Numbers 6 to 8: Blessing, Offerings and the Service of the Levites

Introduction

Israel is still in the Sinai desert. God is preparing his people for the great departure toward the promised land. At Action Biblique Servette, in Geneva, Etienne Jodar continues the series on the book of Numbers, with a stated goal: to move quickly enough through chapters 7 and 8 to reach the second part of the book soon, when Israel sets out on the march.

The message starts from the priestly blessing of Numbers 6, the well-known "birkat kohanim" of Judaism, which is also taken up in our churches. It then moves through the long lists of offerings in chapter 7, the lampstand, and the consecration of the Levites in chapter 8.

Behind these texts that we sometimes skim, the preacher brings out very concrete truths: where blessing comes from, what God knows about the weight of your service, why we obey even when we do not understand everything, and what the Church owes to those who serve it.

Message Outline

1. Protection, Grace and Peace: The Priestly Blessing

God tells Moses how Aaron and his sons will bless Israel: "Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).
Protection first: only the Lord can keep you in your battles, when the mountains of your life are too high. Psalm 121 says it: "I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from Yahweh."
Then grace: the face that shines speaks of favor. "If we were without sin, we might not need God's grace." But as sinners we depend on it, not only to go to heaven, but at every moment of the day.
Finally peace: for the Hebrews, shalom is not only the absence of war. It is well-being, health, prosperity, salvation.
"What a beautiful wish for someone!" Rather than "best wishes" in our New Year letters, we could wish protection, grace and peace, like Paul, who speaks of grace and peace in his letters.

2. A Blessing That Comes From Belonging and Passes Through a Priest

What stands out is the repetition of the divine name, Yahweh, which the Segond Bible renders as "the Eternal." It is not just protection, grace and peace in general: it is protection, grace and peace from someone.
"So they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them" (Numbers 6:27). God wants a people who belong to him, who bear his name and not that of another god. Blessing flows from belonging to the people of God.
It also passes through a mediator: it is the priests, the kohanim, who bless Israel. A priest is needed.
Under the new covenant, it is only through the high priest Jesus that we receive God's blessing. It comes through no other man. It is in Christ that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3).
The preacher's question: is Jesus the high priest of your life?

3. Wagons for the Levites: God Knows the Weight of Service

On the day Moses finishes setting up the tabernacle, he anoints it and consecrates it with all its furnishings, as well as the altar (Numbers 7:1). Anointing sets apart for the service of God.
The princes of the twelve tribes bring six covered wagons and twelve oxen, the equivalent for us of pickup trucks or tractors: working tools.
Moses gives them to the Levites according to their service: two wagons to the sons of Gershon, who carried the curtains, which were lighter; four wagons to the sons of Merari, in charge of the bases, pillars and enclosure, which were heavier; none to the sons of Kohath, who had to carry the sacred objects on their shoulders (Numbers 7:6-9).
First lesson: God knows very well how hard service is. He knew that transporting the tent of meeting through the desert was grueling work. "He is not indifferent to the burdens we carry." He is not unaware of how hard what he asks of you is.

4. Obeying Even When We Do Not Understand Everything

The sons of Kohath walked through the desert, struggling under the weight of the objects carried on their shoulders. The reason was not necessarily obvious to everyone, but they had to obey.
About five hundred years later, David may have thought it absurd to carry on the shoulder what could be moved on a cart. He has the ark placed on a brand-new cart, "the latest thing," driven by Uzzah and Ahio (2 Samuel 6:3). A few moments later, Uzzah dies.
David is shocked by the severity of God for three months. Then he understands: "No one ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites, for Yahweh has chosen them to carry the ark of God" (1 Chronicles 15:2). The Levites then carry it on their shoulders with poles, as Moses had commanded (1 Chronicles 15:15).
"My friend, do not experience the severity of God." It is the same God in the pages of the book of Numbers and today, and the Lord disciplines the one he loves (Hebrews 12:6).
The new covenant has far fewer rules, and simpler ones. Some may seem strange, such as not marrying a non-Christian, or a certain way of wearing your hair during worship. But not understanding everything does not allow us to ignore what God says: "It is not you who decides, it is the king. It is Jesus."
If you have already experienced the severity of God because you disobeyed him, take advantage of it, as David did: "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word" (Psalm 119:67).

5. Twelve Identical and Generous Offerings

God sets the way: one prince per day for the dedication of the altar. On the first day, Nahshon son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah, brings a silver platter of 130 shekels and a silver bowl of 70 shekels, both full of fine flour mixed with oil, a gold pan of 10 shekels full of incense, and animals for the burnt offering, the sin offering and the peace offering (Numbers 7:12-17).
The preacher does the math: about two kilos of silver, more than 3,500 Swiss francs at the current rate, and much more for the gold. Fine flour, the purest, was then the most expensive. Twenty-one animals are sacrificed on this first day alone. "It was very, very generous."
He recalls the meaning of the sacrifices: the burnt offering, entirely consumed, expresses total surrender to God; the sin offering covers unintentional sins; the peace offering symbolizes fellowship with God.
Then the days go by, and the offerings are all identical: Nethanel for Issachar, Eliab for Zebulun, then Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, up to the twelfth day.
Why so much repetition, in a time when parchment, ink and hand copies were costly? The preacher cites a theologian: the purpose is probably to stress that each tribe has an equal share in worship and that all commit fully to supporting the tabernacle and the priesthood. Everyone is involved, and very generously.
The chapter ends with Moses hearing the voice of God speaking to him from above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim (Numbers 7:89).

