very first to respond to that soul-stirring call," Who is on the Lord’s side?" Who can speak aright of that rich, abounding, distinguishing mercy illustrated in the fact that those whose hands had been embued in blood should be permitted to handle the vessels of the sanctuary; and that those into whose assembly God’s Spirit could not enter should be brought into the very bosom of the congregation of God, there to be occupied with that which was so precious to Him?
And then those three divisions of workers, Merarites, Gershonites, and Kohathites! What instruction is here! what a type of the various members of the Church of God, in their various service! What depth of mysterious wisdom in all this? Is it speaking too strongly - is it too much to say that nothing, at this moment, so deeply impresses us as the sense of the utter feebleness and poverty of all that we have advanced on one of the very richest sections of the inspired volume! Still we have conducted the reader to a mine of infinite depth and richness, and we must leave him to penetrate thereinto by the gracious aid of Him to whom the mine belongs and who alone is able to evolve its wealth. All that man can write or say on any portion of God’s word can, at best, be but suggestive; to speak of it as exhaustive would be to cast a slight upon the sacred cannon. may we tread the holy place with unshod feet, and be as those who inquire in the temple, and whose studies are perfumed by the spirit of worship.*
{*For further suggestions on the subjects touched upon in the foregoing section, the reader is referred to "Notes on Exodus." (Ex. 24 - 30) Also to a small pamphlet entitled, "the History of the Tribe of Levi Considered."}
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 23, 25, 28, 30, 32, 38, 39, 43, 47, 51 THE NUMBERS AND DUTIES OF THE LEVITES; THEIR SUBSTITUTION…
THE NUMBERS AND DUTIES OF THE LEVITES; THEIR SUBSTITUTION FOR THE FIRSTBORN (chapter 3).
These... are the generations of Aaron and Moses. The word "generations" (toledoth) is used here in a peculiar and, so to speak, technical sense, with reference to what follows, as in Gen_2:4 Gen_6:9. It marks a new departure, looking down, not up, the course of history. Moses and Aaron were a beginning in themselves as the chosen heads of the chosen tribe: Moses having the higher office, but one entirely personal to himself; Aaron being the first of a long and eminent line of priests. The actual genealogy, therefore, is that of Aaron, and he is placed first. In the day. Apparently the day mentioned in Num_1:1; or it may be more general, as in Gen_2:4.
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Chapter 3. The servants of God, and the Church of the First-born.
We may see in this chapter, spiritually, the obligation of the whole people to be the bond-servants of Jesus Christ, and the dedication, as their representatives in the outward and visible service of God, of such as are separated unto the Holy Spirit at his call For the whole Church of Jesus Christ is the general assembly and Church of the first-born, and they are all wholly his by right of redemption, and are all priests unto God; nevertheless, for convenience, and almost of necessity, their outward ministry and service in holy things is discharged by such as God"s choice and their own aptness have marked out therefore.
Consider, therefore, WITH RESPECT TO THE LEVITES
I THAT THEY WERE "WHOLLY GIVEN" UNTO AARON, THE HIGH PRIEST. EVEN SO THEY THAT ARE DEVOTED UNTO SACRED MINISTRIES ARE "WHOLLY GIVEN" UNTO JESUS CHRIST, the great High Priest, and are placed at his disposal, that he may use their labours according to his will; and this is the one simple consideration which must govern their life, unless they be rebellious.
II That they were given unto Aaron "TO KEEP HIS CHARGE, AND THE CHARGE OF THE WHOLE CONGREGATION;" i.e., TO ASSIST HIM AND TO ASSIST THEM IN THE DISCHARGE OF THEIR SEVERAL OFFICES AND DUTIES, SO that they might be rendered aright to the well-pleasing of God. Even so it is in the deepest sense true (if rightly considered) that every one who has some special call is a partner partly in the work of Christ, partly in the duty of the Church; he helps to carry on the one or to discharge the other (or both). The atonement indeed was made by Aaron as by Christ himself, alone; but the outward and subordinate matters of his office he discharged by means of the Levites, and he could not otherwise have discharged them. Even so does Christ outwardly and visibly fulfill his manifold office upon earth by the months and by the hands of his servants. Thus, if any preach the word, he is doing the work of Christ our Prophet; if any minister to the sick, of Christ our Healer; if any feed his lambs, of Christ our Good Shepherd; if any rule over men for their good, of Christ our King. Even if any suffer in the spirit of Christ, he is filling up the yet unfilled measures of the afflictions of Christ, (cf. Col_1:24) because it is appointed unto Christ to suffer, as once in himself, so now in his earthly members, until the cup be wholly drained. (Rev_1:9 Rev_14:12) So, on the other hand, every one that is devoted to some ministry is discharging the duty of all to all, and through all to God. The body of Christ, which is the Church, owes unto all her members spiritual and temporal care and tendance; unto God ceaseless worship, prayer, and praise. But as the natural body discharges many of its functions through separate members or organs, so does the body of Christ through individuals set apart thereunto.
Consider, again, WITH RESPECT TO THE FIRST-BORN
I THAT GOD CLAIMED, AS OF RIGHT, THE SERVICES OF ALL THE FIRST-BORN BECAUSE OF THEIR PRESERVATION THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE (PASSOVER) LAMB IN EGYPT. Even so all who belong to "the general assembly and Church of the firstborn," which are enrolled not in the lists of Aaron on earth, but in the book of God in heaven, (Heb_12:23) i.e., all Christian people, so far as they understand their high calling, are claimed as his, and wholly his, by God; and this because he redeemed them by the precious blood of Christ. (1Co_6:19, 20 Rom_14:8 1Pe_1:19, etc.) And notice that this "hallowing" of the first-born was a kind of death. All the first-born throughout the land of Egypt were "anathema a thing devoted. God had claimed them. If then these are saved from the destroyer by the death of the substituted lamb, they are still regarded as dead unto the old, the ordinary, life of men who are sui juris, as living only for God, and unto God. And this is precisely and unequivocally the position of all redeemed souls. Christ did not die that they should not die, but that their death should take a happy and blessed form, instead of one dark and terrible. (2Co_5:15 Col_3:3, &c.); Every soul, elect, first-born, redeemed, is hallowed and dedicated and marked as dead unto sin and self, alive only unto God.
II THAT THE FIRST-BORN WERE NUMBERED BY NAME, EVEN TO THE LAST INDIVIDUAL; which does not seem to have been the ease even with the Levites. Even so there is no one of his redeemed, firstborn, that does not come into separate remembrance before God, because a soul hallowed by the precious blood is of priceless worth.
III THAT THE ODD NUMBER of the first-born over and above those redeemed by the Levites HAD TO BE REDEEMED WITH A PRICE; for they were his, and he could by no means renounce his rights over any. Even so all the assembly of the first-born are the Lord"s, and he cannot forego his claims over any one of them, neither can any one of them say, "It does not matter about me I shall not signifyI need not be counted." The services of all are due to Christ, and God will have this acknowledged without any exception.
Consider, again, as incidentally appearing
1. That the whole matter begins with the genealogy of Aaron and Moses the priest and the Ruler in Israel. Even so all questions of religion and devotion, however seemingly simple or entirely practical, do really begin with and from the "generations" of him who is both Priest and Ruler in Israel, of him who came forth out of Bethlehem, whose goings forth are from everlasting. (Mic_5:2) And so do the Gospels begin with the human genealogy (Matthew, Luke), or the Divine (John), of the Anointed, or with the briefest summary of both (Mark Son of God").
2. That Nadab and Abihu, priests of the line of Aaron, who offered strange fire, had no children. Even so the solitary priesthood of Christ is ministered visibly in the Church, and there are that attempt to minister it presumptuously and falsely, as though it were their own; but these are spiritually barren, and leave no children in the faith, because the blessing and power of God is not with their ministry, and because human ambitions are "strange" to the gospel of love.
3. That Moses and Aaron camped on the east of the tabernacle, as the place at once most central and most near the Divine presence. Even so our King and Priest doth so abide as that he may ever appear in the presence of God for us, (Heb_9:24) and yet may ever be in the midst of his Church. (Mat_28:20 Rev_2:1)
HOMILIES BY W. BINNIE Chapter 3. The families of Levi get their several commissions.
The third and fourth chapters of Numbers form a section by themselves, and of this section the opening verse is the descriptive title: THE GENERATIONS OF AARON AND MOSES. According to the idiom of the Bible, this means that the two chapters which follow constitute the Book of the Families of Levi. (compare the titles of the several sections of Genesis, viz., Num_2:4 Num_5:1 Num_6:9 Num_10:1 Num_11:27, etc.; also Mat_1:1) The design of the book is to note the principal divisions of the tribe and allot to each its place and duties. Observe how the names of Aaron and Moses stand where we should have expected to find Levi"s. The patriarch"s fame has been quite eclipsed by that of his illustrious descendants, insomuch that here the tribe takes its title from them rather than from him. The book of the Levites is entitled the Book of Aaron and Moses.
I IN THIS FAMILY BOOK THE PRE-EMINENCE IS GIVEN TO AARON. The name of Moses is inscribed in the title, but his family is otherwise of no note. The noble self-denial of Moses in this matter has been much commended, and with reason. He was superior to the ambition which seeks to build up a family at whatever cost to the nation. There is some reason to think that his sons were unworthy. Their mother was a Midianite, and seems to have had little sympathy with her husband"s faith. It was otherwise with Aaron. His wife was a daughter of Amminadab, the prince of Judah and ancestor of our Lord. (Exo_6:23) Her name was Elisheba ("a worshipper of God"); and as the name became a favourite one among the daughters of the priestly house, (Luk_1:5) it may be presumed that she was worthy of the name, the first of all the saintly Elisabeths. The sons of Aaron and Elisabeth, being the heirs of the priesthood, took precedence of the other families of Levi, and occupied the place of honour in the comp. They, with Moses, pitched their tents in front of the tabernacle, towards the east (verse 38). Note in passing how, at this early date, the two families which were to be pre-eminent for fifteen hundred years in respect of force of character, variety of services, and public honours are already marked out by the hand of God. On the march the prince of Judah leads the van; (Num_1:7 Num_2:3, Num_2:9) in the encampment Aaron and his sons occupy the place of honour. In the family book of Levi the sons of Aaron and Elisabeth take precedence of all their brethren. Yet not so as to give any foothold in Israel to that sacerdotal pride which made the Brahmins of India and the priests of Egypt a sacred caste, and taught the people to bow before them as demigods. If Aaron and Elisabeth ever read this family register, their hearts did not swell with pride. The first sentences recall the tragedy of their house. Aaron"s two eldest sons, with the oil of their consecration yet fresh upon them, sinned presumptuously, were smitten, and their names perished from Israel. Not even in the house of the godliest pair is grace hereditary. Aaron, the saint of God, and his saintly Elisabeth mourn over sons whom God has cut off in their sin. God will endure no rival in his house. His most honoured servants must be content to be only his servants, and the servants of all men for his sake. The Bible tolerates no hero worship. It tells the truth about the best of men, lovingly indeed, but without extenuation. In our family registers we are not bound by the same rule. We do not occupy the throne of judgment, and may bury domestic tragedies out of sight. But God is Judge, and his book, as it cannot err in its judgments, must speak without reserve, although the effect should be to "stain the pride of all glory". (Isa_23:9)
II THE GREATER PART OF THIS FAMILY BOOK IS OCCUPIED WITH THE CENSUS OF THE LEVITICAL CLANS AND THE ALLOTMENT TO EACH OF ITS PLACE AND DUTIES. The particulars falling under this head do not call for special notice here. They concur with those related in the earlier chapters of this book in showing that the march of the tribes was performed with the most perfect order. Never was any great multitude more unlike a mob than the congregation in the wilderness. Moses in Egypt bad shown himself a man "mighty in deeds". (Act_7:22) The tradition which makes him to have led victorious armies in his youth is probably true. Certainly the order laid down in Numbers for the march and the camp, for the nation in general and for the Levites in particular, shows everywhere the hand of the general accustomed to handle great bodies of men. Care is taken to put on record the reason for the separation of the Levites to the service of the tabernacle. By primitive custom a certain sanctity was attributed to the first-born. The act of God in passing over the first-born of Israel in Egypt established an additional claim upon the first-born thenceforward. (cf. Ex 13, also Num_22:29, etc.) To have required the personal service of the eldest son of every house would have been inconvenient. Better let the tribe of Levi be substituted, and let them minister to Aaron their brother; an arrangement facilitated by the circumstance that the Levites were nearly the same in number as the first-born. (The equation is not without its difficulties. But there is great doubt as to who exactly were meant by the "first-born." Till that is settled it is too soon to charge the narrative with error.) It was needful to state very distinctly the reason for the separation of a whole tribe to sacred service. The tribe thus separated had to be supported by their brethren, besides being disabled for doing their share of military and other public service. The Israelites would be unlike the rest of mankind if they did not, by and by, grudge such a great expenditure. They are to be reminded that the separation of the Levites was in liquidation of a prior claim, and took place by way of accommodation to their convenience. When money or service is asked for religious or charitable objects there are sure to be grumblers, and it is very expedient to fortify the demand with a clear statement of the reasons. B.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 15, 33 The priests which were anointed.
Num_3:1-13
The priests which were anointed.
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Aaron and his sons: parents and children
In Num_3:1-4 we have--
I. An incidental illustration of the exalted personal character and the divine mission of Moses.
II. An intimation that the duties of the ministers of religion demand for their faithful discharge their entire consecration thereto.
III. An example of wicked sons descending from a godly parent.
IV. An example of the widest difference of character and destiny in children of the same parents. Our subject utters earnest counsels--
1. To the children of godly parents. Trust not in the character and prayers of your parents for salvation. These are of priceless value, yet they will not avail to your salvation apart from your own faith and obedience. (See Eze_18:1-32.)
2. To parents. Be diligent and faithful in the discharge of your duty to your children.
(1) Let your own life be right, and so set them a good example.
(2) Give them wise religious instruction and training.
(3) Commend them often and earnestly to God in prayer.
(4) Afford them encouragement in every manifestation of pious feeling and conduct. (W. Jones.)
The dedication of the Levites--
Church work and workers
verses 5-10.
I. The offices of the church are divinely instituted.
II. There are different ranks in the offices of the church as instituted by God.
III. The lowliest labour in the service of God is sacred and blessed.
IV. God also appoints the persons to fill the various offices in his church.
V. Intrusion into sacred places and duties awakened the stern displeasure of the Lord.
Conclusion:
1. Encouragement to those who are called of God to Christian work. He who has called you to your work will sustain you in it, make it efficient by His blessing, and confer upon you rich rewards.
2. Admonition as to our estimate of the ministers of the Lord. They are ambassadors for Christ. God Himself speaks through them to men. (W. Jones.)
Gods claim upon mans service:
From Num_3:11-13, we learn--
I. Gods claims upon mans service are incontestable. Upon what are they grounded?
1. Upon what He is in Himself.
2. Upon what He does for man.
II. There is a correspondence between the gifts and the claims of God. His demands are proportioned to His bestowments.
1. This is righteous.
2. This is beneficent.
III. The divine arrangements are ever marked by infinite wisdom and kindness. (W. Jones.)
The measure of the Divine demands upon man:
I. God gave the best he had to effect our salvation.
II. The son gave himself. Let us sacrifice ourselves to God as He sacrificed His Son for us.
1. Thus only can we attain to a high ideal in religion. Be the best possible Christian: be not content with mediocrity: aim high.
2. This is the best way to be useful. The power of Christianity is in the fact of Christ giving Himself. Our influence for good is in proportion to our selfsacrifice.
3. This is the way to enjoy religion. The more we give of self to God, the more will He give of Himself to us. Let all think of what God has done for them, and consider what returns they have made to Him. (David Lloyd.)
The necessity of a standing ministry
We see in this place, how Moses immediately after the numbering of the people, that meddled not with the ministry of the word, or killing of the sacrifices, or serving in the tabernacle, or carrying of the ark, or teaching of the people, handleth in the next place the fashion of the ministry. For let there be never so great order or good policy in the commonwealth, yet if the care of the ministry be neglected, all is to little purpose. We see from hence the goodly order that God observeth in this great army. He establisheth among them most carefully the holy ministry to the end they might be instructed in the Word. Hereby we learn that among all nations and people under the heavens, the ministry of the Word ought to be planted and established, to guide them in the ways of godliness.
1. A certain and settled ministry is an evident token that God hath a church and a people to be begotten by the immortal seed of the Word.
