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Numbers Chapter 8
- Numbers 8:1 And the LORD spoke
unto Moses, saying,
- 2 Speak unto Aaron, and
say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps
shall give light over against the candlestick.
- 3 And Aaron did so; he
lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the
LORD commanded Moses.
We are reminded here of the number seven
which is the number of perfection. We see that Christ walked in the
midst of candlesticks in Revelation chapter 1. The Candlesticks in
the New Testament represent the light that the seven churches were
to spread over all the earth. The light of the gospel was to go
forth giving hope to all mankind that through faith in Christ their
sins are forgiven and they are cleansed from sin and reconciled back
to God. All the Old Testament points to the time of Christ that
would usher in the perfect path, the perfect way to be reconciled to
God after the fall of mankind into sin.
Until that time though they had to do things
in the exact order as God directed showing the holiness of God and
how sin steals, kills and destroys. It shows us how serious
sin is and how it leads to the path of misery and destruction. All
this leads us into the perfect way God planned for us to be saved
and be delivered from the bondage of sin.
Israel was to be the light bearer to the
world. They were to spread the gospel. Christ came through the seed
of Israel. Jesus the Son of God was the Christ who is the light of the world.
- Numbers 8:4 And this work of the
candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the
flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern
which the LORD had showed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
- 5 And the LORD spoke unto
Moses, saying,
- 6 Take the Levites from
among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.
Again we are reminded of how holy God is and
that He cannot dwell with sin. They had to be ceremonially cleansed
before doing offerings and sacrifices on behalf of the rest of
Israel. They had to be cleansed themselves before offering
sacrifices to cleanse the rest of Israel from sin.
Of course we know that the blood of animals
cannot permanently remove sin but their faith in God by obeying Him
in these things would cleanse them because of the permanent
sacrifice that was to come through the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus the Messiah (Christ).
These things show us only one way of
salivation and eternal life and that is Jesus who is God that
came into flesh to become the savior of the world. Without Christ
there is no salvation. Even those that lived before Christ were
saved by faith when they brought sacrifices and offerings to the
Lord looking to Him to be cleansed from sin.
Sin has to be cleansed. If we die in our sins
there is no salvation.
Jesus was speaking to Jews here who rejected
Him as their Messiah and Lord:
- John 8:21 Then said Jesus
again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall
die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
- 22 Then said the Jews,
Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot
come.
- 23 And he said unto
them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this
world; I am not of this world.
- 24 I said therefore
unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not
that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Believing that "I am He" simply means that
they must believe that He (Jesus) is the one God sent to save them
from sin. Most Jews at that time knew that God was going to send a
prophet like Moses that they were to follow. They stumbled with
unbelief when that prophet arrived because they were looking for a
mighty warrior who would deliver them from the Roman oppression.
They were not looking to be saved from sin.
Jesus had to take care of the sin problem
first before setting up an earthly kingdom. He can't set up a
righteous kingdom unless we are cleansed from sin and we are
reconciled back to God that sin is separating us from.
- Numbers 8:7 And thus shalt thou
do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon
them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash
their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
- 8 Then let them take a
young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled
with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin
offering.
- 9 And thou shalt bring the
Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou
shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel
together:
- 10 And thou shalt bring
the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall
put their hands upon the Levites:
- 11 And Aaron shall offer
the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of
Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.
- 12 And the Levites shall
lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt
offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt
offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.
Atonement had to be made for the Levites
before atonement could be made for everyone else.
In Hebrews we can read about the change in
the priesthood at the coming of Jesus Christ and how the first
Levitical priesthood was only temporary until that which was perfect
was to come.
- Hebrews 9:1 Then verily the
first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a
worldly sanctuary.
- 2 For there was a
tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the
table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
- 3 And after the second
veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all;
- 4 Which had the golden
censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with
gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod
that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
- 5 And over it the
cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot
now speak particularly.
- 6 Now when these
things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the
first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
- 7 But into the second
went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood,
which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
- 8 The Holy Ghost this
signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
- 9 Which was a figure
for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and
sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service
perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
- 10 Which stood only in
meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances,
imposed on them until the time of reformation.
- 11 But Christ being
come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of
this building;
- 12 Neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us.
- 13 For if the blood of
bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
- 14 How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God?
- 15 And for this cause
he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death,
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament, they which are called might receive the promise
of eternal inheritance.
- 16 For where a
testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the
testator.
- 17 For a testament is
of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at
all while the testator liveth.
- 18 Whereupon neither
the first testament was dedicated without blood.
- 19 For when Moses had
spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he
took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet
wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the
people,
- 20 Saying, This is the
blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
- 21 Moreover he
sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of
the ministry.
- 22 And almost all
things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of
blood is no remission.
- 23 It was therefore
necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be
purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these.
- 24 For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the
figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in
the presence of God for us:
- 25 Nor yet that he
should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the
holy place every year with blood of others;
- 26 For then must he
often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now
once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself.
