Greetings to you on yet another exceptionally warm Sabbath in the DFW. May this day of rest find you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.
These are my thoughts and reflections on the 98th Torah or Parashah Reading of our 3-year reading cycle. It is contained in Numbers 2:14-3:13, and it picks up where we left off in last week’s reading (97) with the commissioned numbering or census of the ancient Hebrew tribes.
The Numbering of the Tribes Also Involved Their Positioning According to Yah’s Plan and Purpose
The numbering or census of the tribes was not just an enumerating of the able-bodied men of Yisra’el who could fight on behalf of the ancient nation. More so, this enumeration involved positioning and ordering the tribes to operate and achieve their intended purpose within the plan and will of Yah. Thus, as Yah ordered the tribes’ positioning in the camp around His Tabernacle, so was the order by which each tribe would proceed onward in the nation’s journeys whenever and wherever Yah’s cloud pillar would lead.
The Tribes’ Positions
As just mentioned, the tribes were positioned around the Tabernacle, and the orientation of the tribes was as follows:
- To the East of the Tabernacle and the first to move when camp broke were the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
- To the South of the Tabernacle and second to depart when camp broke were the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad.
- Central to the tribes’ positioning in the camp was the Tent of Meeting/the Tabernacle with the Levites. These would follow the eastern and southern tribes when camp broke.
- To the West of the Tabernacle and the third to move when camp broke were the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.
- And to the North of the Tabernacle and the fourth to move when camp broke were the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.
The Tribes Themselves: Why are 13 Tribes Listed?
The Patriarch Jacob/Ya’achov had twelve sons. Joseph/Yosef was one of the twelve sons of Ya’achov, yet as we can see, there is no tribe bearing his name listed. Well, it turns out that Yosef/Joseph was replaced–sort of–by his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, by Yosef’s dad, Ya’achov, just prior to Ya’achov passing in Egypt/Mitsraim (Genesis/Beresheit 48).
Then we find here in our reading today at 2:33 where Yah commanded Moshe and Aharon not to include the Tribe of Levi in the general census/numbering. Later in this reading, and even into next week’s reading, the Levites would be enumerated and given a specific set of tasks and duties.
The Levites
Aharon, who Yah chose to be the nation’s High Priest/Cohen haGadol. It would be exclusively through the Aharonic/Aaronic line that the high priesthood would be established and operate.
Aharon had four sons who would serve their father as priests operating out of the Tabernacle during Ahaon’s lifetime. These were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Yah commanded that only through Aharon’s line would the High Priest be selected and serve.
Nadab and Abihu, however, tragically died by Yah’s hand as a response to their rendering unto Him “strange fire before Yehovah” (3:4; Leviticus/Vayiqra 10:1-2). This left just Eleazar and Ithamar to serve as priests under Aharon.
We find in 3:5-10 that Yah charged Moshe as it related to Aharon’s and the remainder of the tribe of Levi’s duties. It would come to pass that the purpose of the tribe of Levi would be to support Aharon as the Cohen haGadol and to facilitate Tabernacle operations. And it is here in this section of our reading today that the census of the tribe of Levi begins.
Unlike the 12 tribes previously referred to in our reading, the tribe of Levi was parsed into two classes. Each class of Levite was assigned unique duties that were associated with Tabernacle operations and the sacred work of atonement.
A common misconception held by some is that all Levites were priests. However, just because one descended from the Patriarch Levi didn’t necessarily mean he was a priest with direct access to the Tabernacle. In fact, only Aharon and his direct descendants could serve as priests or cohanim operating out of the Tabernacle (3:1-4).
Aharon and Moshe were descended from Levi’s son, Kohath (see Genesis/Beresheit 46:11; Exodus/Shemote 6:16-25). However, Yah placed the mantle of High Priest upon Aharon and his direct descendants.
Yah positioned Aharon and Sons just East of the Tabernacle within the overall camp configuration. As chosen and anointed priests of Yah, these men were tasked with creating or establishing a barrier or guard in front of the Tabernacle’s entrance (3:38). Only Aharon and his sons were sanctioned by Yah to serve as high priests and internal operators of the Tabernacle.
It should be clearly understood, however, that Aharon was the “man” as it related to the whole of the tribe of Levi (3:9). Aharon’s sons answered and ministered to him, while the Levites who were not directly descended from him answered and ministered to both Aharon and Sons (3:10).
As a whole, the Levites were tasked with (1) guarding access to the Tabernacle from those not qualified to have access to it and (2) ministering to Aharon and Sons and directly supporting Tabernacle/Tent of Meeting operations, such as transporting, dismantling, and assembling the Tabernacle.
The Levitical Priesthood Replaced Yisra’el Firstborn
Initially, Yah claimed unto Himself all Hebrew firstborn males (Exodus/Shemote 13). This situation came about in response to the final plague in Egypt/Mitsraim when all of Egypt’s firstborn males were killed by the Destroyer (Exodus/Shemote 12). Some Bible teachers have asserted that the Hebrew firstborn would have served as priests unto Yehovah, as Yah had not, to this point, assigned the Levites to serve in this capacity on behalf of the nation. However, after the Gold Calf incident, Yah altered this set-up by claiming the Tribe of Levi as His own in place of the Hebrew firstborn sons (Exodus 32:25-29).
Yah Dwells in the Midst of the Nation
As the tribes were situated/positioned when encamped, so were they situated and positioned when the nation moved.
