Day 087, Wednesday, Nov. 6
Numbers 2:1 – 3:20 Click here to read
The arrangement of the camp has both practical and symbolic value: The clans are grouped together to preserve their unity, and God, as represented by the Tabernacle, is at the center of everything.
Notice that there are two squares surrounding the Tabernacle. The inner square is made up of Levites, who have duties related to the Tabernacle, and they are surrounded by the other tribes.
This means that the priestly class is literally as well as figuratively both a gateway and a bridge between God and the people. They serve to connect God to his people, but also form a wall of sorts between them.
For many centuries towns and cities in the Christianized parts of the world continued the tradition of the church being the center of the community, both literally and figuratively. As you travel across most of Europe, the tallest and most impressive building in the old downtown is almost always a church or cathedral.
In Sunday’s reading from the last chapter of Leviticus we read about how people who have been dedicated to God can be redeemed.
We get a reminder of that in 3:11-13.
God, in remembrance of the Exodus, has claimed the firstborn as his own, among both humans and animals.
The firstborn animals are sacrificed, but the firstborn male of a woman is claimed by God for service. However, the Levites serve to fulfill this claim. “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine,” God said.
The Levites are set apart, not for special status, but for special service.