Bible Readings
Reading 69: Yahweh organised the work of the Tabernacle for proper worship
Read Numbers 3:1–13, 40–51.
Recall that when the Israelites were still slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, Yahweh sent 10 plagues to get Pharaoh to release them. The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn male and animals in every household. This tenth plague would affect everyone, both the Egyptians and the Israelites.
However, God told Israel that He would spare the lives of their firstborns if they would sacrifice a lamb and paint the blood on the doorframes of their houses. Everyone in Israel did that and none of their firstborns died.
After that, God declared that in acknowledging what He did in sparing the lives of their firstborns, all firstborn men and animals would belong to Him. This means that the firstborn males in each household would serve God all their lives.
However, recall also that while Israel was at Mount Sinai, while Moses was talking to God on the mountain, the people created a golden calf idol to worship. When Moses came down the mountain and saw what they did, he commanded all who were loyal to God to take away the lives of those who worshiped the idol.
The Levites showed their loyalty to God by standing on God’s side.
Because of this, God chose the tribe of Levi to serve Him instead of all the firstborn males.
In addition, God later also said that one particular Levite family, Aaron (Moses’ brother) and his sons, would serve Him as priests. Aaron was to be the High Priest (or chief priest) and his four sons would serve under him as priests.
Unfortunately, as we had seen in an earlier event, Nadab and Abihu were put to death by God for their rebellion against Him. This left Aaron’s other two sons, Eleazer and Ithamar to be the priests.
However, it was impossible for just these men to handle all of the work themselves. There was just too much to do. So God chose the entire tribe of Levi to be assistants to Aaron and his sons, by taking on certain responsibilities.
In today’s reading, God is giving instructions to the Levites. They were to do the work needed in the Tabernacle. But they must be careful not to go too near to the parts of the Tabernacle that only priests were allowed to go.
God also told Moses to count all the firstborn males in Israel. There were 22,273. This means that the tribe of Levi needs to have 22,273 males to replace the firstborns in serving God. But the tribe of Levi only had 22,000 men. This was 273 short of the number of men needed.
What could be done? The Levites just could not suddenly come up with 273 more men. So God told Moses to give Aaron and his sons, the priests money to make up for the shortfall. They were to receive 5 shekels for each man short of what they needed. This means a total of 273 x 5 = 1,365 shekels.
What was God doing all this? Why is it helpful for us to know all these details?
God was preparing the Israelites to engage with enemy nations and defeat them. In doing all this organising of the people, the way people were to worship Him and who was responsible for which job, God was showing the importance of organisation. It was important that the camp be orderly. If the camp was not orderly:
the people would experience nothing but chaos and confusion
they would not be worshipping God properly and
they would not be able to fight the enemy successfully.
As we ponder about the character of God, consider if we are like Him in this way.
Do we take organisation of our lives seriously so we can accomplish the work He wants us to do? Or is our life filled with chaos and confusion? Ask God to help us appreciate His orderly character and also help us order our lives in a way that honours Him, reflects Him and helps us accomplish His will.
Think also about how God gives different jobs and roles to the people: Aaron has a certain job, the priests have a certain job, and the Levites have a certain job to do. Working together by each doing their work well, the whole camp can run well.
As we think about the different people in our lives and the different roles that they play and jobs that they do, do we treasure and value each one of them for what they contribute? Or are we envious or jealous of their contribution? Let’s talk to God about our attitudes towards our family members, co-workers, project team mates, church friends and others. Let’s ask Him to help us have the right appreciation and attitude towards each of them.