2. Without the light of the Word the people remain in darkness and cannot see: they grope at noonday, and know not what they do--as it was in Egypt when the plague of palpable darkness was sent among them (Exo_10:23).
3. The necessity of a ministry is so evident that all the Gentiles had their priests and prophets that attended on their profane and superstitious altars, and it was their first care to establish a religion, such as it was, among them. If it were thus among them who saw darkly, and were without the true light of the Scripture, much more ought we to learn it, that have been taught better things, and have the sure word of the prophets to guide us.
4. Such is our frailty, that notwithstanding we live under a settled ministry, and have given our names to the faith, yet we are ready to start back again. For as the body is prone to pine away without supply of daily food, so are our souls ready to perish, being destitute of the heavenly manna of the Word of God.
Uses:
1. There is offered unto us this truth arising from the doctrine itself, that the preaching of the Word by the minister, and the hearing of it by the people, is no ceremony nor a matter of indifferency, such as may either be done or left undone at our own discretion, but it is such a part of the public service of God as ought not to be neglected without great sin.
2. It serveth to reprove divers abuses.
(1) Such as think and spare not to say that the ministry is a vain and superfluous thing, and that the ministers are men that may very well be spared, as if they were a sixth finger upon the hand, or a sixth toe upon the foot; that is bringing a burden rather than a benefit. For as they account the Sabbath the loss of one day in a week, so they account the maintenance of the ministry the loss of their goods. These have learned another language than the tongue of Canaan. They do not the works that beseem Christians, and they cannot speak as beseemeth those that profess the fear of God, if so be they do profess so much. Is it a needless thing to have the light of the sun in the firmament, without which all things are covered with darkness, and nothing can have life and quickening? But the sun is not more necessary to be in the world than the light of the Word in the Church to give life and light unto them that sit in darkness (Mat_4:16). Is it needless to have labourers to reap down our corn in time of harvest? To have meat brought unto us and provided for us when we are hungry, or drink when we are thirsty?
(2) The vain conceit of their hearts, who having learned the principles of religion and some grounds of knowledge, proceed no further, as if they had no more use of the Word, whereas there is matter of instruction always to be learned out of the Word for all persons. When we have eaten one kind of meat one day, we eat the next day as hungrily of it as we did before.
(3) They that extol to the skies the kingdoms and commonwealths of the heathen as the only prosperous, flourishing, and happy nations, which indeed excelled in outward glory and thereby dazzled the eyes of many, yet indeed were no better than assemblies of men destitute of religion, and consequently of salvation. Their peace and prosperity, their wealth and dignity, were all carnal and momentary, rising out of the earth, and sinking down into the earth again; their praise also is of men. It is the maintenance of true religion that maketh a people truly happy, and the means of spreading abroad true religion is the ministry of the Word. There is no way to know it and to practise it but by this.
3. Must the ministry be established among all people under heaven? Then let every one of us be careful for our parts to plant it among us, and to bring it home to the places of our abode.
4. Let the ministers be careful to discharge their calling, and to teach the people in season and out of season. They must be lights of the world, and as savoury salt to season them with wholesome doctrine.
5. Let the people carefully attend to the ministry of the Word, where it is settled and planted, with a good conscience, as to Gods holy ordinance vouchsafed unto them. Let them bring attention in hearing, diligence in marking, and obedience in practising. Let them not use any delays to shift off the performance of this duty. (W. Attersoll.)
Consecrated lives:
In the artists studio a fleck of paint lies upon the palette. It is so much colour and nothing more; till, taken up by the brush of the master and laid upon the canvas, it becomes a rosy flush on beautys cheek, or a lustrous cloud in a golden sunset. So has many a mean and common life been touched by the Masters hand to higher uses; so has many an humble believer been caught up from the poverty of his earthly lot to be a glorious spirit before the throne of the Eternal Light.
Vocation is in a line with fitness
If we agree that the Christian ministry is a vocation for the teaching, in various forms, of Christian righteousness, the question next comes, What is meant by a call to it? Is this anything different from that inward impulse to a specific form of work which arises in a man from a consciousness of special gifts in that direction? In that sense a man may be said to be called to the work of a musician or artist. The parents of Mozart, when they found their son, at the age of seven, playing before the crowned heads of Europe, need have been in no doubt as to his life work. It was revealed in his gifts more plainly than it could have been by a voice from heaven. And when, on the other hand, Mozarts own son, once asked whether he loved music, replied by flinging down some coins on the table and exclaiming, Thats the only music I care for, it was equally evident that whatever he came into the world to do, it was not to follow in the steps of his father. Vocation here undoubtedly is in a line with fitness. The tools are for him who can use them. (Christian World.)
God improves the life given to Him in service:
It is said of vapours, that rising out of the earth, the heavens return them again in pure water, much clearer, and more refined than they received them; or as it is said of the earth, that receiving the sea-water and puddle-water, it gives it better than it received it in the springs and fountains, for it strains the water and purifies it, that whereas when it came into the bowels of the earth it was muddy, salt, and brinish, it returns pure, clear, and fresh, as out of the well-head waters are well known to come. Thus, if men would but give up their hearts desire, and the strength of their affections unto God, He would not only give them back again, but withal much better than when He received them, their affections should be more pure, their thoughts and all the faculties of soul and body should be renewed, cleansed, beautified, and put into a far better condition than formerly they were. (J. Spencer.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1
PRIESTS AND LEVITES
1. THE PRIESTHOOD
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Num_3:1-10
In the opening verse of this chapter, which relates to the designation of the priesthood, Moses is named, for once, after his brother. According to the genealogy of Exodus 6, Aaron was the elder; and this may have led to the selection of his as the priestly house-which again would give him priority in a passage relating to the hierarchy. If Moses had chosen, his undoubted claims would have secured the priestly office for his family. But he did not desire this; and indeed the duties of administrative head of the people were sufficiently heavy. Aaron was apparently fitted for the sacerdotal office, and without peculiar qualifications for any other. He seems to have had no originating power, but to have been ready to fall in with and direct the routine of ceremonial worship. And we may assume that Moses knew the surviving sons of Aaron to be of the stamp of their father, likely to inaugurate a race of steady, devoted servants of the altar.
Yet all Aarons sons had not been of this quiet disposition. Nadab and Abihu, the two eldest, had sinned presumptuously, and brought on themselves the doom of death. No fewer than five times is their fall referred to in the books of Leviticus and Numbers. Whatever that strange fire was which they put in their censers and used before the Lord, the judgment that befell them was signal and impressive. And here reference is made to the fact that they died without issue, as if to mark the barrenness of the sacrilegious. Did it not appear that inherent disqualification for the priesthood, the moral blindness or self-will which was shown in their presumptuous act, had been foreseen by God, who wrote them childless in His book? This race must not be continued. Israel must not begin with priests who desecrate the altar.
Whether the death of those two sons of Aaron came by an unexpected stroke, or was a doom inflicted after judgment in which their father had to acquiesce, the terrible event left a most effectual warning. The order appointed for the incense offering, and all other sacred duties, would thenceforth be rigidly observed. And the incident-revived continually for the priests when they studied the Law-must have had especial significance through their knowledge of the use and meaning of fire in idolatrous worship. The temptation was often felt, against which the fate of Nadab and Abihu set every priest on his guard, to mingle the supposed virtue of other religious symbols with the sanctities of Jehovah. Who can doubt that priests of Israel, secretly tempted by the rites of sun-worship, might have gone the length of carrying the fire of Baal into Jehovahs temple, if the memory of this doom had not held back the hand? Here also the degradation of the burnt offering by taking flame from a common fire was by implication forbidden. The source of that which is the symbol of Divine purity must be sacredly pure.
Those who minister in holy things have still a corresponding danger, and may find here a needed warning. The fervour shown in sacred worship and work must have an origin that is purely religious. He who pleads earnestly with God on behalf of men, or rises to impassioned appeal in beseeching men to repent, appearing as an ambassador of Christ urged by the love of souls, has to do not with symbols, but with truths, ideas, Divine mysteries infinitely more sacred than the incense and fire of Old Testament worship. For the Hebrew priest outward and formal consecration sufficed. For the minister of the New Testament, the purity must be of the heart and soul. Yet it is possible for the heat of alien zeal, of mere self-love or official ambition, to be carried into duties the most solemn that fall to the lot of man; and if it is not in the Spirit of God a preacher speaks or offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving, if some other inspiration makes him eloquent and gives his voice its tremulous notes, sin like that of Nadab and Abihu is committed, or rather a sin greater than theirs. With profound sorrow it must be confessed that the "strange fire" from idolatrous altars too often desecrates the service of God. Excitement is sought by those who minister in order that the temperament may be raised to the degree necessary for free and ardent speech; and it is not always of a purely religious kind. Those who hear may for a time be deceived by the pretence of unction, by dramatic tones, by alien fire. But the difference is felt when it cannot be defined; and on the spiritual life of the ministrant the effect is simply fatal.
The surviving sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, were anointed and "consecrated to minister in the priests office." The form of designation is indicated by the expression, "whose hand he filled to exercise priesthood." This has been explained as referring to a portion of the ceremony described Lev_8:26 f. "And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and upon the right thigh: and he put the whole upon the hands of Aaron, and upon the hands of his sons, and waved them for a wave offering before the Lord." The explanation is scarcely satisfactory. In the long ceremony of consecration this incident was not the only one to which the expression "filling the hand" was applied; and something simpler must be found as the source of an idiomatic phrase. To fill the hand would naturally mean to pay or hire, and we seem to be pointed to the time when for the patriarchal priesthood there was substituted one that was official, supported by the community. In Exo_28:41 and in Lev_8:33, the expression in question is used in a general sense incompatible with its reference to any particular portion of the ceremony of consecration. It is also used in Jud_1:17., where to all appearance the consecration of Micahs Levite implied little else than the first payment on account of a stipulated hire. The phrase, then, appears to be a mark of history, and carries the mind back to the simple origin of the priestly office.
Eleazar and Ithamar "ministered in the priests office in the presence of Aaron their father." So far as the narrative of the Pentateuch gives information, there were originally, and during the whole of the wilderness journey, no other priests than Aaron and his sons. Nadab and Abihu having died, there remained but the two besides their father. Phinehas the son of Eleazar appears in the history, but is not called a priest, nor has he any priestly functions: What he does is indeed quite apart from the holy office. And this early restriction of the number is not only in favour of the Pentateuchal history, but partly explains the fact that in Deuteronomy the priests and Levites are apparently identified. Taking at their very heaviest the duties specially laid on the priests, much must have fallen to the share of their assistants, who had their own consecration as ministers of the sanctuary. It is certain that members of the Levitical families were in course of time admitted to the full status of priests.
The direction is given in Num_3:10, "Thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death." This is rigorously exclusive, and seems to contrast with the statements of Deuteronomy, "At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him and to bless in His name unto this day"; {Deu_10:8} and again, "The priests the Levites, even all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His inheritance"; {Deu_18:1} and once more, "Moses wrote the law and delivered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, which bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel". {Deu_31:9} Throughout Deuteronomy the priests are never called sons of Aaron, nor is Aaron called a priest. Whether the cause of this apparent discrepancy is that Deuteronomy regarded the arrangements for the priestly service in a different light, or that the distinction of priests from Levites fell into abeyance and was afterwards revived, the variation cannot be ignored. In the book of Joshua "the children of Aaron the priest" appear on a few occasions, and certain of the duties of high priest are ascribed to Eleazar. Yet even in Joshua the importance attached to the Aaronic house is far less than in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers; and the expression "the priests the Levites" occurs twice. If we regard the origin of the Aaronic priesthood as belonging to the Mosaic period, then the wars and disturbances of the settlement in Canaan must have entirely disorganized the system originally instituted. In the days of the judges there seems to have been no orderly observance of those laws which gave the priesthood importance. Scattered Levites had to do as they best could what was possible in the way of sacrifice and purification. And this confusion may have begun in the plain of Moab. The death of Aaron, the personal insignificance of his sons, and still more the death of Moses himself, would place the administration of religious as well as secular affairs on an entirely different footing. Memoranda preserved in Leviticus and Numbers may therefore be more ancient than those of Deuteronomy; and Deuteronomy, describing the state of things before the passage of Jordan, may in regard to the priesthood reflect the conditions of new development, the course of which did not blend with the original design till after the captivity.
The tribe of Levi is, according to Num_3:6 ff, appointed to minister to Aaron, and to keep his charge and that of the congregation before the "tent of meeting," to do the service of the tabernacle. For all the necessary work connected with the sanctuary the Levites are "wholly given unto Aaron on behalf of the children of Israel." It was of course in accordance with the patriarchal idea that each clan should have a hereditary chief. Here, however, an arbitrary rule breaks in. For Aaron was not by primogeniture head of the tribe of Levi. He belonged to a younger family of the tribe. The arrangements made by Moses as the representative of God superseded the succession by birthright. And this is by no means the only case in which a law usually adhered to was broken through. According to the history the high-priesthood did not invariably follow the line of Eleazar. At a certain point a descendant of Ithamar was for some reason raised to the dignity. Samuel, too, became virtually a priest, and rose higher than any high-priest before the captivity, although he was not even of the tribe of Levi. The law of spiritual endowment in his case set the other aside. And is it not often so? The course of providence brings forward the man who can guide affairs. While his work lasts he is practically supreme. It is useless to question or rebel. Neither in religion nor in government can the appeal to Divine right or to constitutional order alter the fact. Korah need not revolt against Moses; nor may Aaron imagine that he can push himself into the front. And Aaron, as head of the tribe of Levi, and of the religious administration, is safe in his own position so long only as his office is well served. It is to responsibility he is called, rather than to honour. Let him do his duty, otherwise he will surely become merely a name or a figure.
2. THE FIRST-BORN
Num_3:11-13; Num_3:40-51
These two passages supplement each other and may be taken together. Jehovah claims the first-born in Israel. He hallowed them unto Himself on the day when He smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. They are now humbered from a month old and upward. But instead of their being appointed personally to holy service, the Levites are substituted for them. The whole account supplies a scheme of the origin of the sacerdotal tribe.
It has been questioned whether the number of the first-born, which is 22,273, can in any way be made to agree with the total number of the male Israelites, previously stated at 603,550. Wellhausen is specially contemptuous of a tradition or calculation which, he says, would give an average of forty children to each woman. But the difficulty partly yields if it is kept in view that the Levites were separated for the service of the sanctuary. Naturally it would be the heir-apparent alone of each family group whose liability to this kind of duty fell to be considered. The head of a household was, according to the ancient reckoning, its priest. In Abrahams family no one counted as a first-born but Isaac. Now that a generation of Israelites is growing up sanctified by the covenant, it appears fit that the presumptive priest should either be devoted to sacerdotal duty, or relieved of it by a Levite as his substitute. Suppose each family had five tents, and suppose further that the children born before the exodus are not reckoned, the number will not be found at all disproportionate. The absolute number remains a difficulty.
Dr. Robertson Smith argues from his own premises about the sanctity of the first-born. He repudiates the notion that at one time the Hebrews actually sacrificed all their first-born sons; yet he affirms that "there must have been some point of attachment in ancient custom for the belief that the Deity asked for such a sacrifice." "I apprehend," he proceeds, "that all the prerogatives of the first-born among Semitic peoples are originally prerogatives of sanctity; the sacred blood of the kin flows purest and strongest in him." {Gen_49:3} Neither in the case of children nor in that of cattle did the congenital holiness of the first-born originally imply that they must be sacrificed or given to the Deity on the altar, but only that if sacrifice was to be made, they were the best and fittest because the holiest victims. The passage in Numbers may be confidently declared to be far from any such conception. The special fitness for sacrifice of the firstborn of an animal is assumed: the fitness of the heir of a family, again, is plainly not to become a sacrifice, but to offer sacrifice. The first-born of the Egyptians died. But it is the life, the holy activity of His own people, not their death, God desires. And this holy activity, rising to its highest function in the firstborn, is according to our passage laid on the Levites to a certain extent. Not entirely indeed. The whole congregation is still consecrated and must be holy. All are bound by the covenant. The head of each family group will still have to officiate as a priest in celebrating the passover. Certain duties, however, are transferred for the better protection of the sanctities of worship.
The first-born are found to exceed the number of the Levites by two hundred and seventy-three; and for their redemption Moses takes "five shekels apiece by the poll; after the shekel of the sanctuary." The money thus collected is given unto Aaron and his sons.
