1 Ch. 23: Gershon, Kohath and Merari

1 Ch. 23: "the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service."

David's winding it down, and making some more preparations for the temple. The Levites, who had been responsible for the care and transportation of all the elements that made up the tabernacle, were numbered. They were part of three distinct groups, sons of Levites: The Gershonites, the Kohathits, and the Merarites. In verse 3, it says Levites age 30 and older were counted, while in verse 24, it talks about Levites age 20 and older. Contradiction? I thought so at first, but there's a distinction...Those 30 and older were counted from the entire tribe, numbering 38,000. Those 20 and older were those who served in the temple. At least that's how I read it.

Now that the tabernacle was done away with, and a permanent temple was in place, the Levites could cross that off their list...the hassle with the takedown and assembly of the tent all the time. But they still had their responsibilities to serve inside the temple. It was a new thing for them. 

The wandering tabernacle days were over. This temple is where God would be always.

1 Ch. 6: Levi's 501 Descendants

1 Chronicles 6:49 "But Aaron and his descendants were the ones who presented offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense in connection with all that was done in the Most Holy Place, making atonement for Israel, in accordance with all that Moses the servant of God had commanded."

Levi, of course, is the freak tribe. They had no inheritance. They had no land. They had to be the mediators between God and Israel. A lot of descendants here are listed, much more than the previous tribes listed. Included are Azariah, the priest at the building of the temple, and Jehozadak, the priest when Israel was exiled. 

So not only are their genealogies listed here, there's also an accounting of the land they received. Woo hoo!

Musical Consideration - "Take Me In" Petra

Jg. 19: Note to Self: Don't Leave a Levite

Judges 19:31 "When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel."

A man can do a lot of thinking in the four months after his unfaithful concubine goes back home to daddy. Well, this unnamed Levite hangs out with his father-in-law for a few days, and they bond, apparently, because father-in-law won't let him go back home. Every night, he tells the Levite to stay another night. Not sure how this is playing out with the concubine. I can't imagine she is too thrilled with the situation.

Anyway, Levite was able to persuade the concubine to go home with him, so they get to heading back home when the sun is sinking low and everybody's with the one they love. They were about to stay the night in the city square near Gibeah. And I know what you are thinking. Why didn't they stay in Jerusalem? Because it was the home of the Jebusites. Not the Israelites. That's why.

Anyway, an old man from Ephraim welcomes them to stay at his home. And this guy, unnamed, like everyone in this vignette, washes their feet and feeds them.

Well, strikingly similar to that seedy story of Lot, the "wicked" men of the town come by and bang on the door, because they want to bang the Levite. The old man would not let them have their way with his guest, so he offers his virgin daughter (can you imagine!) and dude's concubine. So they have their way all night with her, and the next morning, the Levite finds her on the old man's doorstep, exhausted from the gangbang and says, "Get up, let's go." Nice guy. She wouldn't respond...probably because of getting raped all night. (Should get some interesting visitors via google search on this study). Anyway, he tosses her on the donkey and they head for home. When he gets home, he slices up his concubine into 12 pieces, sending them out the far corners of Israel. Which is just awful. What are the logistics of such an undertaking?

So, Levite...in the line of the priesthood...cuts up his wife (well, concubine). What's the statement he's sending? Who messed with him? What was he showing Israel? He's not getting back at the rapists, for sure...and was probably unconcerned with that anyway. He was replaced in the rape line by his concubine. What would you say if you received a 1/12th of some Levite's wife? Not sure exactly what that's all about, I guess I'll have to read some more...

Jos. 21: Levittowns

Joshua 21:41 "The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands."

As commanded by God and promised by Moses, the Levites were to get their land, too. There were three separate clans of Levites who received land.

The Kohathites - 13 towns - From Judah/Simeon (9), and Benjamin (4)
- 10 towns - From Ephraim (4), Dan (4), and Manasseh (2)
These included the refuge cities Hebron (from Judah), and Shechem (from Ephraim). Caleb's land came from Judah/Simeon also.

