In The Word
Read: Numbers 8:1-9:14
The Seven Lamps
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you mount the lamps, the seven lamps will provide light in the front of the lampstand.’” 3 Therefore Aaron did so; he mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flower ornamentation it was hammered work; according to the pattern which the Lordhad shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
Cleansing the Levites
5 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them. 7 This is what you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them, and have them use a razor over their whole body, and they shall wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. 8 Then have them take a bull with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and you shall take a second bull as a sin offering. 9 So you shall present the Levites in front of the tent of meeting. You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel,10 and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 Aaron then shall present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may qualify to perform the service of the Lord. 12 Now the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.
14 “So you shall single out the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. 15 Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are exclusively given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself instead of the firstborn of every womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17 For every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the people and among the animals; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no affliction among the sons of Israel due to their approaching the sanctuary.”
20 So this is what Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel did to the Levites; according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Retirement for the Levites
23 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25 But at the age of fifty years they shall retire from service in the work and not work anymore. 26 They may, however, assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, to fulfill an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. In this way you shall deal with the Levites in their obligations.”
The Passover
9 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Now the sons of Israel are to celebrate the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall celebrate it at its appointed time; you shall celebrate it in accordance with all its statutes and all its ordinances.” 4 So Moses told the sons of Israel to celebrate the Passover. 5 And they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. 6 But there were somemen who were unclean because of contact with a dead person, so that they could not celebrate Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of a dead person, why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” 8 Moses then said to them, “Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a deadperson, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, celebrate the Passover to the Lord. 11 In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight, they shall celebrate it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall not leave any of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; they shall celebrate it in accordance with the whole statute of the Passover. 13 But the person who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from celebrating the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, because he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That person will bear the responsibility for his sin. 14 And if a stranger resides among you and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and its ordinance, so he shall celebrate it; you shall have the same statute, both for the stranger and for the native of the land.’”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Moses was giving the command to have Aaron mount the seven lamps, consecrate the Levites for the service of the tent of meeting, and command the people to celebrate the Passover. Each of these steps have previously been instructed. Why did God repeat these commands? One word: preparation. God was preparing the people to leave the wilderness, but before they could go forward, they had to be ready. Much like modern readiness training, God was ensuring that His people completely understood what was required for the journey ahead. We see some important elements in this preparedness: light, water, and sacrifice. God was training His people to know how to move forward with Him.
As Christians, we are called to walk in a way that is pleasing to God. And, like the children of Israel, we need constant reminders of how we must walk. Unfortunately, I see a lot of Christians that think they already know everything and that there is nothing else they can learn. We should never have this attitude. We should always welcome reminders, training, and learning as believers. As God calls us to go farther with Him, we must be ready to go when He moves. Our path is narrow and difficult, so every opportunity to have readiness training should be embraced. God wants to take you to the Promised Land that He has prepared for you, but are you ready? Are you allowing the Word of God to be poured over you again and again? If not, open your heart to Him, and He will direct your ways.