6. The Lampstand: God Sets the Way

Aaron must place the seven lamps so that they give light in front of the lampstand. The lampstand, the seven-branched menorah (not the Hanukkah one, which has nine), is of hammered gold "from its base to its flowers," according to the pattern that Yahweh had shown Moses (Numbers 8:1-4).
One can look for symbolism: the lampstand as an image of the Church (Revelation 1:20), the light as an image of Jesus, "the light of the world" (John 8:12), or of the Word, "a lamp to my feet" (Psalm 119:105).
Etienne Jodar prefers to stay with what is clear in the text, "even if it is perhaps less intellectually appealing": everything is set by God. Aaron did so, "as Yahweh commanded Moses."
The refrain of the book of Judges describes a catastrophic situation: "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).
"We have a king: Jesus." In worship and in service, we do not do what pleases us. The New Testament speaks of order in worship, of modesty even in dress. The worship offered to God is ordered; it is not left to everyone's taste.

7. The Levites: Purified to Serve, Supported by All the People

God shows how to purify the Levites: water of purification, a razor over the whole body, washed clothes, two bulls offered. All Israel is gathered and the children of Israel lay their hands on the Levites (Numbers 8:5-12).
The Levites replace the firstborn. God had consecrated to himself all the firstborn of Israel on the day he struck those of Egypt, spared by the blood of the lamb on the doorposts. In chapter 3, he had taken the Levites in their place (Numbers 8:16-18).
Why the tribe of Levi? Because the Levites had shown particular faithfulness to God after the episode of the golden calf. They served from age 25 to 50, then helped their brothers: "an early retirement," the preacher smiles (Numbers 8:24-26).
To serve, they first had to be purified: "After that, the Levites went in to do their service" (Numbers 8:22). "Before serving God, you must be purified, my friend." Without Jesus Christ, your service is not accepted by God, who does not tolerate sin in his presence.
They also needed the support of the people. With no property or territory, they lived on the offerings, the tithes and the sacrifices that were not entirely burned. The laying on of hands showed that this was everyone's concern.
Etienne Jodar speaks openly: this week, the pastoral team had to make the "heartbreaking" decision to decline help to a man and his family who were ready to put themselves at the Lord's service: the church's finances did not allow it to help him as much as would have been needed. He thanks the congregation for its great generosity: even without being able to give as much as hoped to this person, the church was able to maintain its existing support, including that of a pastor and his family.
"The worker deserves his wages" and "you shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain" (1 Timothy 5:17-18). If God wants even animals to benefit from their work, how much more those who serve him. He also speaks for pastors forced to take a secular job because their church, though well established, does not pay them a decent salary. This is not glorious for the pastor, and it is shameful on the part of the congregation: either it does not understand what God says in his Word, or, worse, it ignores it.
Paul sometimes worked with his hands, but it was not the ideal: as soon as he was helped, he devoted himself entirely to the Word (Acts 18:5). Some young people in the church are thinking about pastoral ministry: "Let us not let financial questions influence young people who want to serve God." The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37).

Key Takeaways

God's blessing (protection, grace and peace) comes from belonging to his people and today passes through a single mediator, Jesus, the high priest.
God knows the exact weight of the service he entrusts to you: he is neither indifferent to nor ignorant of your burdens.
Obedience does not depend on what we understand: David learned this the hard way with the new cart.
In worship and in service, it is King Jesus who sets the way, not what seems right to us.
Those who serve God need to be purified by Christ and generously supported by the whole Church.

Personal Application

Is Jesus truly the high priest of your life, the one through whom you expect God's blessing?
Whom could you wish protection, grace and peace this week, on behalf of the Lord?
Is there a commandment of God that you get around because it seems strange or outdated to you, like David with his new cart?
What burden are you carrying right now while thinking that God does not measure its weight?
How do you take part, concretely and generously, in supporting those who serve the Church: pastors, elders, missionaries?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the priestly blessing of Numbers 6 contain?

Three wishes: protection (may the LORD bless you and keep you), grace (may he make his face shine on you) and peace, the Hebrew shalom, which means well-being, health, prosperity and salvation. Etienne Jodar stresses that the name of the LORD is repeated three times: this blessing comes from someone, and it is given to those who belong to his people.

Why did the sons of Kohath receive no wagon in Numbers 7?

Because they were in charge of the sacred objects, which had to be carried on the shoulders (Numbers 7:9). When David later moved the ark on a new cart, Uzzah died. David learned the lesson: the ark had to be carried by the Levites, as Moses had commanded. For the preacher, we must obey God even when we do not understand everything.

What do the Levites teach us about supporting God's servants?

The Levites had no property and no territory: they lived on the offerings of the people, and all Israel laid hands on them. Etienne Jodar reminds us that the worker deserves his wages (1 Timothy 5:18) and calls the Church to support pastors, elders and missionaries, so that money does not hold back young people who want to serve God.