The method of redemption here presented, purely arbitrary in respect of the sum appointed for the ransom of each life, is fitly contrasted by the Apostle Peter with that of the Christian dispensation. He adopts the word redeem, taking it over from the old economy, but says, "Ye were redeemed not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers." And the difference is not only that the Christian is redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, but this also, that, while the first-born Israelite was relieved of certain parts of the holy service which might have been claimed of him by Jehovah, it is for sacred service, "to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices," Christians are redeemed. In the one case exemption, in the other case consecration is the end. The difference is indeed great, and shows how much the two covenants are in contrast with each other. It is not to enable us to escape any of the duties or obligations of life Christ has given Himself for us. It is to make us fit for those duties, to bring us. fully under those obligations, to purify us that we may serve God with our bodies and spirits which are His.
A passage in Exodus {Exo_13:11 f.} must not be overlooked in connection with that presently under consideration. The enactment there is to the effect that when Israel is brought into the land of the Canaanites every first-born of beasts shall be set apart unto the Lord, the firstling of an ass shall be redeemed with a lamb or killed, and all first-born children shall be redeemed. Here the singular point is that the law is deferred, and does not come into operation till the settlement in Canaan. Either this was set aside for the provisions made in Numbers, or these are to be interpreted by it. The difficulties of the former view are greatly increased by the mention of the "shekel of the sanctuary," which seems to imply a settled medium of exchange, hardly possible in the wilderness.
Num_8:18-19, the subject of redemption is again touched, and the additions are significant. Now the service of the Levites "in the tent of meeting" is by way of atonement for the children of Israel, "that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary." Atonement is not with blood in this case, but by the service of the living substitute. While the general scope of the Mosaic law requires the shedding of blood in order that the claim of God may be met, this exception must not be forgotten. And in a sense it is the chief instance of atonement, far transcending in expressiveness those in which animals were slaughtered for propitiation. The whole congregation, threatened with plagues and disasters in approaching God, has protection through the holy service of the Levitical tribe. Here is substitution of a kind which makes a striking point in the symbolism of the Old Testament in its relation to the New. The principle may be seen in patriarchal history. The ten in Sodom, if ten righteous men could have been found, would have saved it, would have been its atonement in a sense, not by their death on its behalf but by their life. And Moses himself, standing alone between God and Israel, prevails by his pleading and saves the nation from its doom. So our Lord says of His disciples, "Ye are the salt of the earth." Their holy devotion preserves the mass from moral corruption and spiritual death. Again, "for the elects sake," the days of tribulation shall be shortened. {Mat_24:22}
The ceremonies appointed for the cleansing and consecration of the Levites, described in Num_8:5-26, may be noticed here. They differ considerably from those enjoined for the consecration of priests. Neither were the Levites anointed with sacred oil, for instance, nor were they sprinkled with the blood of sacrifices; nor, again, do they seem to have worn any special dress, even in the tabernacle court. There was, however, an impressive ritual which would produce in their minds a consciousness of separation and devotion to God. The water of expiation, literally of sin, was first to be sprinkled upon them, a baptism not signifying anything like regeneration, but having reference to possible defilements of the flesh. A razor was then to be made to pass over the whole body, and the clothes were to be washed, also to remove actual as well as legal impurity. This cleansing completed, the sacrifices followed. One bullock for a burnt offering, with its accompanying meal offering, and one for a sin offering were provided. The people being assembled towards the door of the tent of meeting, the Levites were placed in front of them to be presented to Jehovah. The princes probably laid their hands on the Levites, so declaring them the representatives of all for their special office. Then Aaron had to offer the sacrifices for the Levites, and the Levites themselves as living sacrifices to Jehovah. The Levites laid their hands on the bullocks, making them their substitutes for the symbolic purpose. Aaron and his sons slew the animals and offered them in the appointed way, burning the one bullock upon the altar, around which its blood had been sprinkled, of the other burning only certain portions called the fat. Then the ceremony of waving was performed, or what was possible in the circumstances, each Levite being passed through the hands of Aaron or one of his sons. So set apart, they were, according to Num_8:24, required to wait upon the work of the tent of meeting, each from his twenty-fifth to his fiftieth year. The service had been previously ordered to begin at the thirtieth year. {Num_4:3} Afterwards the time of ministry was still further extended. {1Ch_23:24-27}
Such is the account of the symbolic cleansing and the representative ministry of the Levites; and we see both a parallel and a contrast to what is demanded now for the Christian life of obedience and devotion to God. Purification there must be from all defilement of flesh and spirit. With the change which takes place when by repentance and faith in Christ we enter into the free service of God there must be a definite and earnest purging of the whole nature. "As ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification" {Rom_6:19}. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, the which is idolatry, put ye also away all these: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man." {Col_3:5; Col_3:8-9} Thus the purity of heart and soul so imperfectly represented by the cleansings of the Levites is set forth as the indispensable preparation of the Christian. And the contrast lies in this, that the purification required by the New Testament law is for all, and is the same for each. Whether one is to serve in the ministry of the Gospel or sweep a room as for Gods cause; the same profound purity is needful. All in the Kingdom of God are to be holy, for He is holy.
3. LEVITICAL SERVICE
Num_3:14-39; Num_3:4
The sacred service of the Levites is described in detail. There are three divisions, the Gershonites, the Kohathites, the Merarites. The Gershonites, from a month old and upward, numbered 7,500; the Kohathites, 8,600; the Merarites, 6,200. Eleazar, son of Aaron, is prince of the princes of the Levites.
The office of the Kohathites is of peculiar sanctity, next to that of Aaron and his sons. They are not "cut off" or specially separated from among the Levites; {Num_4:18} but they have duties that require great care, and they must not venture to approach the most holy things till preparation has been made by the priests. The manner of that preparation is fully described. When order has been given for the setting forward of the camp, Aaron and his sons cover the ark of the covenant first with the veil of the screen, then with a covering of sealskin, and lastly with a cloth of blue; they also insert in the rings the long staves with which the ark is to be carried. Next the table of shewbread is covered with a blue cloth; the dishes, spoons, bowls, and cups are placed on the top, over them a scarlet cloth, and above that a sealskin covering; the staves of the table are also placed in readiness. The candlestick and its lamps and other appurtenances are wrapped up in like manner and put on a frame. Then the golden altar by itself, and the vessels used in the service of the sanctuary by themselves are covered with blue cloth and sealskin and made ready for carriage. Finally, the great altar is cleansed of ashes, covered up with purple cloth and sealskin, and its staves set in their rings. When all this is done the sons of Kohath may advance to bear the holy things, never touching them lest they die.
The question arises, why so great care is considered necessary that none but the priests should handle the furniture of the sanctuary. We have learned to think that a real religion should avoid secrecy, that everything connected with it should be done in the open light of day. Why, then, is the shrine of Jehovah guarded with such elaborate precaution? And the answer is that the idea of mystery appears here as absolutely needful, in order to maintain the solemn feelings of the people and their sense of the holiness of God. Not only because the Israelites were rude and earthly, but also because the whole system was symbolic, the holy things were kept from common sight. In this respect the worship described in these books of Moses resembled that of other nations of antiquity. The Egyptian temple had its innermost shrine where the arks of the gods were placed; and into that most holy place with its silver soil the priests alone went. But even Egyptian worship, with all its mystery, did not always conceal the arks and statues of the gods. When those gods were believed to be favourable, the arks were carried in procession, the images so far unveiled that they could be seen by the people. It was entirely different in the case of the sacred symbols and instruments of Hebrew worship, according to the ideal of the law. And the elaborate precautions are to be regarded as indicating the highest tidemark of symbolised sanctity. Jehovah was not like Egyptian or Assyrian or Phoenician gods. These might be represented by statues which the people could see. But everything used in His worship must be kept apart. The worship must be of faith; and the ark which was the great symbol must remain always invisible. The effect of this on the popular mind was complex, varying with the changing circumstances of the nation; and to trace it would be an interesting piece of study. It may be remembered that in the time of most ardent Judaism the want of the ark made no difference to the veneration in which the temple was held and the intense devotion of the people to their religion. The ark was used as a talisman in Elis time; in the temple erected after the captivity there was no ark; its place in the holy of holies was occupied by a stone.
The Gershonites had as their charge the screens and curtains of the tabernacle, or most holy place, and the tent of meeting or holy place, also the curtains of the court of the tabernacle. The boards, bars, pillars, and sockets of the tabernacle and of the court were to be entrusted to the Merarites.
In the whole careful ordering of the duties to be discharged by these Levites we see a figure of the service to be rendered to God and men in one aspect of it. Organisation, attention to details, and subordination of those who carry out schemes to the appointed officials, and of all, both inferior and superior, to law-these ideas are here fully represented. Assuming the incapacity of many for spontaneous effort, the principle that God is not a God of confusion but of order in the churches of the saints may be held to point to subordination of a similar kind even under Christianity. But the idea carried to its full limit, implies an inequality between men which the free spirit of Christianity will not admit. It is an honour for men to be connected with any spiritual enterprise, even as bearers of burdens. Those who take such a place may be spiritual men, thoughtful men, as intelligent and earnest as their official superiors. But the Levites, according to the law, were to be bearers of burdens, menials of the sanctuary from generation to generation. Here the parallel absolutely fails. No Christian, however cordially he may fill such a place for a time, is bound to it in perpetuity. His way is open to the highest duties and honours of a redeemed son of God. In a sense Judaism even did not prevent the spiritual advancement of any Levite, or any man. The priesthood was practically closed, but the office of the prophet, really higher than that of the priest, was not. From the routine work of the priesthood men like Jeremiah and Ezekiel were called by the Spirit of God to speak in the name of the Highest. The word of the Lord was put into their mouths. Elijah, who was apparently of the tribe of Manasseh, Amos and Daniel, who belonged to Judah, became prophets. The open door for the men of the tribes was into this calling. Neither in Israel nor in Christendom is priesthood the highest religious function. The great servants of God might well refuse it or throw aside its shackles.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Critical Notes.—“Muster of the Tribe of Levi. As Jacob…
Critical Notes.—“Muster of the Tribe of Levi. As Jacob had adopted the two sons of Joseph as his own sons, and thus promoted them to the rank of heads of tribes, the tribe of Levi founded, strictly speaking, the thirteenth tribe of the whole nation, and was excepted from the muster of the twelve tribes who were destined to form the army of Jehovah, because God had chosen it for the service of the sanctuary. Out of this tribe God had not only called Moses to be the deliverer, lawgiver, and leader of His people, but Moses’ brother Aaron, with the sons of the latter, to be the custodians of the sanctuary. And now, lastly, the whole tribe was chosen, in the place of the first-born of all the tribes, to assist the priests in performing the duties of the sanctuary, and was numbered and mustered for this its special calling.”—Keil and Del.
Num_3:1. Generations. “The term ‘generations’ is strictly a technical word (cf. Gen_2:4; Gen_5:1; Gen_6:9, etc.; Rth_4:18). It does not point to birth and origin so much as to downward history and development.” The “generations” here are not merely the descendants of Moses and Aaron, but of the Levites generally. “Aaron is placed before Moses here” (see at Exo_6:26 sqq.), “not merely as being the elder of the two, but because his sons received the priesthood, whilst the sons of Moses, on the contrary, were classed among the rest of the Levitical families” (cf. 1Ch_23:14).
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Num_3:3. Whom he consecrated: lit. as marg., “whose hand he filled,” by setting them apart to the office of priests.
Num_3:4. In the sight of Aaron, their father—i.e., during his lifetime.
AARON AND HIS SONS: PARENTS AND CHILDREN
(Num_3:1-4.)
In these verses we have—
1. An incidental illustration of the exalted personal character and the Divine mission of Moses.
Aaron was the ancestor of a regular succession of priests. But Moses seeks nothing for himself or for his descendants. He does not use his high position or his great power for the attainment of any selfish end. He “passes by his own family, or immediate descendants; he gave no rank or privilege to them during his life, and left nothing to them at his death. They became incorporated with the Levites, from or amongst whom they are never distinguished.” An illustration of the nobility of his character and the utter unselfishness of his aims. Other eminent men seek to advance the interests of their descendants; but it was not so with him. In this we have also a confirmation of the Divinity of his vocation—that he was called of God to his great enterprise. Had it been otherwise, we should have seen him aim at the gratification of avarice, or the acquisition of power, or the attainment of honours for himself and his successors. The disinterestedness of his conduct witnesses to the Divinity of his calling.
II. An intimation that the duties of the ministers of religion demand for their faithful discharge their entire consecration thereto.
It seems to us that the striking expression used in the third verse may fairly be regarded as suggesting this truth, “Whose hands he filled to minister in the priest’s office.” The apostles soon found this entire consecration of their time and powers to the work to be necessary. “We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (see Act_6:1-4). And St. Paul, in writing to Timothy, says: “Give thyself wholly to them” (see 1Ti_4:13-16, and remarks on this point in our notes on ch. Num_1:47-54).
III. An example of wicked sons descending from a godly parent.
Aaron, though far from being so great or so holy a man as his brother, was without doubt a good man; yet Nadab, his eldest son, and Abihu, his second son, were consumed by God because of their sin. “Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai.” Their sin was that they kindled the incense in their censers with fire not taken from that which burned perpetually on the altar, and probably that they did this while in a state of intoxication (Lev_10:1-11). God will be served as He pleases and directs. There is peril even in the slightest infringement of Divine directions. In sacred services the least deviations from the clearly revealed will of God are displeasing unto Him. For their sin Nadab and Abihu were devoured by “fire from the Lord.” They were degenerate and depraved sons of a pious father. Generation is not regeneration. Personal character is not hereditary as personal possessions often are. Our Lord represents one “in hell” and “in torments” as addressing Abraham as “Father,” and Abraham in reply addressing him as “Son.” The children of godly parents may at last find their own place in hell. Salvation is not transmissible. It is a personal concern. Repentance, faith, self-consecration, are acts which cannot be done by proxy. The general rule undoubtedly is that the children of pious parents, who have been well and wisely trained by them, will themselves become pious. It is also true that moral tendencies are transmissible from parent to child. Still there are exceptions to this rule. Yet we think if we knew all the particulars of the home-life and the parental training and example, we should find such exceptions to be very rare indeed. Many parents of undoubted piety fail sadly in the training of their children: some through over-severity, others by undue indulgence, etc. Did not Eli fail in this respect? (1Sa_3:13.) Do not the troubles which arose to Jacob by reason of the sins of his sons look like the natural retribution of his own sins, in deceiving his aged father and in wronging his brother? Were not the troubles in the later life of David, because of the wickedness of some of his sons, connected with his own sins? (2Sa_12:10-12.) Let pious parents take heed to themselves and to their duties. (a)
IV. An example of the widest difference of character and destiny in children of the same parents.
While Nadab and Abihu were sadly depraved and suddenly destroyed, their younger brethren Eleazar and Ithamar faithfully “ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father,” and upon his death, Eleazar succeeded him as high priest. The children of the same parents frequently differ widely from each other in features, in disposition, and, as amongst the sons of Aaron, in character. The freedom of the human will to a very great extent explains this. The things which to one man are the very bread of life, another man will pervert into deadly poison. The ministry of the Divine Gospel to some is “the savour of life unto life,” to others “the savour of death unto death.” (b)
Conclusion:
Our subject utters earnest counsels—
1. To the children of godly parents. Trust not in the character and prayers of your parents for salvation. These are of priceless value, yet they will not avail to your salvation apart from your own faith and obedience. (See Ezekiel 18) (c)
2. To parents. Be diligent and faithful in the discharge of your duty to your children.
(1) Let your own life be right, and so set them a good example. (d)
(2) Give them wise religious instruction and training. (e)
(3) Commend them often and earnestly to God in prayer. (f)
(4) Afford them encouragement in every manifestation of pious feeling and conduct. (g)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) I do not overlook the dreadful possibility, that, in the stress of temptation, and a depraved inclination, the child, even when all this has been done for him, may wander off and be a prodigal. He may viciously disown the covenant made in his behalf. He may plunge into sin, in despite of all. Then his only way back into the Church of Christ must be by conversion, as with the children of unbelievers. All I say is, that such instances ought to be prevented or diminished by wiser and more Christian notions and practices. Let the Christian parents continually speak to the young child of Church privileges, of the joy and the duty of his Christian heritage and home. Let that child have the doctrines and life of Christ faithfully instilled into his soul, by domestic instruction and family prayer. Let him be reminded of his baptismal dedication, and taught to live worthily of it. No magical, talismanic effect is thus to be wrought upon him, but a perfectly natural and simple one, standing in harmony with all other educational influences, and guaranteed also a peculiar blessing. This Christian child, like others, must have a spiritual nature and life formed upon him, in addition to his natural life. Only, this blessed boon of a new and holy heart steals in upon him gradually, by way of his parents’ eyes and voice and prayers, from the very dawn of his consciousness, grows with his growth, hardens with his muscles, expands with his understanding, and matures in him as gently and regularly as any of the growths of the forest or the field; so that there shall be no period in his remembrance, when he was not moving straight on towards a ripe Christian character, and full communion in the Church. All this I place in contrast with our strange and savage habit of turning off our little ones to feed on the busks and chaff of the senses, till some dreadful wrench of sorrow, after they have grown up, possibly wakens a few of them to conviction, and drives them back, broken-spirited, from the far country where they had wandered, to their Father’s house.—F. D. Huntington, D D.