- 27 And as it is
appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- 28 So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
What a joyful promise to look forward to in
Hebrews 9:28. To those that look for Him, will He appear. Seek and
you shall find, knock and it shall be opened. Joy awaits those
looking for the Lord's return. That doesn't mean we stand outside
and keep looking up to the sky but we occupy and lead others to
Jesus while we wait for Jesus to return. We look for Him by serving
Him in worship and in learning more of Him through the written word.
We look for Him and love His appearing by being obedient to Him in
all things.
- Numbers 8:13 And thou shalt set
the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them
for an offering unto the LORD.
- 14 Thus shalt thou
separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the
Levites shall be mine.
- 15 And after that shall
the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the
congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an
offering.
- 16 For they are wholly
given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such
as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the
children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.
- 17 For all the firstborn
of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the
day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I
sanctified them for myself.
The firstborn escaped the curse of death that
came upon the rest of Egypt and because of that they were dedicated
to the Lord. Instead of taking the firstborn of all the tribes, He
chose the whole tribe to represent the firstborn of Israel. They
were set apart for the service of the Lord.
Notice that there was no hierarchy or
exalting them above the rest of Israel. They were to do service of
the Lord and lead in worship. They were not as Gentile nations who
practiced Lordship to be exalted to set above others of a lower
class. They were not to be making them to be Lords over God's
heritage.
- Numbers 8:18 And I have taken
the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
- 19 And I have given the
Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the
children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel
in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement
for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the
children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto
the sanctuary.
God was so holy and awesome that for a person
to venture into the area of the tabernacle without being cleansed,
he or she could have died. All this was necessary to show us the
holiness of God and the sinfulness of mankind. This shows us that we
need to be cleansed from sin to be reconciled back to God.
Christ Jesus came to cleanse us from sin and reconcile
us back to God. This also shows that any gospel that says you are
cleansed from sin only to go back into it without repentance and
live how you want to live is a false gospel.
If sin separates us from God, how can we
return to it and still be at peace with God? We are not saved from
sin only to believe we sin a little bit every day and are still
acceptable.
Jesus died to save us from sin, not save us
in our sin. We are covered by His righteousness instead of our own
but we are not permitted to use that as a cloak for unrighteousness.
We are to remain sinless and spotless staying covered by the blood.
This is done by repentance. We stop desiring to sin but if we do sin we have
an advocate with the Father. John says that we are to confess our
sins and then we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.
Confess, turn away from and not desire to sin
is our goal. Paul covers this subject in his letter to the Romans.
- Romans 6:5 For if we have
been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be
also in the likeness of his resurrection:
- 6 Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
- 7 For he that is dead
is freed from sin.
- 8 Now if we be dead
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
- 9 Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more
dominion over him.
- 10 For in that he
died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God.
- 11 Likewise reckon ye
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- 12 Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in
the lusts thereof.
- 13 Neither yield ye
your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but
yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God.
- 14 For sin shall not
have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace.
- 15 What then? shall we
sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God
forbid.
- 16 Know ye not, that
to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience
unto righteousness?
- 17 But God be thanked,
that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
- 18 Being then made
free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
- 19 I speak after the
manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye
have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants
to righteousness unto holiness.
Holiness is a doctrine that still needs to be
taught and practiced. Without holiness no man will even see the
Lord.
- Numbers 8:20 And Moses, and
Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did
to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses
concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto
them.
- 21 And the Levites were
purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them
as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for
them to cleanse them.
Atonement is the means by which man,
estranged from God, is restored to complete communion with Him, just
as Adam and Eve were before the fall.
It is also satisfaction given for wrongdoing,
injury. To make amends. The bringing together of two who have been
enemies into a relationship of peace.
- Numbers 8:22 And after that went
the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the
congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had
commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.
- 23 And the LORD spoke unto
Moses, saying,
- 24 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:
Before that age they would have been to
immature to stay faithful to the service of the Lord.
God makes provision for retirement. This
shows that the service of the tabernacle was real work and not for
those too young or too old and tired.
Even though in the New Testament God calls
certain ones to teach, preach, and minister in the different
spiritual gifts and individuals who are called go into what we call
the ministry, all who come to Christ by faith are called to serve in
some capacity.
We see though that instead of a tribe of
priests, through Jesus every individual is called to serve
God in some way or another. There is to be no hierarchy of Lords
ruling over laity. We are all the same in Christ and once we come to
Christ and are baptized in the Holy Spirit we are to minister in our
own particular calling whatever it may be. Spiritual gifts are given
to all but not all may be used in all gifts.
We all have a calling. We are are part of a
royal priesthood of believers. Christ makes us all the same yet have
different responsibilities. DC
Peter describes this royal priesthood Here:
- 1Peter 2:2 As newborn babes,
desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
- 3 If so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious.
- 4 To whom coming, as
unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God, and precious,
- 5 Ye also, as lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
- 6 Wherefore also it is
contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner
stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not
be confounded.
- 7 Unto you therefore
which believe he is precious: but unto them which be
disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same
is made the head of the corner,
- 8 And a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at
the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
appointed.
- 9 But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
- 10 Which in time past
were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not
obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
- 11 Dearly beloved, I
beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts, which war against the soul;
- 12 Having your
conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak
against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which
they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
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