1, 2, 3...

Surprise, surprise, the first chapter of Numbers is all about numbers. The people are tallied. We are given a direct count of nearly every male of fighting age of every tribe of Israel. (The total’s 603,550 if you’re interested.) I wonder if as many people were up in arms about this ancient census as there are concerned about our current one!

Either way, the first chapter of this book that is all about the numbers ends with this:

The families of the tribe of Levi, however, were not counted along with the others. The LORD had said to Moses: "You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony—over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death. The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each man in his own camp under his own standard. The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the Testimony."

The Israelites did all this just as the LORD commanded Moses.

Numbers 1:47-54

The Levites were the priests. So how many priests were there at this point? In the first chapter here it’s hard to come up with a number for the Levites so I don’t know. Later in Numbers we’re given an amount (See Numbers 3:43, 26:62) but here we are told that they were not counted along with the others. They weren’t to be numbered along with folks doing the common stuff. Instead they did the things of God. They tended to the God stuff. They acted as a go between for the rest of the Israelites and their Holy God. They represented God to the people and the people to God. It was important work. They didn’t have the same rights as the rest of the folks; the Levites were not only “not counted among the Israelites” when it came to the fighting men and common stuff but also when it came to land allotments, instead the Lord was their inheritance (see Deuteronomy 10:9.)

Now I can’t pretend that it is exactly the same today for the Christian as it was for the Levite Priests of the Hebrew Scriptures but shouldn’t there be some similarities?

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10

Pete’s talking to believers here. Today the followers of Christ are a royal priesthood. We talk about “the priesthood of believers” often (at least in protestant circles) when it comes to theology. We like to point at this verse and celebrate the fact that Christ made it possible for all to have access to the Father. Good deal, theology is important, but I wonder do we live out the call to be priests?

Do we set aside our rights or do we fight for every bit of ground we can get?

Do we reflect God to the people we encounter or do we try to win theological arguments?

Do we carry the needs of these folks that Christ loves into the very presence of our king?

Do we consider God to be enough for us and call others to do the same?

Do we sacrifice for those that are far from our holy God?

It seems to me that it is still hard to number the priests.