(b) So from the heights of will
Life’s parting stream descends,
And, as a moment turns its slender rill,
Each widening torrent bends.
From the same cradle’s side,
From the same mother’s knee,
One to long darkness and the frozen tide,
One to the peaceful sea!
O. W. Holmes.
(c) The child of a very godly father, notwithstanding all the instructions given him, the good education he has had, and the needful rebukes that have been given him, and the restraints he has been laid under, after all the pains taken with him and prayers put up for him, may yet prove wicked and vile, the grief of his father, the shame of his family, and the curse and plague of his generation. This wicked man shall perish for ever in his iniquity, notwithstanding his being the son of a good father. He is his own destroyer; and his relation to a good father will be so far from standing him in stead that it will aggravate his sin and his condemnation, and will make his misery hereafter the more intolerable.—M. Henry.
(d) Truth must be lived into meaning before it can be truly known. Examples are the only sufficient commentaries; living epistles the only fit expounders of written epistles. When the truly Christian father and mother teach as being taught of God, when their prayers go into their lives, and their lives into their doctrine; when their goodness melts into the memory, and heaven, too, breathes into the associated thoughts and sentiments, to make a kind of blessed memory for also they teach, then we see the beautiful office they are in fulfilled.—H. Bushnell, D.D.
(e) There must be regular Biblical teaching. Somewhere and somehow, not by chance, not at interrupted and infrequent seasons, but patiently and humbly, and week by week, that wonderful, most ancient and Eternal Book must be opened before him. Its sublime yet simple truths, plain to the child’s understanding; its holy personages, us grand Prophets and ardent Apostles; its venerable patriarchs and its inspired children, must all pass, in their robes of light and forms of singular majesty and beauty before him. Its psalms must be sung into his soul. Its beatitudes and commandments must be fixed in his remembrance. Its parables must engage his fancy. Its miracles must awe his wonder. Its cross, and ark, and all its sacred emblems, must people his imagination. Without that Bible, no child born among us can come to Him whom only the Bible reveals.—F. D. Huntington, D.D.
(f) There must be prayer. Your child must know, he must see, he must feel, that between your parent-heart and Him who is the Infinite Father of all alike there is open and conscious communion. Till there is established, in all simplicity, this confiding and daily intercourse between the soul and Heaven, you have not received your child in the name of Christ. What was testified by one of the strong statesmen of early American history might be declared, in spirit, probably by nearly all the best men that have lived in Christendom. “I believe,” he said, “that I should have been swept away by the flood of French infidelity if it had not been for one thing—the remembrance of the time when my sainted mother used to make me kneel by her bedside, taking my little hands folded in hers, and causing me to repeat the Lord’s Prayer.”—Ibid.
(g) Piety is very commonly discouraged in children by giving them tests of character that are inappropriate to their age. The child, for example, loses his temper in some matter in which he is crossed; and the conclusion is forthwith sprung upon him that he has a bad heart, and is certainly no Christian child. It is only necessary to ask how the father, how the mother, would themselves fare tested by the same rule?… It is never to be assumed by us that they are without piety because they falter in some things. The child must be judged or tested in the same general way as the adult. If he is wholly perverse, has no spirit of duty, turns away from all religious things, it will not encourage anything good in him to tell him that he is without piety; but if he loves religious things, wants to be in them, tries after a good and obedient life, he is to be shown how tenderly God regards him, how ready He is to forgive him, and when he stumbles or falls, how kindly He will raise him up, how graciously help him to stand!—H. Bushnell, D.D.
THE DEDICATION OF THE LEVITES—CHURCH WORK AND WORKERS
(Num_3:5-10)
These verses suggest the following observations:—
I. That the offices of the Church are Divinely instituted.
The Lord here institutes the Levitical order with its duties, the priestly order with its duties, and places both under the high priest, who also had his duties. In the Christian Church the office of the Ministry was instituted by our Lord Himself. (See Mat_28:18-20; Mar_16:15-16; Luk_24:45-49) The deacon’s office was instituted by the inspired apostles with solemn prayer to God, and was ratified by the signal blessing of God which followed. (See Act_6:1-8) Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are spoken of by St. Paul as the gifts of Christ to the Church, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” These offices are not human inventions. They are Divine in their origin, and in their authority. (a)
II. There are different ranks in the offices of the Church as instituted by God.
The Levites were given to the priests for the performance of those religious duties which were of an inferior kind. The priests ranked higher than the Levites. They were granted a nearer access to God in the Holy of holies. The high priest held the highest office in the tribe, and ranked as the head of both the priests and the Levites. With respect to the Levites this is clearly indicated in the text. Thus, in Num_3:6, “the expression עָמַד לִפְנֵי is frequently met with in connection with the position of a servant, as standing before his master to receive his commands.”—Keil and Del. And Fuerst: “To stand before one in a respectful, submissive, ministering position before the great, hence to serve, to wait upon. Deu_1:38; Dan_1:5.” The ninth verse also expresses their “complete surrender” to him. We must be careful in applying this to the Christian Church; for, as Dr. Stoughton observes, “the Jewish Church was in certain respects, and those the most characteristic and striking, so utterly different from the Churches instituted by the Apostles, that a combination of the principles of the first, with the principles of the second, is simply impossible.” But in the offices of the Christian Church there are grades or ranks. Various ranks are necessary for the maintenance of the order, and the performance of the various duties of the Church. Various ranks are inevitable. While there are differences of mental capacity and spiritual power amongst the members of the Church, differences of rank there must be. Thus we find that ministers were rulers in the Churches in the Apostolic age. St. Paul writes, “We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,” etc. (1Th_5:12-13. And the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God.” “They ruled in the name of their Divine Master, administering His laws, not enacting any of their own.”
III. The lowliest labour in the service of God is sacred and blessed.
The Levites were to perform the most common and laborious duties. They were the servants of the priests. They had to keep guard round the tabernacle, to keep the sacred vessels pertaining to it, to remove it from place to place during their wanderings and journeyings, to prepare supplies for the sanctuary, such as incense, wine, oil, etc., and to keep all pertaining to the tabernacle clean and in order. Yet they were dedicated to this work, and taught to regard the work itself as sacred. The most menial labour in connection with the cause of God should still be regarded as sacred. Its high and holy associations and ends exalt and hallow it. “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than,” etc. Indeed, all work which is faithfully done is sacred. Duty is ever divine and ennobling. “One thing I will remind you of,” says Mr. Carlyle, “that the essence and outcome of all religions, creeds, and liturgies whatsoever is, to do one’s work in a faithful manner. Unhappy caitiff, what to you is the use of orthodoxy, if with every stroke of your hammer you are breaking all the Ten Commandments,—operating upon Devil’s dust, and endeavouring to reap where you have not sown?” (b)
IV. God also appoints the persons to fill the various offices in His Church.
Here He appoints the tribe of Levi to the service of the tabernacle, and the sons of Aaron to the priesthood; and He called Aaron to be the high priest. “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” True ministers are creations of God, not the manufacture either of university or college professors, or of consecrating bishops, or of both united. He alone is able to qualify men for the office, and He alone is competent to utter the authoritative call to it. (c)
V. Intrusion into sacred places and duties awakened the stern displeasure of the Lord.
“Aaron and his sons shall wait on their priest’s office; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.” Any one who was not a son of Aaron, even though he were a Levite, that should draw nigh to perform any of the duties pertaining to the office of the priest was to be put to death. “Let this be thought upon by our over-bold intruders into the work of the ministry.” God will have sacred things reverently regarded, and sacred duties reverently performed.
Conclusion:
The subject affords—
1. Encouragement to those who are called of God to Christian work. He who has called you to your work will sustain you in it, make it efficient by His blessing, and confer upon you rich rewards.
2. Admonition as to our estimate of the ministers of the Lord. They “are ambassadors for Christ.” God Himself speaks through them to men. They are called and commissioned by Jesus Christ. And He says, “He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me;” “Despise not prophesyings.” “Know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) All men cannot work in the same way: “There are diversities of operation.” Upon the face of a watch you may see an illustration of my meaning. On that small space you have three workers: there is the second-pointer performing rapid revolutions; there is the minute-pointer going at a greatly reduced speed; and there is the hour-pointer tardier still. Now any one unacquainted with the mechanism of a watch would conclude that the busy little second-pointer was doing all the work—it is clicking away at sixty times the speed of the minute-pointer; and as for the hour-hand that seems to be doing no work at all. You can see in a moment that the first is busy, and in a short time you’ll see the second stir, but you must wait still longer to assure yourself of the motion of the third. So is it in the Church. There are active, fussy men who appear to be doing the work of the whole community, and others who go at less speed, and others slower still. But can we do without the minute and the hour-pointers? The noisy second-hand might go round its little circle for ever, without telling the world the true time. We should be thankful for all kinds of workers. The silent, steady hour-hand need not envy its noisy little colleague. Each man must fill the measure of his capacity. Your business is to do your allotted work, so as to meet the approbation of the Master.—Jos. Parker, D.D.
(b) There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works; in idleness alone is there perpetual despair.… It has been written, “an endless significance lies in work”—as man perfects himself by writing. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields rise instead, and stately cities; and withal, the man himself first ceases to be a jungle and foul, unwholesome desert thereby. Consider how, even in the meanest sorts of Labour, the whole soul of a man is composed into a kind of real harmony, the instant he sets himself to work! Doubt, Desire, Sorrow, Remorse, Indignation, Despair itself, all these, like hell-dogs, lie beleaguering the soul of the poor day-worker, as of every man; but as he bends himself with free valour against his task, all these are stilled, all these shrink murmuring far off into their caves. The man is now a man. The blessed glow of Labour in him, is it not a purifying fire, wherein all poison is burnt up? and of sour smoke itself there is made bright, blessed flame!… Work is of a religious nature; work is of a brave nature, which it is the aim of all religion to be.… Admirable was that of the old monks, “Laborare est orare: Work is Worship.” … All true Work is sacred: in all true Work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Labour, wide as the Earth, has its summit in Heaven. Sweat of the brow; and up from that to sweat of the brain, sweat of the heart: which includes all Kepler calculations, Newton meditations, all Sciences, all spoken Epics, all acted Heroisms, Martyrdoms—up to that “Agony of bloody sweat.” which all men have called divine! O brother! if this is not “worship,” then I say the more pity for worship, for this is the noblest thing yet discovered under God’s sky! Who art thou that complainest of thy life of toil? Complain not. Look up, my wearied brother; see thy fellow-Workmen there, in God’s Eternity; surviving there, they alone surviving: sacred band of the Immortals, celestial Body-guard of the Empire of Mankind! Even in the weak Human Memory they survive so long, as saints, as heroes, as gods; they alone surviving; peopling, they alone, the immeasured solitudes of Time! To thee. Heaven, though severe, is not unkind; Heaven is kind—as a noble Mother; as that Spartan Mother, saying, while she gave her son his shield, “With it, my son, or upon it!” Thou too shalt return home, in honour to thy far-distant Home, in honour; doubt it not—if in the battle thou keep thy shield! Thou, in the Eternities and deepest Death-kingdoms, art not an alien; thou everywhere art a denizen! Complain not; the very Spartans did not complain.—Thos. Carlyle.
(c) The man who has adopted the church as a profession, as other men adopt the law, or the army, or the navy, and goes through the routine of its duties with the coldness of a mere official—filled by him, the pulpit seems filled by the ghastly form of a skeleton, that, in its cold and bony fingers, holds a burning lamp.—Thos. Guthrie, D.D.
GOD’S CLAIMS UPON MAN’S SERVICE
(Num_3:11-13)
These verses suggest the following observations:—
I. That God’s claims upon man’s service are incontestable.
Upon what are they grounded?
1. Upon what He is in Himself. “The Levites shall be Mine … Mine shall they be. I am the Lord.” The concluding words of Num_3:13 are better thus expressed: “Mine shall they be, Mine, the Lord’s.” He is the Proprietor of all things. All things and all persons were created by Him, and are sustained by Him. He is over all. He is the greatest, the best Being. And as such His claim upon man is complete and indisputable. The inventor has a right to his invention; the maker to the thing made. So God, etc. The Supremely Great and Good has a right to the admiration, the worship, and the service of all intelligent beings.
2. Upon what He does for man. “All the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel,” etc. The preservation of the firstborn of the Israelites on the dread night when all the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain is here put forth by the Lord as a ground of claim upon them. Their preservation was an exercise of the Divine mercy. He spared them that they might devote themselves unreservedly to His service. God spares the sinful race of man, and constantly confers upon the ill-deserving many choice gifts. He has redeemed us at a great cost,—“not with corruptible things, as silver and gold; but with the precious blood of Christ.” His claims upon us are not only incontrovertible, but most heart-constraining also. (a)
Such being the character of His claims upon us, we cannot withhold from Him our loyal and hearty service without incurring the guilt of manifest fraud and basest ingratitude.
II. There is a correspondence between the gifts and the claims of God.
His demands are proportioned to His bestowments. He had spared the lives of the firstborn of Israel, and He claims the firstborn. “Unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” “Freely ye have received, freely give.” All our possessions and powers involve corresponding responsibilities. (b)
1. This is righteous. No one can truthfully complain that the requirements of God are unreasonable or excessive.
2. This is beneficent. By the operation of this principle the weak are aided by the strong, the great and gifted render much and noble service, etc. Let no one boast of the greatness of his powers or possessions, as though they were his own, etc. “For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?” etc. Let us rather be humble, and faithful in the use of all our gifts in God’s service.
III. The Divine arrangements are ever marked by infinite wisdom and kindness.
In the substitution of the tribe of Levi for the firstborn of all the tribes, we have an illustration of this. “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn,” etc.
1. By assigning the sacred duties of the service of the tabernacle to the one tribe they would be likely to be more faithfully and efficiently performed. The undivided interest of the tribe would be devoted to this holy calling.
2. By this arrangement the convenience of the nation was undoubtedly consulted. The Divine requirements in this respect would be the more easily complied with by this arrangement than by that for which it was substituted.
3. The tribe of Levi was numerically the most fitted for these duties. “This was the smallest tribe, and they were quite enough for the service. To have had a more numerous tribe at this time would have been very inconvenient.”
4. The tribe of Levi had manifested its moral fitness for these duties. By their faithful and courageous defence of the honour of the Lord, by slaying the worshippers of the golden calf, the children of Levi had shown themselves to be the most suitable of all the tribes for this service. So we are able to trace the wisdom and kindness of God in this arrangement. And all His plans and doings are perfectly wise and kind. We may not always be able to discover this wisdom and kindness. But the limitation of our powers should never be regarded as a reason for questioning the Divine perfections. Let every additional illustration of His wisdom and goodness that we discover lead us to cherish increased gratitude to Him, and to repose increased confidence in Him.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) A gentleman, visiting a slave-mart, was deeply moved by the agony of a slave-girl, who had been delicately reared, and feared that she should fall into the hands of a rough master. The gentleman inquired her price, paid it to the slave-trader, then placed the bill of sale in her own hands, telling her she was free, and could now go home. The slave-girl could not realise the change at first, but, running after her redeemer, cried, “He has redeemed me! he has redeemed me! Will you let me be your servant?” How much more should we serve Him who has redeemed us from sin, death, and hell?—Dict, of Illust.
(b) Thyself and thy belongings
Are not thine own so proper, as to waste
Thyself upon thy virtues, them on thee.
Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do;
Not light them for themselves: for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, ’twere all alike
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch’d,
But to fine issues: nor nature never lends
The smallest scruple of her excellence,
But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines
Herself the glory of a creditor,
Both thanks and use.—Shakespeare.
“Measure for Measure,” L L
The earth that in her genial breast
Makes for the down a kindly nest,
Where wafted by the warm south-west
It floats at pleasure,
Yields, thankful, of her very best,
To nurse her treasure:
True to her trust, tree, herb, or reed,
She renders for each scatter’d seed,
And to her Lord with duteous heed
Gives large increase:
Thus year by year she works unfeed,
And will not cease.
