Numbers 3

The tabernacle of the Lord was at the center of Israel's camp. The guardians of that tent belonged to the tribe of Levi. One family in particular among all the Levites had a special role as priests to God, the sons of Aaron, the brother of Moses. They alone could approach God in certain ceremonial ways according to Old Covenant law.

The sad story of Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu is not repeated in detail here in this chapter. The simple summary tells us of the danger of approaching God in ways that were unauthorized. “But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children.”

The remaining sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, served as the Lord's priests. The rest of the Levites had their assigned duties according to their clans. The three clans of the Levites descended from the three sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. All the males that were at least one month old were listed and numbered according to their father's houses and clans.

There were 7,500 Gershonites. With their leader, Eliasaph, the son of Lael, they were to camp to the west of the tabernacle. They had the assigned duty of guarding the tent itself, all of the cords, and all of the skillfully woven materials.

The 8,600 Kohathites were led by Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel. They camped on the south side of the tabernacle. They also had the responsbility to guard certain sacred objects: all the holy furnishings, including the ark itself. Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was chief over the chiefs of the Levites. His name was mentioned in connection with the duties of the Gershonites.

The males of Merari totaled 6,200, with Zuriel, the son of Abihail, as their head. They camped on the north side of the tabernacle. Their guard duties included all the frames, pillars, and bases that provided the necessary structure for the tent.

Finally, Moses and Aaron camped to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, but within the sacred heart of Israel at the leading edge of the Levites.

Moses, Aaron, and the 22,000 numbered men of the Levites not only protected the holy sanctuary of Israel's sacrificial system. They were themselves the Lord's substitute for all the firstborn males of the people of Israel. God had rescued the firstborn males of Israel from the fate that came upon the firstborn sons of Egypt.

The 22,273 firstborn males of the people of Israel were able to live, but they belonged to the Lord in a special way as His dedicated servants. Yet God took the males among the Levites as His servants rather than the firstborn males of all the tribes. Even for the additional 273 males beyond the 22,000 of the Levites a special redemption price was required.

The Lord accepted five shekels per head for those 273. Together with the dedicated service of the males of the Levites, this was what the Lord required for the ceremonial freedom of the firstborn males of Israel.

This was the system according to the ceremonies given in the Law of Moses. Yet the true eternal freedom of the people of God required a different payment to be made. The Levites had their place and time in the plan of God. But now the Messiah, the Son of God has paid for our redemption with His blood.

The Lord required a full and exact accounting of the demands of His justice. He told us of His holiness through the lives and deaths of Aaron's sons. He reinforced the seriousness of His just demands in the way that the Levites were to guard the sanctuary. According to the picture of redemption provided through the numbering of the Old Covenant Levites, every payment needed to be made exactly. But when the Lamb of God gave His blood for us, He gave a payment of inestimable worth.

What a great redemption price has been offered up to our heavenly Father! What surpassing worth is there in the life and death of Jesus! He alone, a solitary payment to the Father, has covered the debt owed by millions of people who belong to Him.