Numbers 8:5 - Meaning and Application

We read earlier how the Levites were set apart from the rest of Israel when they were numbered on their own (Numbers 3:6, 3:15), so they could serve the tabernacle. Here we are given the directions for their solemn ordination (Numbers 8:6), and then the account of how it was carried out (Numbers 8:20). All Israel needed to see that the Levites did not take this honor for themselves, but were called by God to it. It was also not enough that they were simply separated from their neighbors, they had to be solemnly devoted to God.

This teaches that all who serve God must be dedicated to him, according to the kind of service they have. Christians must be baptized, and ministers must be ordained. We must first give ourselves to the Lord, and then offer our service. The Levites were first to be cleansed, and they were. The cleansing rites were done, first, by themselves.

They had to wash their clothes, and not only bathe, but shave all their flesh, as a leper did when he was cleansed (Leviticus 14:8). They were to pass a razor over all their body, to remove every defilement that would not wash away. Jacob, whom God loved, was smooth, while Esau was hairy. Their careful effort to make themselves clean teaches all Christians, especially ministers, to cleanse themselves by repentance and by turning away from sin. They must wash away all filth of body and spirit, so they may grow in holiness. Those who carry the vessels of the Lord must be clean.

The cleansing was also done, second, by Moses. He was to sprinkle the water for purification on them, which had been prepared by God’s command. This pointed to the way the blood of Christ is applied to our souls by faith, cleansing us from an evil conscience so we may be fit to serve the living God. It is our duty to cleanse ourselves, and it is God’s promise that he will cleanse us.

After this, the Levites, now prepared, were to be brought before the Lord in a solemn gathering of all Israel. The children of Israel were to lay their hands on them (Numbers 8:10), showing that they gave their claim on them, and on their service, over to God and his sanctuary. They presented the Levites to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing, to perform a reasonable service. So, as offerers did in other cases, they laid hands on them and asked that the Levites’ service might be accepted instead of the attendance of the whole nation, especially the firstborn, whom God could have rightly required.

This does not prove that the people had authority to ordain ministers. The laying on of hands by the children of Israel on the Levites did not make them ministers of the sanctuary. It only showed the people giving up that tribe from their civil and military life so they might be made ministers by Aaron, who was to offer them before the Lord. It was not possible for the whole congregation to do this in person, so it is likely that the rulers and elders did it as the people’s representatives. Some think the firstborn did it, since the Levites were consecrated to God in their place. Whatever God calls us to give up for his glory, we should gladly surrender it, laying our hands on it, not to hold it back, but to hand it over to him who has the right to it.

Next, sacrifices were to be offered for them, first a sin offering (Numbers 8:12), then a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. The Levites, as the ones concerned, were to lay their hands on the head of the sacrifices. Here we learn, first, that we are completely unworthy and unfit to enter God’s service until atonement is made for sin and peace with God is secured. That dark barrier must be removed before there can be any settled and comforting fellowship between God and our souls. Second, we learn that it is by sacrifice, by Christ the great sacrifice, that we are brought back to God and made fit to be offered to him. It is by him that Christians are made holy for the work of their faith, and ministers for the work of their ministry.

Bishop Patrick thought the Levites themselves were viewed as an atoning sacrifice, because they were given to make atonement for Israel (Numbers 8:19). Yet since they were not set apart to die, any more than the firstborn were, these two animal sacrifices were offered in their place. That is why they were to lay their hands on them, so the sin that Israel had placed on the Levites (Numbers 8:10) might be transferred to these animals.

Then the Levites themselves were offered before the Lord as an offering from the children of Israel (Numbers 8:11). Aaron gave them to God, since they had already been given up by themselves and by Israel. The original word means a wave offering, not that they were literally waved, but that they were presented to God as Lord of heaven and earth, just as wave offerings were. Calling them wave offerings also hinted that they must continually lift themselves toward God in his service. They were to lift their eyes, lift their hearts, and move readily in the work of their calling. They were not ordained to be idle, but to be active and busy.