Woe worth these barren hearts of ours,
Where Thou has set celestial flowers,
And water’d with more balmy showers
Than e’er distill’d
In Eden, on th’ ambrosial bowers—
Yet nought we yield.
Largely Thou givest, gracious Lord.
Largely Thy gifts should be restor’d,
Freely Thou givest, and Thy word
Is, “Freely give.”
He only, who forgets to hoard,
Has learn’d to live.
Keble.
THE MEASURE OF THE DIVINE DEMANDS UPON MAN
(Num_3:12-13)
In the text God calls attention to the reason he had for selecting a tribe for the service of the sanctuary. It was to be in lieu of the firstborn, who were specially His because He smote the firstborn of Egypt to effect the deliverance of Israel. He had a right to the firstborn in the sense that all are His; but, in addition to that, they are now His, as redeemed by Him. It is the same with us now. While all things and all men are God’s, the Christian is especially His—he is His child. God is said to be the father of us all; and so He is. But then we have sinned, and have thereby forfeited all our rights. We are the prisoners of Justice. The parent of the criminal cannot exercise his fatherly functions: practically his child has ceased to be his, for the State claims him. So with us and God. Although as Creator He is the Father of us all, yet, through our sin, we are practically not His children. He cannot exercise the paternal functions towards us till we are ransomed from the curse of the law and become free, which we only do in and through Christ. It is then, by redemption, that we become His dear children, and enjoy all the privileges of sonship. Thus Christians, like the firstborn, specially belong to God; for he has not only given them being, but he has ransomed them.
The text further contains a principle of deep importance to us. As God smote the firstborn of Egypt, He demanded the firstborn of Israel. The measure of their redemption became the measure of His demands from them. He expected them, and He expects us to do in our way what He has done in His way for us. He calls upon us to give to Him what He has given to us. We find the same principle in the New Testament. Christ is more than the sacrifice for sin: He is our Pattern. As He made Himself of no reputation, we are to have the mind that was in Him. We are to crucify self, to die to sin, and to rise again in newness of life.
We shall now take two comprehensive points.
I. God gave the best He had to effect our salvation.
He withheld not His only begotten, His well-beloved Son. A parent’s love to his child is the deepest and tenderest. Such was God’s love to Christ. The sacrifice was the greatest that the Father could make. We feel sure that if man could have been saved in any other way the Son would have been spared the ignominy, the bitterness, and the pain He endured through His life and in His death. God gave Him, the best, the chiefest treasure that He had, for our ransom. In this we have a significant hint of what He expects from us. We must give Him the very best of all we are and of all we have. As there was no salvation without God giving His best for us, so there is no religion unless we are prepared to give our best to Him. There is no hardship in this. It really means no more than this, that we are to love Him supremely. He asks nothing of us that He has Dot done for us first Himself. In the life of Christ this is conspicuous. He lived all His sermons. He taught much that was new, that was hard to do, and was against the practice of the world; but He did it all first Himself. God has given us His best in giving His Son; let us then give our best of everything to Him.
II. The Son gave Himself.
On the part of Christ there was the sacrifice of His own life as the ransom for our sin. Redemption is more than doctrine—it is the Son of God giving Himself for man. Just so, religion is more than creed—it is man giving Himself to God. Christ might have given many things; but nothing would do for our salvation but the consecration of Himself. This is the extent of God’s demand on us. “My son, give me thine heart.” We have to yield ourselves to Him. Not merely to die for Him, but to give up ourselves to live for Him—to burn out in His work—to be faithful unto death—which is often harder to do than to die for Him. Many are willing to give time, talents, money. But Christ wants us. He knows that if we give Him our heart we shall give Him all; and if we withhold this from Him, we give Him nothing at all. Consecrate yourselves to Him as He did Himself for you. This is the great principle of the text. And it is the principle which governs God’s demands of us at the present day. Let us sacrifice ourselves to God as He sacrificed His Son for us. I urge this because—
1. Thus only can we attain to a high ideal in religion. Be the best possible Christian: be not content with mediocrity: aim high.
2. This is the best way to be useful. The power of Christianity is in the fact of Christ giving Himself. Our influence for good is in proportion to our self-sacrifice.
3. This is the way to enjoy religion. The more we give of self to God, the more will He give of Himself to us.
Let all think of what God has done for them, and consider what returns they have made to Him.
David Lloyd.
THE NUMBERING OF THE LEVITES: COMMAND AND OBEDIENCE
(Num_3:14-16)
In these verses we have the command of the Lord to Moses to number the Levites, and the record of the obedience of Moses. In dealing with the command we shall notice only such suggestions as arise out of that part of it in which it differs most from the command to number the other tribes. In the other tribes “every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war” were numbered. But concerning the tribe of Levi, Moses is directed to number “every male from a month old and upward.” This command is suggestive of—
I. The interest of God in childhood.
The tribe of Levi was not appointed to the same service as the other tribes; and, consequently, they are not numbered by the same rule. “Number the children of Levi,—every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.” The Levites “were to be sanctified to Jehovah in the place of the firstborn; and it was at the age of a month that the latter were either to be given up or redeemed” (compare Num_3:40; Num_3:43 with chap, Num_18:16). The children of the Levites were to be taught that from their infancy they belonged to the Lord, and were dedicated to His service. Only 8,580 out of 22,000 were regarded as fit to be employed in the service of the tabernacle, yet all were numbered as belonging to the Lord. God is profoundly and tenderly interested in childhood. In His spiritual Kingdom, in which all His loyal subjects are priests, He claims for His service every child even from the very dawn of its existence. His interest in little children is strikingly illustrated in the presentation of the little child by the Lord to His disciples as the picture of the “greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat_18:1-6.) And perhaps even more strikingly in the blessing which He be towed upon the infants that were brought to Him for that purpose. (Mat_19:13-15.) It is the duty of Christian parents to recognise God’s claim upon their offspring, and to dedicate them to Him. That dedication cannot take place too early, since from their very birth they are His by the divinest rights. It is also their duty to train their children for Him. “Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Let parents be encouraged in the performance of their duty by the interest of God in their offspring. He will approve and bless their devout efforts. (a)
The command here given to Moses suggests,—
II. The generosity of God’s dealings with man.
He here accepts even infants, who must live many years before they can actively engage in His service, in exchange for able-bodied men. “Observe we again with comfort,” saith Bishop Babington, “what exchanges God maketh with men. He taketh a child of a month old, and foregoeth a firstborn of ripe years. Such is His manner and most gracious goodness; He giveth more than He wanteth, and gainers ever are His children by Him. Job had a bitter trial and a heavy loss, yet mark the end, and the Lord made him greater than ever he was—the Lord blessing the last days of Job, as the text saith, more than the first, etc. David’s child was taken away, but a far better was given again, even Solomon, the wisest son that ever father had. A cake was taken of the poor widow of Sarepta for His prophet, but what a requital made God unto her? The meal in the barrel and the oil in the cruse decayed not till other comfort grew. Another kindness done by the Shunamite, was it not recompensed by that blessing that was so vehemently wished—even a son; first given, and after revived from death to life again? Think of the saying in the Gospel concerning this point: ‘Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath forsaken house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My sake and the Gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundred-fold now at this present, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come life everlasting.’ See the change, and mark the gain for your exceeding comfort. Such a God is our God, that not a cup of cold water can be given, but He will yield a far greater gift for it. We cannot visit Him, feed Him, clothe Him, etc., in His poor members, but He will acknowledge it before the host of heaven, and give that which passeth ten thousand worlds—eternal joy in heaven.”
Let us notice,—
III. The obedience of God’s servant.
“And Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded.” The point to which prominence is here given is the completeness of the obedience. It was not merely general, but particular. He conformed to the directions which he had received from the Lord in detail. Herein he is an example to us. Nothing which God directs can be trifling or unimportant. What Infinite Wisdom commands minutely, it must be both our duty and our interest minutely to do. “General obedience,” says Dr. Parker, “is only so far good: we must be minute and exhaustive, or we shall incur Divine displeasure. Learn that Divine language never exceeds Divine meaning. There is significance in every word; you cannot amputate a single syllable without doing violence to the Divine idea.” Let us strive to render complete and hearty obedience to all the commands of God. (b)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) God’s interest in human life begins at the earliest possible period. This is an argument for infant baptism which I have never known to be touched, much less shaken. The narrow critics who have taken upon themselves to settle that question, have been fighting each other with Greek derivatives and grammatical inflexions, as if any moral question could be settled by such means! I make this question one of life, not one of grammar; and I put this direct and urgent inquiry—namely, When does God’s interest in human life begin? When does Christ’s heart begin to yearn in pity over all human creatures? When does compassion’s tear well into the Redeemer’s eyes? When does He feel the kindling of love towards human beings? Is it when they are five years old, or ten—does He shut up His love until they are twenty-one? The question may appear quaint, but I press it; I urge a distinct answer—When does Christ’s interest in human life begin? I contend that His interest relates to life, not to age; to birth, not to birth-days. As soon as a child is born, that great redeeming heart yearns with pitying love. What has Christ to do with what we call age? What is age? It may be useful for us to keep a record of anniversaries, to tabulate for statistical purposes, to call one man twenty and another forty, though forty, in reality, may be less than twenty; but will you presume to reduce Christ to a commercial agent, who deals with men according to their age? No! I hold to it as a sweet joy, a most delicious and enrapturing thought, that Jesus Christ interests Himself in me, that my name was written in His heart ere it fell from my mother’s lips, and that before a father knows the mystery and pride of parental life, Jesus experiences the travail of the soul which yearns to make the child an heir of immortality.—Jos. Parker, D.D.
(b) Nothing is more certain or clear than that human souls are made for law, and so for the abode of God. Without law therefore, without God, they must even freeze and die. Hence even Christ Himself must needs establish and sanctify the law; for the deliverance and liberty He comes to bring are still to be sought only in obedience. Henceforth duty is the brother of liberty, and both rejoice in the common motherhood of law. And just here, my friends, is the secret of a great part of your misery and of the darkness that envelopes your life. Without obligation you have no light, save what little may prick through your eyelids. Only he that keeps God’s commandments walks in the light. The moment you can make a very simple discovery, viz., that obligation to God is your privilege, and is not imposed as a burden, your experience will teach you many things—that duty is liberty, that repentance is a release from sorrow, that sacrifice is gain, that humility is dignity, that the truth from which you hide is a healing element that bathes your disordered life, and that even the penalties and terrors of God are the artillery only of protection to His realm.—H. Bushnell, D.D.
It ought to be the great care of every one of us to follow the Lord fully. We must, in a course of obedience to God’s will, and service to His honour, follow Him universally, without dividing; uprightly, without dissembling; cheerfully, without disputing; and constantly, without declining: and this is following Him fully.—M. Henry.
SACRED THINGS AND DUTIES
(Num_3:17-39)
Critical Notes.
Num_3:36. The custody and charge. Margin: “Hebrew, the office of the charge.”
Num_3:38. Keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel, “i.e., to attend to everything that was binding upon the children of Israel in relation to the care of the sanctuary, as no stranger was allowed to approach it on pain of death.”—Keil and Del.
Num_3:39. The number of the Levites as stated in this verse is 22,000; but as stated in Num_3:22; Num_3:28; Num_3:34, it is 22, 300. Various attempts have been made to reconcile the two. That of Dr. Kennicott, given by Dr. A. Clarke, in loco, seems to us the most reasonable. “Formerly, the numbers of the Hebrew Bible were expressed by letters, and not by words of full length; and if two nearly similar letters were mistaken for each other, many errors in the number must be the consequence. Now it is probable that an error has crept into the number of the Gershonites, Num_3:22, where instead of 7,500 we should read 7,200 as ך caph, 500, might have been easily mistaken for ר resh, 200, especially if the down stroke of the caph had been a little shorter than ordinary, which is often the case in MSS.” Keil and Del. regard the discrepancy as arising from “a copyist’s error in the number of one of the Levitical families; possibly in Num_3:28 we should read שׁלשׁ for שׁשׁ (8,300 for 8,600).”
In these verses we have the record of the numbering of the Levites, with the names of the chiefs who had the oversight of them, the places assigned to them about the tabernacle, and the duties as distributed amongst them. They suggest the following homiletic points. Notice—
I. The Divine directions for insuring order.
By Divine direction the whole tribe is arranged in four divisions, the families composing each division are clearly distinguished, the station of each division is appointed, a chief is set over each division, and Eleazar the son of Aaron is appointed chief over the chiefs. In this we clearly discover a Divine recognition of—
1. The importance of arrangement and order. (See our notes and illustration on chap, 2, Num_3:1-2, on this point.)
2. The importance of supervision and authority for the maintenance of order. (On this point see our notes and illustrations on Society’s need of leaders, ch. Num_1:4-16.)
II. The Divine distribution of duty.
1. The duties were distributed amongst the whole. No family was exempted; nor was any individual of the prescribed age, etc. There was work for all, and for every one. So in our day there is most urgent need for the services of every true man and woman. The greatest need of both the Church and the world is true-hearted labourers.
“There’s something for us all to do
In this great world of ours;
There’s work for me; there’s work for you,
Heaven sounds no idle hours:
We have a mission to perform,
A post of trust to fill,
Then rouse the soul, and nerve the arm,
And lend the lofty will.” (a)
2. The duties distributed to each division were different from those distributed to the other divisions. Moses, and Aaron and his sons, were appointed to the position of the highest honour and the weightiest responsibility. The duties which rank second in honour were allotted to the Kohathites. To the Merarites, which, though the smallest of the families of Levi, yet contained the largest number of able-bodied men (compare Num_3:22; Num_3:28; Num_3:34, and ch. 4 Num_3:36; Num_3:40; Num_3:44), were allotted the most heavy and laborious duties. All men cannot work at the same tasks or in the same way. Division of duty is
(1) necessary, because of the differences in the kind and degree of ability amongst men. (b) It is also
(2) advantageous. By means of it more work may be accomplished and better. The advantage will be found both in the quantity and in the quality of the results. Contrast the ancient and the modern method of pin manufacture in illustration of this point.
3. The duties of all were Divine. All were engaged in the service of God; all were appointed by God. The duties were assigned to each division and to all as a “charge” from God—a sacred trust. So now, all duty, even the lowliest and most menial, when rightly regarded and faithfully discharged, is holy. The highest duties can never of themselves exalt the hireling or the unfaithful worker; but the spirit of the faithful and devoted worker will dignify and hallow the meanest labours. (c)
III. The Divine recognition of the sacredness of things associated with religious worship.
Not only the ark and the altars, but the hangings, the coverings, the cords, the boards, the bars, the sockets, the pins, etc., connected with the tabernacle were given in solemn charge to the Levites. All these things were to be held as sacred. And if any stranger came nigh to the sanctuary itself he was to be put to death. And still there are sacred places and sacred things. They have been made sacred neither by the “consecration” of pope or cardinal, of archbishop or bishop, nor by the “dedication” of any minister or ministers; but by the memories which gather round them, or by the uses to which they are set apart. To reverent spirits the commonest things are hallowed by sacred uses, and even the plainest places are consecrated by pure and precious associations. The spiritual history of every godly man has its sacred places. And have we not each things which are profoundly sacred to us personally? (d)
Conclusion:
Let us endeavour to be true and tender in sentiment, pure and reverent in feeling, and hearty and faithful in duty.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) There is something for all to do, but by different instruments—one by his organ, another by his piano, another by his paint-brush, another by his sculptor’s chisel, another by his plough, another by his carpenter’s tools, another by his trowel—every man by that to which he is called in the providence of God, that he may give some expression to the inwardness that is waked up in him. There are rude workmen who have, back of their hand, back of their skill, a soul that is trying to express itself in the realities of life. This is the ordination which makes true manhood and true genius.—H. W. Beecher.
(b) See the illustration on Num_3:5-10, by Dr. Parker.
(c) Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in any thing,
To do it as for Thee:
Not rudely, as a beast,
To run into an action;
But still to make Thee prepossest,
And give it his perfection.
A man that looks on glass,
On it may stay his eye;
Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass,
And then the heav’n espie.
All may of Thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture (for Thy sake)
Will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th’ action fine.
This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold:
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.
George Herbert.
See also the illustration by Carlyle given under Num_3:5-10.
