Numbers 3 - 4

I want to look at two chapters today, chapters 3 and 4. They go together. There are a couple of things I see in these two chapters.

The first thing to see when reading these chapters is the counting of the Levites and the counting of the first born males of all the Israelites. When counting the Levites we see that every male was to be counted from 1 month old up. The total was 22,000 males in the tribe of Levi. Now the count of the First born males came to 22,273. The purpose of this count was that the Levite males were to be the substitute for all the first born males in Israel. It was a one for one substitute. The extra 273 males were bought back at a cost of 2 ounces of silver per male. This totaled 34 pounds of silver.

The Levites were to work for Aaron and care for the tent of meetings. Notice that the Levites are descendants of Aaron and Moses. Aaron’s sons were specifically set aside to be the priests. If you recall and we are reminded here that Aaron’s two oldest sons were killed because of improper actions in the tabernacle.

Aside from Aarons sons being priests every clan within the Levite tribe had a purpose in serving at the tabernacle. Whether it was to set up or tear down. Carrying the tent or caring for the furnishings. There was a purpose for each clan.

Application

The first thing I see is dealing with the first born. Can you tell me what this substitution sounds like to you? The thing that struck me was that just as the Levites were a substitute for the males of Israel we see an example of someone else who was a substitute for us. I don’t think this is a coincident I believe this was God designed and planned. He was showing them and us today a look ahead at the fact that Jesus was going to be a substitute for us. It is through him that we are saved.

The next thing I want you to grasp here is that just as every Levite had a purpose in serving at the tent of meeting so each of us has a responsibility within the church. We are not intended to just attend and not be involved. We all are not intended to be the minister or a teacher but we all can do something from praying or cleaning or anything in-between. Let me encourage you that if you are simply attending your church that you begin to seek ways to be involved in helping your church. It cannot all be done by the staff or by just a few volunteers. If we would all get involved the load of the church would be lighter and your pastor would have more time to do the thing he is suppose to do, being the priest. If there is not anything that you can see needs to be done or that is advertised for assistance ask your pastor. I am sure they would be happy to have your assistance in some way.