Daily Devotions
The Levites
Title: The Levites
Reading for February 8: Numbers 3-4
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine..."
Numbers 3:11-12
The Levites serve as parallels to us today as Christians in many ways:
1. Redemption. God had a special claim on all the firstborn in Israel because the final act of their redemption in Egypt (the death of the firstborn) led to God consecrating for His own all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. However, instead of taking the firstborn, he took the entire tribe of Levi. He didn't take their lives (by killing them) but accepted their lifelong service as payment. They were no longer their own. God claimed them. In the same way, God lays a special claim on our lives (1 Cor 6:19-20).
2. Separation. This redemption led to a separation: "Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine." (Num 8:14) We are to live lives distinct from the world. We are not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). We are to be separate.
3. Dedication. "And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as a wave offering to the LORD... For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel." (Num 8:13, 16) We are not given the option of withholding part of our lives for ourselves. We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). We are no longer our own. We have been bought with a price and must present ourselves as slaves to God (Rom 6:13).
Father, we commit to you our lives as a holy and acceptable offering.
