Numbers 3:1-51

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

In the Desert

Numbers

Marion Adams

Chapter 3

Aaron’s sons – Numbers 3:1-4

v1 The *LORD spoke to Moses on Sinai mountain. This is the family of Aaron and Moses at that time. v2 Aaron had four sons. Nadab was the oldest son. The other sons were Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

v3 Aaron *anointed them. And he ordained them (gave them authority to work as priests). They served God in *God’s Tent.

v4 But Nadab and Abihu fell down and died in front of the *LORD. This happened when they offered unholy fire (see note below) to the *LORD in the Sinai *desert. They had no children. So only Eleazar and Ithamar worked as priests while their father Aaron was alive.

Verses 1-4 Aaron was the *High Priest (Leviticus chapter 8). All his sons were priests. But Nadab and Abihu did something that was very wrong. God punished them. He sent fire to burn them until they were dead. We know this because this story is in Leviticus 10:1-3, too.

However, it is not certain what ‘unholy fire’ means. Priests sometimes burned *incense in *God’s Tent. Nadab and Abihu were burning *incense when they died. The fire was ‘unholy’ because God had not ordered them to offer it (Leviticus 10:1). So they were opposing God on purpose.

Nadab and Abihu had not obeyed God. They were his priests. They had neglected to serve him properly. They had not shown honour to God. This teaches us something very important. God loves us. He is our friend. But also he is the maker of everything that exists. He is *holy completely. We must remember this. We must show honour to God always.

The duties of Levi’s *tribe – Numbers 3:5-13

v5 The *LORD said to Moses, v6 ‘Bring Levi’s *tribe to Aaron the priest. They must help him. v7-8 They must work for him and all the *Israelites in *God’s Tent. They will be responsible for everything in *God’s Tent. They will take care of it. They will carry on these duties on behalf of the *Israelites. v9 Give Levi’s *tribe to Aaron and his sons. So they will be the *Israelites who belong completely to him. v10 Appoint Aaron and his sons as priests. Anyone else who tries to do the priests’ duties will die.’

v11-13 Also, the *LORD said to Moses, ‘I have chosen Levi’s *tribe from the other *Israelites. Levi’s *tribe will belong to me in a special way. I had decided that the *Israelites’ *first-born sons would belong to me. Also, I had decided that all their *first-born male animals would belong to me. I made this decision when I let the *Egyptians’ *first-born sons die. But now I have decided that Levi’s *tribe will belong to me, instead of the *Israelites’ *first-born sons. Levi’s *tribe are mine. I am the *LORD!’

Verses 5-10 Aaron and his sons were the priests. The rest of Levi’s *tribe acted as their servants. These servants helped the priests to look after *God’s Tent. They had two main duties. Whenever the *Israelites travelled, Levi’s *tribe had to take down *God’s Tent. Then they had to carry the parts as they travelled. This was heavy work!

Also, they had to look after *God’s Tent always. If any of the other *Israelites came too near to *God’s Tent, that person would die. Then God would not punish all the *Israelites because one person had not obeyed him (see Numbers 1:53; Numbers 16:40; Numbers 25:8).

Verses 11-13 Before they escaped into the *desert, the *Israelites were *slaves in the country called Egypt. Moses had asked the king of Egypt to let the *Israelites go free. But the king had refused. So God had allowed 10 bad things to happen to the *Egyptians (Exodus Chapter s 7-11). For example, their main river had changed into blood. And many insects had eaten their crops. Finally, all the *Egyptians’ *first-born sons had died. But all the *Israelites’ *first-born sons had remained alive. When this happened, the king of Egypt let the *Israelites go free.

The *Israelites’ *first-born male animals and also their *first-born sons belonged to God. They had to redeem both their animals and their sons (Exodus 13:1-2; Chapter s 11 to 13; 22:29-30; 34:19-20). (To redeem means to buy back by means of a *sacrifice or a payment).

