PM Feb 18th Num 4

February 18^th     Numbers 4        The Levi Duties

1: And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 2: Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers, 3: From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. 4: This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things: 5: And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it: 6: And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. 7: And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: 8: And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. 9: And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it: 10: And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar. 11: And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof: 12: And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put them on a bar: 13: And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon: 14: And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins, and put to the staves of it. 15: And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. 16: And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof. 17: And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 18: Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites: 19: But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: 20: But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die. 21: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 22: Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, hroughout the houses of their fathers, by their families; 23: From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. 24: This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens: 25: And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers' skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, 26: And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve. 27: At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens. 28: This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 29: As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; 30: From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. 31: And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof, 32: And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden. 33: This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

The Levites counted again

34: And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers, 35: From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation: 36: And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. 37: These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses. 38: And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers, 39: From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, 40: Even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty. 41: These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD. 42: And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, 43: From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, 44: Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred. 45: These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses. 46: All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers, 47: From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation, 48: Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore. 49: According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Numbers 5        Unclean people

1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2: Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead: 3: Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. 4: And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

Restitution

5: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6: Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; 7: Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. 8: But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him. 9: And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. 10: And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.

Adultery

11: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 13: And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; 4: And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: 15: Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16: And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: 17: And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: 18: And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: 19: And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: 20: But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: 21: Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; 22: And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. 23: And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: 24: And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. 25: Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: 26: And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. 27: And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28: And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. 29: This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; 30: Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. 31: Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

In chapter 4 Moses spells out the duties of the tribe of Levi and the Levites are counted again. Then in chapter 5 we have three subjects the regulations regarding unclean people, the restitution or compensation rules and the law of adultery. The men of the Levites were accounted as mature enough between 30 - 50 years of age. Then we have a list of the duties and responsibilities of the Levites. The work was often mundane and yet it was essential to enable Israel to approach the Lord. Their work was not at all glamorous. It was hard work and sometimes dirty work. it was a burden in other words everything was carried by hand. Next Moses was instructed to command Israel to put out of the camp any person that was a leper, or had an open weeping sore, or who had come into contact with a dead body. This applied to men or women. Then the Lord told Moses to tell the people that if they had injured any other person then they were to pay the sum back plus 20%. And they were to offer a trespass offering. Next the Lord turns to the matter of Adultery. If a man had an inward awareness that his wife had been unfaithful then he took her to the priest who made a drink of barley, oil and frankincense. Water was placed in the vessel with dust from the earth. The woman drank the liquid and if she was guilty then she was told to swear with an oath that if she was guilty then she would die from within. Then some of the ingredients were burnt before the Lord. If she belly swelled up and her thigh rotted then she was guilty before the Lord. However if she was innocent then she remained healthy and bore children. This brought about justice and the fear of the Lord on Israel.