Numbers 3:1-13
The Sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1–7)
1 Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu had died before the LORD when they offered profane fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle
5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD.”
The priests came from the sons of Aaron the brother of Moses who spoke for him before Pharaoh with the plagues on Egypt to let God’s people go out of bondage into glorious freedom to worship the LORD; the Levites from that tribe of Israel’s sons were appointed as helpers for the priests in regards to all things of the temple, similar to New Testament deacons. These Levites served Aaron and his sons by attending to their needs as well as the congregation’s. They also maintained the tabernacle’s furnishings and kept the lights of the candles burning night and day. The dedication of these helpers allowed the firstborn of Israel to be excluded from being devoted to the LORD as all firstborn were commanded to be (Exodus 13:2) of both man and beast. Not that the firstborn of people would be sacrificed as those of the animals, but that they would have been dedicated to the service of God as the Levites were. This kept a smaller group of men as chosen to serve the priests, the tabernacle, and the congregation. In Christ, by contrast, we all are priests to the Lord (Revelation 1:6, 5:10) and serve the temples of these individual bodies where God dwells as Spirit now (1 Corinthians 6:19) as well as the greater congregation (1 Peter 2:5) which is the body of Christ, the church of the living God. We still have pastors and elders as under-shepherds loosely acting as priests over the household of God in local congregations and deacons somewhat as Levites who administer the house and its running along with the people, but it is now a different and more complete ministry to all in the local body and the universal church. We see the pattern set in under the Old Covenant Testament made complete therefore in the new for God’s priests and their helpers in the church.
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