Mystery of the Firstborn

Good morning!

I am continuing on in the book of Numbers this morning, chapters 3 and 4, and learned something I had never known.  Did you know why God chose the Levites to be his priests and ministers of His Tent of Meeting and later His temple?

Well, it began with God's selection of Moses to lead the people.  Moses was a member of Levi's family. In Exodus 6:16-20, we read that Moses' mother, Jochebed, was Levi's actual daughter.  Levi also had three sons, and the duties of tending the temple were divided between the three sons and their descendants.  WHEN the Jewish temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem, and I have no doubt it will be because prophecies in Scripture declare this, I have no doubt that descendants of Levi will once again tend the temple.

If you are familiar with the Bible, you know that being the firstborn son was a big deal to the Jews. There was that whole squabble and mess between Jacob and Esau, for instance.  It turns out that God set the precedent for this.  We read in Numbers 3:11-13 that God consecrated the family and descendants of Levi "from among the people of Israel as a stand-in for every Israelite mother's firstborn son." {The Message version}  God goes on to say, "All the firstborn are mine - - when I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I consecrated for my own use every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal.  They belong to me.  I am God."

If you ever wondered why God chose Aaron's descendants to be the priestly line, instead of Moses' descendants, there's your answer!  Aaron was Moses' older brother (Ex. 16:20), by three years according to Jewish tradition.  (http://www.jewfaq.org/moshe.htm)  And, their father was the firstborn of his father, who was the second-born son of Levi.  (That is curious, isn't it?  Gershon was Levi's firstborn son, but Kohath was the father of Amram, who was the father of Aaron and Moses.)

Levi had three sons and at least one daughter, Jochebed.  She gave birth to both Aaron and Moses. (Yes, Amram married his aunt!)  It was from Aaron's line that the priests descended.  Numbers 18:5-7  Only they were allowed to enter the Holy of Holies (the Tent of Testimony), the place where the Ark of the Covenant (The Testimony) was kept.  Only they were to tend the altar and make sacrifices.  The descendants of Aaron's uncles, also Levites, had duties associated with the Tent of Meeting (which housed the Tent of Testimony) as well.  Those duties are very clearly delineated in Numbers 3 and 4, and elsewhere.

So, there's your partial answer as to why God chose the Levites to be His priestly line.  It had to do with consecration of the firstborn son as being dedicated to God.  Why Levi's family was selected instead of Reuben's or Dan's or Simeon's or one of the other of Jacob's 12 sons....I don't know.  God does not choose to reveal that.

The Levites were a very exclusionary bunch.  If a member of any other Jewish family tried to insert himself into the role of a Levite, he was ordered to be put to death, or God took his life directly. (Numbers 3:10 and 2 Samuel 6:7)  Our God is a God of order!  When He set up Israelite society, He wanted things done a certain way.

It is a mystery why God chooses whom He chooses.  All we can say is that He is God and He does what He pleases.  (Isaiah 46:10)  In our current day, the firstborn typically gets no more pre-eminence that do the rest of the children.  I'm glad that, no matter your birth order, you can receive God's call into the ministry.   I'm also glad that, no matter how or where God calls you, His calling upon your life is sacred.

Good morning, Lord.  Thank you for the peaceful rain and the quiet of the morning.  We bow before You in praise and reverence, reflecting on how You established the Levitical priesthood for Your people.  Thank you for Your calling on the life of each of Your children.  Please fill us with your Holy Spirit today that we might fulfill Your holy calling on our lives, so that we may walk....resplendent!  In Jesus' name, amen.