Learning Trust in the Priest's Service

This is the line of Aaron and Moses at the time that GOD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. These were the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab, the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar; those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests who were ordained for priesthood. But Nadab and Abihu died by GOD’s will, when they offered alien fire before GOD in the wilderness of Sinai; and they left no sons. So it was Eleazar and Ithamar who served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron. GOD spoke to Moses, saying: Advance the tribe of Levi and place them in attendance upon Aaron the priest to serve him. They shall perform duties for him and for the whole community before the Tent of Meeting, doing the work of the Tabernacle. They shall take charge of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting—a duty on behalf of the Israelites—doing the work of the Tabernacle. You shall assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons: they are formally assigned to him from among the Israelites. You shall make Aaron and his sons responsible for observing their priestly duties; and any outsider who encroaches shall be put to death. GOD spoke to Moses, saying: I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the male first-born, the first issue of the womb among the Israelites: the Levites shall be Mine. For every such first-born is Mine: at the time that I smote every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every first-born in Israel, human and animal, to Myself, to be Mine, GOD’s. GOD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying: Record the descendants of Levi by ancestral house and by clan; record every male among them from the age of one month up. So Moses recorded them at GOD’s command, as he was bidden. These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. These were the names of the sons of Gershon by clan: Libni and Shimei. The sons of Kohath by clan: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. The sons of Merari by clan: Mahli and Mushi.These were the clans of the Levites within their ancestral houses: To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; those were the clans of the Gershonites. The recorded entries of all their males from the age of one month up, as recorded, came to 7,500. The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the Tabernacle, to the west. The chieftain of the ancestral house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael. The duties of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting comprised: the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; the hangings of the enclosure, the screen for the entrance of the enclosure that surrounds the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, and the altar—all the service connected with these. To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites; those were the clans of the Kohathites. All the listed males from the age of one month up came to 8,600, attending to the duties of the sanctuary. The clans of the Kohathites were to camp along the south side of the Tabernacle. The chieftain of the ancestral house of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. Their duties comprised: the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the sacred utensils that were used with them, and the screen—all the service connected with these. The head chieftain of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, in charge of those attending to the duties of the sanctuary. To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites; those were the clans of Merari. The recorded entries of all their males from the age of one month up came to 6,200. The chieftain of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. They were to camp along the north side of the Tabernacle. The assigned duties of the Merarites comprised: the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, posts, and sockets, and all its furnishings—all the service connected with these; also the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords. Those who were to camp before the Tabernacle, in front—before the Tent of Meeting, on the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons, attending to the duties of the sanctuary, as a duty on behalf of the Israelites; and any outsider who encroached was to be put to death. All the Levites who were recorded, whom at GOD’s command Moses and Aaron recorded by their clans, all the males from the age of one month up, came to 22,000. GOD said to Moses: Record every first-born male of the Israelite people from the age of one month up, and make a list of their names; and take the Levites for Me, GOD, in place of every such first-born among the Israelite people, and the cattle of the Levites in place of every male first-born among the cattle of the Israelites. So Moses recorded all the first-born among the Israelites, as GOD had commanded him. All the first-born mal

Numbers 3:1-20 records the generations of Aaron, the ordination of the priestly line, the judgment that fell on Nadab and Abihu, and the divine appointment of the Levites to serve before the Tabernacle in place of every firstborn in Israel.