Monday, May 2, 2011

Numbers: Chapter 3

Just as God gave the tribe of Levi to the high priest of the Tabernacle, God has given the tribe of 'us' to Jesus Christ!  Do you ever think of yourself as a gift to Jesus?  He said so in John 17:  'thou gavest them me..'  If you are like me (and I bet you are), sometimes we are not that great of a gift...but through the power of Jesus we are not what we were nor are we what we will become.  That is pretty exciting, don't you think?

God instructed that the firstborn were His...not that they would serve God but the family was to 'redeem' them in recognition that God gives life.  Jesus' resurrection made him the firstborn...and opened the door to eternal life for us. 

I loved the orderly assignment of work; everyone knew their duty.  Do you think they rejoiced in their work or sometimes felt another family got a better assignment?  I would like to think the clear delineation saved conflict but I am doubtful.  We pay lip service to the belief that all are equal and that every duty is important.  The reality is that 'feeling' important is a challenge when you are cleaning the church rest rooms.  Every duty must be attended to with the same reverence and devotion to God.  God has given us different gifts; we are never to covet another's gift anymore than we are to covet their vehicle.  Blaise Pascal once said 'Lord help me do small things as though they were big because I do them in Your name, and big things as though they were small because I do them in Your power. 

Final note:  The commentary pointed out, and I did confirm that the numbers do not add up in this chapter. (The redemption money and the difference between the Levites and Israelites.) My resource did not provide an answer but highly recommended a resource done by Keil and Delitzsch if you would like to dig into the topic.  Blessings, dear friends!

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