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Numbers
3:1-51 “These also are the
generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in
mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of
the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3
These
are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed,
whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4
And
Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered
strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of
Sinai, and they had no children: and
Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron
their father. 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and
present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. 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. 8
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. 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. 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. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 12 And 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; 13
because
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 of Israel,
both man and beast: mine shall they
be: I am the LORD. 14
And
the LORD spake unto Moses in the
wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 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. 16 And Moses numbered
them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.
17 And these were the sons of Levi
by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18
And
these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and
Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their
families; Amran, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20
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. 21
Of
Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the
Shimites: these are families of
the Gershonites. 22
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. 23
The
families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. 24
And
the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be
Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 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. 26
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. 27 And of Korah 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. 28 In the number of all the males,
from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred,
keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29
The
families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle
southward. 30 And the chief of the house of the
father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of
Uzziel. 31 And their charge shall be
the ark, and the table, and the candlestick [Menorah], and the altars, and the
vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the
service thereof. 32 And Eleazar the son of
Aaron the priest shall be the chief over the chief Levites, and have
the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary. 33
Of
Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the
Mushites: these are the families
of Merari. 34 And those that were numbered of
them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were
six thousand and two hundred. 35 And the chief of the
house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of
Abihail: these shall pitch on the
side of the tabernacle northward. 36
And
under 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,
37 and the pillars of the court
round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. 38
But
those that encamp before the tabernacles toward the east, even before
the tabernacle 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. 39
All
that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the
commandment of the LORD, throughout their
families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two
thousand. 40 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month
old and upward, and take the number of their names. 41
And
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 firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. 42
And
Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all
the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43
And
all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of
those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and
threescore and thirteen. 44 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 45 Take the Levites instead of all
the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites
instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD. 46
And
for 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; 47 thou shalt even take five shekels
apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) 48 And thou shalt give
the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and
to his sons. 49 And Moses took the redemption
money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed of the Levites: 50
of
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: 51 and Moses gave the money of them
that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.” Introduction [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED579]
“Numbers chapter 3, we are 2
years and 2 months out of Egypt here. We
looked at the numbering of the children of Israel in the first two chapters,
and the place of their encampments, specific tribes being told where to
camp. And again, all of that is relative
to the Tabernacle, on the north side of the Tabernacle, on the south side of
the Tabernacle, on the west side, all of it relative to the presence of God in
the middle of the camp, all of their lives, all of the millions of them are
measured off the presence of God in their midst. And as we come to this 3rd chapter
we begin to look at the priests and the Levites, the numbering of them and
their specific responsibilities. And God
brings these things before us, the 1st chapter is the children of
Israel themselves who are old enough to go to war, we have the soldier, and
then we have the priest, then we have the Levite brought before us, that’s the
warrior, the worshipper, the worker. Or
we have brought before us, warfare, which is something we all experience,
worship, and we finally have brought
before us service. So these things
brought before us in the Book of Numbers, laid out in the camp of Israel in an
interesting way. These
also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with
Moses in mount Sinai.” Chapter 3 begins by saying “These
also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in
mount Sinai.” (verse 1) So these things spoken to Moses by God in
mount Sinai. That’s amazing to me,
because God is telling them where he wants them to camp, he’s naming their
names, the names of their father’s houses, the chief men of each tribe. This is something that God is saying to Moses
on mount Sinai, from his place in heaven, he is familiar with all of our homes,
all of our names, all of our family names, all of our locations, where we camp,
where we pitch our tent, when we move, when we travel, what our
responsibilities should be, what group of people we’re intermingled with,
again, that the Lord brings the solitary into flocks, the Bible says in a
wonderful way. Here he’s speaking with
Moses in mount Sinai, [It shows us in
Numbers chapter 1, verses 1-2 that at this point God is actually speaking to
Moses inside the newly constructed Tabernacle.]
“And 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 which were
anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered
strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of
Sinai, and they had no children: and
Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron
their father.” (verses 2-4) Now we’re going to
draw a distinction between the priests and the Levites, all from the same
family, Aaron, Moses, the Levites, all from the same family, but God has set
aside Aaron’s line to officiate in the priesthood. And we’re going to see two numberings of the Levites
this evening, one from one month old and on upward [in ages], and another
numbering them from 30 years old to 50 years old [Numbers 4:3]. The number from one month old on upward years
old has to do with the total number of Levites in the camp, that the tribe of
Levi belongs to me, God says ‘When
I brought you out of the land of Egypt, all of the firstborn were mine, and I
asked you to make redemption,’ because in Egypt the firstborn of the
livestock, the firstborn of the children died [of the Egyptians, everyone whose
doorposts didn’t have the blood of the lambs on them], but God protected his
own people. So as he brings them out of
Egypt he says ‘all of the firstborn are mine, I preserved their lives, I
kept them alive, so the firstborn of your flock, the firstborn of your
families, those are mine,’ and there was a redemption, they would be
redeemed by paying a certain price [the price of the redemption]. So this evening God’s going to number the
entire tribe of Levi and say, instead of taking all of your firstborn, the
entire tribe of Levi is going to be mine, and I’m going to give them as a gift
to Aaron and his sons, to stand by them and to minister of the things in the
Tabernacle. So we will get the names of
Aaron’s sons, the heads of the sub-tribes of Levi, Kohath, Gershon, Merari,
their sons. And it’s really interesting
as we go through here, there’s no nepotism in God’s plan here. It is natural and God’s appointment to the
sons of Aaron to function in the priest’s office, for the sons of Levi to
function in the office of the Levites [who are to serve under and to serve the
priests, Aaron’s sons]. In fact when
David sets up the Temple and the singers are introduced, you had to be of that
family line to be one of the singers. Of
course John Hopkins University, as they’ve done the Human Genome Project and
they’ve mapped out genes and chromosomes, they’ve discovered that pitch is
genetic, it’s inherited. Those who have
good pitch [musically], if you’re a good singer and have a good voice, you
probably have little squirts running around the house, they’ve got good voices
and like to sing. So that’s a blessing
when you come to the Temple, and the guys that are up there singing, are the
sons of singers, and the daughters of singers, and they have the voice of a
singer, because it’s always wonderful to listen to singing when the voices have the voice of a
singer. Now in heaven [the Kingdom of
Heaven, which will end up on earth (cf. Revelation 21:1-23)] we’re all going to
sound great, because every voice is redeemed and every voice box is
regenerated, redeemed. But no nepotism,
there’s no appointing anybody saying, ‘ya, your kids are in the ministry,’
there’s none of that here. We’re going
to find the Levites didn’t begin to minister until they were 30, kings would be
different, many of them will take the throne at 30, Josiah takes the throne
when he’s 8 years old. John the apostle
probably called to follow Christ when he was about 16 years old, Charlse
Spurgeon preached his first sermon when he was 15. He took the tabernacle, the pulpit in London
when he was 19 years old. So there are
no restrictions, any of you that are young, and filled with zeal and energy,
God will make you old fast, if you’re willing.
