Scripture Daily

Context No. 1802 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 8:1-11: in context

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to Aaron, and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand.’” 3Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as the LORD commanded Moses. 4This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses. 5The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7You shall do this to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. 8Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. 10You shall present the Levites before the LORD. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the LORD.

God gives instructions for the lamps of the golden lampstand, and then for the setting apart of the Levites for his service. To dedicate them, they are first to be cleansed, sprinkled with the water of cleansing, washed, purified. Then they are presented before the Tent of Meeting, and the people lay their hands on them; and Aaron offers the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering, given over to God, that they may do the service of the LORD. First cleansed, then wholly offered.

The pattern by which the Levites were set apart is worth noticing: first they were cleansed, and then they were offered to God for his service. They could not simply take up the sacred work as they were; they were washed, purified, made clean, and only then presented to God, given over to him as an offering, dedicated wholly to his service. The order matters, cleansing first, then dedication, and so does the shape of it, that they were offered to God, handed over, made his. There is a picture here of how we come into God's service, and it holds for every believer, not only priests. We do not enter God's service on the strength of our own fitness; we come needing to be cleansed, and the cleansing is God's provision, not our achievement. And then, cleansed, we are offered, given over to God, presented to him as those set apart for his purposes. The New Testament takes up exactly this language: present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God; present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead. To be in God's service is to be first made clean by him and then wholly given to him, offered, dedicated, no longer our own but his, our lives presented for his use. This is a different thing from serving God in our spare time, on our own terms, keeping ownership of ourselves. The Levites were offered, given over entirely, made God's for his service. And the call to us is the same: to present ourselves to God, cleansed by his grace, as a living offering, wholly given over to him for his purposes, rather than serving him at arm's length while keeping ourselves. First cleansed by him, then wholly offered to him: that is the shape of a life given to God's service.

Do I serve God at arm's length, on my own terms, keeping ownership of myself, or can I follow the pattern of the Levites, cleansed by God's grace and then wholly offered to him, presenting myself as a living sacrifice, given over entirely to God for his purposes rather than my own?

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