But when God was giving the *Law to Moses, the *Israelites made an *idol. They *worshipped it. Only Levi’s *tribe were loyal to God (Exodus chapter 32). So God wanted Levi’s *tribe to serve him, instead of the other *Israelites’ *first-born sons. And so Levi’s *tribe served God instead of the *Israelites’ *first-born sons.

Moses counts Levi’s *tribe – Numbers 3:14-39

v14 In the Sinai *desert, the *LORD spoke to Moses. The *LORD said, v15 ‘Count Levi’s *tribe by *clans and families. Register every male who is a month old or older.’ v16 Moses obeyed the *LORD. So Moses counted Levi’s *tribe.

v17 Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. They had become the leaders of their own *clans. v18 Gershon’s sons were Libni and Shimei. v19 Kohath’s sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. v20 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. They were Levi’s sons and grandsons. They had become the leaders of the *clans of Levi’s *tribe.

v21 There were two families in Gershon’s *clan. They were the families of Libni and Shimei. v22 They had 7500 males who were one month or older. v23 Gershon’s *clan had to camp on the west side of *God’s Tent. v24 Their leader was Eliasaph, Lael’s son. v25 Their duties were to look after *God’s Tent, its outside cover and the curtain over the entrance. v26 There was a yard outside *God’s Tent. This yard was round the *altar. There were curtains that hung round this yard. Gershon’s *clan were responsible for these curtains. Also, this *clan was responsible for the *ropes and the curtain for the entrance to the yard. And they also looked after everything else that had a relationship with these things.

v27 There were four families in Kohath’s *clan. They were the families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. v28 They had 8600 males who were one month old or older. Kohath’s *clan had to look after the objects inside *God’s Tent. v29 Kohath’s *clan had to camp on the south side of *God’s Tent. v30 Their leader was Elizaphan, Uzziel’s son. v31 They had to look after the *Ark, the table for the special bread and the *stand for the lamp. They also looked after the *altars. They were responsible for the objects that the priests used to *worship God in the *Holy Place. Also they were responsible for the curtain in front of the *Most Holy Place. And they also looked after everything else that had a relationship with these things.

v32 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, was the chief leader of Levi’s *tribe. He governed those people who looked after *God’s Tent.

v33 There were two families in Merari’s *clan. They were the families of Mahli and Mushi. v34 They had 6200 males who were one month old or older. v35 Merari’s *clan had to camp on the north side of *God’s Tent. Their leader was Zuriel, Abihail’s son. v36 They had to look after the *frames of *God’s Tent and all the things that supported it. v37 Also, they were responsible for the poles, bases and all the other objects in the yard.

v38 Moses, Aaron and Aaron’s sons had to camp in front of *God’s Tent, on the east side. They had to carry out duties in *God’s Tent on behalf of the *Israelites. Anyone else who tried to do the priests’ work would die.

v39 So Moses and Aaron obeyed the *LORD. They counted Levi’s *tribe by their *clans. There were 22 000 males in Levi’s *tribe who were one month old or older.

Verses 14-39 God told Moses to count all the males in Levi’s *tribe who were one month old or older. The men from Levi’s *tribe would help the priests. So the members of that *tribe belonged to God in a special way. He had accepted them to belong to him instead of the *Israelites’ *first-born sons (Numbers 3:11-13).

Again, Moses did what God asked him to do. Moses counted Levi’s *tribe by *clan. He told each *clan where to camp.

The priests camped on the east side of *God’s Tent (verse 38). Kohath’s *clan camped on the south side of *God’s Tent (verse 29). Kohath’s *clan was the biggest group. They had a very important job. They were responsible for the special furniture in *God’s Tent.

Gershon’s *clan camped on the west side of *God’s Tent. They were responsible for the covers, curtains and *ropes.

Merari’s *clan was the smallest group. They camped on the north side of *God’s Tent. They had to look after all the parts of the Tent’s *frame and the things in the yard that surrounded it. Whenever the *Israelites travelled, each *clan had to carry their own parts of *God’s Tent.

