The Deacon's Didache

Monday, February 22, 2010

Because All the Firstborn Are Mine: Numbers 3:5-13

Numbers 3:5-13: "5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6 'Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.' 11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 12 'Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD.'"

This pericope combines two things, the priesthood and the firstborn. One can not help but think of our own High Priest, Who is also the Firstborn out of all the dead, and the one and only beloved Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is an exchange that happens between the Israelites and the Lord God. The firstborn of everyone who opens the womb belonged to God, but here in exchange for them, He takes the tribe of Levi to serve Him. We are also told by the Lord God, that the firstborn of the Israel, were claimed by God, in exchange for the firstborn of the people of the Egyptian's firstborn which He killed so that He could redeemed the Israelites.

This seems to be the way of Holy Scripture, one person or group of persons, takes the place of other persons or groups. This, of course, finds its fulfillment in our High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, who takes our place, exchanges Himself for our condition and our penalty, so that He might redeem us back from sin, death and the devil.

One may wonder why the Levites are chosen out of all the other tribes. Is it because it is the tribe that Moses and Aaron were in? Is it because their inheritance was given to the sons of Joseph? The answer is because they showed their loyalty to God, when Aaron made the golden calf and Moses called out that all those who were loyal to God were to draw near to him, and the Levites did so (Ex. 32:26). This also gave our Lord God a reason to do away with His early requirement regarding offering sacrifices for all the the firstborn children of the Israelites given in Exodus chapter 13. Now there would only be requirements for purification after childbirth.

Therefore our Lord makes an exchange, and redeems His people the Israelites. And He redeems us by exchanging His Son for us.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

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