The Levites substitution for the firstborn

You can’t escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. (Abraham Lincoln)

Responsibility

Moses, Aaron, and his sons were to make sure that the Israelites worshiped in the proper way (vv. 38-41). So they obeyed the LORD and counted the Levites by their clans. Here are the requirements made of the Levites for the first-born:

  1. The first-born were numbered from a month old (vv. 42-43). Those certainly were not recognized who, though first-born, had become heads of families themselves, but those only that were born since their coming out of Egypt, when the first-born were sanctified (Ex. 13:2). If there were 22,000 first-born males, we may suppose as many females, and all these brought forth in the first year after they came out of Egypt when there were abundance of marriages made among the Israelites. They were not discouraged by the present distress, but married in faith, expecting that God would shortly visit them with mercy, and that their children, though born in bondage, should live in liberty and honor.
  2. The number of the first-born, and that of the Levites, by special providence, were similar; thus, when he divided the nations, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel (Deut. 32:8). Known unto God are all his works beforehand, and there is an exact proportion between them, and so it will appear when they come to be compared. The Levites’ cattle are said to be taken instead of the firstlings of the cattle of the children of Israel, with all their possessions.
  3. The small number of first-born which exceeded the number of the Levites (273 in all) were to be redeemed, at five shekels apiece, and the redemption-money given to Aaron; for it would not do well to have them added to the Levites. It is probable that in the exchange they began counting with the eldest of the first-born, and so downward, so that those who were to be redeemed with money were the 273 youngest of the first-born. This process was more likely than to think it was determined by lot or that the money was paid out of a public fund.

Application

I am not the first-born in my family but this does not excuse me from having a responsibility to those who are new in the faith. I need to always have someone who is discipling me and I always need to be discipling someone else.

Numbers 3:38-51 (English Standard Version)


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