Numbers 3

Numbers 3:1

B. The Number and Duties of the Levites (Chaps. 3, 4)Chapters 3 and 4 have to do with the service of the Levites, who were not included in the census of chapters 1 and 2. The tribe of Levi was set aside by God for the service of the sanctuary. Originally, He had selected the firstborn sons to belong to Himself, but later He selected the tribe of Levi in their place for divine service (vv. 12, 13). Levi had three sonsGershon, Kohath, and Merari. Their descendants were charged with the care of the tabernacle and its fixtures. 3:1-10a The family of Aaron (descended from Kohath) was the priestly family (v. 9). All other Levites served in connection with the tabernacle but were not priests. (The expression “the priests the Levites,” found later in the Pentateuch, means the Levitical priests. It does not mean that all Levites were priests but that all priests were descended from Levi.) The priestly family is described in verses 1-4. After Nadab and Abihu had been slain for their sacrilege, Aaron was left with two sonsEleazar and Ithamar. The Levites were servants of the priests (vv. 5-9). No one but Aaron and his descendants were to serve in the priesthood (v. 10a). 3:10b-13 The mediation of the OT priests could not bring the individual sinner into close communion with God. He had to stay away from the holy things under pain of death (v. 10b). But now the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, gives us not only access to God but also boldness to enter into His very presence (Heb_4:16). This drastic change stems from that great event which lies between Numbers and Hebrewsthe miracle of Calvary. 3:14-39 The Levites were numbered, not as warriors but as worshipers (v. 15). Each son of Levi was charged with responsibility for certain parts of the tabernacle:

TRIBECHARGEREFERENCENUMBERGershonAll the curtains, coverings, and hangings of the tabernacle and outer court, except the “veil” which was wrapped around the ark.vv. 18-267500KohathThe most holy thingsthe ark, the table of showbread, the utensils, the screen, the altars, the goldenlampstand, etc.vv. 27-328600MerariThe boards, the bars, the pillars, the sockets, the pegs, and the cords.vv. 33-376200The Levites were to pitch their tents immediately outside the tabernacle enclosure, with the Gershonites on the west (v. 23), the Kohathites on the south (v. 29), and the families of Merari on the north (v. 35). Moses and Aaron and sons were to camp . . . on the east, at the entrance to the tabernacle (vv. 38, 39). (See diagram.) Levi was the smallest tribe in Israel. The total number of Levites a month old and upward was twenty-two thousand (v. 39). However, the figures recorded in verses 22, 28, and 34 total 22,300. Various explanations of this discrepancy have been given. Williams suggests that the additional 300 were firstborn sons, born since the Exodus, who would naturally be omitted when the Levites were chosen to replace the firstborn of the other tribes. 3:40-51 The meaning of this passage is as follows: the Levites were chosen by God to be His own, instead of all the firstborn sons. There were 22,000 Levites and 22,273 firstborn sons (vv. 39, 43). Thus there weren’t enough Levites to compensate for all the firstborn of Israel who would have served under the original plan. The Lord commanded that the additional two hundred and seventy-three firstborn sons could be redeemed (bought back) by the payment of five shekels . . . each. This redemption money (273 x 5 = 1365 shekels) was paid to Aaron and his sons (v. 51). It should be noted that the firstborn mentioned in verse 43 might include only those born since the Exodus from Egypt.