THROUGH THE BIBLE - Numbers..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, brothers and sisters. So with much reverence and paying much attention to each one of the words of the Word of our Lord and Savior, let's read together in the heart, in the mind, by the Spirit, Numbers 3.

This is the Word of God. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered an authorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children.

So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron, their father. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons.

They are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel, instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine.

On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of men and of beasts. They shall be mine. I am the Lord. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, List the sons of Levi by fathers' houses and by clans, every male from a month old and upward you shall list. So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commended.

And these were the sons of Levi by their names, Gershon and Koath and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon, by their clans, Libni and Shimei, and the sons of Koath by their clans, Amram, Izar, Hebron, and Uziel, and the sons of Merari by their clans, Mali, and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites by their father's houses. to Gershon belonged the clan of the Livnites and the clan of the Shimeites. These were the clans of the Gershonites.

Their listing according to the number of all males from a month old and upper was 7,500. The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west with Eliasab, the son of Lael, as chief of the father's house of the Gershonites. And the guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar and its courts, all the service connected with this. to Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites, and the clan of the Isharites, and the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzielites. These are the clans of the Kohathites.

According to the number of all the males from among old and upward, there were 8,600 keeping guard over the century. The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle with Elisaphon, the son of Ussiel, the chief of the father's house of the clans of the Kohathites. And their guard duty involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altar, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priest minister, and the screens, and all the service connected with these. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was to be chief over the chief of the Levites and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary. Verse 33.

To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahalites and the clan of the Mushaites. These are the clans of Merari. Their listing, according to the number of full males from a month old and up, was 6,200. And the chief of the father's house of the clan of Mirari was Suriel, the son of Abihael. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Mirari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all the accessories, all the service connected with these. Also the pillars around the court with their bases and pegs and cords. Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself to protect the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. All those listed among the Levites whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord by cleanse, all the males from a month old and upper were 22,000.

And the Lord said to Moses, List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel from a month old and upper, taking the number of their names. And you shall take the Levites for me, I am the Lord, instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of all the people of Israel. So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel as the Lord commanded him, and all the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and upper as listed were 22,273. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. And the leaver shall be mine, I am the Lord.

And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, you shall take five shekels per head. You shall take them according to the shekel of the century, the shekel of 20 gerars, and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over." So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites. From the firstborn of the people of Israel, he took the money, 1,365 shekels by the shekel of the century. And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Amen. That is the holy word of our God, beloved of Christ, as we have now started this journey through the book of Numbers. And before we get into Numbers chapter three, I just want to summarize the purpose of this book so that we will have a picture in our mind as we progress. And that is that if we could summarize this whole book of Numbers, that could be the journey of the people of Israel as they enter into the promised land. You remember that they were saved from their bondage in Egypt.

Numbers is going to tell us about their preparation. and their journey towards the promised land. Those two things, how they prepare to go to the promised land and how they journey into the promised land. So we're going to see how they prepare to enter into the promised land from chapter 1 to chapter 10. And then from chapter 10 onwards until the end of the book, we will see how they go into the promised land.

Now, the details, we will see them as we progress. But that is how this book is summarized, the preparation and the journey towards the promised land. So what we have here in chapter three belongs to that section of the preparation of the people of Israel as they go into the journey, as they prepare better to go into that journey to the promised land. You know that, right? They were redeemed from Egypt to be sent to a promised land that the Lord had kept for them, had for them.

Now what we have here, as I said, now in Chapter three belongs to this part of preparation in which Israel is being coming together and being organized by the Lord. They are organized. And in Chapter number three, we have now this organization, if you want, of the Levites. Okay, the Levites. Now, I want to show you from this chapter only three things, two of them very quickly, and in the third thing, I just want to make more emphasis.

But I want to show you something about the Levites as Israel prepares for this journey into the Promised Land. And those three things that I want to show you from this chapter three is the identity, first of all, of the Levites. I want to show you the identity of the Levites. Second of all, I want to show you the organization of how they were organized, the Levites. And then I want to show you the 3rd point is that I want to show you the redemption that is accomplished for Israel through the Levites.