It’s because he is looking, not necessarily for those who are qualified,
but those who are available, if you are yielded to his Holy Spirit, if you are
serious about the Word, he will do remarkable things with your life, he will do
remarkable things. But here this is in
regards to Aaron and his sons, and the Levites, same family, different sets of
responsibilities. All were of the tribe
of Levi, but not all Levites were priests, we’ll see that here. The Levi genes [laughter], to be part of this
family, I’m telling the truth. Verse
5 says, “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.” (verses 5-6)
Well why Levi? that’s not fair.
Doesn’t he like Asher or Naphtali.
Well when you go back into the Book of Exodus chapter 32, when Moses came
down from the mountain and the whole camp had polluted themselves and they were
partying and drunk, and Moses said ‘Who is on the LORD’s side?’ it says the entire
tribe of Levi came over and they took their swords, they were willing to handle
the sword, even amongst their brethren.
And the picture of course is, I think for you and I, to genuinely serve
in ministry, are we willing to handle our sword, even when it’s amongst those
who are closest to us? Are we willing to
handle our sword, even when sometimes it’ll cost us for taking the Lord’s side,
‘Who is on the Lord’s side?’ Quite often it’s easier to do something that’s
going to cause us to make peace in the family, or peace with our friends, or
peace with our classmates. But the
entire tribe of Levi came over and they were sent forth by the LORD, and 3,000 others
were put to death by them, and God set them aside, the entire tribe of Levi,
and Aaron. Not because they were worth
it, Aaron was the first idol maker. But
of God’s grace and God’s calling, it says right here they were called. Verse 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. 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. 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.” (verses 7-10) They
shall serve in that particular way, Romans 12, verse 7 talks about waiting on
our ministry. So the LORD’s serious about his
appointments, it’s of grace, it’s not earned, it’s not deserved. The Book of Hebrews
says ‘For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in
the things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for
sins, who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the
way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.’ that the
high priest remembered that he was a sinner, saved by grace, ‘And by
reason hereof, he ought as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for
sins,’ ‘and no man’ the author to Hebrews, I believe Paul says, ‘and
no man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called of God, as was
Aaron.’ So he makes it clear
there that Aaron was a sinner like the rest of the tribes of Israel, that when
he offered sacrifices, he had to offer for himself first, so that he would have
compassion on the others that he ministered to.
But God is so serious about it, it says that any of the others who came
close, he said “and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.”
