2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
August 14, 2019
Numbers 3:1-51
Verses 1-5. Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu: Nadab and Abihu were the two oldest children of Aaron, and the two ranking priests behind him - yet they were struck down by the LORD for offering profane fire before the LORD (Leviticus 10:1-7). Therefore, Eleazar and Ithamar inherited the priesthood, and passed it down to their sons after them. It is important to realize that the priests were only one small family among the Levites; to be a priest and a Levite were not the same thing at all. Only those who were descendants of Aaron could be priests. Verses 1-13 take place on Mount Sinai (to be distinguished from the wilderness of Sinai in v. 14). Aaron may be mentioned before Moses because Aaron was the firstborn (Ex 6:20; Num 26:59; 1 Chr 23:13). The name Nadab means “the deity has been generous,” Abihu means “he is my (divine) father,” Eleazar means “God has helped me,” and Ithamar may mean “I have been shown wonders.”
Verses 6-10. The entire tribe of Levi was given to serve the needs of Aaron and the priests (they shall attend to his needs), the needs of the congregation at large (and the needs of the whole congregation), and the needs of the tabernacle itself (attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle ... to do the work of the tabernacle). Again, God has an order and organization. The Levites were under the direction of Aaron (that they may serve him they are given entirely to him). They weren't to "do their own thing," but Aaron's thing. None of the sacred persons who ministered in his presence was to be unprepared or untaught. In some ways, being a priest was far more visible and perhaps "glamorous" than being a Levite. But the service of the Levites made the work of the priests possible, and was seen by God as having equal value. If a Levite grew jealous, and decided they wanted to do the work of a priest, it was strictly forbidden - it was an affront to God's order and organization. The duties of the Levites are to guard the tent of meeting and to dismantle, transport, and erect it when the Israelites travel (1:50-53). The Levites were to execute any unauthorized person who approached the tent of meeting. Temples throughout the ancient Near East had guards.
Verses 11-13. The firstborn belonged to God; a firstborn lamb from a ewe would be given to the LORD. God didn’t want human sacrifice, so He took the tribe of Levi as Israel's firstborn.
Verses 14-20. Verses 14-51 take place in the wilderness of Sinai (to be distinguished from on Mount Sinai in v. 1). The intent of this census is to see if the number of Levites corresponds to the number of firstborn children from the other tribes of Israel. The census begins at the age of one month because that is the age to be eligible for redemption (Lev 27:6; Num 18:16).Though they were not counted among the available soldiers, the Levites were still to be counted, and counted by the males from a month old and above. They were to be categorized by the families, with the main grouping according to Levi's three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Verses 21-26. The Gershonites (7,500 males) were to camp westward to the tabernacle (in between Judah and the tabernacle itself). The Gershonites were to take care of the skins that covered the tabernacle itself. The Gershonites guard the fabrics and coverings of the tent of meeting.
Verses 27-32. The Kohathites (8,600 males) were to camp southward to the tabernacle (in between Reuben and the tabernacle itself). The Kohathites were to take care of the furniture of the tabernacle: The Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbread, and so forth, under the direction of Eleazar the priest, son of Aaron. The Kohathites guard the sacred objects inside the tent of meeting.
Verses 33-37. The family of Merari (6,200 males) were to camp northward to the tabernacle (in between Dan and the tabernacle itself). The appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle: The family of Merari was to take care of the structural aspects of the tabernacle: The pillars, the boards, and so forth. The Merarites guard the framework of the tent of meeting.
Verses 38-39. Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east: The family of Aaron, and Moses, were to camp on the east side of the tabernacle - closest to the entrance, which was on the east. God's order and organization extends to certain jobs for certain people to do. The families of the Levites had certain callings they were to fulfill. There was no one man or family to do everything; God made them dependent on one another to accomplish the work. The total of 22,000 Levites given in verse 39 does not tally with the totals of the individual clans given in verses 22, 28, 34 which come to 22,273. The discrepancy is most easily explained as textual corruption in verse 28. The number of Kohathites may originally have been 8,300. The number 3 (Hebrew sls) could quite easily have been corrupted into 6 (ss)." (Wenham)
Verses 40-51. The firstborn - which was always thought to be the best and the favored - always belongs to God; so instead of giving the firstborn of Israel to God in sacrifice, the tribe of Levi was "given" to God as in place of each of the firstborn sons of Israel. However, there were 22,273 firstborn sons in Israel; and there were only 22,000 Levite males (Leviticus 3:39). The extra 273 were given a monetary value (five shekels for each one individually), and the money was given to the tabernacle as redemption money. The number of firstborn sons is low if accounted for all the nation; it would mean that only one in 27 sons were firstborns - an unlikely percentage. It is more probable that the 22,273 firstborn sons were those born in the thirteen months of the Exodus.
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