That's the only 3 things that I want us to do this afternoon. I want to speak to you about the identity of the Levites here in chapter 3, the organization of the Levites and then their redemption of the people of Israel. through the Levites. And that redemption perhaps is going to be where we're going to be spending more time. Now, let's just simply meditate upon the identity of these Levites.

And if we could just summarize this identity of the Levites, which I'm assuming that you remember many things from Exodus and from the things that we've mentioned in Leviticus. But if we were going to summarize the identity of the Levites, beloved of Christ, we could define that identity as chosen or elected. and the identity of the Levites is going to tell us a lot about the character of God, but we simply are going to define the Levites as the chosen and elected people of God. Now, we know that the people of Israel, from starters, they were chosen among the nations, but Israel was divided in tribes and from those tribes, the tribe of the Levites was chosen and set apart, even from among those 12 tribes, to serve the Lord. So the identity of the Levites was one of I chosen people within the chosen people.

Right now, the thing is that this identity of the Levites goes a little bit deeper because we could see that we can see the identity of the Levites. I'm going to be giving you lots of information today, so I hope that you bear with me for the next 15 minutes. So the identity of these Levites, beloved of Christ, it's also seen from three different perspectives. One, it is of Moses as a Levite being the intermediary between God and Israel. He was a Levite.

He was a member of this tribe. That is the first part. The second part is that you could make a distinction between the priesthood, who were those who belonged to the family of Aaron, and the rest of the Levites, who will be the ones that minister in the tabernacle. So when we speak about the Levites, we're to consider them from these three different perspectives. We have Moses as the intermediary to the people, and then we have the priesthood through Aaron, and then we have the rest of the Levites.

And this is how God chose from the Levites among His chosen people. And that is the identity of the Levites. Now, these people chosen among the chosen were organized in a particular way. We move on to the second aspect, the organization of the Levites. Now, our brother explained to us how the tribes in the previous chapter were organized around the tabernacle.

And he also mentioned how these houses of the Levites were organized around the tabernacle. So how the tribes, if they wanted to see into the tabernacle, they will see over the Levites. So the Levites were organized, you know, East and South and West and North. They were organized around the tabernacle. Now, we're going to we're going to find and bear with me.

This is just the information that we need to put in our minds. We find four different types of houses, or if you want clans, to make it simple, among the Levites. So we are told in verse 21, for instance, that we have those who belong to Gershon or the Gershonites. This is the first one. Then in verse 27, we are told that we have this Kohath or Kohath.

We're going to call it Kohath, the Kohithes or Kohites, verse 27. And then in verse 33, we have Merari or the Merorites. And then in verse 38, we have Moses and Aaron. Those are the ones that are going to be around the tabernacle, and they're going to be distributed around the tabernacle. Now, each one of them is going to have a special task when it comes to the service of the tabernacle in which we're not going to be getting in today.

I just want you to have in your mind how this is organized. So you have the tribes around the tabernacle, but between the tabernacle and the tribes you have these four groups or clans if you want. The Gershonites, the Kohites, the Merorites, and then you have Moses and Aaron who were in the east side of the tabernacle. Now remember that the east side was where the entrance of the tabernacle was. Now, I think I'm losing some of you, so I'm just gonna cut it there with that amount of information, and perhaps I'll try next week with some other information.

Okay, but now let me just move onto the point of the redemption that is accomplished through the Levites. Now, pay attention, please, carefully, because I'm going to I think it's gonna be a blessing for us, but also I'm going to give you lots of information from the Bible here. Okay, so we're told that these Levi's that were chosen among the people of Israel to serve in the tabernacle. And we have Moses and we have the priesthood and we have the Levi's. Levi's will serve in the tabernacle that is chosen people among the chosen people that were distributed and organized among among the temple where their means by which Redemption will be accomplished for the firstborn.

So if you're reading verse 12, it says, Behold, I have taken the Levites, you know who we're speaking about, right? The Levites. I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead, or in the place of, instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of men and of the beast.

They shall be mine. I am the Lord." Now, this is what I need your attention because I'm going to be giving you now important information about this. So we're talking about the redemption or consecration of Israel through the firstborn, the male. And now the Lord says that the Levites are going to be the ones that are going to take the place of the males that are consecrated to the Lord.

