Numbers – Chapter 8

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,“Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. Numbers 8:5-6 – The work of the tent of meeting was going to be far more than Aaron and his sons could do on their own. While the sacrifices were done by the priests, there was many more roles within the tent that still needed to be completed daily, and that’s where the Levites came in. An entire tribe of Israel was set apart for the Lord to do His work within the tent. Our chapter today describes the dedication process for the tribe of Levi into the Lord’s work. Something though I noticed today was the uniqueness between the priestly dedication and the Levite’s dedication. See how one commentator put it. “The Levites are helpers to the priests, and the language describing their consecration is somewhat distinct from that of the priests. The priests were made holy, the Levites clean; the priests were anointed and washed, the Levites sprinkled; the priests were given new garments, the Levites washed theirs; blood was applied to the priests, it was waved over the Levites.” (Allen) Certainly still an extensive process and certainly still called to a holy work for the Lord, but even with all this the Levities still didn’t have the same access as a priest. Levites wouldn’t be offering any sacrifices on the altar nor going into the Holy of Holies. Their roles were more of the physical labor aspects of the work of the Lord like carrying the tent from one place to another and keeping things clean. How then does all this connect with us? Remember that in Christ, we aren’t made “Levites” of Christ, but “priests.” The access to God the Levities didn’t have, we have. The holiness the Levites didn’t have, we have because of Jesus. Let these chapters remind you daily of how special this closeness we have with the Lord is. What the Levities, and even the priests in Moses’ day, would have longed for we have. Instead of the presence of God being in the tent, we have the Spirit within us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3358

They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties. Numbers 8:26 – Here God was giving directions to the older Levites on what needed to change about their role. Up till then they had been the ones carrying out all the duties, but God said when you hit this certain age your role is to change. Now instead of doing everything their role was to guide and help the next generation in carrying out the duties. This change must take place in the church today if we want to see a healthy church of tomorrow. Where we have those who know church life and it’s responsibilities pouring into the next generation of the church so they know how to carry out the mission well. Whatever stage then of life you’re in, who could you pour into? What have you learned about life and your walk with God that you could share with someone to help them navigate their story with God better? Whether it’s in the workings of the church or just life, we need to pour into those younger than us to help them along. How can you begin today doing just that? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1424

Numbers 8 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. Numbers 8:22 – The message series we are currently working through at church is one covering Acts 1:1-11 where Jesus is preparing His disciples for the mission after He leaves. The point for Jesus was that they’d take in what He was giving them and then they’d go do the work. My heart with this series is that our church takes in these teachings and then gets after it with the work of the Lord. Here the Levites had much they needed to do to prepare themselves for the work assigned to them. What we see is they did all they were called to do in the prep stage, and as we see in our verse, then they went into do the work that the preparation was preparing them for. They didn’t wash, shave, and give offerings to simply go back to their tents afterwards to eat manna. Once they were prepared, they began serving. So should it be with us. Let’s take the time necessary to ready ourselves for doing the work of the Lord. Let’s learn His teachings and let’s work through the things we need to work through, but once prepared and God says go, let’s go. There is a very lost world around us in need of Jesus, let’s not keep them waiting. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2289