(d) It is given us to transfer our own mental and moral nature to the objects of our sight or of our conception One man, who has never read the Sacred History, and whose mind is wholly uninformed as to its wonderful facts, might visit the Holy Land and make himself familiar with its existing scenery, and as his foot impressed its hallowed soil, and his eye rested on its mountains and its vales, on its rivers and its lakes, and on all its natural phenomena, he might betray no more emotion than would be awakened by the contemplation of similar phenomena in any other part of the world; while another man, who had imbibed the spirit and the inspiration of the Bible, and whose faith reposed in its simple, yet sublime narratives, would everywhere find the most extraordinary appearances, and feel that he was in a land teeming with miracles. To him, “every name commemorates a mystery—every grotto announces a prediction—every hill echoes the accent of a prophet.” He cannot get away from the impression that “God Himself has spoken in those regions—dried up rivers—rent the rocks—and opened the graves.” To him “the desert still appears mute with terror;” and he imagines that it can never have “presumed to interrupt the silence, since it heard the awful voice of the Eternal!” He feels that he is on holy ground; and his very step is reverent. He approaches every object with deepening awe, and like Moses at the burning-bush, sees everything glowing with Divine glory. The natural scenery of Palestine may not be superior to that which is to be found in other parts of the world; but where can we find a country so rich in associations, or with what other place can we connect associations so hallowed and so unique! It is our remembrances and our memories which give to the outward phenomena such transcendent interest. We throw the whole living flame of our holiest feeling upon everthing without us and around us, and everywhere we see beauty, and magnificence and glory—everywhere we trace the footsteps of Divinity, and everywhere we hear the voice of God.—R. Ferguson, LL.D.
ALLOTED DUTIES
(Num_3:21-38)
I. They differed in importance, yet there was no vain ambition.
II. They differed in labour, yet there was no complaining.
III. They differed in nature, yet were all undertaken with equal cheerfulness.
IV. They differed according to the wise will of God.—The Biblical Museum.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH AND THE CO-OPERATION OF ALL IN THE SERVICE OF GOD
(Num_3:25-26; Num_3:31; Num_3:36-37)
Having chosen the Levites for His service, God portions out their work to them. The priesthood was conferred upon Aaron and his family, and the rest of the tribe were to assist them in the service of the tabernacle. In making these arrangements the character of Moses stands out strikingly prominent. He does not demur because his tribe has no inheritance, neither do we find him seeking any special honour for his own family. Few men there are who are not injured by prosperity and power, and who take no advantage of their position to further the interests of their families. Nepotism is common in Church and State. Moses was above that, and was ready to acquiesce in God’s way, thinking it great honour to his family to be engaged in His service, though in the humble position of Levites.
God divides the tribe of Levi, having selected from it the family of Aaron for the priesthood, into three distinct families; and, in the text, He gives to each his own work to do in connection with the tabernacle. Their duty in the wilderness was to carry it and its furniture from place to place, etc. Each had his work to do, and all had to co-operate. Thus the tabernacle and its services were ever attended to, and God’s work among the people was constantly carried on. Looking thus at the verses which constitute our text, they suggest to us the subject of personal responsibility and co-operation in the service of God.
I. God has a work for every one of His children to do, and He expects each one to do it.
He holds each responsible for it. We are to be His servants; we are to be useful. He brings up none of His children in luxurious idleness. God hates idleness. Amongst the countless forms and varieties of life in the universe, there is not one that has not some purpose to answer—something given it to do by its Creator. To show how He hates idleness He has linked poverty to it. It is so in religion too. The spiritual idler is ever a spiritual pauper, and can never possess the riches of religion. We must work before we can possess them. The hand of the diligent God blesses. There is much need of calling attention to this truth at the present day. The age is a luxurious one; ease and comfort seem to be the ends of life. This spirit is creeping into our churches. It is difficult to get people to realize their responsibility, and to work for God. They guage everything by the amount of pleasure it gives, and not by the good it is calculated to do them. Men ought to have a higher ideal. God saves us that we might be His fellow-workers. God makes us soldiers before He makes us saints. The highest test of religion is not enjoyment, but usefulness. There is joy in religion. It is the most joyous thing in the world; but then the joy is associated with work. There is no real pleasure in idleness. It is the working man, and not the skulking idler, that has the most physical enjoyment. So in spiritual things. There is no luxury like that of doing good. If any Christian lacks joy in religion, let him work more for God. He expects us all to be workers. None are exempt. There is not one without a “talent;” and God expects it with usury. He exempts none on the ground of youth or age, of inability or weakness, etc. If you are poor, you can show how religion can support in poverty. If you are old, you can “bring forth fruit in old age.” Sometimes a Christian is laid by through affliction, and feels that he is of no use whatever. But the sick bed of a child of God is of great profit to the world and to the Church by showing how religion can support the mind and comfort the heart in trial. Moreover, the afflicted Christian can benefit others by intercession with God. We all know how the suffering child prevails with his parent, and none can tell what the world and the Church owe to the prayers of God’s suffering children. All can do something for God. He has given it them to do, and He holds them responsible for it.
II. Not only does God expect each one to work for Him, but He expects all to co-operate in His service.
Each Levite had his own work to perform, but the three divisions were to move together and to halt together. Without their co-operation the tabernacle could not have been erected, and God would not have appeared on the Mercy-seat. We are not to be isolated workers, but fellow-labourers. While it is true that each one is accountable only for himself, it is also true that no one liveth to himself. If we are units, we are parts of a whole. Paul takes the different parts of the human body as an illustration of the body of Christ, which is the Church. Co-operation is the secret of success. The Church and the Sunday-school, the pulpit and the pew, each must do its own work, and all must work together, if the work of God is to prosper amongst us. It ought to be so between various Churches—the different sections of the one Church of the living God. The work of God suffers for the want of co-operation. Often jealousy and rivalry creep in amongst us; we watch one another instead of our common foe, and prosperity becomes impossible. Are we not all soldiers of the same Christ? Different regiments in one and the same army? The dress may differ, but we all bear the coat-of-arms of our King. Surely, then, there ought to be no jealousy amongst us, and we ought to band together to fight against His enemies. The Church of God must come closer together, and co-operate more heartily, before the world is won for Christ. No opposition can stand before the united Church of God.—David Lloyd.
THE COMPLETENESS OF GOD’S CLAIMS, AND THE DIGNITY OF HIS SERVICE
(Num_3:40-51)
In this section of the history we have the account of the numbering of the firstborn males throughout the twelve tribes in order to effect the exchange of the Levites for them, which God had commanded. Three enquiries claim our attention.
1. How are we to account for so large a number of firstborn in so short a time? The command for the sanctification of the firstborn, recorded in Exo_13:1-2, was not retrospective, but was meant to apply to all that should be born from that time forward. “Hence the difficulty is to explain how the firstborn sons, amongst two millions of persons in a single year, could have been so many as is stated in the text; and it must be admitted, notwithstanding the well-known and often remarkable fluctuations in statistics of this sort, that some unusual causes must have been concerned. Such, not to mention the Divine Blessing, may be found in the sudden development of national energies which would immediately ensue on the exodus. Before that event, the miserable estate of the people, and especially the inhuman order for the destruction of their first-born, would check very seriously the ratio of marriages and births; and this ratio would naturally, when the check was removed, exhibit a sudden and striking increase.”—Speaker’s Comm. As additional arguments, the great fruitfulness of the Israelitish women, and the fact that amongst them the proportion of male births is unusually large, are adduced. (See Keil and Del. in loco.)
2. What is the value of “the shekel of the sanctuary?” “Here the shekel is evidently a weight, and of a special system of which the standard examples were probably kept by the priests.” At this time silver, and not gold, was used as the standard of value. It is impossible to determine exactly what was the value of the “sacred shekel” as compared with our English money of to-day, but probably it would be about two shillings and sixpence.
3. Who paid the redemption money for the 273 firstborn who were in excess of the number of the Levites? “The redemption money,” says The Speaker’s Comm., “would perhaps be exacted from the parents of the youngest children of the 22,273, they being in the case most nearly approaching that of those who would pay the tax for the redemption of the first-born in future.” But the opinion of Attersoll, A. Clarke, and others, seems to us the most probable. Was the money paid “by the firstborn that were last numbered, or by the people? I answer,” says Attersoll, “by the people, to Moses, for the priests: for so doth common equity require, that one might not be eased, and another burdened. But if these firstborn had borne the burden, and others been freed from the payment of this sum appointed and enjoined, there had been no equity nor equality observed, which the dignity of holy things seemeth to require.”
The command for substituting the Levites for the firstborn (Num_3:11-13) we have already considered, and endeavoured to show the reason of the substitution. In considering this portion of the history we confine our attention to two main homiletic points. Notice,—
I. The completeness of God’s claims.
We see this here in two things:
1. He claims not only the firstborn of Israel, but also the firstlings of their cattle. (See Num_3:41; Num_3:45.) All were His by right of creation. “Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” Moreover, the cattle of Israel were spared on that night when “all the firstborn of cattle” belonging to the Egyptians were slain. So that His claim upon the firstborn of cattle, both as having created and as having spared them, rested on the same ground as His claim upon the firstborn sons, (See our notes on Num_3:11-13.) “The cattle of the Levites were doubtless taken in the gross as an equivalent for the firstborn cattle of the other tribes, which of course, no less than the firstborn of men, belonged to the Lord; and in future would have to be redeemed.” (See Exo_13:11-15; Num_18:15; Deu_15:19.)
God claims ours as well as us; what we have as well as what we are; first ourselves, then our possessions. (Comp. Mat_10:37-39; Mat_19:21-24.) When we have truly given ourselves to the Lord we shall withhold nothing else from Him. And apart from this self-consecration to Him, the consecration of even our most costly and treasured possessions is not acceptable to Him. Without our supreme love all other gifts are worthless in His sight. (Comp. Psa_50:7-14, and Isa_1:11-14.)
2. He claims that the 273 firstborn in excess of the Levites shall be redeemed by money. He does not accept the Levites as a whole for the firstborn as a whole, taking no account of their relative numbers. The Levites must be numbered, and the firstborn must be numbered, and as there is an excess in the number of the firstborn, every one of these must be redeemed. Every one is His; and He is not willing to lose any one. May we not regard this as exhibiting His high estimate of men? We are so precious in His sight that He will not lose one of us if He can prevent it. His heart yearns in unutterable love towards every prodigal wanderer from His service, His home, and His heart. “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you.… How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call Me, My Father; and shalt not turn away from Me.” “When Israel was a child, then I loved him,” etc. “How shall I give thee up Ephraim?” etc. God is so exact in His claims upon us, because His love toward us is so great. His demands are always characterised by
(1) generosity. We have seen (in considering Num_3:11-13) that the substitution of the Levites was for the advantage of the people. All His requirements are unspeakably kind in their intention, and beneficent in their operation.
(2) Exactness. There is no exaggeration in His claims, nor anything unreasonable. He means what He says. He really requires what He demands. He claims from us the unreserved consecration of ourselves and our possessions,—that all shall be used in accordance with His will, etc. Have we duly considered His claims? Are we complying with them? “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present,” etc. Rom_12:1.
II. The dignity of God’s service.
It was instead of the firstborn that the tribe of Levi was chosen for the service of the tabernacle, or the ministry of religion. Now amongst the Jews the firstborn son ranked higher than the other members of the family, and enjoyed special privileges and honours. He received a double portion of the estate; he exercised an authority over the younger members of the family similar to that of a father; and he was the priest of the entire family. “The birthright of Esau and of Reuben, set aside by authority or forfeited by misconduct, prove a general privilege as well as quasi-sacredness of primogeniture (Gen_25:23; Gen_25:31; Gen_25:34; Gen_49:3; 1Ch_5:1; Heb_12:16), and a precedence which obviously existed, and is alluded to in several passages (as Psa_89:27; Job_18:13; Rom_8:29; Col_1:15; Heb_12:23).” Now inasmuch as the religious functions of the firstborn were given to the Levites, is not the inference warranted that their service as the ministers of religion was especially honourable? This is true of the Christian minister, because of—
1. The position which He occupies. He is the messenger of God to men. He stands before man instead of Jesus Christ. “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead,” etc “Verily, verily,” said our Lord, “He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me.”
2. The Work in which he is engaged.
It is his business to expound and illustrate the saving truth of God, and to apply that truth to the souls of men with their many and deep needs; to lead men in their approaches to the throne of the Highest in public worship; and by every possible means to promote the divine culture of human spirits. There can be no work more responsible and honourable than this.
3. The object for which he labours. The grand aim of the Christian ministry is the salvation of the souls of men. How transcendently great and important is this aim!
(1) Think of the soul—its powers, preciousness, etc. How great are its possibilities of progress, usefulness, enjoyment; or of degradation, mischief, misery! Unlimited are the possibilities of every human soul. Consider the Divine estimate of it. We see this in the stupendous price paid for its redemption. “He gave His only begotten Son,” etc. “Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,” etc. We see the Divine estimate of its worth also in the means and agencies which God employs for its salvation.
(2) Think what its salvation means. Not merely deliverance from punishment, etc. But restoration to the Divine image. “To be conformed to the image of his Son,” etc. “That ye might be partakers of the Divine nature,” etc. How grand then is the object of the Christian ministry! And how exalted the honour of those who are called to its sacred services!
A service so important and honourable:
First: Demands for its faithful discharge, great gifts, great godliness, and great devotion, (a)
Second: Should be highly esteemed by men and especially by Christians. To this high and holy service let Christian parents consecrate with gladness their best and most gifted sons. Let Christian young men not shrink from it by reason of any of the sacrifices which it involves; but if called thereto, count it the highest honour, etc. (b) Let all esteem the true minister of Christ highly because of the work in which he is engaged, and the Divine Being whom he represents. (c)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Your work is not lightened by the extraordinary development of education and literature within the last few years, nor by the certainty that it will take huge strides in advance before you have reached middle life. In a few years every village will swarm with men and women who will have gone through, in one form or another, more mental training and competitive examination in some departments of literature, science, or art, than was the lot of four-fifths of the professional men of half a century ago. Those who have nothing to say, and who obviously have no mental culture, will soon be scoffed out of the position of public teachers in every department. The love of luxury, the passion for the sensuous and the comfortable, the desire for amusement, for strong sensation, for pleasing spectacle, for fresh effects, which have impregnated every department of modern life and duty, have entered into the house of God, so that all the wisdom of the serpent must be joined with the harmlessness of the dove to do successful battle with the spirit of the world within the sanctuary of God. The beautiful building, the well-trained choir, the comfortable pew, the gorgeous effect, have not infrequently been the ghastly sepulchre of a dead church. Unchristlike passions are not charmed by sweet music, nor subtle speculation; nor are unspiritual men sanctified by sentimental eloquence, or moral essays, or stained windows. And believe me the great tide of human suffering and wrong doing, of hopeless toil, of grievous sickness and poverty, of boundless avarice and greed, is hardly touched by all the work of all our preachers, teachers, and philanthropists of every school. The knell is always ringing, and the spirits of men are always passing away in dread procession to the silent land … It appears to me that another great desideratum is what some might call enthusiasm; some, intensity of conviction; some would call it life. I prefer to speak of it as reality. My brethren, the one thing we want is absorbing realisation of the end of preaching; such a treatment of truth, and such a dealing with souls, that those who hear must at least know that the preacher believes what he says, and is putting forth every available power to make others see it with his eyes. If men speak of the Father God, it should be because they know what it is to be His child, and have found peace in His house, and have laid their head on His bosom. If they dare to lift the veil of the supernatural darkness which shrouds Gethsemane and Calvary, will it not be with sore amaze and eyes filled with tears? Yet is this the tone of our ordinary preaching?—H. R. Reynolds, D.D. From an Address to Students for the Ministry.
(b) Gentlemen, yours is a noble vocation. To be the ally of Christ in His great endeavour to save the world,—with Him to assert the authority of the throne and law of God; with Him to support human weakness in its vacillating endeavours to do the Divine will; to inspire the sinful with trust in the Divine mercy; to console sorrow; to awaken in the hearts of the poor, the weak, the desolate, the consciousness of their relations to the Infinite and Eternal God; to exalt and dignify the lives of old men and maidens, young men and children, by revealing to them things unseen and eternal which surround them now, and the mysterious, awful, glorious life which lies beyond death—this is a great work. There is nothing on earth comparable to it.—R. W. Dale, D.D.