Moses counts the *Israelites’ *first-born sons – Numbers 3:40-51

v40 The *LORD said to Moses, ‘Now count the *Israelites’ *first-born sons. Register all those who are one month old or older. Write their names in a list. v41 The *Israelites’ *first-born sons belong to me. But instead, I shall accept the males who are in Levi’s *tribe. They will be mine. I am the *LORD! Also, I shall accept the animals that Levi’s *tribe own, instead of the *Israelites’ *first-born animals.’

v42 Moses obeyed the *LORD. He counted the *Israelites’ *first-born sons. v43 He registered the names of all the *first-born males of one month old or older. There were 22 273 names in this list. v44 The *LORD said to Moses, v45 ‘Give Levi’s *tribe to me instead of the *Israelites’ *first-born sons. Give to me the animals that Levi’s *tribe own, instead of the *Israelites’ animals. Levi’s *tribe will belong to me. I am the *LORD! v46 There are 273 more *first-born *Israelites than males in Levi’s *tribe. You must buy the extra *Israelites from me. v47 You must collect five pieces of silver for each *Israelite. The pieces of silver must be the official weight (see note). v48 You must give this money to Aaron and his sons.’

v49 So Moses collected the money for the extra 273 *first-born sons. v50 He collected 1365 pieces of silver from them. The pieces of silver were the official weight. v51 Then, he gave the money to Aaron and his sons, as the *LORD had ordered him.

Verses 40-51 The *first-born *Israelites belonged to God (see note on verses 11-13). A person who belongs to someone is a slave. So these *first-born *Israelites were really God’s slaves. But God had decided to accept the males from Levi’s *tribe instead of the *first-born *Israelites. However, there were 273 more *first-born *Israelites than males from Levi’s *tribe. So Moses had to buy these 273 *first-born *Israelites from God.

Moses had to collect five pieces of silver for each *first-born *Israelite. This was the price of a slave at that time. It was a lot of money. Many people earned less than one piece of silver in a month. We do not know who paid the five pieces of silver. Perhaps Moses collected it from all the *first-born *Israelites. Perhaps just the 273 males paid it. But again, Moses obeyed God.

At that time, people used pieces of silver for money. But the pieces of silver were not all the same weight. The ‘official weight’ (verse 47) was the same weight as a piece of silver that people kept in *God’s Tent. The weight of this piece of silver was about 11.5 *grams. So the pieces of silver that people paid for their *first-born sons had to weigh about 11.5 *grams. Still the *Jews today make this payment to redeem their *first-born sons. (To redeem means to buy back by means of a *sacrifice or a payment.)

LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. This name means something like ‘I am’ or ‘always alive’.

Lord ~ one who rules. God is the Lord who rules everyone.

Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
anoint ~ to pour oil over a person. This shows that God has chosen that person for a special purpose.
desert ~ a dry region, or a region where there is just a little water. A few wild plants are able to grow in some deserts. So people who are travelling can live in these deserts in their tents. And they can lead animals through the desert. The Israelites lived in a desert for nearly 40 years.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.

'High Priest ~ the most important priest.
incense ~ a substance that people make from plants. It has a good smell when people burn it.
holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.'first-born ~ the first child to be born to a mother; the oldest child in a family. The word can refer to animals as well as people.
Law ~ the rules that God gave to Moses for the *Jews.
worship ~ to give honour to God and to thank him. Sometimes, people worship false gods.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts as a *sacrifice to God (or, to a false god).
Ark ~ a wooden box that contained things that were special to the Israelites. God said that he would meet his people at the Ark. It was a *symbol that God was there in a special way.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
stand ~ an object that supports another object, for example, a lamp.
holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.

'Most Holy Place ~ the smaller room in *God’s Tent. The Ark was in that room.

Ark ~ a wooden box that contained things that were special to the Israelites. God said that he would meet his people at the Ark. It was a *symbol that God was there in a special way.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
gram ~ a measurement of weight today. 28 grams make one ounce. 1000 grams make one kilogram.

kilogram ~ 1000 grams.