Numbers 3
God calls the Levites to service. Actually, they are more of a substitute sacrifice for the first-born of Israel who did not die when the Lord passed over the first-born of Israel and took the lives of the first-born of all other humans and animals who lived in Egypt. God wants the whole house of Levi as a substitute for the lives of the first born of Israel that he spared in Egypt. No, the Levites will not die in their place, but they shall belong to God, in order to serve Him. Their lives will not be there own, they belong to God.
God insisted that there be a payment for the lives of the first-born that were spared in Israel and so two census' were taken. There were 22,000 Levites and there were 22,273 first-born of Israel. Since their were more first-born than Levites, in order to make up the difference redemption money, in temple currency, had to be paid. Moses collected the redemption money and gave it to Aaron and his sons.
That's about as good a synopsis of chapter 3 that I can give in a blog. Lots of good stuff in this chapter, as long as one can get past trying to figure out who all these children of Jacob (Israel) were. It's easy to get hung up on that (at least for me) and indeed there is importance in it. But, for this morning I think it enough to realize that those whose lives were given in exchange for those who were spared, were given in service to God.
It is way more than enough to understand, that the great High Priest, Jesus the Christ, gave himself in exchange for our lives. Because of Jesus, because of his blood that marks and seals us the destroyer shall have no power over us and we shall live.
God calls the Levites to service. Actually, they are more of a substitute sacrifice for the first-born of Israel who did not die when the Lord passed over the first-born of Israel and took the lives of the first-born of all other humans and animals who lived in Egypt. God wants the whole house of Levi as a substitute for the lives of the first born of Israel that he spared in Egypt. No, the Levites will not die in their place, but they shall belong to God, in order to serve Him. Their lives will not be there own, they belong to God.
God insisted that there be a payment for the lives of the first-born that were spared in Israel and so two census' were taken. There were 22,000 Levites and there were 22,273 first-born of Israel. Since their were more first-born than Levites, in order to make up the difference redemption money, in temple currency, had to be paid. Moses collected the redemption money and gave it to Aaron and his sons.
That's about as good a synopsis of chapter 3 that I can give in a blog. Lots of good stuff in this chapter, as long as one can get past trying to figure out who all these children of Jacob (Israel) were. It's easy to get hung up on that (at least for me) and indeed there is importance in it. But, for this morning I think it enough to realize that those whose lives were given in exchange for those who were spared, were given in service to God.
It is way more than enough to understand, that the great High Priest, Jesus the Christ, gave himself in exchange for our lives. Because of Jesus, because of his blood that marks and seals us the destroyer shall have no power over us and we shall live.
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