Tuesday, August 11, 2009

NUMBERS: Chapter 8

Chapter 8
Summary:God speaks to Moses giving him instructions for Aaron on how to light the lamps in the tabernacle. God tells Moses that when Aaron lights the lamps, the seven* lamps are to give their light over the lampstand. As Aaron did so, he lit the lamps as commanded by God.

It is repeated that the lampstand is made from beaten gold, including the shaft of the stand and the floral pattern adorning it that God had specified when it was built.

God now tells Moses to set apart the Levites from amongst the rest of the people of Israel, and that Moses is to cleanse them. Moses is to sprinkle "purifying water" over the Levites, shave their entire bodies, and to have them wash their clothes to make themselves clean.

The Levites are then to take a young bull, along with a "grain offering" (consisting of fine flour mixed with olive oil), and yet another young bull for a "sin offering". Moses is then to bring the Levites to the door of the tabernacle, while the rest of the people of Israel are to gather around to watch. The rest of the people of Israel (all 603,550 of them?) are to place their hands upon the heads of the Levites, as Aaron offers the Levites as a gift to God on behalf of all of the people of Israel, so that the Levites may serve God on behalf of all of the people of Israel.

The Levites (all 22,300 of them?) shall lay their hands upon the heads of the young bulls, while one bull is to be offered as a "sin offering" animal sacrifice, while the other is to be offered as a "burnt offering" animal sacrifice, to make atonement for the Levites. The Levites themselves are then to be set before Aaron and his sons, and are to be offered to God (presumably, symbolically and not a "human sacrifice"). This apparently will separate the Levites from amongst the rest of the people of Israel and they will then belong to God. Afterward, the Levites shall go into service of the tabernacle after being cleansed and offered to God.

God further explains (and repeats) that the Levites belong to him and are given instead of the firstborn children of the people of Israel, and repeats his claim that firstborns (both man and animal) have belonged to him since he killed every first born in the land of Egypt. He continues, explaining that he has given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons to do the service work for the transport of the tabernacle, and to make atonement for the rest of the people of Israel, so that there will no plague amongst them.

Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel did as they were commanded in regards to the Levites, and the Levites were purified, washed their clothes, and were offered to God, while Aaron made atonement for the rest of the people of Israel through them. Afterward, the Levites went to do their service work for the tabernacle under Aaron and his son's supervision.

God tells Moses that the Levites are to begin serving the tabernacle when they reach the age of twenty five, and continue to serve until they reach the age of fifty. After they reach the age of fifty, they may help out with any light work, but will have no responsibility to do so.
Notes:1.) Another appearance of the mystical significance of the number seven in the bible.
Thoughts:While the chapter briefly starts out with a minor instruction from God to Aaron about how to light the lamps in the tabernacle, the bulk of the chapter concerns the consecration of the Levites, and God repeating his rationale that the Levites "belong" to him as an exchange for all the firstborn men and animals that he justifies he is entitled to since he killed all of the Egyptian firstborn in the book of Exodus.

God tells Moses to round up the Levites, bathe them by sprinkling them with "purifying water", shave off all of their body hair, and have them wash their clothes. Apparently, God does not like arm, leg, and pubic hair on his chosen folk, and wants their clothes fresh and clean.

It couldn't be a "holy" ceremony without a few animal sacrifices, so the Levites are to gather up a pair of young bulls along with some grains for a "sin offering" sacrifice at the tabernacle, and has the rest of the people of Israel gather around to watch the slaughter.

Curiously, God states that the "children (meaning, the people) of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites" which seems rather ludicrous to assume that 603,550 people could somehow to be able to place their hands upon 22,300 people (try getting 60 people to place their hands upon two people for a small example to how ridiculous this would be to attempt). It can perhaps be assumed that God actually means that the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel are to place their hands on the leaders of the three tribes of the Levites, but this is not specified and is only an educated guess at best.

A similar problem in wording follows when the Levites (22,300 of them) are to place their hands upon the two bulls before they are sacrificed. Again, it would seem to make more sense if the three clan leaders were the ones required to do so, but again, the wording does not specify this.

Anyways, one bull is to sacrificed as a "sin offering", while the other is a "burnt offering", which is to atone for the Levites. Following that, the Levites themselves are to be "offered" (not as a human sacrifice, but symbolically) before God by Aaron and his priestly sons, and that this offering will be on behalf of the rest of the people of Israel.

God then re-gifts the Levites to Aaron and his sons to work in the transport of the tabernacle as laid out in Numbers: Chapter 3.

So, after this ceremony Moses and Aaron send the Levites out to their duties in regards to the tabernacle, and God tacks on a provision that all Levites from the ages of 25 to 50 are to serve these responsibilities. Once they're past the age of fifty, they may help out with some of the light lifting if they wish, but they are no longer required to haul the tabernacle through the desert with the rest of the Levite men.

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