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God is
a God of order. He does things decently and in
order. We see His order and design throughout
nature, in the elegant laws of nature, the beautiful
and precise mathematics that permeates the created
universe. We also see order and design in the
way that God organized His Holy People.
We are
still B’Midbar - in the wilderness, which is the
name of this book in Hebrew. It’s now the second
year after Israel has left Egypt. It’s the first
day of the second month. We recently celebrated
Passover. The Mishkan had been completed, and
set up a month earlier. It’s also called the Ohel
Mo-ed - the Tent of Meeting, because that was
where the Creator, the infinite and all-present
God, met on planet Earth with His people Israel.
Here, the Lord met with Moses.
Now it
is time to number the people, from which we get
the Christian name of this book, Numbers.
The men
who are twenty years old and up, who are able
to go to war, are to be numbered. Eleven other
men, who are the leaders of the tribes, take charge
of the numbering, along with Moses and Aaron.
Every
man is counted, so we have the exact number of
people: 603,550. That doesn’t include the Levites.
If you double it for women, and add two children
per family, you come to roughly 2.5 million people.
That’s a lot of people, and the Lord was able
to provide food and water for quite a multitude
in this wilderness! Don’t you think He can provide
for you?
God is
starting to fulfill His promise to Abraham, of
multiplying the Holy Nation like the stars of
the heavens, and like the sand on the sea shore.
He is beginning to make us into a great nation.
In this
numbering, the tribe of Reuben is mentioned first.
That’s appropriate, since Reuben was Israel’s
firstborn son. Judah is the most populous, which
is important, since they become the dominant tribe
of the future Southern Kingdom. The two half tribes
of Ephraim and Manasseh, combined, are almost
as big as Judah, and they will play a dominant
role in the formation of the future Northern Kingdom.
Benjamin is the smallest, and remains the smallest
throughout our history.
The tribe
of the Levites were not counted in this census.
They are the Holy Tribe of the Holy People, and
they are to be treated differently, according
to the special purposes that God has for them.
They are
in charge of the Mishkan, the special Dwelling
Place of the Most Holy God. They have to guard
and protect it, and camp around it. They are responsible
to take it down, and carry it when Israel moves,
and then set it up again.
It was
the purpose of the Holy Tribe to guard and protect
the Mishkan - the Dwelling Place on Earth of the
Most Holy One. But the non-Levite - the ordinary
Israeli who got too close to the Presence of the
Holy God, must be put to death. You see, the God
of Israel is so holy, so infinitely pure, so much
greater than we are, that even an ordinary member
of the Holy People is not holy enough to approach
too near the Holy God or His Holy Things.
Chapter
2 gives us the positions of the 12 tribes when
we camped in the wilderness. The orientation of
the camp centers around the Mishkan, in which
dwells the She-chee-nah - the Dwelling Presence
of God. That’s the center of Israel’s camp. That’s
the center of true Judaism.
Then,
the position of the tribes are mentioned. It starts
off with the east, which seems to be the most
important direction, the direction with the greatest
significance, perhaps based on the rising of the
mighty sun, which gives light, and without which
life would be unable to exist on Earth. Judah,
Issachar and Zebulun camp on the East, and set
out first.
Next comes
the south, in which camped Reuben, Simeon, and
Gad. They set out second.
On the
west camped Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. They
set out third.
Finally,
to the north was Dan, Asher and Naphtali. They
came last.
What is
your center? What is your orientation? What does
everything revolved around? Where do you get your
sense of direction? Your career? Your husband,
your wife? Bill Clinton said his moral compass
was his wife Hillary, and you know what? I believe
it. That explains a lot.
Shouldn’t
our orientation be the living God, who dwells
in a real place - Heaven? And, at His right hand,
is the Son of God, our Lord, our Living Savior,
our King, Elder Brother, Redeemer, and Friend?
Can’t we tell where we are, only in relationship
to the Center? Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves,
is this in keeping with Heaven? Will this bring
me closer to Heaven, or farther from the Living
God and His glorious Messiah?
