Center
As I read through
Numbers 2, I have two strong reflections.
The first one is something that I hope is genuinely obvious. The tabernacle – and the priests/Levites – were
at the center of the camp. In the same
way should God – and His spiritual priests – be at the center of our
lives. It is really that simple. Is God at the center or not? Are our spiritual relationships the ones that
are the most important to us or not? It
doesn’t have to be any harder than that – it is pretty black and white there. As the Hebrew people come out of bondage and God
forms their community, the basics are simple.
Sounds Like a Plan
The second reflection
is just as simple. The people break camp
with a plan. They are organized. They are structured. It is all at God’s origination. So it is to be with us. We are to be organized and structured in our
faith. That doesn’t mean we can’t be spontaneous,
but a good faith life is an organized one.
You don’t have a good prayer life without planning out when you are
going to pray. You don’t have a good
devotional life without planning out when you are going to do your
devotions. And you don’t have any kind
of spiritual life if your spiritual life isn’t originating from God.
Buffer
As far as chapter 3
goes in Numbers, let’s briefly see how the duties of the Levites revolved
around the care of the tabernacle. They
were positioned in the camp between the tabernacle and the people as a buffer
between God and the rest of the Hebrews.
Today, God’s priests – those who follow Christ – are also a buffer
between God and the world. The Levites
were there to make sure the tabernacle avoided contamination and to make sure
that the people were able to avoid as much of the unintentional wrath of God as
possible.
While not a complete
job description, it is not too far from the truth with respect to the
expectations of Christians. We are to
proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God and the death of Christ to help as
many people as possible come into a relationship with their God and avoid
ultimate judgment and final wrath. Like
it or not, Christians are a buffer between God and the world. When we deny this reality, we lose sight of
just how important it is for us to proclaim God’s truth in this world.
Leah
As for the Levites,
let’s remember a little bit of Genesis here.
Anyone remember to which of Jacob’s sexual partners Levi was born? If you remembered correctly, you came up with
the answer of Leah. We hear so much
about Jacob loving Rachael, but God took his priests from one of the children
that Leah bore to Jacob. Leah was
somewhat rejected by Jacob, but God redeems her ultimately many generations
after her life on earth. The pattern for
God’s holy people was taken from Leah, not Rachael.
For that record, the
great Davidic kings – beginning with David Himself and ultimately ending with
Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah – came from Judah, the son born to Leah after
Levi was born! God has a way of working
in ways of importance that we cannot ever be aware. We see other things than what God sees in
people.
Levites
But, let’s return to
these Levites. Notice that they are
special to God. They are to do special
things. They are specifically called out
as non-combatants in the Hebrew people.
Every time they are mentioned it is as though God lifts up the
importance of their holiness – their separateness. God’s priests are unique unto Him. If this lesson hasn’t been learned yet, it
should be learned in these two chapters.
And if you don’t get it now, you’ll get plenty more chances before our
tour of the Hebrew history books is over.
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