Tag: A chapter a day

“Of all the people of Israel, the Levites are reserved for me.” The Levites were assigned the special task of serving the Lord in the Tabernacle.

“Then the leaders of Israel – the tribal leaders… – came and brought their offerings.”

The dedication of the tabernacle with its furnishings, and the altar with its utensils, was done with great solemnity. Many gifts were brought by the leaders of each tribe.

“May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.”

How many go through their day without giving one thought to whether the Lord – the judge of all men – is smiling on them or not. And yet surely, in the grand scheme of things, there is nothing more important.

A woman suspected of adultery was made to drink bitter water before her husband and the priest. If she was not guilty, the water would have no harmful effects.

How contrite should a husband have become before his wife and the Lord, who put his wife through this only to find her innocent.

Levi had three sons – Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. Now the descendants of these men were given specific responsibilities regarding the breaking down and the setting up of the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant – even all of the utensils used by the priests. They were instructed to do it without physically touching any of the sacred objects, lest they die.

The Lord instructed Moses to count all of the firstborn sons in Israel, from one-month old and upward. There were 22,273. And then all of the males of tribe of Levi from one-month old and upward were counted. There were 22,000 of them. The Lord regarded the Levites as his own in place of the firstborn. But since there were 273 more firstborn sons in Israel than there were males in the tribe of Levi, the people of Israel had to give to the sanctuary five shekels of silver for each of the 273 firstborn sons.

This was yet another way to impress upon his people that life and death are in the hands of the Lord; that they were driven out of Egypt after the death angel slew all of Egypt’s firstborn sons.

“Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the Lord had instructed them.”

When the Israelites set up camp, three tribes were on the north, three on the south and three on the east. Manasseh and Ephraim, the two half-tribes, along with the tribe of Benjamin camped on the west.

Gloriously significant is the fact that the tabernacle was in the center of the camp. The tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe, camped in a circle around the tabernacle.

In the second year after the Israelites were delivered out of Egyptian bondage, a census was taken. Over 600,000 men, from twenty years old and upward and able to go to war, were counted. This was besides women and children. And the tribe of Levi was not counted at all.

What a vast multitude!

“I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years.”

The covenant God of Israel would provide for his people. It was theirs to obey.

“I brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God.”

This was the reason why the Lord rescued the people of Israel from Egypt – to be their God.