Reading
- Num. 3:1-13; 8:5-15, 19, 23-26, 20-22; 7:1-89; 8:1-4
Devotional
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD.”
(Num. 3:5-13 NKJV)
GOD had promised Abraham hundreds of years prior to this day that He would make of him a great nation. GOD was in the process of fulfilling that promise. The priestly duties associated with the tabernacle and sacrifices were going to be a fulltime job for Aaron and his sons. As a result, GOD took the tribe of Levi and gave them to Aaron and his sons as a blessing for the purpose of supporting the priests and helping provide for their needs.
When Jesus died upon the cross He became the author of a new testament (the word testament means a will; see Heb. 9:11-28), a new covenant was established and the old covenant passed away. As part of this new covenant all Christians are GOD’s priests and spiritual house. The apostle Peter writes:
Coming to [Jesus] as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
(1 Pet. 2:4-10 NKJV)