(c) As Paul shows the Thessalonians how the preachers of the Word should be honoured, so he teaches the Philippians how to honour their teacher, saying:—“Receive him in the Lord with great gladness, and make much of such” (Num_2:29); that is, show yourselves glad of him, that he may be glad of you. Have you any need to be taught why Paul would have you make much of such? Because they are like lamps which consume themselves to give light to others; so they consume themselves to give light to you. Because they are like a hen which clucks her chickens together from the kyte; so they cluck you together from the serpent. Because they are like the great shouts which beat down the walls of Jericho; so they beat down the walls of sin. Because they are like the fiery pillar which went before the Israelites to the Land of Promise, so they go before you to the Land of Promise. Because they are like good Andrew, who called his brother to see the Messias; so they call you to see the Messias; and therefore make much of such.—Henry Smith.
He’s Christ’s ambassador that man of God,
Steward of God’s own mysteries! From on high
His warrant is: his charge, aloud to cry,
And spread his Master’s attributes abroad,
His works, His ark of mercy, and His rod
Of justice: his to sinners to supply
The means of grace, and point how they may fly
Hell-flames, and how Heaven’s pathway must be trod.
Hold him in honour on his works’ account,
And on his Master’s! Though a man he be,
And with his flock partake corruption’s fount,
Holy and reverend is his ministry:
And, hark! a voice sounds from the heavenly mount,
“He that despiseth you, despiseth ME!”
Bishop Mant.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Subdivision 2. (Num 3:1-51; Num 4:1-49.)
Subdivision 2. (Num 3:1-51; Num 4:1-49.)
The separation of the Levites to the service of the tent of meeting.
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The second subdivision shows us the separation of the Levites to their own peculiar service in connection with the tent of meeting, and details the service itself with special reference to the wilderness condition. The Levites are evidently in as distinct relation to the book of Numbers as the priests are to the book of Leviticus. The latter belong to the sanctuary when set up, and have their place in it as intercessors and as worshipers; the former guard it from without, or attend upon it in its traveling dress. They face outward, as the priests in their service face inward, -that is, Godward: and this is the essential distinction at all times between ministry and priesthood. It must be remembered that in Christianity God’s people are both; and not some of them, but all of them. "Ye are a holy priesthood" is said to all; and, in the prophetic wisdom of God, by him whom men have decreed to be the authoritative head of an exclusive priestly caste. Peter it is who is chosen of God to make this known to us (1Pe 2:5): "Ye are a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Here is the priestly attitude, the face Godward, although now the sacrifices are no longer propitiatory, Christ having offered Himself once for all for this; but "by Him" we are to "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, -that is, the fruit of our lips, confessing His name." And again we are exhorted, "But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased." (Heb 13:15-16.)
Our altar is, then, now not the brazen altar, -the work there has been done; and we, having been accepted in the value of it, are introduced into the sanctuary itself, -to the golden altar, the vail also being rent, so that we are brought fully nigh to God. And as brought nigh, our lives are to be a thank-offering to Him, that which alone makes a life in its spirit Christian. Praise, intercession, all that in which we draw near to God is in its character thus priestly: the face is toward God.
On the other hand, Levite service is from God and for God toward men; and this is ministry, which is nevertheless of the most diverse kind: not open ministry of the Word only, although in some sense indeed always that for when "without the Word" a woman wins her ungodly husband to the Lord, it is still by the Word as seen in its effect on her she does it, and she is truly more a minister of it in this than many a wordy preacher. All God’s saints are thus ministers: if the priesthood is not among us a special class, but all are priests, so the ministry is not with us a distinct class either, though there are distinct kinds of ministry. Nor is there in this way among saints a special class, holier by their office than are others; all are saints, and holy, not one secular and another sacred: a thought which degrades all ministry. They who are brought to God in the holiest by the new and living way which Christ hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, His flesh, are as holy as any can be: to deny it is to put dishonor on the work of Christ.
The children of Levi sprang, as we know, from the third son of Jacob, from whom came Aaron and Moses also, the double type of Christ. His name, "joined," suits perfectly with the history of the tribe, in their first father joined to Simeon in deeds of violence, which brings upon them as chastisement the sentence, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." But it is in result true blessing. Levi, in whom this is more fully accomplished than in Simeon, is only thereby more fully blessed. He is joined to the Lord, and the Lord becomes his portion, and if scattered in Israel, it is as a spiritual seed to bring forth fruit to God all over the land. Moses’ blessing in Deuteronomy speaks of their terrible proving at a time when, as we have seen, in the execution of divine judgment upon the idolaters, he "acknowledged not his brethren, and knew not his own children," and of the result in the divine approval, "they shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law." They are to teach the lesson who have learnt it; and so it ever is.
1. The first section gives their designation to the service, as the second gives us the service itself. God is sovereign in the choice of those who are to serve Him, which surely does not imply that the highest wisdom is not in the choice, but the contrary. All God’s attributes are manifested in His every act; most conspicuously, therefore, where He is most sovereign.
(1) His call of them is here distinctly given, although there have been intimations of it before this. As we see already, that of the priests must have taken place first, as the calling of the Levites depends upon that of the priests. Communion and worship must precede and introduce to service, if this is to be real and effectual.
(a) It begins with the "generations of Aaron and Moses," the spiritual heads of the tribe, though only the name of Moses is given, as his children fall into their place as simple Levites. It is all the plainer on this account that it is as heads of the tribe they are brought in here. Typically, Christ as Priest and King is seen in relation to ministry, the fount and director of it. Aaron is first, because it depends above all upon mediation, is the fruit of this. Aaron, too, is the head of that priestly family which is typically our own. Here indeed we find terrible failure and the judgment of God, the first two sons cut off, and the third, Eleazar (the "help of God"), speaking in this way of that resurrection-power in which God acts when all human power is completely at an end. Ithamar, ("where the palm-tree is,") following Eleazar, seems to imply the uprightness and fruitfulness, constantly in Scripture associated with the palm-tree, like which the righteous flourish. (Psa 92:12.) This, at least, is in the true order here not the less so that in the history we find that when (as in Eli) Ithamar’s descendants are exalted above Eleazar’s then there is mournful failure and collapse. Together and in due order Eleazar and Ithamar minister as priests in their father’s presence.
(b) The Levites are now bidden to be brought near, and to be given to Aaron and his sons, to minister to him, and keep the charge of the vessels of the tabernacle: a weighty service, for which they need to be in dependence on the Priest. Indeed, to the service of the priests they are wholly given, ministry belonging to those who worship, and its first and most imperative duty is to guard and care for the holy things with which they have to do. The tabernacle vessels we know to set forth the truth of what Christ is in all His offices; and all ministry must watch over and preserve this.
(c) But they are indeed Jehovah’s possession, sanctified to Him instead of the first-born which He had sanctified to Himself when He delivered them in Egypt. Those whom He delivers He claims, and only in being His can deliverance be realized. This is the joy of salvation, that we then belong to Him, and that He obtains in us that which He has sought.
(2) Next, we have their numbering, in which also their divisions and relationships are made known to us. They are numbered from a month old and upward, as the first-born are, and for the same reason. If only men in their strength were to be redeemed or numbered, would it not appear as if God took "pleasure in the legs of a man"? (Psa 147:10.) But it is the soul He values, and the soul of an infant is precious in His sight: His "delight" is "in the sons of men."
The sons of Levi are Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and these three are the heads of eight families. "Gershon" means "exile;" his two sons are Libni, "white," and Shimei, "my report:" names not difficult to unite into a meaning. For a true exile is indeed one conscious of exile, though it be but for a while, from the home of his heart; and it is from this spirit of strangership that springs power for purity and freedom from defilement; while the last name may speak naturally of what has in this case fullest value for him, the "report" of things not now seen.
Correspondingly the Gershonites have charge of all that which in the tabernacle speaks of practical righteousness, whether in Christ or in His people, as the tabernacle itself, the tent and its covering, the hangings of the court, and what connects with these. He is occupied with what is subjective, as we say, and illustrates the anointed foot. His prince is Eliasaph, "God hath added," a name we have had before in the prince of Gad, and near akin to Joseph. "Increase" is in the line of Gershon’s practical bent, and that "increase" is from God is a good reminder to those in this way who may be in danger of self-occupation, meaning, as it always does, self-confidence. These princes we have noticed to be always overcomers. He is the son of Lael, "of God," or, "belonging to God," a name which seems as if it welled out of the deep joy of a soul that had found here the secret of its strength and progress.
Kohath comes next with his four sons, whose names (with his own) are much more difficult to read. His charge was the ark, the table, the lamp-stand, the altars, and the utensils belonging to all this, with the one linen article, which speaks, as we know well, of the humanity of Christ. Thus it is easy to see that typically the Kohathite ministry is objective; his occupation is with what is outside himself in Christ; the anointed ear is nearer his symbol than the anointed foot. His prince is beautifully Elitzaphan, "[whom] God hath hidden," for here it is indeed in the presence of God, and in occupation with Christ, that self is lost. He is the son of Uzziel, the "power of God." May we not take it as the realization of the apostle’s prayer (Eph 3:16-17) "that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith"?
What, then, of these first names, which after all are not uncertain in their meaning, but difficult in their application? "Kohath," all are agreed, means "assembly." He has indeed in his charge the ark, the centre of gathering. To lift up Christ as the One in whom, and as the fruit of His work, God reveals Himself to us, is to draw men, according to His assurance, unto Him. Here is indeed the glory of the Kohathite ministry: as when the Baptist out of the fullness of his heart, when looking upon Jesus as He walked, said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" and those who heard him speak left him to follow Jesus.
Kohath’s first son is Amram, "people of the Exalted One," a beautiful name, if we connect it with that gathering to Christ of which his own name seems to speak to us; while the next is Jitzhar, "oil," the undoubted type of the Spirit as the Anointer; then we have Hebron, "union," as some put it, "communion," as we have elsewhere interpreted it; in either case, clearly the effect of the Spirit’s work; lastly, we find the father of Elitzaphan, Uzziel, "the power of God." That these names run most naturally together, that they harmonize in a blessed presentation of the results of Kohathite ministry, is plain. Are they not the real significance of what must have significance if it be of God?
Last of Levi’s three sons we find Merari, "bitter," with his two sons, Mahli, "sick," and Mushi, "yielding." Strangest words of all are these in connection with Levi’s sons. These families have charge of the boards of the tabernacle and its bars, its pillars and sockets, and those of the court and the pegs and cords. Here it is evident that not so much Christ Himself as the people of the Lord occupy Merari. His is the anointed hand. His work is in the main what we may call ecclesiastical; and who that has engaged in this but has found the bitterness which expresses itself in Merari’s name? Little fitted would he be for ministry who could not feel it; and this we must believe to be the reason of a connection which seems strange enough, and yet expresses familiar experience. Think of how Paul’s epistles convey this to us from the full heart of a devotedness which went on, finding from men rather disappointment than recompense, -in his own words, "Though the more abundantly I love you the less I be loved."
Mahli may express on the other hand the faintness that results from excessive labor; while Mushi may denote that spirit of forbearance and gentleness that, where the truth permits, can yield all else, -a spirit how necessary in just such relation as is here intimated to the Church of God! The lack of it is as fruitful a cause of trouble among saints as perhaps can be found. Merari’s captain is in striking, comforting contrast to these names, Zuriel, "my rock is God," the son of Abihail, "the father of valor," -the "virtue" of 2Pe 1:1-21.
It should be noted that Merari significantly encamps north of the tabernacle, Kohath to the south, Gershon to the west, while Moses, Aaron, and his sons encamp toward the east, filling thus Judah’s place in the inner circle.
(3) We have next the numbering of the first-born, the sanctification of the Levites in their place, and the redemption of the overplus. We can add nothing of importance to what has been already said with regard to this.
2. We have now the service of the Levites and the numbering of those of age for service. The service here is what the book of the wilderness would naturally insist upon, the form of it that which was peculiar to the wilderness, or to the time when there was as yet no settled location for the ark of God, no place in which was Jehovah’s name. This service is the carriage of the holy things through the wilderness, the type for us of the presentation in the world, as we pass through it, of Christ and the heavenly truths of Christianity. These, it is true, are in their traveling dress, and as they are in themselves, in their innermost reality, faith alone can know them. Yet is this testimony of the highest possible value, counted so of God, who, if it be His good pleasure thus to go through the world, trusts Himself to the loving obedience of His people to bear Him through.
It is a testimony with the lips as in the life, in the life as with the lips, the truth uttered never to be divorced from the truth embodied in practice. The former without the latter would be empty words; the latter without the former (if such a thing indeed were possible) an enigma never to be solved, a lost hieroglyph. The two together fulfill our Lord’s precept, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." This combined testimony alone places our good works in the light, in which when seen they glorify the Father.
(1) This, then, is Levite service here. In the first part of this section the families of the tribe are put into their several places by God, He sovereign in His appointment as to it, every thing of course, therefore, in its place perfectly ordered, -Kohath with his precious vessels, Gershon with his fine linen, Merari with his boards and pillars. Service is gift, and therefore gift is the appointment to service, since the Giver can make no mistake. What an immense thing for the Church of God if it could rise up to this so simple truth, and every member of the body of Christ were to start out of the bands with which custom and tradition have enswathed him, into the healthful use of all the faculties and powers with which God has endued him! Does he question his title or responsibility to use any other faculties than spiritual ones? It would be thought strange indeed to do so. Here, and here alone, where the faculties are the highest, and the need for their exercise is the most urgent, here he questions.
It must not be thought, however, that because God has apportioned to the Kohathites one charge, to the Gershonites another, and to the Merarites still another, that Christians are in a similar way divided into corresponding classes. It is true that each Christian has undoubtedly sonic character of gift, or some proportion of gifts, special to himself. But this is not represented, as we see easily, by the special charges here. On the contrary, every Christian is Kohathite, Gershonite, and Merarite all in one: the objective cannot be divorced from the subjective, nor either from the necessary outflow to others, without fatal consequences.
(a) Kohath is another instance of which there have been so many, that the first-born naturally loses his place to another. Kohath is not the first-born of Levi, but Gershon is. Grace, not nature, rules.
Let us look, then, at Kohath’s charge. Here first we have the ark, the throne of God in Israel, a throne typically of grace, the lid of the ark being the "propitiatory" or "mercy-seat," on which once a year the precious blood was sprinkled. Yet the ark with its mercy-seat was Christ, for it is in Christ, and through His work, that God can take His place in gracious government over a redeemed people. But the ark is wrapped in a covering vail: it is Christ as known in the flesh that is here, though hiding within Himself all His heavenly glory. Outside of this is a sealskin covering, the impenetrable holiness of His character; and outside of this again a cloth wholly of blue, the heavenly color.
Essentially, then, what we have is Christ in the grace of humanity, yet holy and heavenly, our redeemer and Lord. This implies on our part of course as a first principle obedience, and that the joyful obedience of the redeemed.
Next to this is borne the table of show-bread: Christ again, as maintaining us in communion, for this entered into heaven, so that a cloth of blue immediately envelops the table upon which are the furniture of the table and the vessels of the drink-offering, with the continual bread itself. The bread is primarily for God, the presence-bread, though the food of the priests afterward, and thus communion is maintained according to the value of the position which we have in Christ, fruit of that corn of wheat which, that it might not abide alone, has fallen into the ground and died. This is emphasized by the crimson cloth which covers all, covered itself only with the sealskin covering, like that "it is most holy," of the sin-offering.
Next, the lamp-stand is covered like the table with a cloth of blue, for Christ as the maintainer of spiritual light is passed into the heavens. For the world it is hidden: it is night, and the sun is down; but upon us who are in the sanctuary it shines still through the night. Outside the lamp is wrapped again in the sealskin covering: what is most apparent is the holiness of the truth.
Then we have, similarly covered with blue and sealskin, the altar of incense; and then the vessels of service. Then follows the altar of burnt-offering, covered with a purple cloth, for the Crucified is the One who reigns; and "if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."
Thus typically it is with Christ in His relationship to God and to His people that Kohath is occupied, and this implies our place before God, communion with God, heavenly illumination, worship, and the way to glory by the cross. Practical in the highest way as all this is, the truth is yet essentially objective: it points the eye in the first place elsewhere than upon self, and than this very thing nothing can be more practical. Yet the testimony is that of God Himself, and not of man, though man may utter and re-utter it. We enter the heavens to be qualified for earth; we do not begin on earth, by and by to reach the heavens. Our simplest earthly duties require us to be conversant with things above.
(b) Gershon has a charge very distinct from that of Kohath. His is all the fine linen, whether of the tabernacle or the court, except the vail, together with the coverings of skin, and what pertains to these. We have looked at them already severally as they came before us in the book of Exodus, and we see readily that they all speak of practical righteousness or character in some way. In the curtains and coverings of the tabernacle itself they speak of Christ; in the hangings of the court they speak of His people, but still in a similar way. We have already said that he illustrates the anointed foot; but this scarcely seems to agree with the numerical place which Scripture assigns to Gershon: we should naturally have given him a fourth place rather than a second.
