Numbers 8:1-261And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick. 3And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses. 4And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses, so he made the candlestick. 5And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 6Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. 8Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. 9And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together: 10And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: 11And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. 12And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites. 13And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. 14Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine. 15And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering. 16For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. 17For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. 18And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. 19And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary. 20And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them. 21And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. 22And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them. 23And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 24This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: 25And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more: 26But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge. (Numbers 8:1‑26)
IN THE end of the last chapter we I read that Moses went into the tabernacle to speak to the Lord and he heard the voice of One speaking to him from off the mercy seat, from between the cherubim. It was the voice of God giving instructions as to the candlestick. And He said unto Moses: “Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.” It was Aaron (not the Levites) who was to light the lamps and keep them burning. It is the priesthood of the Lord Jesus in the presence of God that sustains the true light and testimony in this world. The light of the lamps was to throw light on the candlestick so that its beauty might be seen. The candlestick, or lamp stand, is a type of the Lord Jesus who is the true light of God, and the seven lamps sustained by the oil are but a type of the Holy Spirit. And so the Spirit’s blessed work is to glorify Christ in this world.
When we think of Numbers as the wilderness book, and that the people were getting ready to march, we can understand why these instructions as to the candlestick come in here. We need the Lord Jesus and the light of His presence to guide us on our journey. At the same time our walk and our ways through this world should be according to that light, which shines upon every page of Scripture.
Then too we as Christians are “light in the Lord"; we have that light within us. As we travel along through this dark scene, we are to let our light shine and so glorify the Lord Jesus our Redeemer.
After this followed the consecration of the Levites. We learned earlier that they belonged to the Lord and were given to Aaron and his sons for the service of the tabernacle. Here they are connected with every Israelite in a very special way. The Israelites laid their hands upon their Levite brethren and thus identified themselves with them as set apart for the Lord. They are thus seen as the people’s representatives and typically their service bonged to all God’s people.
The Lord said of the Levites, “They are Mine,” and we, who are typified here in the Levites, should always remember this in our service! We are called to serve in happy obedience to Him who has loved us and bought us with His precious blood, while at the same time we should be ready to serve all our brethren.
The years of service of the Levites was from the age of 25 to 50. No particular age limit was given for a priest. The descendants of Aaron were all priests. There are forms of service for the Lord which shall cease when we leave this world, but as priests we shall serve Him in His presence in the glory forever.
“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and path made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
ML-06/03/1973