Day 41 – A Year in the Bible – Numbers 7-9
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NUMBERS 7 – THE OFFERINGS FOR THE LEVITES
And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them; – Numbers 7:1
Five acts of Moses:
1. Set up the tabernacle
2. Anointed the tabernacle
3. Sanctified the tabernacle
4. Anointed all the instruments
5. Sanctified the instruments
Instruments – All the furnishings of the tabernacle–the ark and the mercy seat, the golden and brazen altars and all their vessels, the table of showbread and all its vessels, the candlestick and all its vessels, and the laver and its foot.
Offerings for the Levites
that the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered: and they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service: and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. – Numbers 7:2-8
Their Service was that They Should Bear Upon Their Shoulders
But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders. – Numbers 7:9
The Kohathites carried the furniture upon their shoulders, not being allowed to haul it in wagons or put it upon pack animals.
Each Prince, on His Day, Offered Their Offering
And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar. And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar. – Numbers 7:10
Each Tribe Offered the Following (Numbers 7:11-88):
1 silver charger, 1 silver bowl, 1 gold spoon (full of incense), 3 young bullocks, 6 rams, 6 lambs, 6 kids, 16.5 gallons of flour, 39 quarts of oil, 39 quarts of wine.
The Voice of One Speaking Unto Him from Off the Mercy Seat
And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him. – Numbers 7:89
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NUMBERS 8 – THE CONSECRATION OF THE LEVITES
Aaron Shall Offer the Levites Before the LORD for an Offering
And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together: and thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: and 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. And 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. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD. – Numbers 8:9-13
I Have Given the Levites as a Gift to Aaron and to His Sons
And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. And 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. – Numbers 8:18-19
The Levites Went In to Do Their Service
And 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. And 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. – Numbers 8:21-22
From the Age of Fifty Years They Shall Serve No More But Shall Minister
This 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: and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more: but 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 8:24-26
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NUMBERS 9 – AT THE LORD’S COMMAND THEY JOURNEYED AND AT THE LORD’S COMMAND THEY RESTED
At the Commandment of the LORD They Rested in the Tents
And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses. – Numbers 9:21-23
