CHAPTER 8

(1490 B.C.)

THE LAMPS

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

²Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the Candlestick. (These Lamps were a Type of Christ, Who is the Light of the world [Jn. 8:12]. Christ is the Source of that light, the Cross is the Means of that light, and the Holy Spirit is the Instrument by and through which the light comes to fallen humanity, typified by the oil. So, in the Golden Lampstand, we have Christ, the Cross, and the Holy Spirit. The Reader must understand that all the things which the Lord is, and He is everything, cannot be given to the lost sons of Adams fallen race, except by the means of the Cross [I Cor. 1:23].)

³And Aaron did so; he lit the lamps thereof over against the Candlestick (Lampstand), as the LORD commanded Moses.

⁴And this work of the Candlestick was of beaten gold (typifying Christ, Who is God, but Who would become Man, hence the word beaten), unto the shaft thereof (the central shaft of the Golden Lampstand typifies Christ), unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work (the flowers come about in the life of the Believer, which the six stems on the two sides of the shaft represent, only as those stems are properly in Christ, i.e., the main shaft): according unto the pattern which the LORD had showed Moses, so he made the Candlestick (the Pattern is the Word of God; we must not deviate from that Word).

THE LEVITES

⁵And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁶Take the Levites from among the Children of Israel, and cleanse them. (The Levites were representatives of the congregation, whereas the Priests were representatives of Christ. The Priests had already been consecrated, and now the Levites were, as well, to be consecrated for service, i.e., cleansed, which could only be done by the blood of the lamb.)

⁷And thus shall you do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them (a Type of the Word of God, water taken from the Brazen Laver), and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean (the shaving and washing were symbolic of Sanctification, which could only truly come about upon the advent of the Holy Spirit in a new Dispensation, after the Cross [Jn. 14:16-17]).

⁸Then let them take a young bullock (Sin Offering) with his Meat Offering (a Thanksgiving Offering consisting of bread, and no flesh), even fine flour (Perfection of Christ) mingled with oil (Holy Spirit upon Christ), and another young bullock shall you take for a Sin Offering.

⁹And you shall bring the Levites before the Tabernacle of the congregation: and you shall gather the whole assembly of the Children of Israel together:

¹⁰And you shall bring the Levites before the LORD (near the Brazen Altar): and the Children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites (probably the tribal Princes; the laying on of hands signified that the obligation to assist personally in the service of the Sanctuary was transferred from the whole congregation to the Levites):

¹¹And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an Offering (Wave Offering) of the Children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD. (There numbered more than 8,000 Levites, so, most probably, leaders among them marched up and down beside the Altar, symbolic of the Wave Offering. They now belonged to the Lord, and were to do His service only.)

¹²And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks (transferring their sins to the bullocks in type, symbolic of Christ, Who would take our sins on the Cross): and you shall offer the one (bullock) for a Sin Offering, and the other for a Burnt Offering, unto the LORD, to make an Atonement for the Levites (there was no Peace Offering; for the subject here was not worship and fellowship, as in Leviticus, but the service and warfare of the Wilderness).

¹³And you shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an Offering unto the LORD.

¹⁴Thus shall you separate the Levites from among the Children of Israel: and the Levites shall be Mine (for the Lords service only).

¹⁵And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them for an Offering.

¹⁶For they are wholly given unto Me from among the Children of Israel: instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the Children of Israel, have I taken them unto Me. (Previously, it seems that the Lord had designated that the firstborn of the males would serve in this capacity, but changed it to the sons of Levi, i.e., the Levites.)

¹⁷For all the first born of the Children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself (the firstborn, in a sense, were types of Christ, Who would be the Firstborn among many brethren, signifying Christ as the originator of Salvation [Rom. 8:29]).

¹⁸And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the Children of Israel (the Levites took the place of the firstborn, as it regards service to the Sanctuary).

¹⁹And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Children of Israel, to do the service of the Children of Israel in the Tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an Atonement for the Children of Israel: that there be no plague among the Children of Israel, when the Children of Israel come near unto the Sanctuary. (The idea of the Levites making an Atonement has to do with the fact that they functioned in the realm of the Sanctuary, with its chief purpose being the Brazen Altar and the Sacrifices. Believers helping to take the Message of the Cross to a dying world fall into the same category. Paul said so [Phil. 4:17-19]. The only thing that stands between the people and the plague is the Cross of Christ.)

²⁰And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the Children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the Children of Israel unto them.

²¹And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an Offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an Atonement for them to cleanse them.

²²And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the Tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them. (This refers only to the time that the Tabernacle was to be moved. If anybody but the Priests went in any other time, they could be stricken dead.)

LEVITICAL SERVICE

²³And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁴This is it that belongs unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation (it was changed here from 30 to 25 and during the time of David it was changed to 20 [I Chron. 23:24-27]):

²⁵And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:

²⁶But shall minister with their brethren in the Tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do unto the Levites touching their charge. (Those over 50 were given some honorary duties, that they might have some place and post in the House of God.)