I will explain that with perhaps more simple words if the Lord gives grace. But the first thing that we need to understand, and this is what I need your attention, we need to understand the structure of this book of Numbers. Let me just show you the structure of the book of Numbers, which might be a little bit too much information. But if you understand this, you will see where I'm coming from, from my point of the consecration of the firstborn. Now, this book in the initial chapters, chapters 10, I told you that was about the preparation of Israel as they go into the promised land.

You remember that was my first statement, right? So it is the preparation of the people of Israel as they go into the promised land. Now, the thing is that those 10 chapters are not outlined chronologically or sequentially, but rather they are just narrating different things at different points. If you go to Numbers chapter 10, which I told you that that is the end of the preparation, Go to chapter 10 and keep your mind with me because now we're going to read dates or we're going to read numbers in the book of Numbers, but we're going to read these things that you need to keep in your mind. Otherwise, it will not make sense what I'm just saying here.

So pay attention to what he says in chapter 10 in verse 11. OK, pay attention to this. He says. In the second year, so we're going to be dealing with dates. Okay, so put in your mind dates.

In the second year, in the second month, on the 20th day of the month, the cloud lifted up from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord Moses. When was the first time that the people of Israel set out from where they were? It was on the second month, on the 20th day of the second year, right? So second year, second month, 20th day.

You have to be with me, otherwise we will just lose what comes. Now go back to the beginning of the book. So this is second year, second month. And then what day? The 20th day.

That is when they set out for the first time. So now when you go to the beginning of the book, we are told when this narration of the census started. So it says the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. You're there in Chapter one. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tent of meeting on the first day of the second month in the second year as they had come out of the land of Egypt.

So that means that this census that our brother explained in chapter one, chapter two, and also this consecration or this redemption of the Levites started when? The first day of the second month in the second year. That is like 20 days before they set out. You see that, right? Now, that is very important.

Now, if you go now with me, please come to chapter 9, because I told you that this book is not outlined chronologically. So we're talking now about the... they started the census on the second month, on the first day of the second year. Now we come to chapter 9, and then you will see that there's a title perhaps there in your Bible that says the Passover celebrated, right? It says the Passover celebrated.

Now it says, And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, we're still in the same book, in the first month. Okay, in the first month of the second year after they have come out of the land of Egypt saying, let the people of Israel keep the Passover as it's appointed time, and he will tell us when. On the 14th day of this month, and that month is the The first month. OK, so on the 14th day of this month at twilight, you shall keep all of this appointed time according to all these statutes and all these rules that you shall keep. So now we know just from reading a scripture that this Passover took place before the census and the consecration of the Levites.

And of course, before they set out into the wilderness to go into the promised land. You're still with me, right? Now there's another important date that we need to have in our minds and then I will finish with numbers and then I will move into what I just want to say. If you go now to Exodus chapter 40, go to Exodus chapter 40. So if you go to Exodus chapter 40, you have to be patient and bear with all of this because the most important thing that I want to communicate with you comes after this.

So chapter 40 in verse 17, we will have another date. OK, it says in the first month. In the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. You can see that, right? So that means that he was in the first month, in the second year, on the first day the tabernacle was erected.

So that means that this stage of preparation that took two months would be organized like this. Just pay attention to what I'm just going to say, just so that we'll make it simple. Two months. The first day of the first month of that second year, the tabernacle was erected, was built. In that same first month, then on the 10th day, because we know that from Exodus, on the 14th day, as we know in chapter 9, it will be the Passover.

The Passover was celebrated. Now this is the 2nd year. So what Passover was that one? It was the 2nd Passover, right? Because the 1st one was the 1st year when they departed from Israel.

I hope that you're still with me. And after that 1st month, when they celebrated the Passover, on the 2nd month it comes, the census and it comes now the Levites that I explained to you, the consecration of the Levites and the redemption of the Levites. And then on the 20th day of the second month of that second year will come the departure or the setting out. Have that in your mind. I hope that those are phases of...

I think I know what you're talking about. Now, why is this important? This is important because the redemption of the people of Israel through their firstborn that is done through the Levites, as we have just read it in Numbers chapter 3, is done after the Passover is celebrated. And this is because the consecration of the firstborn in the first year was eventually done after the first Passover. So then if you come with me to Exodus chapter 13, Here we have when the commandment of the consecration of the firstborn of Israel was given for the first time.