God then declared that he accepted them: “The Levites shall be mine” (Numbers 8:14). He took them in place of the firstborn (Numbers 8:16-18), as explained earlier (Numbers 3:41). What is sincerely offered to God is graciously accepted by him. His ministers, whom he has shown mercy to and made faithful, receive special marks of favor and honor. They shall be his, and then they shall go in to do the service of the tabernacle (Numbers 8:15). God takes them for his own so they may serve him. All who hope to enjoy the privileges of the tabernacle must be ready to do its service.

On one hand, none of God’s creatures are his necessary servants, since he does not need anyone’s help. On the other hand, none are kept only for honor and given nothing to do. All whom God owns he also employs. Even the angels have their work.

Finally, the Levites are given as a gift to Aaron and his sons (Numbers 8:19), though the benefit of this arrangement came to all Israel. First, the Levites were to serve under the priests as attendants and helpers in the sanctuary. Aaron offered them to God (Numbers 8:11), and then God gave them back to Aaron (Numbers 8:19). Whatever we give up to God, he gives back to us in a far better way. Our hearts, our children, and our possessions are never more truly ours, or more joyfully ours, than when we have offered them to God. Second, they were to act on behalf of the people.

They were set apart to serve the children of Israel. That meant more than doing their assigned tasks. Their work was meant to protect the people’s good, safety, and peace, and to bring honor to the whole nation.

People who faithfully serve God do one of the best things possible for the public good. God’s ministers, as long as they stay within their calling and do their duty with care, should be counted among a country’s most useful servants. Israel could hardly do without the tribe of Levi, any more than it could do without any other tribe.

What service did they give to the children of Israel? The text says it was to make atonement for them, so that no plague would come among them. Atonement means making peace with God through sacrifice. The priests did this by offering sacrifices, but the Levites also helped by attending to the holy things and preserving the peace with God that the sacrifices had secured.

If the work of the tabernacle had been left to all the firstborn Israelites in a random way, it would have been neglected or handled badly and without reverence. Those men would not have been as closely bound to the work, as well trained, or as used to it as the Levites were. That could have brought a plague among the children of Israel, perhaps even the death of the firstborn themselves, which was the last and greatest plague in Egypt.

To prevent that, and to preserve the atonement, the Levites were appointed for this service. They would be trained in it from childhood under their parents, so they would know it well. Then the children of Israel, especially the firstborn, would not need to come near the sanctuary. And when any Israelites did need help, the Levites would be ready to teach them, guide them in, and keep them from serious mistakes.

This was a great kindness to the church. God gives ministers to go before the people in the things of God, as guides, overseers, and rulers in worship, and to make that their business. When Christ went up to heaven, he gave these gifts to his people (Ephesians 4:8, Ephesians 4:11, Ephesians 4:12).

The time of their service was also set. They were to begin at twenty-five years old (Numbers 8:24). They were not to carry the tabernacle and its items until they were thirty (Numbers 4:3), but they could serve in other ways from twenty-five on. That was a good age to begin public work, since it usually brings enough strength, judgment, and steadiness. Younger men also face a greater danger of becoming proud.

They were to stop full service at fifty years old and have a kind of release from labor (Numbers 8:25). This was not a shameful dismissal, but a gracious move into rest, suited to their age. They were still to minister with their brothers in the tabernacle by guiding the younger Levites and helping direct them. They were also to keep watch, like guards at the entrances, to make sure no outsider came in and no unclean person entered. But they were not to be given work that would wear them out.

If God’s grace gives people strength for the work he calls them to do, human wisdom should make sure the work matches their strength. Older men are best suited for trusted duties and for keeping watch. Younger men are best suited for active labor and service. Those who have served well as helpers gain a good standing for themselves (1 Timothy 3:13). Still, gifts are not limited by age (Job 32:9), because the same Spirit gives all these abilities.

So the matter of the Levites was settled.