Morning Light – Numbers 3

[Numbers 3] The Priesthood of the Believer. In Numbers, chapter three, God instructs Moses about the duties of the tribe of Levi. The Levites were appointed by God to be a tribe of priests. The scriptures are replete with references to the priesthood of the believer in the New Covenant. You are a priest of the Most High God. What is your responsibility? As a priest, what are your duties? What is the nature of your service to God? Being born again is not merely about being a consumer of kingdom benefit. You have a ministry portion on your life, and in this chapter, we see a reflection of the aspect of your calling that constitutes your role in a Holy Priesthood before God.

[Num 3:1-51 KJV] 1 These also [are] the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day [that] the LORD spake with Moses in 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 priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father. 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. 7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the Tabernacle . 8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the Tabernacle . 9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they [are] wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. 10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; 13 Because all the firstborn [are] mine; [for] on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I [am] the LORD. 14 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. 16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. 17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these [are] the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These [are] the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. 21 Of Gershon [was] the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these [are] the families of the Gershonites. 22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, [even] those that were numbered of them [were] seven thousand and five hundred. 23 The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the Tabernacle westward. 24 And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites [shall be] Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tabernacle of the congregation [shall be] the Tabernacle , and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, 26 And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which [is] by the Tabernacle , and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof. 27 And of Kohath [was] the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these [are] the families of the Kohathites. 28 In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, [were] eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle southward. 30 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites [shall be] Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 And their charge [shall be] the Ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof. 32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest [shall be] chief over the chief of the Levites, [and have] the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary. 33 Of Merari [was] the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these [are] the families of Merari. 34 And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, [were] six thousand and two hundred. 35 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari [was] Zuriel the son of Abihail: [these] shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle northward. 36 And [under] the custody and charge of the sons of Merari [shall be] the boards of the Tabernacle , and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto, 37 And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. 38 But those that encamp before the Tabernacle toward the east, [even] before the Tabernacle of the congregation eastward, [shall be] Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 39 All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, [were] twenty and two thousand. 40 And the LORD said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. 41 And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I [am] the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. 42 And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43 And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen. 44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 45 Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I [am] the LORD. 46 And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; 47 Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take [them]: (the shekel [is] twenty gerahs:) 48 And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons. 49 And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites: 50 Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five [shekels], after the shekel of the sanctuary: 51 And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The Lord tells Moses to bring the tribe of Levi near that they may serve Aaron. Remember that Aaron’s name means “Light Bringer,” and as such, he is a type of Jesus himself. In Rev. 1:6 and Rev. 5:10, you are called a priest of God. 1 Peter 2:9 says you are a member of a royal priesthood before God. Just as God called Levi to serve Aaron, you are called to serve Jesus, your High Priest. How did the Levites serve Aaron? Verse 6 first says they were to “draw near to him…” Your first responsibility is to draw near to Jesus, your high priest. Why would a servant draw near to his master? A servant draws near to his master to find out what the master wants and be attentive to his needs. Jesse Duplantis spoke one time about praying one day, and something felt different in God’s presence. He asked the Lord, “how are you today, Lord, do you have something on your mind? What can I do to make you feel better?” That may sound presumptuous or pretentious to some, but it reflects an attentiveness and sincere desire to be of service to God. We are called not merely to work FOR the kingdom but to minister TO the King.

God told Moses the Levites were to “keep Aaron’s charge.” This is an obscure word to us today. What does it mean to us to keep the charge of our High Priest Jesus? The word charge there in the Hebrew language is defined as “to watch; guard, function, oblige, safeguard and service.” We are not merely to pray; we are to watch and pray. What are we watching for? The next thing He would ask you to do. To rise from prayer is to step into service revealed to you in the time of prayer. We aren’t watching for the devil; we are watching for opportunities to wait upon our High Priest Jesus. We are functionaries of the kingdom and personal attendants to the kingdom. We are to stand ready to oblige Jesus in anything by which we might serve Him. That means being prepared to be interruptible. To oblige someone means we stop what we are doing and what we think is important and apply ourselves to someone else’s needs, whether it suits our agenda or not. We are to safeguard our High Priest. We are to safeguard His person, His heart, His purpose, and not allow ourselves in any way to bring disparagement upon His name. We are to service Him. What does He need? What does He want? God wants something from you. More than the general idea of “giving your heart to Jesus,” He wants the next 20 minutes! He wants the next day, week, or month to be lived out differently than you might have chosen (and had the right to choose). He wants you to live life according to His purpose and mandate and personal agenda.