So Exodus chapter 13. Exodus chapter 13. In Exodus chapter 13 is when the consecration of the firstborn was given by the Lord to Israel for the first time, which is now re-given, if that is a word in English, in Numbers chapter 3, which we have just read. So it says, chapter 13 verse 1, The Lord said to Moses, consecrate to me all the firstborn, whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of men and of beast is mine. Now we have just read that in Numbers chapter 3.

And the Lord is saying that the redemption of the firstborn of Israel that was given in this Exodus chapter 13 is now to be replaced by the consecration of the Levites. Okay? So initially, The first born in Israel after the first Passover was consecrated unto the Lord. All male first born in Israel was consecrated to the Lord. Everyone who opens the womb was consecrated to the Lord.

Now in Numbers chapter three, we have the redemption that it is that the Levites, The male Levites are going to replace, these men are going to take the place of the male that were consecrated to the Lord. That's what we read. And then there's going to be a difference of 273 men, and they will have to pay a shekel, so silver, in order also to be redeemed. That is what we read. Okay, now, now pay attention to this, beloved of Christ, pay attention to this.

Now, the consecration, this is one you have to pay attention, the consecration of the firstborn male of Israel after the first Passover, when they were liberated from their bondage in Egypt, was a token. And that token was that the judgment of God that was coming upon Egypt had passed over the firstborn of the people of Israel. That it is that God was going to come with judgment upon the land of Egypt and no one would have survived if it was not because God decided to give grace to the firstborn of the people of Israel and pass them over. So he says you're going to put the blood on the door, right? It's not that the blood had a power so that when death or when the angel of the Lord will come that the dead will not get the firstborn of the people of Israel, but rather that the grace of the Lord was manifested to the people of Israel so that the judgment that they deserved will pass over and then the consecration of the firstborn male of the people of Israel will be a token, if you want, for Israel, that judgment passed over, that we deserve that judgment as the firstborn of Egypt, but that judgment passed over.

So when the firstborn of the people and the firstborn of the beast will be consecrated to the Lord, that will be a reminder connected to the Passover that the Lord did not execute judgment upon us. And it's because of that mercy that the Lord had with them that He could take them into the wilderness and give them the law of the covenant. But now more information, because we know that when the covenant was given to the people of Israel, they broke covenant. And God said to Moses, if you remember and you know your Bible in Exodus 31 and 32, that he was going to destroy the people of Israel. And Moses is not Lord, please have mercy, have mercy.

He was going to destroy the people of Israel. The ones of whom judgment had been passed over initially, he was going to execute judgment because they had broken the covenant. Now come to me to Exodus chapter 32. I'm going to finish very soon, so just bear with me this last one. Exodus chapter 32.

In Exodus chapter 32, when the judgment of God was going to come upon the people of Israel because of their sin and because they had broken the covenant, something happened. So it says in Exodus 32, you remember that story, right? But then let's just read from verse 25, not to make it that long. Verse 25 in Exodus 32. And when Moses, you remember that he had interceded, he said, Lord, please do not destroy them.

He said, I'm going to destroy everyone and I'm just going to keep you, Moses, out of you. I will make a great nation, but I'm going to destroy them, all of them, because they have broken the covenant. And it says 25. And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose, for Aaron had let them break loose to the derision of their enemies, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me.

And all the sons of Levi gather around him. And he said to them, Thou says the Lord God of Israel, pay attention to those words, that's Moses speaking. Thou says the Lord God of Israel, put your sword on your side, each of you, and go to and from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor. So that is that you are going to execute judgment, you Levites who are on my side, the side of the Lord, you are to take the sword and you're going to execute judgment upon the people who did not come on the side. Moses was just, you know, like drawing a line on the ground.

And he said, Who is on the side of the Lord? And all of them remained on that side of the ones that were opposed to the Lord. But the Levites came with Moses. So Moses gives them the right to execute judgment upon these people who have broken the covenant. And when they go and kill 3000 people with the sword, the Levites, this is what we're told in verse 28.

and the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. That was not the word of Moses, was the word of God, right? He has said, that says the Lord God of Israel did according to the word of Moses. And that day, about 3000 men of the people fell. And Moses said, pay attention, to the Levites, Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day.

