The Levites

Day 39 – A Year in the Bible – Numbers 1-3

______

NUMBERS 1 – THOU SHALT NOT NUMBER THE TRIBE OF LEVI

Keep the Charge
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: but thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony. And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they. – Numbers 1:47-54

______

CHAPTER 2 – THE LEVITES WERE NOT NUMBERED

The Levites Were Not Numbered
But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. – Numbers 2:33 

Eleazar and Ithamar Ministered in the Sight of Aaron Their Father
And 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 priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father. – Numbers 3:2-4 

______

NUMBERS 3 – THE LEVITES SHALL BE MINE

Thou Shalt Give the Levites Unto Aaron’s and to His Sons
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. – Numbers 3:5-10 

I Have Taken the Levites Instead of All the Firstborn
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. – Numbers 3:11-13

Thou Shalt Take the Levites For Me Instead of the Firstborn
And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. – Numbers 3:41

The Levites Shall Be Mine: I am the LORD
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD. – Numbers 3:44-45

The Levites had no inheritance among the Children of Israel. They were not counted among them because they were the Lord’s portion. God was their inheritance, and they were His. He chose the Levites instead of the firstborn of each tribe. (Interesting that the firstborn – first fruits – are always His anyway.