(verse 10b) The
Three Sub-Tribes Of Levi Are Named Verse 12 says, “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, And 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;” God,
he’s calling them instead of all of the firstborn, “because 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 of Israel, both man
and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. 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;” and
we’re going to hear their names quite often now as we go through our journey
here with them, “Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.” So these are their sons, now God gives us
more information, “And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by
their families; Libni, and Shimei. And
the sons of Kohath by their families; Amran,” which was the name of Moses’
and Aaron’s father, “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.” (verses
11-20) Now I’m going to move along
here, and I’ll give you the verses so you can kind of skip down with me as we
go through these numberings. The
Gershonites, Their Duties, Their Location, Their Numbers In verse 21 it says, “Of
Gershon,” and he gives the names of the families of the Gershonites, “from
one month old and upward” verse 22, it tells us there were 7,500. So of that particular sub-tribe of the
Levites, from one month old and upward, 7,500 males. So of that particular sub-tribe of the
Levites, from one month old and upward, 7,500 males. Verse 23, “The families of the
Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.” God says that’s
where they should be, “And the chief of the house of the father of the
Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.” (verses 23-24) So he knows where they’re camped, he knows who
the head man of the families are, he knows how many of them there are, and he
tells us this, their responsibilities, “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.” (verses 25-26) So
God says this will be the responsibility of the Gershonites. He’s going to mobilize and move between 2 and
3 million people. The tabernacle is in
the middle, the Tabernacle will be broken down first, as they begin to move, so
he says the Gershonites, their responsibility will be the badgers’ skins, the
skins on the outside, and the layers of scarlet, and the layers of blue, and
all of the hangings, and the hangings all around, the outside courtyard
curtains of the camp, all the linen, all of silk, their responsibility is all
of the fabric of different kinds and skins and so forth involved in the
Tabernacle will be their particular responsibility. And we find out in chapter 7, they are given
several wagons to move all of this, because of the great weight of theses
things, and it will be their responsibility even down to the cords, please
notice that, down to the cords. I love
it when I see some of our young guys and gals up here, helping us wrap up the
cords, there cords up here are the Lord’s cords, and it’s important to take
care of them and treat them like the Lord’s cords, because when you get bad
cords up here you get crackling and hacking, that’s a hassle for
everybody. [I used to work on my
church’s sound system, it was and is really important how you wrap up the cords
to a sound system.] People look at that,
‘I don’t want to wrap cords, I want to preach, and they’re waiting for
me to die, well you can start wrapping cords, all of it’s sacred, all of it
belongs to the Lord, all of it’s serving a purpose. [Comment:
the sound crew is a special group of people, we may call them geeks, but
their specialty is audio sound, mixers, mic’s, speakers, cords, just like these
Levites had specialized jobs, and the singers were all genetically predisposed
for singing and instruments, so are those of a good sound crew.] How many cords are up here, and there are
different kinds of cords, electric cords, I’m just making an example, how many
cords does the voice of a musician come across that lead people in singing,
bringing tears to their eyes and their hearts before the Lord? it’s all
sacred. And we tend to put it in
different places. Here’s the whole house
of Gershon, set aside, fabric was their responsibility, they’re Levites, they
serve directly under the priests, their whole sub-tribe is set aside, they have
no inheritance in the land, their life is to serve the Lord, and they will live
off the offerings and the tithes of the congregation. And it gives the fabric and the badgers’
skins and all of these things, it’s their responsibility, down to the cords
itself. The
Kohathites, Their Duties, Their Location, Their Numbers Verse 27, and of the
Kohathites, of Kohath, of his family it tells us there of the Kohathites in
verse 28, from one month old and upward, there were 8,600, so this is the
largest number in a particular family of the Levites. And it says in verse 29, the families of the
sons of Kohath shall pitch on the south side of the Tabernacle, southward, they
have a particular place to camp. The
chief of their sub-tribe, Elizaphan, his name is given in verse 30, and here’s
their charge, their responsibility, “And their charge shall be the
ark, and the table, and the candlestick [Menorah], and the altars, and the
vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the
service thereof.” (verse 31) the vail in particular between the Holy Place
and the Holy of Holies, that’s theirs, and look what it says in verse 32,
this is the oldest son of Aaron, who will take Aaron’s place and become high
priest, “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the chief
over the chief Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the
charge of the sanctuary.” (verse 32) So
Eleazar, Aaron’s son has a particular responsibility towards the Kohathites,
because the things that they care for are the Ark of the Covenant, the Menorah,
the Table of Showbread, the Table of Incense, the Vail with the cherubim that
hangs there, the Brazen Altar, the very holiest things in the center of the
nation. And you know what, they aren’t
given carts, they’re not given carts.
They’re not given carts. They
might look at the way human beings are, look at the Gershonites and say ‘You
guys got all the fabric, but we got the Ark of the Covenant, that’s what we
got.’ And isn’t that the way people
are in the Body of Christ? ‘You do
this, but we do this,’ but the Gershonites say ‘But you don’t get a
cart,’ they had to carry everything.
We’re going to find out they weren’t even allowed to look at it when it
was time to move, it was Aaron and his sons that would go into the Tabernacle,
and they would cover the Ark of the Covenant first with blue linen, and then
with small badgers’ skins, and then they would slide the poles through, so that
when the sons of the Kohathites came in, they weren’t to look on it, they
weren’t to touch it, lest they would die, and it’s their responsibility. And they’re the one sub-tribe that has to
bear all these things and carry them.
We’re going to find when we get to Merari, they have at least 8 wagons
for their responsibilities. So, ya, it’s
a different set of burdens, it’s a different set of responsibilities, all
brothers, all from the same family, all ministering to the same God. But he’s being so specific about what they do
in particulars. So, the sons of
Kohath. The
Sub-Tribe Of Merari, Their Duties, Their Location, Their Numbers And of Merari, verse 33,
from one month old and upward, verse 34, it says there were 6,200 of them. And the chief of their sub-tribe was Zuriel,
verse 35, in case you’re wondering. And
these shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle northward, exactly where they
are, “And under 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, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets,
and their pins, and their cords.” (verses 36-37) down to the pins, like cotter pins [really,
brass tent pegs] and down to the cords themselves, all sacred. And none of these are priests, the
Kohathites, the Merarites, and the Gershonites are not priests, they’re
Levites. But these are the
responsibilities given to them, and they’ve got the whole framework. So you might have one group saying ‘Well
we’ve got the skins, without us, without the tent everything would get wet,’ ‘Oh
ya, well we got the skeleton, you might have the skins, but without a skeleton
you wouldn’t have anything to hang them on,’ and another one said ‘Well
we got the heart of everything.’ Well
they all are appointed by God. We’re
told the very same thing in 1st Corinthians chapter 12, which says ‘that God gives severally to
every man as he will, the Holy Spirit, that we’re not appointed all of the same
ministry, for a body, a human body to function the way that it should function,
every joint and every ligament supplies, everybody has to contribute the part
that they should contribute.’ If
everybody wants to be the same thing, it says ‘The eye can’t say I have
no need of the ear, the hand can’t say I don’t have any need of the body.’ I think an eye is beautiful, Kathy
and I both have green eyes, but we have two kids with dark brown eyes, and two
kids with blue eyes, and I don’t know where any of them came from. But their eyes are beautiful, in their
head. If I got up in the morning and
there was one sitting on the living room floor all by itself, no matter how
wonderful the color was, that’s just not beautiful, you know. A hand, is a remarkable thing, with all the
bones and the nerves, it’s incredible to see one that’s manicured, with
beautiful fingernail polish and jewelry, it’s a remarkable thing, but if you
see it laying on your front lawn, the beauty and the function are directly
related to the relationship it has to the rest of the body. And here there’s no contest, Aaron and his
sons, ordained of God, appointed, this is what they do, no nepotism, his sons
follow in his footsteps, it’s what they do.
