Chapter 8

In The Message, chapter 8 has a heading that looks promising – The Lights. But in fact that part of the chapter basically says “God told Aaron to install the seven lamps. And he did.”

Clearly, God doesn’t see that as the significant bit of this chapter!

But from verse 5 onwards, we are looking at how the Levites were to be “Purified.”

Remember how the last few chapters have been about the contrast between life under law and life under grace? Let’s go through the purification procedure for the Levites.

• Sprinkle holy water on them.
• Each is to shave his entire body (really!)
• Each should then scrub his clothes.
  

And then they are purified before God. But wait – there’s more!

• Each now takes a young bull with an offering of fine flour and oil.
• Plus another young bull as a sin offering.
• They are then presented as a “Wave offering” to the Lord.

What is a wave offering? Don’t be embarrassed to ask. I didn’t know either. Apparently it is symbolically waving something before God to demonstrate it being given to Him. When meat or flour (or other foodstuffs) are made a part of a wave offering, the priests are allowed to eat/use it – i.e. the offering isn’t burned or destroyed.

I’m guessing the Levites were probably pretty pleased about being offered as a wave offering rather than a burnt offering. Anyhow . . .

Once again God emphasizes the reasoning behind His selection of the Levites – that they are effectively the Firstborn of the Israelites, and ever since the Passover God has established a claim for the right to all firstborn of the Israelites, their flocks and their herds. But God has redeemed the firstborn by taking the Levites in their place.

This redemption theme is an important one – this is the second time it’s shown up in Numbers alone, and it’s all over the other books of the Law!

The rest of the chapter details how the Levites got straight to work. God also institutes a 25 year period of service for Levites – they start their Tabernacle work when they’re 25 and must retire at 50.

So what can we get out of this?

Two themes I can see, both of which are things we’ve met before in this book.

1) The importance of redemption. God wants to drum into our head that we are His by creation, and that we’ve been bought back for a price. We know now that the price God had to ultimately pay was His own life. Right now it’s all symbolic, but one day it will all be literal and in deadly earnest.

2) Once again, the contrast of law and grace. It is mindblowing how many hoops the Levites had to jump through to become clean before God – and that’s the LEVITES, not the regular run-of-the-mill Israelites!

Are we getting this picture yet? We are worshipping a BIG, POWERFUL and AWE-INSPIRING God, and He commands respect.

The amazing paradox is that it is THIS God who wishes to become near to us, to take us as friends.