Numbers · chapter 3 of 36
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Numbers 3 introduces the sons of Aaron, recalls the death of Nadab and Abihu for offering unauthorized fire, and explains that the Lord takes the Levites to serve at the tabernacle in place of Israel's firstborn. The Levites are counted from one month old, their three clans are assigned, and the surplus firstborn are redeemed with money.
Chapters 1 and 2 counted and arranged the tribes that go to war. Numbers 3 returns to the center of the camp and deals with the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron. The Levites inherit no land and do not go to war: they belong to God in a special way. The chapter explains why, and ties it to the night of the Passover in Egypt, when Israel's firstborn were spared.
The chapter begins with the descendants of Aaron and Moses. Aaron's sons are Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, consecrated as priests. Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons; so only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests with their father.
The Lord commands that the tribe of Levi be brought before Aaron to assist him and to care for the tabernacle. The Levites are given to Aaron and his sons as helpers, but only Aaron's family may serve as priests; any outsider who comes near will die. God explains that he has taken the Levites for himself in place of every firstborn of Israel, because the firstborn have been his since the night he struck the firstborn of Egypt.
The Levite males are counted from one month old, by clans. The Gershonites camp on the west, the Kohathites on the south and the Merarites on the north, while Moses, Aaron and his sons camp on the east, in front of the entrance. Each clan receives its charge over the tabernacle and its parts. Then Israel's firstborn are counted: there are 273 more of them than there are Levites, and the Lord commands that this surplus be redeemed by paying five shekels each, money Moses gives to Aaron and his sons.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord because they offered fire he had not commanded. The reminder of that death, which happened in Leviticus 10, stresses that serving in holy things means obeying God rather than one's own idea of worship.
The Levites are given to Aaron and his sons as helpers. They are not priests, but their work in the tabernacle is a real surrender of a whole tribe to the service of God and his people.
The Lord declares that he has taken the Levites in place of Israel's firstborn, because every firstborn has been his since he saved Israel's firstborn in Egypt. The tribe of Levi stands for the whole nation consecrated to God.
The surplus firstborn are redeemed by paying five shekels each, and the money goes to Aaron and his sons. The ransom reminds us that life belongs to God and that someone must pay the price, an idea the New Testament sees fulfilled in Christ.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: They died before the Lord because they offered unauthorized fire in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. — Numbers 3:4
Answer: Eleazar and Ithamar. — Numbers 3:4
Answer: In place of all the firstborn of Israel, who are his because he spared Israel's firstborn when he struck the firstborn of Egypt. — Numbers 3:12-13
Answer: From one month old. — Numbers 3:15
Answer: On the west, behind the tabernacle. — Numbers 3:23
Answer: By paying five shekels for each one, money that was given to Aaron and his sons. — Numbers 3:46-48
Numbers 3 reminds us that serving God is not a career or a privilege one earns; it is a calling that God himself assigns. The Levites were taken, not self-chosen. In the church, those who serve in teaching, music or caring for others have been called by God's grace, and all should serve with the humility of knowing that the service belongs to him.
The chapter also teaches that God requires obedience in worship. The death of Nadab and Abihu is not mentioned to frighten but to recall the seriousness of what is holy. Ask your group what place reverence and obedience have in the ways you worship.
Numbers 3 shows the Levites set apart for God in place of the firstborn and organized in three clans around the tabernacle. Numbers 4 will detail the work of each clan, especially the care and carrying of the holy things.
Because God saved them at the Passover, when he struck the firstborn of Egypt but spared those of Israel. From then on every firstborn was to be consecrated to the Lord or redeemed. Here God accepts the Levites as substitutes for that claim.
It means one tribe served God on behalf of the whole nation. Each Levite stood for a firstborn, and the few firstborn left over were redeemed with money. It is a picture of substitution and ransom that helps us understand the work of Christ, though here the subject is service in the tabernacle.