A Priest

"Now set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of Israel and make them ceremonially clean. Do this by sprinkling them with the water of purification, and have them shave their entire body and wash their clothing. Then they will be ceremonially clean. Have them bring a young bull and a grain offering of choice flour moistened with olive oil, along with a second young bull for a sin offering. Then assemble the whole community of Israel, and present the Levites at the entrance of the Tabernacle. (Numbers 8:6-9 NLT)

We already saw yesterday that the Levites were set apart as Holy.  Holy, in this context, means different or set apart for the LORD.  They had a special job to do.  They would take care of the Tabernacle of God.

Within the tribe of Levi, Aaron and his descendants would have another special job.  They would be called priests.

"Call for your brother, Aaron, and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Set them apart from the rest of the people of Israel so they may minister to Me and be My priests. (Exodus 28:1 NLT)

The priest’s responsibility was to be the intermediary between people and the LORD.  They would receive the offerings from the people and present them in an acceptable form to God.  Burnt offerings were burnt by the priest.  Wave offerings were waved by the priests.  You get the idea.  They took the final steps into the presence of God on behalf of the people.  They were set apart for this special work.  Because of their work, the people of Israel knew that God was always near.

Yes, I will consecrate the Tabernacle and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests. Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, and they will know that I am the LORD their God. I am the One who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the LORD their God. (Exodus 29:44-46 NLT)

The Levites (Tabernacle workers) and Aaron’s descendants (Priests) weren’t the only ones who were set apart as Holy and Priests.  All Israelites were being set apart as Holy Priests.  Remember God’s promise in the covenant?

Now if you will obey Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to Me. And you will be My kingdom of priests, My holy nation… (Exodus 19:5-6a NLT)

How about you?  Do you see yourself as being Holy (set apart) for God?  Do you see yourself as a priest (introducing people to God)?  Do you walk together with God?  Do you empower even more?

Set Apart (Holy)

In my last post, we looked at the twelve tribes of Israel being counted for their army.  It not only gave us the size of their army, but it also gave us a sense of the total number of Israelites who were set free from slavery in Egypt.  All men age 20 and older were counted across the twelve tribes.

Look, I have chosen the Levites from among the Israelites to serve as substitutes for all the firstborn sons of the people of Israel. The Levites belong to Me, for all the firstborn males are Mine. On the day I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, I set apart for Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both of people and of animals. They are Mine; I am the LORD. (Numbers 3:12-13 NLT)

Now you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, Pete.  I thought we already counted the twelve tribes of Israel.  Are you saying there are thirteen?”  Well, no.  Well, kind of.  You see, when they counted the tribes, they counted Joseph twice.  They set up one group for Joseph’s son Ephraim and another group for Joseph’s son, Manasseh.  That way there were twelve groups that surrounded the tabernacle when they set up camp.  They represented eleven of the original twelve boys, though.  The twelfth boy, Levi, was represented in a special way.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn sons of the people of Israel. And take the livestock of the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn livestock of the people of Israel. The Levites belong to Me; I am the LORD. There are 273 more firstborn sons of Israel than there are Levites. To redeem these extra firstborn sons, collect five pieces of silver for each of them (each piece weighing the same as the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs). Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for the extra firstborn sons." (Numbers 3:44-48 NLT)

The Levites would do the work of the LORD.  Their job would be to set up, tear down, and maintain the Tabernacle where the LORD dwelled.  A sub-group of the Levites (Aaron’s descendants) would serve as Priests, doing the animal sacrifices and such.  The Levites and Aaron’s descendants were set apart as Holy for God.  People in the other eleven/twelve tribes could be set apart as Holy, too.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. "If any of the people, either men or women, take the special vow of a Nazirite, setting themselves apart to the LORD in a special way, they must give up wine and other alcoholic drinks. They must not use vinegar made from wine or from other alcoholic drinks, they must not drink fresh grape juice, and they must not eat grapes or raisins. As long as they are bound by their Nazirite vow, they are not allowed to eat or drink anything that comes from a grapevine--not even the grape seeds or skins. "They must never cut their hair throughout the time of their vow, for they are holy and set apart to the LORD. Until the time of their vow has been fulfilled, they must let their hair grow long. And they must not go near a dead body during the entire period of their vow to the LORD. (Numbers 6:1-6 NLT)

Holy means “set apart” or “different” for the LORD.  So, how about you?  Do you see yourself as set apart or different for the LORD?  Do others see it?  Are you Holy?

Prepared for Battle

When the Israelites were counted, they weren’t just ignoring the women and children age 19 and under.  They were counting the men who were going to be in Israel’s armed forces.  They were broken up into twelve troops that aligned with eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Joseph’s tribe was broken into two half-tribes: Ephraim and Manasseh.

The divisions of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun are to camp toward the sunrise on the east side of the Tabernacle… (Numbers 2:2-3 NLT)

The divisions of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad are to camp on the south side of the Tabernacle… (Numbers 2:10 NLT)

The divisions of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin are to camp on the west side of the Tabernacle… (Numbers 2:18 NLT)

The divisions of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali are to camp on the north side of the Tabernacle, beneath their family banners. (Numbers 2:25 NLT)

When they camped, they camped in these places.  When they moved, they moved in this order.  The LORD told them how to set up camp and move around, with one more important detail.

Then the Tabernacle, carried by the Levites, will set out from the middle of the camp. All the tribes are to travel in the same order that they camp, each in position under the appropriate family banner. (Numbers 2:17 NLT)

When they camped, traveled, and even went into battle, they were not alone.  Right in their midst was a reminder that the LORD was with them – right in the middle of everything.  In fact, someone after second service pointed out to me that the troops had different numbers in this grouping of threes.  When they camped, it would have been a little lopsided.  When they camped, it made the formation of a cross, with the connection point being the Tabernacle where the LORD dwelt among them.

How about you?  Are you prepared for battle, ready to fight the enemy and love people?  As you go out into the world, are you assured that your body is God’s temple and that God is with you wherever you go?  Do you go out into your day confident of the God who is within you?

Remember, Be Different

When God first made a promise to Abram, it sounded like this: "Look as far as you can see in every direction--north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted!” (Genesis 13:14-16 NLT)

When the Israelite children were sitting around the campfire hearing this story from their parents, they would have seen this:

All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel who were twenty years old or older were listed one by one, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses recorded their names in the wilderness of Sinai. The total number was 603,550. (Numbers 1:18b-19, 46 NLT)

This number only included the men age 20 and older who were of fighting age.  It does not include any women over the age of 20.  If there was one woman for each man, the total would be over 1.2 Million.  It also doesn’t include children age 19 and younger.  In order to sustain these numbers, which we will see in a later week, they would need at least 2 to 3 children per woman over the next 40 years.  One child per couple would make the number 1.8 Million.  3 children per couple would make 3 Million.  The bottom line is simple.  The children would hear the story from their parents about God’s promise to Abram and then look around: there are too many to count, just like God promised.

Now if you will obey Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to Me. And you will be My kingdom of priests, My holy nation… (Exodus 19:5-6a NLT)

God’s fulfillment of this promise to Abram gave the children hope that God would fulfill these other promises, too.  They need to keep to God’s covenant so they will become God’s “own special treasure,” “kingdom of priests,” and “holy nation.”  When they keep God’s covenant, they will be special, God’s ambassadors to the world, and set apart as different.  The same is true for us today.

So, how about you?  What motivates you to be different with God rather than the same as the rest of the world?  Do you trust God’s promises?  Are you different?