Here are the Levites, no nepotism, this is Gershon, he’s appointed to do
this, and the Gershonites will take care of all of the fabric, and all of the
coverings. The Kohathites and their
sons, and here’s the head man in the tribe, they will take care of all of the
holy implements, the Ark of the Covenant and so forth. And they would be directly under the tutelage
of Eleazar, a priest, the oldest son of Aaron.
And the Merarites, this is what they will take care of, all of the
structure, the skeletal part of the whole Tabernacle, very heavy, 8 wagons will
be given to them, and that will be their responsibility, to take care of those
things. All of this ordained of
God. You know, church is an organism,
but it is also an organization. The more
we learn about what Darwin didn’t understand was about the simple cell, when we
realize what a wonder of organization it is [buy and read Michael Behe’s ‘Darwin’s
Black Box’ Professor Behe is a
PhD micro biochemist at Lehigh University, written in 1996. He delves deep down into the atomic structure
of the cell in a way few scientists have].
So we want to be organized organically, not mechanically. But there is order, for things to function,
and there was here. Swapping
Out All Of The Levites For The Firstborn Of All Israel Those that are numbered, it says
in verse 39, all that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and
Aaron number at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their
families, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000. “And the LORD said unto Moses,
Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month
old and upward, and take the number of their names. And 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
firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all
the firstborn among the children of Israel.
And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and
upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred
and threescore and thirteen.” (verses 40-43)
there
was 22,273, God takes note, the three are important to him, he knows. “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of
Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites
shall be mine: I am the LORD.” (verses 44-45) Now we’re going to have a little problem,
because there are 22,000 Levites, and God keeps great books, but there are
22,273 of all of the tribes of Israel that are firstborn, which means when God
swapped them even off, that he gets 22,000 Levites replacing 22,273 of the rest
of the firstborn of the tribes of Israel, that means there’s still 273 that
have not been redeemed. All the rest,
each one is redeemed by a Levite, life for life. But God’s gonna say, this is what you do to
make up the difference. “Take the
Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the
cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be
mine: I am the LORD.” (verse 45) God possessive of all
of us, I love that. ‘They’re mine,’
he says, I am the LORD.’ “And for 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; thou shalt even take five shekels
apiece by the poll,” per head, “after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt
thou take them: (the shekel is
twenty gerahs:)” (verses 46-47) So
God said, what I want you to do for the 273 extra that have not been redeemed
by the life of a Levite, you pay 5 shekels apiece for each one of those, and
we’re Even-Steven. And we get ready to
move on, so remarkable how God takes note.
“And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is
to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.
And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above
them that were redeemed of the Levites:
of 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: and Moses gave the money of
them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of
the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.”
(verses 48-51) [273 x 5 = 1,365
shekels] Numbers
4:1-49 “And the LORD spake unto Moses and
unto Aaron, saying, 2 Take the sum of the
sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house
of their fathers, 3 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. 4
This
shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the
congregation, about the most holy things: 5
and
when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall
take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of the testimony with it: 6
and
shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and spread over it a
cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. 7
And
upon the table of shewbread 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: 8
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. 9
And
they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick [Menorah] of the
light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil
vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it: 10
and
they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’
skins, and shall put it upon a bar. 11
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: 12
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: 13
And
they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth
thereon: 14 and they shall put upon it all
the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers,
the fleshhooks, 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. 15 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. 16
And
to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil
for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat [grain] offering, and
the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all
that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof. 17
And
the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying, 18 Cut ye not off the tribe of the
families of the Kohathites from among the Levites: 19
but
thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the
most holy things: Aaron and his sons
shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: 20
but
they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die. 21 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 22 Take also the sum of the sons of
Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families; 23
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. 24 This is the
service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens: 25
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, 26 and the hangings of
the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is
by the tabernacles 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. 27
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. 28 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. 29
As
for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the
house of their fathers; 30 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. 31 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 the sockets thereof, 32
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. 33 This is the
service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service,
in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of
Aaron the priest. 34 And Moses and Aaron
and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of Kohathites after their
families, and after the house of their fathers, 35
from
thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth
into the service, for the work of the tabernacle of the congregation: 36
and
those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven
hundred and fifty. 37 These were they
that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service
in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number
according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
38 And those that were numbered of
the sons of Gershom, throughout their families, and by the house of their
fathers, 39 from thirty years old and upward
even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the
work of the tabernacle of the congregation, 40
even
those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of
their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty. 41
These
are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of
all that might do service in the tabernacles of the congregation, whom Moses
and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD. 42
And
those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout
their families, by the house of their fathers, 43
from
thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth
into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, 44
even
those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and
two hundred. 45 These be those that were
numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered
according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
46 All those that were numbered of
the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their
families, and after the house of their fathers, 47
from
thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to
do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle
of the congregation, 48 even those that were
numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore. 49
According
to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by
the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his
burden: thus were they numbered of him,
as the LORD commanded Moses.” The
Gershonites, Kohathites And Merarites That Were Old Enough To Serve--At What
Age Does That Start? “Chapter 4, now we will come to
the number of those amongst the Gershonites, Kohathites and Merarites that were
old enough to serve. We’ve numbered them
from one month old and upward. But they
didn’t begin to serve in the sanctuary, the Tabernacle, until they were 30
years old. We’re going to see that. So here, “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.” (verses 1-3) So, interesting number. It seems that David was 30 years old when he
took the throne, he was. Here, the
Levite priests began to serve at 30. I’m
assuming then that Adam was 30 years old the day he was born, didn’t have to go
through the terrible two’s or any of that.
