Arrangement of the Lamps
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.’ ” And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
Cleansing and Dedication of the Levites
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially. Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering. And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel. So you shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites; and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they may perform the work of the Lord. Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
“And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord. Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering. For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself. I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”
Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. After that the Levites went in to do their work in the tabernacle of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more. They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties.”
What’s a wave offering? When God is instituting offerings, there are certain categories that are lifted and swung to and fro in front of the Lord but these offerings are not burned or boiled. The act of waving the offering is to indicate that the object is wholly dedicated to the Lord; subsequently, the meat or other offering will be shared among the priests and their families. But what about all the firstborn Israelite children? God has reserved all the firstborn children for Himself. Now God is designating the Levites to act as a wave offering in the place of the firstborn children of the other tribes. The priests are descended from Aaron; however, the Levites are descended from all the other members of the Tribe of Levi. God has chosen the Levites for a very special purpose; they are to carry out all the non-priestly duties in the Tabernacle.
To indicate the special calling of the Levites, God instructs Moses to put them through a series of rituals culminating in sacrifices in the Tabernacle. These rituals include bathing, shaving all body hair, and putting on clean clothes. After this, special sacrifices are made and then the Levites begin their work in the Tabernacle. Finally, God indicates that Levites between the ages of twenty-five and fifty will serve actively, although older Levites might “attend to needs” in the Tabernacle. Perhaps these older Levites might offer counsel or guidance as people come to worship and offer sacrifices.
APPLICATION: While the Levites are being chosen to do grunt work, it’s holy grunt work and still marks them as being specially called of God. The Levites would be tasked with cleaning the Tabernacle, hauling out ashes from sacrifices, etc. They also will help transport the Tabernacle as previously noted.
One interesting aspect is the description of the duties of older Levites. While the major work is to be done by those between the ages of twenty-five to fifty, God still has work for the Levites who have retired as well. In God’s economy, there is no such thing as retirement; instead, God calls us into new avenues of service so that we continually reinvent ourselves.
At seventy-five, I might be the oldest doctor practicing in northern Ghana. I still do rounds and operations; however, one new area into which I am moving is nutritional support for patients. At present, we have several patients with intestinal fistulas whose nutrition was not good prior to operation. Our dietetics nurse and I are developing various kinds of formulas to help these patients heal so that they can go home and live healthy lives. This work is challenging and sometimes heart-breaking. We want so much for our patients to heal quickly, but there are no quick fixes. We are encouraged by reports from other mission institutions in Niger and Malawi, where such patients have successfully healed and have gone home.
Do you feel as if you have been put on a shelf with nothing you can do? Look around you, for God always has someone for you to help. Perhaps you can volunteer in a school reading program or you can help students with homework. Perhaps you can visit people in hospitals or nursing homes. Perhaps you can volunteer at the local food bank or some other charitable organization. You might call people who are shut in to encourage them. And above all, you can pray. God always needs more prayer warriors. Today, let’s ask God to open our eyes to the opportunities for service around us.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to see the needs around us and to find those areas in which You want us to help. Thank You, that Your gifts and Your calling are sure and that You will guide us if we only ask. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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