The priestly class

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don't know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it "really" means.. Let's see where this takes us! 

I'm reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Numbers 2

I noticed this in the last chapter, how the Levites were not to be counted. As we know by now, they were designated to be priests. They lived off of the offerings of everyone else, and didn't need to be counted because they wouldn't be going to war. It's as if Moses granted a draft exemption not only for his extended family, but the entire tribe. Then again, they don't get any land of their own, so why should they have to go to war?

Numbers 3

I wasn't reading ahead when I wrote the last bit. Okay then: the Levites were to be counted, just for a different reason.

The LORD's plan had changed. Originally the first-born of sons and the first born of the livestock would be given to the LORD. But NOW the LORD is saying that, instead, all the Levites and all their livestock are to be consecrecrated instead. 

It's worth remembering from Genesis that Levi,  the patririarch of the Levites, along with his brother Simeon, went on a murderous rampage to avenge Dinah. On his deathbed, his father Jacob (Israel) cursed them for it, saying they will be scattered,

That has become true for the Levites,  since they won't have land of their own. On the other hand, they will have authority over the other tribes. The tribes will "serve" them through offerings of food and money, and the Levites will get to judge what is "clean" and "unclean." Outsiders who came near the Levites' sanctuary were to be "put to death."

Why is this so? Because the LORD said so. Of course, the LORD only told Moses, nobody else, and it is Moses who passed the message on.

Moses himself is a Levite. Hmmm.

But remember, the LORD is in a cloud nearby, having done amazing things the Israelites had witnessed upon the prophecy or proclamation of Moses. Moses wasn't a two-bit preacher saying "God told me to" do something that also happened to align with the preacher's own economic interests. The Iseraelites had reason to fear Moses and the LORD.

That said, when plans change because Moses says the LORD says so, and the plans benefit Moses's tribe, that appears sketchy.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)