30 years old and software programmed by the Creator the day he came into
existence, there was no learning curve, he knew everything he needed to know,
because it seems Jesus was 30 years old when he began his public ministry, died
at 33 and a half. Saying all of that, to
say, it gives me the hope that in the twinkling of an eye, I’m going to be 30
years old again [I want a 20 year old body] at the Rapture [Calvary Chapel
people like to call it the Rapture, it’s really the 1st Resurrection
to immortality (cf. 1st Corinthians 15:49-54)]. People ask me ‘Would you like to be 30 or
25 again?’ not unless I could know what I know now. Of course I’ve forgotten a good bit of what I
was supposed to know now, but I wouldn’t want to be 25 and know what I knew
when I was 25 again, I’d rather, I’m happy right here. I’d love to have the energy and the health
that I had when I was 25, none of that’s gonna happen. But 30 years old. Camel Morgan, one of my favorite authors, he
said as he observes ministry, he said “I believe a man accumulates his
ministry from 30 to 50, and then develops it from 50 to 70.” [well, I’m a
little bit late, I’m 76 now, been on a very weird and strange spiritual journey
(see https://unityinchrist.com/author.htm)] I don’t know about that, somehow I have to
work on that. “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.” (verse 3) Ah, I’m going to turn to chapter 8 for a
moment, you can just listen, Numbers chapter 8, beginning at verse
24, it seems to contradict it, it says this, “This is it that belongeth
unto the Levites: from twenty and
five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the
tabernacle of the congregation: and from
the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof,
and shall serve no more: but shall
minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the
charge, and shall do no service. Thus
shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.” (verses 24-26) So what it says there is, that once a Levite
reached 50 years old, he no longer had to carry the fabric, the skeleton
[boards and poles overlaid with gold, quite heavy stuff], or he didn’t do the
physical labour, but he continued to minister in the Tabernacle, because of his
intrinsic value serving the LORD all those years. And it seems to indicate there that young
Levites then were brought into the Tabernacle and they were mentored from 25 to
30 by the older men, until they would enter in on their priest’s office. And what an interesting model, what an
interesting thing to take note of here.
So God ordering all of these things, and as I look at it, and it’s
always a wonder to me, the interest that he takes in his own people and their
well-being, he knows us better than we know ourselves. “This
shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the
congregation, about the most holy things” Verse 4, “This shall be
the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about
the most holy things:” now
here’s the specific instructions, and I’m going to shoot there them, hang
on. “and when the camp setteth
forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering
vail, and cover the ark of the testimony with it: and shall put thereon the covering of
badgers’ skins, and spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put
in the staves thereof. And upon the
table of shewbread 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 [Menorah] of the light, and his
lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, 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
fleshhooks, 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.” (verses 5-15) and
they’re Levites, they’re not to infringe on any office beyond where God has
called them to, lest they die. The rest
of the congregation not to infringe on anything past where God has called them
to lest they die, and here these Levites not to infringe on anything past their
responsibilities lest they die. We saw
Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron struck down because they came and offered
strange fire. So there’s tremendous
order to all of this. This now is the
oldest son of Aaron, living son “And to the office of Eleazar the son of
Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet
incense, and the daily meat [grain] offering, and the anointing oil, and
the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the
sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.” (verse 16) So Eleazar has a particular relationship to
the Levites of the sub-tribe of Kohath and their responsibility towards the Ark
of the Covenant and all the holy vessels of the sanctuary. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and
unto Aaron, saying, Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites
from among the Levites: but thus do unto
them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy
things: Aaron and his sons shall go in,
and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: but they shall not go in to see when the holy
things are covered, lest they die.” (verses 17-20)
So they, you know the Kohathites who carry the Ark of the Covenant, were
never allowed to go behind the vail and see the Ark of the Covenant. By the time they lay eyes on it, it was
covered in a linen of blue and with badgers’ skins and the staves were already
through it, it was this dark brown covered thing, you know, burlap, and they
would then grab the staves and bear it.
But they weren’t even allowed to look upon it, lest they die. The
Service Of The Gershonites “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;” (verses 21-22) verses 24-28, “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
tabernacles 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.” (verses 24-28) Ithamar, that’s the other son of
Aaron. So Eleazar is in charge of the
Kohathites in the most holy things, here we have Ithamar overseeing the fabric
and all of the skins and so forth. The
Service Of The Merarites Verse 29 says, “As for the sons
of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their
fathers;” and it gives their responsibilities from 30 years old and upward,
this is their charge, in verse 31, and we looked at that, we have all of the
boards and sockets and all of the pillars and so forth, and all of that is
their burden, verse 33, “This is the service of the families of the
sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the
congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” Well
wait a minute, Ithamar’s doing double duty here. Eleazar is watching the Kohathites, and
Ithamar has to watch the Gershonites and the Merarites. Why is that?