But Scripture is given to guide and correct our thoughts, not to be subject to them: it would be of no use to us whatever if it were. What, then, does the number point to with which is associated this second form of Levite service? The only possible thought seems that of separation, and as soon as we look a little carefully at Gershon here a certain connection begins to appear.
First, his name -"exile" -speaks very simply of separation from the place to which he is native, typically for us heaven, and Gershon belongs by birth to Canaan, while his life afterward in Egypt justifies his name. Is not this, too, to be our character, "strangers," as belonging to heaven, "partakers of the heavenly calling?" and does it not appeal to us as naturally following and dependent on that to which Kohath has introduced us? is not the heavenly objective truth, as just now said, the governing truth in this case, as it ought to be?
Then we may observe that the curtains, coverings, and hangings with which Gershon has to do are in fact all lines of separation. They define the tabernacle itself, or mark off and separate the court from the wilderness around. They speak therefore, easily and without strain, of the boundary-lines of God’s special enclosure such as the Church is in the world.
Scripture insists upon such a separation every where: it is not strange to find it insisted upon here; and it is an essential part of testimony surely, which, we have seen, this Levite service is. What need, too, of enforcement of what Satan and the world from the outside, in league with the flesh within us, unite to break through and, if possible, destroy! Frail enough too for a wall these linen curtains look! That which is of God is constantly exposed to the contempt of unbelief; and this unbelief the event for long often seems to justify. To-day, the Church itself thinks little of separation; and yet he who holds by the Word of God will find the reckoning of eternity to be on his side.
Gershon’s separation is not an imaginary one. It is not an air-line, but one maintained, as these linen hangings suggest, by practical righteousness. How much, in fact, depends upon it! If God cannot walk with the world, my walking with Him requires as its first necessity separation from it: what righteousness can there be apart from a walk with Him? There can at least be no right or Christian measure, The grace and peace which the apostle prays may be to us are "from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." (Gal 1:3-4.) The cross of Christ is that by which the world is crucified unto us and we unto the world; and for this he who wrote thus gloried in it. (Gal 6:14.) If times are changed, the cross of Christ at least has not, and those who "mind earthly things" are by that fact "enemies of the cross of Christ." (Php 3:18-19.)
(c) We come now to Merari’s charge: after the testimony of separation follows that of union; for this is surely what the tabernacle frame-work suggests, -the boards, bars, pillars, and sockets, made for each other, and which Merari himself joined together wherever they encamped. The boards thus united speak of the Church, builded together for a habitation of God in spirit," (Eph 2:22) -that is, a spiritual habitation corresponding to the material one which is here before us. The place of Merari in this way has been already indicated, and in so brief an outline as alone is possible to us now, there remains little to be added. Only we may note that while Kohath’s charge is under the oversight of Aaron’s son Eleazar, those of Gershon and Merari both fall under that of Ithamar. Eleazar, the third son, and whose name signifies "the help of God," naturally reminds us of resurrection-power, and in that way of the position into which the Risen Priest introduces us. The Kohathite ministry depends upon this new place which Christ has taken for us. Ithamar is the fourth son, and his name signifies "where the palm is." Practical walk (for the righteous is compared to the palm-tree) is easily read in him, and thus his connection is clearly with Gershon and Merari.
(2) Now comes the numbering of the Levites who are of age for service. Every one such finds his place in this reckoning. He enters it at thirty, the age of realized capacity (3 x 10); he leaves it, in its wilderness-form, at fifty, or typically only when the creature stands before his God in the day of account (5 x 10).
As to the numbers of the respective families, one can only confess that lack of proper diligence is the reason of being able to say nothing of them. Assuredly there is meaning in it all worthy of Him who has inspired it; and those who seek in faith and humility, here as elsewhere, shall find.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Levites, Their Duties And Number
The Levites, Their Duties And Number
Although Aaron and his family belong to the tribe of Levi (Exo_2:1) the term 'Levites' is usually employed, as here, to denote the non-Aaronite Levites. The family of Aaron is set apart for the priesthood (Exodus 28; Leviticus 8, 9), and the Levites are designated as their assistants, occupying an intermediate position between the priests and the congregation. They have charge of the tabernacle and its furniture, taking it down, carrying it during the march, and setting it up again. Their services in the tabernacle are not defined, but they would doubtless perform the humbler duties connected with the sacrifices, etc. In later times they were also doorkeepers and musicians in the Temple. See Nehemiah 11, 12; 1Ch_6:31-32, 1Ch_6:48; 1Ch_15:16. The reason why this particular tribe was chosen for these offices, in addition to the fact that Moses and Aaron themselves belonged to it, seems to have been their zeal for the honour of Jehovah at the time of the worship of the Golden Calf (Exo_32:26-29). The subject of the Levites is continued in Numbers 8, 16-18.
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4. On Nadab and Abihu see Leviticus 10.
10. Stranger] see on Num_1:51.
13. See Exo_13:2, Exo_13:12.
43. See intro. to Numbers 1.
47. See on Exo_30:13. Cp. Num_18:16.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v51 (See Scofield "Exo 38:27").
redeemed
(See Scofield "Exo 38:27").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 3. The Levites and their Ministrations
3. The Levites and their Ministrations
CHAPTER 3
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1. The generations of the priests (Num 3:1-4)
2. The tribe of Levi and their ministry (Num 3:5-10)
3. The Levites substituted for all the first-born (Num 3:11-13)
4. The numbering of the Levites ordered (Num 3:14-20)
5. Gershon (Num 3:21-26)
6. Kohath (Num 3:27-32)
7. Merari (Num 3:33-37)
8. Moses, Aaron and Aaron’s sons (Num 3:38)
9. The numbering completed (Num 3:39)
10. The separation of the Levites in place of the first-born (Num 3:40-51)
The supremacy of the tribe of Levi shows the sovereignty of God. Divine grace is fully revealed in the selection of this tribe. This tribe could not be chosen on account of a meritorious character. We read in Jacob’s prophecy words concerning Simeon and Levi which reveal their sin. “O my soul, come thou not in their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united, for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel” (Gen 49:6-7). Yet out of this tribe Jehovah took Moses for the leader of His people, Aaron and his sons for priests, and the whole tribe instead of all the first-born for the special ministry. This is a most blessed illustration of sovereign grace. They were brought into this wonderful place of blessing and privilege by grace. In the eighth chapter we read of the cleansing of the Levites (8:5-7).
The difference between the ministry of the priests and the Levites must be noted. The book of Leviticus acquainted us with the work of Aaron and his sons, but it had nothing to say about the ministry entrusted to the Levites. The priests had given to them the ministry of the sanctuary, where they acted as worshippers and intercessors. The work of the Levites as given in this chapter, and that which follows, was of a more outward nature. They had to guard the tabernacle, to attend to its erection and taking down, to bear the different parts, all of which was ordered in all its details by Jehovah.
Levi means “joined.” The grace of God had joined them to the Lord and His ministry. Christian believers are joined to the Lord and are both priests and Levites, possessing priesthood and ministry. Our priesthood consists in the ministry of the sanctuary, in worship and intercession. Our Levite ministry is many sided. It is given to us from the Lord to be exercised towards men. We bring spiritual sacrifices, the fruit of our lips, the sacrifice of praise unto God. The whole life of a Christian is to have the Levite character of ministry. “For me to live is Christ” is our service as the Levite lived for the tabernacle and its service. All Christian believers are priests and all have a ministry.
The generations of Aaron and Moses are mentioned first in this chapter. While elsewhere we read of Moses and Aaron, Aaron’s name here stands first. His name is put first because he typifies Christ as Priest, upon whose intercession all depends. The Levites were then brought to Aaron to minister unto him and keep his charge. Jehovah claims them for His own instead of all the first-born. “Therefore the Levites shall be mine.” “Mine shall they be, I am Jehovah.” The first-born were sanctified unto the Lord because of deliverance. They knew therefore that they were sanctified unto Jehovah and owned by Him. And this is our blessed knowledge in Christ. We are delivered, sanctified, belong to Him and to keep His charge, rendering the service into which He has called us. May our hearts be led into the enjoyment of all this.
The difference between the numbering of the tribe of Levi and the other tribes must be noted. In the previous chapter those were numbered who were twenty years and over, but the Levites were numbered “every male from a month old and upward.” This difference was because they were in place of the first-born, which were at the tender age of weakness and helplessness either redeemed or given up (Num 18:16).
The sons of Levi made prominent as the heads of eight families, are, Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
Gershon (exile) with his sons, Libni and Shimei, were 7,500 souls. Their place was on the west-side of the tabernacle, over against Ephraim. (See diagram in the previous chapter.) They had charge of the tabernacle, the tent, the coverings and the hangings of the door of the tabernacle.
Kohath (assembly) with the Amramites, Izeharites, Hebronites and Uzzielites, were 8,600 souls. Their place was on the south side and they had charge of the ark, the table, the candlestick, the altars, the hanging and all the service thereof.
Merari (bitter) with the family of Mahlites and Mushites were 6,200 souls and their place was on the north-side, over against Dan. Their service consisted in handling the boards of the tabernacle, pillars, sockets, pins and cords. Each had his specific work given. There could be no misunderstanding about it. How strange it would have been if these 22,000 Levites had formed committees and sub-committees to divide the work and direct in it! All this would have brought in disorder. All they needed to do was to do the work into which the Lord had called them. All the instructions were given; obedience to these instructions, and faithfulness in the discharge of it were the essential things. The same is true in connection with the church. Every member in the body of Christ has a service to render. Each member is put into place by the Lord Himself and He gives to each the service, as He gave to these sons of Levi and their families their specific work in and around the tabernacle. “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God, that worketh all things in all” (1Co 12:4-6). How little this truth is recognized! Much of what is called Christian service is service in self will and therefore lacks power and blessing. As these Levites knew their work, because the Lord had spoken and called them into it, so every member of the body of Christ is to know his calling and his service.
“We, as Christians, are very apt to jostle one another, indeed, we are sure to do so if we do not each one pursue his own divinely appointed line of work. We say “divinely appointed,” and would press the word; we have no right to choose our own work. If the Lord has made one man an evangelist, another a teacher, another a pastor, and another an exhorter, how is the work to go on? Surely, it is not by the evangelist trying to teach, and the teacher to exhort, or one who is not fitted for either trying to do both. No, it is by each one exercising his own divinely imparted gift. No doubt, it may please the Lord to endow one individual with a variety of gifts; but this does not, in the smallest degree, touch the principle on which we are dwelling, which is simply this, every one of us is responsible to know his own special line and pursue it. If this be lost sight of, we shall get into hopeless confusion. God has His quarry-men, His stone-squarers, and His masons. The work progresses by each man attending diligently to his own work. If all were quarry-men, where were the stone-squarers? if all were stone-squarers, where were the masons? The greatest possible damage is done to the cause of Christ, and to God’s work in the world, by one man aiming at another’s line of things, or seeking to imitate another’s gift. It is a grievous mistake, against which we would solemnly warn the reader. Nothing can be more senseless. God never repeats Himself. There are not two faces alike, not two leaves in the forest alike, not two blades of grass alike. Why, then, should any one aim at another’s line of work, or affect to possess another’s gift? Let each one be satisfied to be just what his Master has made him. This is the secret of real peace and progress.” (C.H. Mackintosh, Notes on Numbers.)
Worship holds the first and highest place. This is for us His people most clearly stated in the New Testament. Devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ in our life is the highest form of service and all other service must flow, and will flow, from faithfulness to the Person of our Lord.
Gershon and his sons had charge of the coverings and the fine linen. Gershon means exile, a stranger. The fine linen is typical of righteousness. The coverings, hangings, which divided off and separated the different parts of the tabernacle, must have the meaning of separation. His service points us to the fact that we are separated ones and strangers in the world. This separation must be witnessed to by practical righteousness.
Merari had charge with his sons of the boards, the sockets, pins and cords. These held the building together. We stated in the annotations on Exodus (chapter 26) that Christ and His people are typified in the boards of shittim wood, resting in the sockets of silver. The framework of the tabernacle, with the bars of shittim wood uniting the boards, is a type of that building of which we read in Ephesians, “a building fitly framed together,” the church. The work of Merari suggests the thought of union.
It is interesting to compare this wilderness service as outlined above with the exhortation in Eph 4:1-3. Knowing God’s calling, in possession of God’s highest and best, as revealed in that Epistle, passing through the wilderness, we are to walk worthy of that calling.
1. In all lowliness and meekness; manifesting Christ: Kohath-service.
2. With longsuffering, etc.; practical righteousness:Gershon-service.
3. Keeping the unity of the Spirit; united in the one body: Merari-service.
And if we walk thus we shall make known the excellencies of Him, who hath called us from darkness to His marvellous light and exercise in obedience the special gift He has given to us as members of His body.
The numbering then proceeded. The number of those fit for service was 8,580.
But how many among God’s people are unfit for service, being out of conscious fellowship with God and conformed to this present evil age? May it please the Spirit of God to awaken such to see anew their calling and their blessed privileges as priests and Levites unto God.
But while it is impossible to restore the house, that is the professing church, so sadly divided and broken in pieces, it is not impossible for the individual believer to live and serve according to the divine ideal.
In verse 38 we find the place given where Moses, Aaron and the priests were to encamp. It was before the tabernacle, that is, on the east side. The number of the Levites is given as 22,000. If we add the number of the Gershonites, Kohathites and Merarites, 7,500, 8,600 and 6,200, we get 22,300. Here is a difficulty which seems to remain unsolved. The total number in verse 39 must be correct, for in verse 46 we read that the number of the first-born exceeded the total number of the Levites by 273.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 14, 21, 38 The Formal Charge
The Formal Charge
v. 1. These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spake with Moses in Mount Sinai, that is, this is their further history at this point. Aaron is here named first, because his sons were the heirs of the priesthood.
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v. 2. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Exo 6:23.
v. 3. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, for this, form of induction into office was ordered for them as well as for the high priest, Exo 28:41, although it is expressly related of Aaron only. Lev 8:12; Cf v. 30, whom he (Moses) consecrated to minister in the priest’s office, to perform all the functions which pertained to that office.
v. 4. And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the Wilderness of Sinai, Lev 10:1; and they had no children. And Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron, their father, that is, during his lifetime. The two men whom the wrath of God had struck down had no children, and therefore the two youngest sons of Aaron alone performed the work of the priests’ ministry.
v. 5. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 6. Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron, the priest, like servants receiving the orders of their master, that they may minister unto him.
v. 7. And they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tabernacle of the Congregation to do the service of the Tabernacle; they were to have charge of the entire ministry which had been entrusted to Aaron and the entire congregation with reference to the dwelling of God in the midst of His people.
v. 8. And they shall keep all the instruments of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, be responsible for their care, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the Tabernacle, in the name of all the people.
v. 9. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel; their entire life-service was to be devoted to this ministry.
v. 10. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death, for that was the punishment for every one not a priest that presumed even to approach the holy vessels.
v. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 12. And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the first-born that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel, as the substitutes for the oldest sons of all the people, who really should have had charge of this ministry, Exo 13:2; therefore the Levites shall be Mine,
v. 13. because all the first-born are Mine; for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast. Mine shall they be; I am the Lord. Cf Exo 13:12-15. By virtue of this arrangement, which placed the ministry of the Tabernacle entirely into the hands of one tribe, the Lord secured their undivided interest, while at the same time He openly rewarded the members of the tribe of Levi for their quick determination in the defense of His honor, Exo 32:26 ff.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 49 Here the author uses the word "now" to shift…
Now
Here the author uses the word "now" to shift to telling a new historical account.
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Nadab the firstborn
"Nadab, who was the firstborn"
Nadab ... Abihu ... Ithamar
These are names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
descend
Aaron
Moses
Yahweh
Sinai
name
son
firstborn
Eleazar
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 5, 10, 11, 14, 27, 28, 32, 38, 39, 40 3:1–4:49 The duties of Israel’s priests and Levites included…
3:1–4:49 The duties of Israel’s priests and Levites included the transportation, assembly, safety, and upkeep of the Tabernacle. The physical arrangement of Israel’s tribes reflected concern for these activities.
3:1-4 The family line of Aaron provided the professional priests who led Israel’s worship. Aaron’s four sons were the foundation of Israel’s priesthood; they stood in God’s presence and served him on behalf of the people. They were appointed to lead the people and serve the Lord as ministers in the Tabernacle and as guardians of God’s covenant with his people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.