Numbers 3:44

The Bible says in Numbers 3:44-51, “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 by 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.” This redemption that was required was a special fee paid for each of “the firstborn.” One reason for this fee paid for the firstborn was to demonstrate the importance that God gave to the firstborn since the Passover when the firstborn of each house would die unless God saw the blood of a lamb that was slain. The firstborn was very important to every family because once that first child was born, it demonstrated that they would not be barren and childless. God gave His only Son for our salvation, and so paying a ransom fee for the firstborn is a symbolism of the fact that every believer has been ransomed. We have been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. Once you have been ransomed, you are not your own. You belong to God and owe Him everything. Our relationship with God always involves a ransom.

The Bible says in Numbers 4:1-15, “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 testimony with it:[6] And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall 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 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.” Some of the Levites had their lineage through Kohath, and they were given some very specific things to do in regards to taking care of all of the items of the tabernacle that are listed here. One thing that is noticeable are the cloths of blue and purple that were used to cover some of the items when they were moved. Those are the colors of royalty. We are a royal priesthood. Jesus is king, and we are children of the king. Never forget that. The world may not notice you, but the Lord has given you a ministry for His glory that is important for the King. Another thing to notice in this passage is what is said in verse fifteen, “they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.” The Old Testament law gives death, but the New Testament gives us life through faith in Christ.

The Bible says in Numbers 4:16, “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 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.” This verse is a good reminder of some of the things inside the sanctuary that have an important spiritual significance even for today. “The light” of the candlestick represents the light that Jesus gives to us. We need light in a dark work. We need light or our hearts will be dark. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world.” The “sweet incense” represents our prayers that go up to God. He loves to hear from us. The Infinite Mind can listen and respond to billions of people all at the same time and make it seem like He is only communicating with you. What a mighty God we serve. “The daily meat offering,” which was called the showbread, represents the fact that the Lord has promised to take care of us. We do not have to worry or be dishonest with others. When we work, and trust in the Lord, and put Him first, He will provide. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” The “anointing oil” represents the Holy Spirit who is given to dwell within every believer since the Day of Pentecost as promised by Jesus in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” We cannot convert anyone to Jesus, but the Holy Spirt can, and He will use us if we are filled with the Spirit. The Christian life is a great life. The Lord has supplied us with all the beautiful elements of spirituality in order to strive for life the way that it was meant to be lived.

The Bible says in Numbers 4:17-20, “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.” The law was very specific for these Levites concerning what they could do and what they could not do. And once again, if they failed to do what they were told, “they die.” The law was unforgiving because it was based upon the agreement between the Israelites and God that the Israelites would obey everything that God told them. That is why we cannot be saved by the law. It is too easy to fail, and we are all sinners.

The Bible says in Numbers 4:21-28, “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 tabernacle 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.” In all of the passages that we are looking at in the book of Numbers, different individuals had different responsibilities, but it was all part of the work of God. It works the same way today in our Christian service. Every Christian has a job and a calling to do for Christ. No one is more important than another. We are all important. We are all part of the body of Christ. The Bible says in First Corinthians 12:4-14, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.[5] And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.[6] And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.[7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.[8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;[9] To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;[10] To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:[11] But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.[12] For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.[13] For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.[14] For the body is not one member, but many.”

The Bible says in Numbers 4:29-49, “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 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 the 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 in 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 Gershon, 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 in 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 tabernacle 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.” One thing to notice in this passage in Numbers chapter 44 is a phrase that is used over and over again such as in verse forty-seven: “From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old.” All of the men doing the work of the Levites regarding the tabernacle had to be between thirty and fifty years old. In the ancient world it seems that thirty was the age in which men were considered to be fully grown and ready to start their own adult life. Jesus left His home and started preaching when He was about thirty years old. In our culture eighteen is the age that has been established when a young man is considered to be an adult. A lot of young men have made some very bad decisions before the age of thirty. For many of them things would have turned out a lot better if they had stayed under the authority of their parents longer than they did. Notice that the Levites did the tabernacle work until they were fifty years old. That is a fairly young retirement. There was a lot of physical labor involved in putting up and taking down the tabernacle and carrying it from place to place with all the wood and animal skins and material and objects that made up the tabernacle. The lesson here is that you want to avoid a career that requires physical labor if you want to keep working past your years of top physical capabilities. Fortunately, we live in a day when you can get careers that are based upon what you know and not what you can do with the strength of your arms or legs. By the grace of God, make sure to get the right type of training so that you will learn knowledge that is in demand and for which a good wage will be paid. May the Lord give us wisdom for that which is practical as well as that which is spiritual.

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