It’s because if Nadab and Abihu were still alive, the load would be
lightened. If they hadn’t sinned and
been disqualified from ministry. No one
can sin and be disqualified from ministry without increasing the burden on
someone else. Every member is so
important, every bit of service, so sacred to God. Every person who stands here faithful to hand
out a bulletin, to roll up cords, to do whatever service. And the wonderful thing is, those who want to
serve, they’ll always step in, they’ll take extra burden, they’ll do extra
things. But no doubt, if Nadab and Abihu
were still alive, one of them, Nadab the oldest son would have been overseeing
the Kohathites, and the other three sons would have been helping with the
others things, and the load would have been spread out. But here Ithamar doing double duty. The
Numbering Of The Kohathites, Gershonites And Merarites “And Moses and Aaron and the
chief of the congregation numbered the sons of Kohathites after their families,
and after the house of their fathers, from thirty years old and upward even
unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work of
the tabernacle of the congregation: and
those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven
hundred and fifty.” (verses 34-36) It says there were
2,750, ‘and those, verse 38, that were numbered of the sons of Gershon,
verse 39, from 30 years old and upward, it tells us in the end of verse 40,
there were 2,630 of them.’ We
have larger numbers of a month and on upward, these are from 30 to 50 now, to
serve. Verse 42 says “And
those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout
their families, by the house of their fathers, from thirty years old and upward
even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the
work in the tabernacle of the congregation, even those that were numbered of
them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.” (verses 42-44)
It says there were 3,200 of them.
And verse 46 says, “All those that were numbered of the
Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their
families, and after the house of their fathers, from thirty years old and
upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the
ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,
even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and
fourscore.” (verses 46-48) So there
were 8,580 active Levites [composed of all three subtribes of Levi] at this
particular time, directly under Aaron and his sons, verse 49 says, “According
to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by
the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his
burden: thus were they numbered of him,
as the LORD commanded Moses.” Chapter 5, we can knock this out in ten
minutes, trust me.” [Ten minutes? He’s got 24 minutes left on the tape, who's
he kidding? 😊] Numbers
5:1-31 “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 2 Command the children of Israel,
that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue,
and whosoever is defiled by the dead: 3
both
male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they
defile not their camps, in the midst of where I dwell. 4
And
the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so
did the children of Israel. 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 6 Speak unto the children of
Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a
trespass against the LORD, and that person be
guilty; 7 then they shall confess their sin
which they have done: and he shall
recompense his trespass with the principle thereof, and add unto it the fifth part
thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. 8
But
if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be
recompensed unto the LORD, even unto the
priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for
him. 9 And every offering of all the
holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall
be his. 10 And every man’s hallowed things
shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth
the priest, it shall be his. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 12 Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass
against him, 13 and a man lie with her carnally,
and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be
defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with
the manner; 14 and the spirit of
jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him,
and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: 15
then
shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering
for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil
upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of
jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16
And
the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: 17
and
the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is
in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into
the water: 18 and the priest shall set the
woman before the LORD, and uncover the
woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is
the jealousy offering: and the priest
shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: 19
and
the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have
lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another
instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the
curse: 20 but if thou hast gone aside to
another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have
lain with thee beside thine husband: 21
then
the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall
say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and
an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh
to rot, and thy belly to swell; 22
and
this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy
belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot:
and the woman shall say, Amen, amen. 23
And
the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them
out with the bitter water: 24 and he shall cause the
woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall
enter into her, and become bitter. 25
Then
the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall
wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon
the altar: 26 and the priest shall take an
handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it
upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. 27
And
when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that,
if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water
that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her
belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot:
and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28
And
if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall
conceive seed. 29 This is the law
of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her
husband, and is defiled; 30 or when the spirit of
jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the
woman before the LORD, and the priest shall
execute upon her all this law. 31 Then shall the man be
guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.”
“Don’t trust me, but we can knock
this out in, we could if we tried. This
is about defilement in the camp. We have
organization, we also have now purification, and God now is going to point to
several things, and says these things have to be kept in order because I am
dwelling in the midst of the camp God says, and Leviticus 11 he said “Be ye holy, for I am
holy.” Exodus 29, Leviticus chapter 26,
verse 12, he says “I am dwelling in the midst of you,” so now there are certain
things that he expects of them in regards to the fact they shouldn’t defile
themselves, because he’s living in the midst of his people, first time since
the Garden of Eden, God right in the midst of his people. “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp” three things here, “every
leper, and every one that hath an issue,” whether that’s a wound or a sore
or an ooze, whatever it might be, “and whosoever is defiled by the dead: both male and female shall ye put out,
without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the
midst of where I dwell.” (verses 1-3)
So God says, lepers, and we have all kinds of instruction back in
Leviticus 13 and 14 in regards to that.
