Numbers 8 Devotional

Cleansed and Then Given

“And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service for the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement on their behalf, so that no plague will come against the Israelites when they approach the sanctuary.””Numbers 8:19 (BSB)

Most of Numbers 8 concerns the Levites, who are about to begin their work at the Tent of Meeting. Before they carry anything, they are made clean. They are sprinkled with water, shave their bodies, and wash their clothes, and bulls are offered to make atonement for them (8:7, 12, 21).

Then something unusual happens. The whole congregation lays hands on the Levites, and Aaron presents them before the LORD as a wave offering from Israel (8:10-11). They are living gifts. God says they belong wholly to him, taken in place of the firstborn, and then he gives them to Aaron and his sons to serve on Israel's behalf, so that no plague strikes the people (8:16-19). Even at fifty, when the heavy work ends, they may still assist their brothers (8:25-26). Service among God's people begins with being cleansed and claimed by him. You do not have to earn a place before you can serve. He gives it.

To think about: Where might God be inviting you to serve others, not to earn his acceptance, but because you already belong to him?