Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Numbers-Chapter 4

Num 4.1-49 tells us that after they had taken the number of the Levites and exchanged them for the first-born of Israel, they are now numbered again and will take out from among them those who were fit for their duties. The Lord has a routine of duties and a setting up and a tearing down of the Mishkan while they were in the wilderness.

v 1…Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

v 2…”Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their father’s households,

v 3…from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service (Hebrew “tzaava” or warfare; the Avodah service was seen as spiritual warfare in the Mishkan; Elijah was seen as engaged in spiritual warfare-2 Kings 2.12) to do do the work (melachah and the same word used in Exo 20.10) in the tent of meeting.

v 4…THis is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things (Hebrew “kodesh ha kodeshim”-the Ark, the table of bread, the Menorah, the altars, the veil and various vessels of their ministry).

v 5…When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and they shall take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it (they could only go in once a year, but when they traveled they could go in and perform this because the kivod was gone and this was the signal to move),

v 6…and they shall lay a covering of seal-skin (probably the Dugong) on it and shall spread over it a cloth of pure blue (techelet and emblematic of the heavens), and shall insert its poles.

v 7…Over the table of the bread of the presence (“bread of the faces”) they shall also spread a cloth of blue and put on it the dishes and the spoons and the sacrificial bowls and the jars for the libation, and the continual bread shall be on it (it seems they had what was needed to make this bread in the wilderness, and may have bought grain from neighboring countries).

v 8…And they shall spread over them (dishes and other vessels belonging to the table of bread) a cloth of scarlet (tolat shanni) material, and cover the same with a covering of seal-skin, and they shall inset its poles.’

v 9…Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light (in the MIshkan), along with its lamps and its snuffers, and its trays and all its oil vessels, by which they serve it;

v 10…and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of seal-skin, and shall put it on the carrying bars (the Menorah had no poles so it was placed in a bag-like container of seal-skin and then slung on the carrying bar).

v 11…And over the golden altar (of incense) they shall spread a blue cloth and cover it with a covering of seal-skin, and shall insert its poles;

v 12…and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of seal-skin and put them on the carrying bars (a container with carrying bars).

v 13…Then they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread purple (argamon) cloth over it (the fire was somehow preserved in a separate vessel).

v 14…They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it; the firepans, the forks and shovels and basins, all the utensils of the altar, and they shall spread a cover of seal-skin over it and insert its poles (the seal-skin covered these various articles to protect them from rain and dust).

v 15…And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall carry them, so that they may not touch the holy objects and die. THese are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

v 16…And the responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is the oil for the light and the fragrant incense and the continual grain offering (offered with the lambs ij the morning and evening) and the anointing oil-the responsibility of all the tabernacle and of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings (he supervised all this).”

v 17…Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

v 18…”Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites (make sure that none of them are cut off and die because they are negligent of these things or through the carelessness of Moses and Aaron).

v 19…But do this to them that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy objects (because of the kedusha on them); Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load,

v 20…but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment lest they die (the Levites were not to be present while the priests were packing the objects up).”

v 21…Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

v 22…Take a census of the sons of Gershon (Moses will not list these families according to the flesh, but in order of the kedusha of the articles they were responsible for-Kohath-v 34-45) also, by their father’s households, by their families,

v 23…from thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them; all who enter to perform the service (tzava or “warfare”) to do the work in the tent of meeting.

v 24…This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying;

v 25…they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle (Mishkan) and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of seal-skin that is on top of it,n and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting,

v 26…and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform.

v 27…All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their work, shall be performed as the command of Aaron and his sons, and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads.

v 28…This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

v 29…As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their father’s households,

v 30…from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service (warfare) to do the work of the tent of meeting (ohel moed).

v 31…Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets,

v 32…and the pillars around the court and their sockets and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry.

v 33…This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

v 34…So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the Kohathites by their families, and by their father’s households,

v 35…from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service (warfare) for the work in the tent of meeting.

v 36…And their numbered men by their families were 2750.

v 37…These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses.

v 38…And the numbered men if the sons of Gershon by their families, and by their father’s households,

v 39…from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service (warfare) for work in the tent of meeting.

v 40…And their numbered men of the families, by their father’s households, were 2630.

v 41…These are the numbered men of the families of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord

v 42…And the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their father’s households,

v 43…from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service (warfare) for work in the tent of meeting.

v 44…And their numbered men by their families were 3200.

v 45…These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses.

v 46…All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their father’s households,

v 47…from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of the service (warfare) and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting.

v 48…And their numbered men were 8580 (compared to the the size of the congregation of the sons of Israel, there were relatively few who were available to do the work; the able men to fight the physical wars and serve in this world fight after the flesh; but those who fight the spiritual battles and are devoted to the service of God “fight the good fight”).

v 49…According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses, they were numbered, everyone by his serving or carrying; thus these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had commanded Moses (everyone had his purpose, and assignments will change when the sanctuary changed from a portable tent ot a building).

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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