Those who have any kind of a running sore or a disease, and those that
have touched the dead, and they can be purified by evening and so forth for
that last category, there’s certain sacrifices, washings they were to go
through. But he says ‘I want you
to keep the camp undefiled, because I’m the LORD, I’m dwelling in the
midst.’ “And the children of Israel did so, and
put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so
did the children of Israel.” (verse 4) Now the next thing, “And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak
unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men
commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be
guilty; then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the
principle thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it
unto him against whom he hath trespassed.” (verses 5-7) So it says, if there’s anybody in the
camp that’s sinned against another Israelite, don’t walk around bitter, don’t
walk around unresolved. Look, in the New
Testament, over and over and over we’re told about forgiveness, we’re told that
we should look out for a root of bitterness, because through it many believers
can be defiled. And if you’re anything
like me, I’m a sissy, I don’t like people hurting my feelings, so I kind of
gather my own little posse…who needs that in the camp? We’re to walk in the light, we’re to ask
forgiveness. And God does something
interesting here, he says “the man that does this shall add a 5th
part.” When you go to make amends with
somebody, if you’ve sinned against them, done something wrong, it’s not just
Even-Steven, you have to add 20 percent to it.
And you know, it’s interesting when somebody gives back, if they’ve
sinned against you, and you don’t want them to just come and say ‘I’m
sorry.’ It doesn’t mean anything,
you want them to come and to say ‘Forgive me,’ that means they’re owning
their sin. And it says you add a 5th
to that, 20 percent. You know, it just
means something when someone comes with more heart than you’re expecting them
to come with, with more genuineness, with more truth. Here in regards to particular things of
value, they were to add 20 percent. Look
at verse 8, “But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto,
let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even unto the
priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for
him. And every offering of all the holy
things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be
his. And every man’s hallowed things
shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth
the priest, it shall be his.” (verses 8-10)
So you didn’t have any right to say ‘Well, you know I was going to
straighten it out, but the guy died.’ Well
then you go and make things right with his family, ‘Well, he doesn’t have
anybody left.’ And God said ‘Look,
I’m going to give you every opportunity, nobody’s going to be left here without
an opportunity, there’s always a way to be responsible. ‘If the guy’s dead, and everybody
related to him is dead, then you can come to the Tabernacle and you can make
your offering there, and you can make everything right, the restitution, you
can make it to God, and God will accept it as if you were making it to the
individual.’ A
Jealous Husband, Marital Uncleanness Verse 11 takes us to something very interesting here, ladies
you’ve come a long way, you’ll see when we read this. Verse 12, “Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside,” now we have
physical uncleanness, with have uncleanness in regards to sin, now we have
marital uncleanness. And as the family
goes, so goes the nation. Adultery was a
capital crime in Israel, God took these things very seriously. It says here “Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass
against him, and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of
her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no
witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;” she’s
not caught, and notice this in verse 14, “and the spirit of jealousy
come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him,
and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:” (verses 12-14) the
husband’s saying ‘You’re messing around,’ ‘Oh no, Honey,’ ‘Don’t tell me
that, you’re messing around.’ ‘Oh no
Honey,’ and it just, he just knows it.
Is God putting the spirit of jealousy in him? He knows someone that well, when you live
with someone and you know, Kathy and I, she’ll say to me ‘Are you alright?’ and
I’ll say ‘Ya,’ ‘I know you’re not, what’s going on?’ You just know each other. So, it says here, “or if the spirit of
jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:”
(verse 14b) you could just have a jealous husband, or he saw you flirting
and there’s no defilement, hasn’t gone anywhere, but there’s jealousy. This is what you do. “then shall the man bring his wife unto
the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of
an ephah of barley meal;” now this is the only time in the Old Testament
that the meal offering is with barley, interesting, “he shall pour no oil
upon it,” which is a picture of the Holy Spirit, “nor put frankincense
thereon;” a picture of prayer, the incense was the prayers of the saints,
“for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing
iniquity to remembrance.” (verse 15) It tells us jealousy is as cruel as
the grave, in the Book of Proverbs. What
a terrible thing jealousy can be. If
this husband is jealous, he thinks his wife is cheating, he brings her to the
priest, he brings the barley, which was the least expensive of grain, but don’t
put any oil on it, don’t put any frankincense on it, for it is an offering of
jealousy, “an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.” “And the priest shall bring her near, and
set her before the LORD: and the priest shall take holy water” now this is out of the
bronze laver, “in an earthen vessel;” because he’s going break, the
water will make the vessel holy, when this offering’s over it’s to be broken,
and notice, “and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the
priest shall take, and put it into the water: and the priest shall set the woman before the
LORD, and uncover the woman’s head,
and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy
offering: and the priest shall have in
his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:” (verses 16-18) So you bring your wife there, the priest gets her,
you have this offering of barley in hand, he takes an earthen vessel, he takes
some of the holy water from the bronze laver where the priests would wash their
hands and so forth, he puts it into the earthen vessel, then he scrapes dust
off of the ground of the Tabernacle mixes that with the water. I don’t know if dust is to remind her ‘From
dust you came, and dust where you’re going back, baby, if you’ve been
unfaithful.’ “and the priest shall set the woman before the
LORD, and uncover the woman’s head,
and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy
offering: and the priest shall have in
his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the priest shall charge her by an oath,
and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not
gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of they husband, be thou
free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: but if thou hast gone aside to another
instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with
thee beside thine husband: then the
priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say
unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and
an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh
to rot, and thy belly to swell; and this water that causeth the curse shall go
into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to
rot: and the woman shall say, Amen,
amen.” (verses 18-22) she’s gonna agree with
it. She’s either sweating going ‘amen,
amen,’ or
she’s mad, looking at her husband, ‘Amen, I’m going to get you when we get
home, making me go through this.’ This
is a public thing. So he takes the dirt
from the Tabernacle floor, mixes it with the water in the pot, and the woman’s
going to have to drink it, and she’s taking an oath first, ‘If I’m guilty,
then let my belly swell,’ and I looked through every commentary, it means
to be “distended, to be swollen out,” and there’s different ideas about what
that means, the thigh rots, or disintegrates, just the legs, and she in her
very appearance becomes an oath and a curse.