Moses is going to continue interceding and the Lord will not execute the judgment that the people of Israel deserved. But he's going to count the judgment of the Levites with the sword as judgment done. He's going to send a plague afterwards, but that's judgment done. He had to destroy them because they had broken the covenant, but he didn't. And actually he's going to come afterwards and you remember that he's going to take another two tablets of stone and he's going to renew the covenant with Moses.

Remember that, right? Beloved of Christ. Every time that a male was consecrated initially, Israel will see the consecration of the male and they will remember that judgment passed over them in Egypt and it was not executed upon them. And then in Numbers chapter 3, we have just simply an exchange. Now, the way that Israel is going to be consecrated to the Lord is through the Levites.

So all the firstborn male of Israel is going to be exchanged with a male of the Levites. If you don't understand in detail what I'm saying, just read again Numbers 3 carefully, and that's what the chapter says. So that is that all the male of the Levites will take the place of the firstborn male of Israel, and the consecration of the people of Israel will happen through the Levites. So that means that just as the consecration of the firstborn was a talking of the judgment passing over the people of Israel, When the people of Israel would see the service of the Levites, the priesthood, Moses, and all of them serving in the tabernacle, they will see that they had been consecrated unto the service of the Lord when the Lord passed judgment over the people of Israel upon their first breaking of the covenant. An outgoing, like an abounding measure of grace will come to the minds of the people of Israel.

That it is that the service, everything that was in the tabernacle and the service of the Levite was a token of judgment that passed over the people of Israel. And in the Levites, there was the consecration, the setting apart, the forgiveness, the mercy of God for the people of Israel. The only problem was that the Levites and the priesthood was an ongoing and continuing system of failure, and failure, and failure, and failure, and failure, and failure, and failure, that even though it reminded the people of Israel of a historical redemption, He never had the power to redeem them spiritually and completely from the power of unrighteousness and sin. So always the law and the priesthood and all the feasts will be reminding the people of Israel that they were unable to be redeemed spiritually and completely, entirely unto the Lord. Now, every single Israelite, every single male from this point onwards, will have to be consecrated, set apart unto the Lord, either through the Levites, one on one, or through paying the price of the shekels, which was also another measure to be redeemed through the tabernacle, the system of the priesthood.

Now, there is a Jew boy. that happened to be also consecrated to the Lord. And this boy, this child, happened not only to be a Jew, but also happened to be God himself. Because we're told in Luke chapter 2 from verse 21 to verse 24, which we were supposed to read, but we're not going to do it, that Mary and Joseph, when they take Jesus to be circumcised after the days of the purification of Mary, according to Leviticus chapter 12, that they bring the Lord Jesus Christ to be consecrated or to be presented before the tabernacle there as He was the consecration of all the males, either through the Levites or by paying the price. the shekels, and this man, God himself, was being consecrated unto the law because he was the one that opened the womb of his man.

Now he was submitting entirely to the law of Moses so that he will not only fulfill the requirements of the law, but he will actually become the high priest, different to the Levites, This is the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek and the beloved of Christ. This Jesus Christ becomes the token of redemption, greater than the Passover, greater than the consecration of the firstborn, greater than the service of the Levites, because what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished, this glorious redemption and salvation is once for all and it is completed. So when the two elderly people come, you know, Anna and Simeon, it's his name, they come and say, this is the redemption of Israel. This is the salvation that was prophesied for the Gentiles and for the Jews. Thank you, Lord, that I have not seen death, that you have allowed me to see redemption for the world.

Anna is filled with joy when she sees and this is the redemption of Jerusalem, beloved of Christ. These people will look into the tabernacle and we'll see all of the things that were taking place. We'll see Aaron and the priest and all of the system that were pointing them to a historical redemption that did not have power to redeem them to spiritual But every time that the eyes of the Christian, by faith, see Jesus Christ, who is impossible to be seen and to be observed, we also see a historical redemption accomplished 2,000 years ago. But a redemption that is full and that is complete and that He gives us full assurance and peace that indeed what He did is going to take us until the end. Amen?