Verse 11 says that God took the tribe of Levi in payment for saving all the firstborn of Israel in the final plague in Egypt when the death angel passed over. Authentically, you, as a New Covenant priest, are a firstborn before God. You have firstborn privilege in the kingdom. You have birthright entitlement in the kingdom of God. When kings and leaders chose the interns that serve in government halls, they didn’t choose just anyone. They chose the best and the brightest, the most gifted and the most honorable. That is who you become in the eyes of God. He thinks highly of you. You are not something He has merely settled for because no one else was available or that He couldn’t afford anyone better.

In verse 15, God finally tells Moses to number the tribe of Levi. Levi was numbered separately from the other tribes. The other tribes were numbered for war. Levi was numbered for personal service to Aaron. Jesus is your Aaron. Yes, there is warfare, but what most Christians know little about is being a personal attendant and bondservant to the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostles, particularly Paul, truly understood this and experienced greatness in the things of God and in the kingdom because he was willing to embrace this life of service not merely to the principles of the king but to the person of the King Himself in an intimate and up-close way.

There were three families among the Levites besides the family of Aaron. They were Gershon and Kohath and Merari. Each of these has a specific job as the people traveled through the wilderness toward Canaan.

1. Gershon was to have custody of the Tabernacle, the hangings, and the curtains used to set up this ceremonial tent to house the artifacts of worship, including the Ark of the Covenant.
2. Kohath was responsible for the Ark of the Covenant itself, the table of showbread, the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the veil leading to the Holy of Holies.
3. Merari was appointed over the boards, sockets, pillars, and other structures that were the framework of the Tabernacle.

Do you think it took thousands of Levites to take care of these relatively few artifacts and the tent of the Tabernacle? Here are the numbers:

1.Gershonites – 7500
2.Kohathites – 8600
3.Merarites – 6200

Did it take 7500 Gershonites to take care of one tent? Did it take 8600 Kohathites to take care of 5 articles of furniture? We move whole houses of furniture with “Two men and a truck”! Did it take 6200 Merarites to take custody of a few tent poles? It sounds like a bad joke: “How many Merarites does it take to put up a tent? 6200?” What is the answer?

In Christian culture, we don’t think of all God’s people as ministers. We separate ourselves into clergy and laity and call only our clergy “ministers.” This is the pragmatism of the religious mind. From the beginning, God worked to get us to think differently. In Exodus 19:6, God told the people they were ALL to be a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS. In Numbers 11:29, Moses said that God’s purpose is that all God’s people would be prophets! Everyone has a ministry portion on their lives. Paul speaks of this clearly:

[Eph 4:11-12 KJV] 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

We read that passage, thinking that the apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, and teachers are the appointed ministers. That is not how these verses read. The 5-fold ministry is there to perfect THE SAINTS, and the stated purpose of perfecting the saints is FOR THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY. What ministry? We have defined ministry as what the 5-fold ministers do. We have no definition of ministry beyond that because we have lost our connection to the revealed purposes of God. You are called to minister to Jesus, your high priest. You are functionary of the kingdom. Your responsibility is to DRAW NEAR and oblige, service, safeguard, and minister to Him personally. It all begins with DRAWING NEAR (v. 5). The failure of Christian culture to embrace a servant mentality is measured by the distance we have placed between us and God’s personal presence. We have put church buildings between God and us. We have put missions campaigns, children’s church, Sunday school programs, outreach programs, bake sales, building fund drives, short term missions trips, the entire infrastructure of the Christian religion has been interposed between God and us. Have you ever thought, “I’m so busy working FOR God that I don’t have time to spend WITH GOD”?

It is time to EMPTY OUR HANDS and draw near to Him. One of the most frequent questions people ask is what does God want them to do. When we draw near to Him, He will guide us with His eye:

[Psa 32:8 KJV] 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Be encouraged to find out in your day today what drawing near to Him is. He would rather you successfully draw near to Him and wait than to go out without Him and serve in a capacity that He doesn’t place value on or doesn’t reflect your personal calling.