The Levitical redemption for Israel and Myself: Numbers 3 and 4
Numbers 3 and 4 are the two chapters that I read today in my journey to blog as I read my way through the Bible two chapters at a time. In Numbers 3 and 4 God is giving continued instruction to the people of Israel. Specifically God instructs Moses and Aaron to take the Levites as the priesthood in service to God. The Levites were divided by the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The sons and all the generations of these households were in service to the Tabernacle of God. The sons of Gershon were instructed to manage the the tent of meeting and the hangings in the court within the Tabernacle. The sons of Kohath were instructed to minister within the sanctuary with the ark, table, and lamp stand. The sons of Merari were instructed to manage the framework of the Tabernacle.
Towards the end of Numbers chapter 3 God redeems the first-born males of men and animal of the people of Israel. In Exodus God kills the first-born of Egypt. In that act of deliverance God “sanctified to [Himself] all the first-born in Israel.” Numbers 3:13b When God redeems the first-born He takes the Levites and their animals as a substitutes of the first-born of Israel and their animals. This action by God parallels my redemption by Jesus Christ. I was found to be lacking because of my sin and Jesus Christ bore all of the sin upon Himself when He died on the cross. It makes me feel so humbled to think of all the sins Christ bore freely for me. I am very thankful for that. It is such an amazing story to see that the Levitical redemption started with God using the Levites to redeem the first-born of Israel and He finished with Jesus the High Priest redeeming me.
@Dave I have really enjoyed looking at how Jesus Christ is proclaimed through out the Old Testament. It is all too easy and typical to focus on the New Testament but there are precious nuggets to be gleaned from all scripture. I am just about to leave Caribou, I have been here all too much today.
Aaron, I think it’s awesome that you look for foreshadowings and parallels in the OT.
Jesus said in John 5:39: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and wit is they that bear witness about me…
I was just teaching tonight that to this day, there is a veil over the eyes of unbelieving Israel when they read Moses. However, when they turn to the Lord, that veil is removed and they can see clearly what Jesus taught in John 5:39 (cf. 2 Corinthians 3).
Take care friend. See you at Caribou!