Numbers 8:1-26
Before the consecration of the Levites for their service, the Lord B, gave instructions as to the lighting of the lamps. Since the service of the Levites is figurative of our service to the Lord now, we can see there is an important lesson for us here. There needs to be a walk according to the light of the presence of God whom we serve, and that by the power of the Spirit, which the oil for the lamps typifies. God is jealous for the glory of His Son, and let us therefore see to it that all our service is according to God, who is light, so that men may see our good works and glorify, not us, but our Father which is in heaven. Matt. 5:16. There is always a danger of us wanting some of the glory for ourselves, and thus biding the True Light.
We now come to the consecration of the Levites. First they were to be sprinkled with water. It is not the thought of salvation here, but of serce, and in order to serve the Lord acceptably there needs to be the application of the “water of the Word” to all that we are, as well as to all our associations of life, as typified in the washing of their clothes. They were also to shave off all their hair, for there must be the sentence of death on all that comes from within, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” Romans 7:18.
Then the Levites were brought to the tabernacle of the congregation along with the children of Israel. The children of Israel then laid their hands upon the Levites, for they were to serve the Lord in place of the firstborn, whom God had spared in His judgment upon Egypt. They therefore presented the Levites to the Lord in their place. The Levites then laid their hands upon the head of the two bullocks, one of which was to be offer for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. In laying their hands on the sin offering it was as though their guilt were transferred to the substitute, and then in the burnt offering it is rather the value of the sacrifice transferred to the offerer. All this must take place before the Levites could begin their service to the Lord, and it presents to us, typically, the ground of all our service. Until the soul has laid hold of the finished work of Christ as meeting all its guilt before God, and how God has been fully glorified in it, there can be no quiet and acceptable service at all.
After the Levites had been given to the Lord by the children of Israel, Moses then gave them to Aaron and his sons. Thus we see that we have been given to Christ to serve under His authority and Lordship. He said of the Levites, “They are Mine.” May we always remember this in our service! Too often we act as though we could serve just as we wish, and that the Lord would accept it, but most assuredly it was not so with the Levites in our chapter. Their service was to be one of obedience. It appears that they served for five years as learners, before taking definite service at thirty years of age, and until the age of fifty. Then after they were fifty they served, but not in the same full capacity. How carefully the Lord guards against what might be the inexperience of youth, and considers the bodily strength, no doubt, of those who are older! What a beautiful pattern we have for every detail of our lives in the precious Word of God.
ML 08/12/1951