The Gershonites - 13 towns - From Issachar (2), Asher (4), Naphtali (4), Manasseh (3)
These included the refuge cities Golan (from Manasseh), and Kedesh (from Naphtali)

The Merarites - 12 towns - From Reuben (4), Gad (4), and Zebulun (4)
These included the refuge cities Remoth (from Gad), and Bezer (from Reuben)

So the Levites received a total of 48 towns.

Now, at the end of chapter 21, it says the the LORD gave them all the land he had promised to their forefathers. So, apparently, the Israelites had defeated (or enslaved) any enemies that may have remained. Not one of their enemies withstood them. I guess when land is at stake, Israel would have cause to obey the covenant. SLAM! And the chapter concludes with the statement that all of God's promises had been fulfilled. God is a...man...no...God of His word. We saw the promises He made way back in the day of Abraham, and here they are...fulfilled to the letter. Pretty amazing. Israel didn't coincidentally take over these towns because they wanted to fulfill the promises themselves...there was even reluctance to take possession of this promised land. Had to be an act of God.

Nu. 35: Levite Towns, Murder Defined

Numbers 35:33 "Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it."

I know what you're thinking. What about the Levites? Where do they live? Well, each Israelite tribe was commanded to give the Levites towns to live in and pasturelands for their cattle. In all, the Levites were given 48 towns to live in. I don't know how many towns the other tribes took...or were given. But each tribe gave proportionally to the Levites. 6 were given to the Levites as something called "Refuge Cities."

A refuge city was a place that someone who killed another person could flee to and be safe from an avenger until due process was served. If the person was determined to be a murderer, they were given over to the avenger. If it was an accident, he was judged accordingly.

So what constitutes murder? Striking someone with an object of wood, stone or iron that was meant to commit great bodily harm. "Malice aforethought" is what determines murder. No one could be brought up on murder charges if only one person saw him. If a person sets foot outside the city of refuge, he was fair game to the avenger.

I wouldn't want to be an avenger of blood. I'd find someone else if a loved one were killed. I can't imagine being in that situation, but to kill someone, regardless of who they killed...that's not in me.

Money could not protect murderers. Ransom was not allowed. Awesome. Money queers deals.

Bloodshed was something that defiled land. Another example of how humans have this sort of living give-and-take with land. If blood was shed on some land, it could only be atoned for by the blood of the one who shed it to begin with. Shed blood is an atonement here, not just to absolve sin, but to atone for the land, since the LORD Himself dwells in it. That's quite the concept.

Nu. 8: Levites = Firstborn

Aaron had to set up seven lamps in the tabernacle so that they faced forward on the lampstand. They had to light the area in front of it. It has been said a few times so far that the lampstand had to be made from hammered gold, but in verse four, it talks about how it was hammered gold from it’s base to it’s blossoms. These delicate, beautiful blossoms (like almond flowers, according to Ex. 25) were created from a hunk of raw gold, that had to be hammered, broken down and destroyed. I never really noticed that, but here is an amazing allegory of something beautiful made out of something, not so beautiful, but still was gold.

Chapter 8 goes on to describe the process of consecrating the Levites as a people unto God. They were essentially an offering from the Israelites to the LORD. They had to be purified as offerings were, and they were presented by Aaron, the high priest. They were given wholly to God. God was doing something new here. I was really kind of confused about what was going on in verses 15-19, but I think God revealed to me what I needed to know. I first was confused as to why God would take this substitute, and then claim the firstborn as his. And verses 17 and 18 were critical to understanding.

As with Isaac, the firstborn was to be offered to God in Genesis 22. But God substituted a ram. The firstborn of the Egyptians was substituted at Passover in Exodus 11 and 12. Here in Numbers 8, God substitutes the Levites for these firstborn male offspring. There always seemed to be a substitute.

Also interesting here is that God says He has given the Levites as gifts to Aaron for the Tent of Meeting work. That must be how giving to God works. It wasn’t a matter of God having the audacity to claim he was giving this gift to Aaron. The Israelites (under God’s command) had to relinquish the Levites unto God. God in turn provided them to Aaron where they were needed.

Nu. 4: The Levites: God’s Roadies

Numbers chapter 4 goes a little deeper into what the responsibilities actually were for these sons of Levi.