And the priest says ‘If you’re guilty let it be so,’ pregnant
with sin, you know. And she says “Amen,
amen.” “And the priest shall write
these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter
water: and he shall cause the woman to
drink the bitter water that causeth the curse:
and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become
bitter. Then the priest shall take
the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering
before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:”
(verses 23-25) If she’s innocent her
husband pays later, believe me. “and
the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial
thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman
to drink the water.” (verse 26) Imagine
this poor gal is just married to a jealous guy, and she’s having to drink this
water with the dirt from the Tabernacle floor, she’s not a happy camper, it’s
not going to be a good night in the OK Coral when they get home, I’m sure. “And when he hath made her to drink the
water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have
done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall
enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her
thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be
a curse among her people.” (verse 27) It
seems to be supernatural. “And if the
woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive
seed.” (verse 28) She shall be
clean, there’s no problem, and more than that, God will bless her and she’ll
get pregnant from her husband and have more kids. So, men, there might have been a number of
reasons why you didn’t want enter into this too fast, if you already had 9
kids, you wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing here. You know, I’ve read through this and read
through this, it’s a strange piece of Scripture, that’s why we wanted to get
through it tonight, we’ll get to the Nazarite Vow next week, where there’s more
application and things to look at, but this is very strange. And I don’t find anywhere in the history of
Israel where any husband did this. Of course,
I guess any woman who thought ‘If I do cheat on my husband, even if I don’t
get caught, the LORD’s going to put the
spirit of jealousy on him, then I’m going to have to go through the whole thing
in front of the whole camp and the Tabernacle, drink the dirty water, and I’m
going to walk around looking like an Hors’Dvors for the rest of my life, small
spindly legs, pregnant with sin for the rest of my life and be a curse, and
evidently not be able to conceive.’ So I’m assuming this
helped keep the camp of Israel cleaner, at least for awhile. “This is the law of jealousies,
when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is
defiled; or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over
his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall
execute upon her all this law. Then
shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her
iniquity.” (verses 29-31) If it ends up that she is guilty of
immorality, the husband will bear no iniquity, he is free of the process, and
the woman will bear her guilt. ‘Well
that’s not fair, where’s the chapter for husbands?’ Ah, in Israel, when there was adultery,
both the man and the woman were to be stoned, both the man and the woman were
to be stoned. As we get to the Book of
Deuteronomy and we study through the Law reiterated there, over and over God
says if somebody commits this sin, this is the offering you have to do, if they
commit this, this is what you do, if they do this sin, you’re to be stoned, he
goes through all of the Law, and then towards the end of Deuteronomy he says ‘If
anybody does any of these things, and nobody knows about it, nobody sees them,
I will smite them with the botch,’ I never liked the sound of that, ‘and
emerods.’ You don’t want any of
that, Divine emerods, smitten with those.
I mean, you read through the end of Deuteronomy and God reiterates the
same idea, nobody gets away with anything.
David said ‘Before thee and thee only have I sinned, I’ve done
this great evil in thy sight,’ and when you read Psalm 32, Psalm 51,
David said ‘My bones were dried up, I was suffering, I was tortured
inside, it was like being in a desert inside, I was in pain, it was anguish,
until I confessed my sin, until I came forward,’ and he asked God and
God forgave and made his heart right. So
it’s very interesting in these scenes, God is saying to the camp of Israel, ‘You
don’t get away with anything just because another human being doesn’t know
about it.’ And wonderfully, for
you and I, we have a faithful Husband, Jesus Christ, whose paid the price for
us, cleansed us, and we can go to him, and confess our sins, and ask
forgiveness, and he’s faithful and just to forgive us, to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. You know, in the
dispensation of the Church, when someone is caught in adultery, we don’t have
to take them out and stone them, we can work toward reconciliation, or there’s
a Biblical grounds there for divorce, certainly. But we can work towards reconciliation, it is
not a death sentence, it brings death to a lot of other things, to trust, to
family, sometimes to the wellbeing of children that grow up in a broken home,
it is destructive. But we’re so thankful
now that we’re under the grace of the Lord, things are handled so differently
in the Old Testament. Behind it all,
God’s speaking to Moses, he knows everybody’s address, he knows everybody’s
name, he knows the name of your father’s house, he knows the name of the
children, he knows whether they live in north Philadelphia, south Philadelphia,
west Philadelphia, northeast Philadelphia, wherever they are. He knows how many there are, he knows how
many children we have, he knows what responsibilities we have, he knows how we
bear those responsibilities. Are we
faithful even down to the cords and the pins, stewardship, do we see the
blessings in our life as divine? Do we
right the wrongs done to other people in the camp? Do we know when we have to deal with
something so we’re not contaminating someone in the camp? Do we understand that though no man sees, God
sees. I want, when I’m alone, to have
open fellowship with him. I want that
kept current, all the time, ‘Lord, forgive me, I had a bad attitude, Lord, I
was selfish with my wife today, Lord, I was inconsiderate with my kids, Lord…[transcript
of a connective expository sermon on Numbers 3:1-51, Numbers 4:1-49 and Numbers
5:1-31, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500
Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116] related links: Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED579 |