Chapter
3 brings us to the numbering of the special tribe
of Levi. Moses and Aaron, are of course mentioned
first. Moses is the deliverer, the one that God
used to redeem Israel from slavery and terrible
oppression in Egypt. Moses is the great prophet,
the great priest, and the leader of Israel, the
Mediator of the Sinai Covenant, and the writer
of the Torah. Later in the Torah we will read
that the Messiah is like Moses: a prophet, a priest,
the Leader of Israel, and the Mediator of a New
Covenant!
Aaron
his brother, is the first High Priest of the Holy
People. Aaron had four sons - Nadav, Avihu, Eleazar
and Itamar; but Nadav and Avihu died when they
were disrespectful of the Lord and His holy things,
and offered strange, unauthorized fire. They were
punished severely, because to whom much is given,
much is required.
There
were three main family divisions of the Levites
- Gershon, Kohath and Merari. The family of Gershon
camped to the west of the Mishkan, Kohath to the
south, Merari to the north. To the east, in the
place of honor, were Moses, Aaron and his sons.
By camping
around the Mishkan, the Priests and the Levites
prevented any ordinary Israeli from coming too
close - and incurring the penalty of death!
The Lord
told Moses to have the Levites brought before
Aaron, because they were to be his servants. Their
purpose was to assist the Cohaneem, just as Shammasheem
or Deacons, serve and assist the elders.
Why can
the Lord take the Levites, a whole tribe, and
assign them to these holy tasks? The reason given
is that the firstborn of Israel belong to Him.
On the night of the first Passover, when God killed
all the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of
the animals, He spared the firstborn of Israel.
By sparing them, they became His. But, instead
of the firstborn sons serving God at the Mishkan,
the Lord substituted the tribe of the Levites
in their place.
In a similar
way, if we have been redeemed by the Messiah,
we belong to Him, and the Lord has the right to
have us serve Him. If you have been bought with
a price, the blood of the sinless Son of God,
then you belong to the Lord. You are no longer
your own. You don’t have the right to do whatever
you want with your life. You are a servant of
God, a slave of Messiah, and you must make sure
that every aspect of your life is doing what your
Lord and King rightfully demand.
Then,
when the Levites were counted, there were 22,000
of them, who were a month old and older. Then,
the Lord told Moses to count all the firstborn
sons of Israel, who were a month old and older.
22,273 were there. They belonged to the Lord.
They were to be the Lord’s servants their entire
lives, working at the Tabernacle. But, there were
22,000 Levites who could be substituted in their
place. 22,273 firstborn sons of Israel, minus
22,000 Levites who were substituted leaves 273
for whom there were no Levites to be substituted.
They could be redeemed for 5 shekels of silver
apiece. The money was given to the priests to
use. Now all was fair and square!
Chapter
4 describes the duties of the three families of
the Levites, and their responsibilities. When
the camp of Israel needed to move, the priests
were the ones responsible to take everything down,
but the three families carried them. Each of the
three families had their various items of the
Tabernacle that they were responsible for.
The family
of Kohath were responsible for the Holy Furnishings,
like the Ark, the Table of God’s Presence, the
Menorah, the Altars and the Vessels used in the
Holy Place. The Ark was covered with porpoise
skins and pure blue cloth. It was protected, and
hidden from human sight. Sinful man, even someone
from the Holy Tribe of Levi, can’t get too close
to an infinitely holy God, can’t gaze at Him,
or stare at His Holy Things.
A cloth
of scarlet material and porpoise skins covered
the Table of God’s Presence and its vessels.
A blue
cloth and porpoise skins covered the Menorah and
its accouterments.
A blue
cloth and porpoise skins covered the Golden Altar
and its utensils. The Bronze Altar and its utensils
were covered with a purple cloth and porpoise
skins.
The family
of Kohath carried these Holy Items, which had
been covered by the priests, but even they were
not to see the Holy Objects, under penalty of
death. They were holy, but not holy enough!
Thank
God for the Messiah, who died, and made a New
Covenant, and made us holy, so that each one of
us can draw near to God, to the very throne of
God, and be received with love and acceptance!
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