1-4 - Sons of Aaron
- Nadab and Abihu had died for offering unholy fire
- Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests for the lifetime of their father Aaron
- Tabernacle responsibility
- Give the Levites to Aaron and his descendants
- Any outsider who comes near (try to perform duties of a Levite?) shall be put to death
- "I hereby accept the Levites...as substitutes for the firstborn...among the Israelites. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine."
- "When I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both human and animal; they shall be mine. I am the LORD." I'm not sure I understand the significance of this statement, but I think it's very important in understanding God's character, his absolute authority, his insistence that his will must be obeyed." This character of his will, I think, is what makes him so unpopular with the secularists of today, those who, in order to believe, need to make God in their own image.
- Unlike the other Israelites, this count would be for all males one month and older!
- Clans (sons) of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari
- Gershon clan to camp west of the tabernacle, responsible for the tabernacle curtains, hangings, etc.
- Kohath clan to camp south of the tabernacle, responsible for the ark, table, lampstand, altars and other vessels, to be overseen by Eleazar the son of Aaron
- Merari to camp north of the tabernacle, responsible for the framing of the tabernacle -- bars, pillars, bases, etc.
- Moses, Aaron and Aaron's sons (and their families, I assume) to camp east of the tabernacle, in charges of the rites within the sanctuary
- Any outsider who came near was to be put to death.
- Total census: 22,000 males one month and older
- The LORD to Moses: Count all firstborn males of the Israelites one month and older. The Levites will be substitutes for them
- Also, the livestock of the Levites will substitute for the firstborn livestock of the others
- Total firstborn males one month and older: 22,273 (very close to the number of Levite males)
- The extra 273 to pay 5 shekels apiece, totaling 1,365 shekels, to Aaron and his sons. I wonder how they determined which 273 were the extra ones, and did they resent being the only ones who had to pay?
1-20 - The Kohathites
- Moses to count Kohathites from 30 to 50 years old, qualified to fulfill their responsibilities
- Aaron and sons were to cover all the holy vessels, per very detailed instructions, and put them in their carrying frames before the Kohathites could move them.
- Example of instruction: Table of the bread of the presence would be covered with a blue cloth, then the plates, etc., then a crimson cloth, and then a leather covering.
- If Kohathites touched the sanctified vessels, they would die.
- This answers 2 questions I've had: "If only the high priest could enter the holy of holies, how did they move the tabernacle without defiling the items?" and "Why did only the Kohathites require the supervision of one of the priests (Num. 3: 32)?"
- God to Moses: You must protect the Kohathites. They must not look on the holy things even for a moment; otherwise they will die.
- Moses to "enroll" men of both clans age 30 to 50
- Details of their service, as summarized in chapter 3
- 2,750 Kohathites - assigned to tabernacle furniture and other vessels
- 2,630 Gershonites assigned to curtains, hangings, etc.
- 3,200 Merarites assigned to the frames, bars, pillars, etc.
- Total of 8,580 men
- We think of priests doing nothing but offering sacrifices, but the enormity of personnel management responsibilities they must have had boggles my mind. Was each assigned a specific job, or did they take turns? I think of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. When Gabriel appeared to him with the promise of a son, he "was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty. He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense" (Luke 1:8). Not exactly the same thing, but maybe an indication of how duties and men were organized.
- 4 - His word is upright...
- 5 - He loves righteousness and justice...
- 6 - He made the heavens and their host by the breath of his mouth...
- 9 - He spoke, and it came to be...
- 10 - He brings the counsel of the nations to nothing...
Acts 25
1-12 - Paul Appeals to the Emperor
- While Festus visiting in Jerusalem, Jews there try to persuade him (as a favor to them) to send Paul to Jerusalem (plotting to kill him on the way)
- After 8-10 days in Jerusalem, Festus returns to Caesarea to judge Paul for himself
- Jerusalem Jews bring "many serious charges against [Paul], which they can not prove.
- Festus, to please the Jews, offers Jerusalem trial to Paul.
- Paul: "I appeal to the emperor."
- Festus: "To the emperor you will go."
- King Agrippa and wife Bernice come to Caesarea
- Festus tells Agrippa of the Paul situation: "...points of disagreement with him...about a certain Jesus..."
- Agrippa: "I would like to hear the man myself."
- Present the next day: Agrippa, Bernice, military tribunes, the prominent men of the city. A clear fulfillment of God's prophecy to Ananias in Acts 9:15 - "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel."
- Festus to Agrippa, after bringing in Paul: "...it seems unreasonable to send a prisoner [to Rome] without indicating the charges against him." Festus now the picture of Roman justice, even though before he had been willing to send Paul back to Jerusalem. What he's really saying: What am I to do with this man? If I release him, the Jews will be angry, but I have nothing to accuse him of! Little does Festus know he's just an instrument in God's hands.
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