Numbers 3:1-13; 3:40-51 NKJV 3 Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”
40 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. 41 And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.” 42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord. 46 And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs. 48 And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons.”
49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
The first two chapters of the book of Numbers give us a reliable record of what the tribes of Israel looked like one year after they crossed the Red Sea. The Israelites had spent about a year at Mount Sinai, receiving and learning the laws that God had given to Moses, constructing and learning the rituals of the divinely-designed tabernacle. A census was taken, at God’s command, revealing a total of 603,550 men of fighting age (excluding the Levites). When we add the women, children, and elderly, plus the 22,000 Levite males, we arrive at a safe estimate of about two million people who made up both the nation and the church of Israel.
Numbers 3 describes two things: The dedication of the Levites to the Lord in place of the firstborn sons of the rest of Israel, and the camping location assigned to each of the three Levite clans, who were descended from Levi’s three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The three clans, plus the smaller group of Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons, with their families, were to surround the tabernacle. No one got through to God except through them.
Since God, by the blood of the Passover lamb, had rescued the firstborn of Israel from the plague against the firstborn in Egypt, He claimed the Israelite firstborn as His own. But He accepted the Levites, by exact count, as substitutes for the firstborn of the rest of Israel, not to kill them, but to employ them as His ministers for life. As depicted vividly by their encampment around the tabernacle, the Old Testament Levites were to be the keepers of sacred things and the mediators between God and His people.
There are shadows of Christ in these things. Christ, the firstborn of Mary and the only-begotten of God, was chosen by God to be the Substitute for sinful mankind, serving forever as the only Priest and Mediator between God and man. Only through Him may we approach the Father. Only through Him are we redeemed from the death we deserve, so that we may serve God as a royal priesthood under the New Testament.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, You have accepted Your Son in our place and, through faith in Him, You have given us access to You. Accept our humble service, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.