APPROACHING GOD
Opening Prayer
Draw me near to You, Jesus.
Read Numbers 3:1–13
The Levites
3 This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.
2 The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3 Those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu, however, died before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. 7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle. 8 They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle. 9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to him. 10 Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary is to be put to death.”
11 The Lord also said to Moses, 12 “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
God wants us close to him, but how close is safe?God dwelt with his people in the tabernacle, but they couldn’t just breeze into his presence. The priests of Aaron’s family (1–4) stood between the people and God. They brought the people to God and God to the people. But even they had to obey God. Nadab and Abihu thought they could worship God as they chose, but were put to death for it (4; Lev. 10). So to protect the people from a similar judgment, God in his kindness set apart the tribe of the Levites to act as guards (7–10). They were to stop people trying to approach God without going through the priests. That would result in death (10).
But the Levites had a second role. At the Passover, God had rescued his people by striking down the firstborn in every Egyptian family (13). But in Israel, a lamb died in their place and they were safe. So the firstborn in every family belonged to God. But these children didn’t have to leave their families. The Levites took their place as a substitute. They weren’t to die like the Passover lamb. They were to live to serve God. So the Levites reminded the people daily of God’s salvation. And every family in all Israel had a representative who lived to serve God
Apply
We can now come to God freely without a person as mediator. Do you take full advantage of that? Be mindful of coming to God throughout your day today.
Closing prayer
Father, I praise You that we can come to You through our perfect High Priest, Jesus, who lives to intercede for us (Heb. 7:25).
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