Of course, not every single Levite was responsible for the various workings of the tabernacle. It would be a case of two many cooks in the kitchen, so God narrows it down a bit. Each clan (from the Kohathites, the Gershonites and the Merarites) was to have a census taken to find out how many men from 30 to 50 years of age there were. This was the range set by God Himself.

So what were the Kohathites responsibilities exactly when the camp was to move?

First off, the most holy things. Aaron and his sons had to take down the shielding curtain of the ark of the testimony, cover the ark with the sea cow hides and put the poles in place…presumably the carrying poles.

Same thing with the table of the Presence, the lampstand, the gold altar, and the sanctuary ministering articles. Everything got wrapped up in a blue cloth and a scarlet cloth, and then Aaron and his sons put the poles in place.

The bronze altar received a purple cloth, and then was covered by the sea cow hide.

After Aaron got done wrapping everything up, the 2,750 Kohathites were to carry all this stuff as the camp moved on. Eleazar, son of Aaron, had to take care of all the oils and incense and all that. Aaron was given charge to make sure that the Kohathites did not actually touch the holy things, or they’d die, these things were so holy. That is the reason for the carrying poles. As for the sea cow hides, I imagine those were thick and heavy, like big moving blankets to protect the articles from getting all beat up in the trip.

Ithamar, another son of Aaron was to direct the 2,630 Gershonites and 3,200 Merarites in their responsibilities, which were basically to carry all the curtains and coverings for the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, the courtyard, the entrance, and all the ropes and equipment that went along with that.

The Merarites, who presumably would have been under the direction of Nadab or Abihu had there not been that…unpleasantness, were responsible for all the hardware that kept the tabernacle together. The frames, crossbars, tent pegs, posts and bases.

Each person was specifically assigned what it was he was to carry, across all the clans. This was a system, it was orderly. It would have been fascinating to see how quickly, deliberately and systematically the tabernacle was deconstructed and moved. Charlie Chaplin like, is my estimation.

Nu. 3: We Are Levites!

We've gone through and numbered the other tribes of Israel, and Levi scarcely elicited a mention. Levi had already been consecrated in Leviticus as the tribe responsible for carrying out the temple and tabernacle responsibilities. They are to be wholly given to the LORD, which makes me think that if you were born a Levite, your future was already planned out. You were relegated to the fate of the priesthood. There were grave responsibilities as well as great reward. It was a calling to a higher, cleaner lifestyle.

A lifestyle I'm not sure I'd want, ever. I'd be too lazy. I'd hate dealing with the blood. I'd hate having instant death hanging over my head for a misstep.

The Levites were counted in a different way than the other tribes, where the focus was on men of fighting age. The Levites were numbered according to every male of at least one month of age.

Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. These are their numbers.

Gershon
Belonging Clans: Libnites, Shimeites
Number of males: 7,500
Camping Place: West of the tabernacle
Leader of the families: Eliasaph
Responsibilities: Care of the tabernacle, tent, and coverings; curtains at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and those surrounding the courtyard, tabernacle and altar; and ropes and related articles.

Kohath
Belonging Clans: Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, Uzzielites
Number of males: 8,600
Camping Place: South of the tabernacle
Leader of the families: Elizaphan
Responsibilities: Care of the ark, table, lampstand, altars, articles of the sanctuary, curtain and related articles.

Merari
Belonging Clans: Mahlites, Mushites
Number of males: 6,200
Camping Place: North of the tabernacle
Leader of the families: Zuriel
Responsibilities: Care of the frames of the tabernacle, crossbars, posts and equipment, posts, bases, tent pegs and ropes.

Moses and Aaron were to camp at the east end of the tabernacle, the entrance. Toward the sunrise. They were responsible for the sanctuary.

The Levites were taken for the LORD in place of the firstborn sons of the house of Israel. They were redeemed for those firstborn Israelites. There were 273 more firstborn males in all of Israel than there were among the Levites, and they were redeemed for 5 shekels each, and that money was given to Aaron. Did these firstborn sons not have to worry about the passover and the destroyer angel? I think not. Passover was a lasting ordinance. This was a way for the firstborn sons to remain with their families now that the Levites were God's people for carrying out his purpose when it comes to ministering and taking care of the tabernacle.