Numbers 8:5-22

B. CONSECRATION OF THE LEVITES FOR SERVICE vv. 5-22
TEXT

Numbers 8:5. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 6. Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. 8. Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. 9. 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. 10. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: 11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that the may execute the service of the Lord. 12. 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. 13. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. 14. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine. 15. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering. 16. For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. 17. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. 18. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. 19. 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. 20. And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them. 21. 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. 22. 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.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 8:5. Again the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, 6. Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and purify them: sprinkle cleansing water upon them, and let them shave their whole bodies, and wash their clothes, thus making themselves clean. 8. Then let them take a young bull with its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, and a second bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9. And you shall bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall also gather the whole congregation of the children of Israel together, 10. bring the Levites before the Lord; and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11. Then Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as an offering from the children of Israel, in order that they may perform the service of the Lord. 12. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls. Then offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. 13. Then you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons in order to present them as a wave offering to the Lord. 14. In this manner you shall set the Levites apart from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 15. After that the Levites may enter into the Tent of Meeting to serve; but you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering, 16, since they are entirely given to me from among the children of Israel. I have taken them unto myself in the place of every first child of the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel. 17. Every firstborn of the children of Israel is mine among the men and the animals; on the day that I brought death upon all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart unto myself. 18. But I have taken the Levites rather than each of the firstborn among the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as dedicated ones to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel at the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement in behalf of the children of Israel, and there may not be a plague among the children of Israel from their approaching the sanctuary. 20. Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel to the Levites: according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the children of Israel did to them. 21. The Levites, also, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. 22. After that the Levites entered to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and his sons; exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, they did to them.

COMMENTARY

Chapter three has already told us of the selection of the Levites for special service in the sanctuary (Numbers 8:5 ff). But before they were to begin the performance of their duties, they must be fully set apart from the people of Israel in special rites of consecration. Our passage parallels the instructions of Leviticus 8. ICC cites Kuenen, Numbers 8:5-22. is an insipid repetition and exaggeration of the account of the separation of the Levites.. If the author of these last-named Chapter s had supposed that the Levites, before entering on their duties, had to be purified, and presented to Yahwe. he would not have passed it over in silence.. He concludes by saying the passage is a pericope added by some later writer.

On the other hand it is a bit surprising to discover IB defending the doubled passage by the suggestion of two results: the exaltation of the priesthood over the Levites (the Levites are simply cleansed; the priests are sanctified); and the notable differentiation between the Levites and the ordinary Israelites.

The Midrash, commenting upon the question, says that when Aaron saw the dedication offerings of the princes, he was much disappointed that neither he nor his tribe was represented. Therefore, God told him, By your life! Your part is greater than theirs, since you kindle and prepare the lamps, RCP, p. 131. The process by which the Levites were cleansed was elementary: they were sprinkled with the water of purification, after which all hair was shaved from the body. We should notice what they were not to do: undergo a ceremonial washing, dress in the priestly robes, undergo the oil anointment, nor be sprinkled with the blood of sacrifices. PC assumes that the purpose, for all these rituals was to assure personal cleanliness. Two bullocks were brought before the Lord; their uses are shown in Numbers 8:12: one is a sin offering; the other a burnt offering. These offerings were to be made after all the Israelites assembled and laid their hands upon the Levites, designating the fact that they represented the entire nation in their services. Aaron himself made the pronouncement of their consecration. The Levites must always consider themselves both the property and the servants of the Lord, standing in the stead of all the firstborn sons among the other tribes. Such a provision was a significant advance beyond the pagan practice of sacrificing the firstborn son, as unto Molech, a practice of which Jehovah could not conceivably approve, He much preferred, as it were, living sacrifices.

When God pledged that the nation would be spared the visitation of plagues as long as they were, through the Levites, faithful in their religious service, it was a landmark declaration. We can only understand this to mean that God allows such plagues to visit those who are logically expected to serve Him, but do not. History amply attests to the validity of this conclusion.
The conclusion of the verses merely demonstrates that the divine commission was carried out exactly as ordered.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

147.

What purposes are achieved in repeating in this chapter a service which has previously been described?

148.

Which of the ordinary portions of the ritual of cleansing are omitted upon this occasion? Why?

149.

For what purposes were the two bullocks used?

150.

What did it signify when all the people placed their hands upon the heads of the Levites? Does this lessen the duties of the people?

151.

Why did God not command the literal sacrifice of Israel's firstborn?

152.

Are we to consider that plagues and other catastrophes are always the result of widespread sinful conduct?

153.

In what sense have the Levites been given to Aaron and his sons (Numbers 8:18)?

154.

Discuss the importance of doing exactly what the Lord asks, as is recorded in Numbers 8:20; Numbers 8:22.