Yah’s presence was always in the very midst/heart of the Body Yisra’el.
Unlike the secular and carnal counterparts of ancient Yisra’el, the centralization of the Divine Presence within Body Yisra’el served exclusively as the nation’s physical and spiritual power source. The centralization of the Tabernacle, representative of Yah’s presence in the midst of the nation, was not surrounded on every side for the purpose of being a rampart of protection for the Almighty against his enemies. Yehovah, above any Being, requires no protection. Rather, the centralization of the Tabernacle within the Body Yisra’el protected the nation from her enemies from the inside out. Thus, Yah protected Yisra’el, not always by annihilating her enemies outright, but rather, Yah protected the nation by providing her the wherewithal to not only stand against the wiles, slings, and arrows of her enemies but also to reign victorious over them in the event of battle. This, then, is the reason, in great part, behind the census that is recorded in the first 3/5 of our reading here today.
Of this reality, Torah scholar, teacher, and prolific writer Tim Hegg penned:
As long as Isra’el maintained her faith in God, and gave Him the central focus of her existence, she would be victorious. Only when she looked outside, to other nations, seeking their protection, did she fall prey to her enemies (Commentary on Numbers; pg. 21).
The Spiritual Applications Associated with Our Reading
The spiritual applications of this principle of Yehovah’s indwelling presence in the nation cannot be overstated. As is so true about even the most mundane of our Torah readings, we must always remember the Apostle’s teaching:
But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. (1Co 15:46 ESV)
One can glean/draw tremendous spiritual relevance from this historical account that will serve the Kingdom-bound Netzer well in his/her walk-in Messiah. For Yah indeed dwells within His chosen ones. He, in fact, takes up residence within the very bodies of His chosen ones once he/she enters into a covenant relationship with Him:
Or don’t you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from God? The fact is, you don’t belong to yourselves; (1Co 6:19 CJB)
Thus, as with the ancient Hebrew nation, the indwelling presence provides the Netzer with the power to withstand and overcome any and all things that the world throws at him/her. Thus, the basis of the Apostle’s teaching regarding the “Whole Armor of God” (Ephesians 6).
Central to the indwelling Divine Presence to Yah’s set-apart people is the function, role, mission, and purpose of the Levitical Priesthood.
At the apex of the Levitical Priesthood’s existence stood the High Priest (aka, the Cohen haGadol). He, of course, prefigured our present and eternally reigning High Priest/Cohen haGadol, Yeshua ha Mashiach, who presently operates out of the Heavenly Mishkan/Temple, interceding on our behalf before the Creator of the Universe (Hebrews 7:25; 9:11).
Like Aharon, whose sons would succeed him as high priests, the coveted position being passed down through generations of Aharon’s descendants, Yeshua’s spiritual descendants will also receive coveted positions in the Kingdom of Yah (aka, the Malchut Elohim) as kings and priests unto Yehovah (Revelation 1:4-6; 5:9-10).
Another key aspect of the Cohen haGadol is the exclusive access He was granted to Yah’s presence in the Tabernacle. This exclusive access to His Divine Presence facilitated atonement for the nation’s sins through the annual Yom Kippurim (the Day of the Atonements) ceremony and sacrifices. For it would be through the Cohen ha Gadol and his office that peace would be made between Yah and Yisra'[el through the atonement he facilitated.
So, when we fast forward some 1,500 or so years later, this prophetic shadow picture that the Levitical High Priestly office painted would be manifested in the Person and ministries of Yeshua Messiah. Yeshua would be, and so He still remains, the only means by which peace is to be made between Yehovah and humanity: through His personal atoning sacrifice (John 3:16).
The Aharonic Cohen ha Gadol was granted the partial title (my wording) of “the anointed” (Exodus 29:29; Leviticus 6:20; Numbers 3:3). Indeed, Aharon and any of his descendants who would ascend to the high priestly office would be ceremonially anointed with a set-apart oil that would lavishly be poured upon his head (Exodus 29:7; Leviticus 8:12). His then anointed moniker would be that of haMashiyach or the anointed one. The same moniker and title of our Master Yeshua. Master Yeshua was anointed, not with the set-apart oil that Aharon and his descendants were anointed with. Rather, He was anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit (i.e., the Ruach haKadosh) (Luke 3:22; 4:1).
The whole point as it relates to this, the previous, and the next couple of parashah readings is to spotlight for us the essential concept/understanding that Yehovah has and continues to earnestly seek to dwell with His human creation. But in order for this to take place, Yah requires order, structure, Torah, faith, love, and obedience to rule the day, all in accordance with His precise, holy, and righteous ways. And ultimately, Yah will dwell with His human creation for the rest of eternity on the new earth and new heaven (Revelation 21).
The Netzer’s secret weapon, then, is the indwelling, Divine Presence, power, and authority that aids in his/her overcoming the world and delivers him/her from the clutches of the evil one. Yeshua, being filled to overflowing of the Divine Presence, overcame the world and so can we:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
(Joh 16:33 ESV)
So I say to you in closing, beloved: Whatever it is that you may be going through on this Shabbat, take heart. You have the wherewithal to overcome whatever that thing is. I encourage you to stop looking outwardly for your deliverance but rather to look inwardly to that Divine Presence that will most certainly bring about your deliverance and victory.
Until next time, I bid you Shabbat Shalom, Shavu’atov, take care.