Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for the day and the blessing of reading his Word, and ask the Spirit to help us understand and apply it.
Read
Scripture Passage
Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn
40 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. 41 And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.” 42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord. 46 And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs. 48 And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons.”
49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Nu 3:40–51.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
God takes the Levites in place of Israel's firstborn. Because the number of firstborn exceeds the Levites by 273, the excess must be redeemed with sanctuary shekels given to Aaron and his sons. Bryan connects this law to Mary and Joseph's presentation of Jesus, the firstborn who fulfilled God's commands.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Numbers 3:46–48
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
Although Bryan asks the normal best-verse question, he does not state a selection. Verses 46–48 are distilled because the redemption payment is the focus of his explanation and Christ connection.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Trust Jesus Christ, the righteous King who fulfilled all God's commandments, and follow him in the confidence that his Spirit dwells in those who believe.
Additional Notes
Key Points:
God's Command to Moses: The Lord instructed Moses to number all the firstborn males of Israel and to take the Levites in place of the firstborn among the Israelites and their livestock.
The Levites' Role: The Levites were chosen by God to be His, serving as substitutes for the firstborn of Israel, thus dedicating them to the service of the Lord and the upkeep of the temple.
Redemption of the Firstborn: An excess number of firstborn over the Levites required the payment of five shekels per individual to redeem the additional firstborn, demonstrating God's provision for redemption.
Application to Jesus: This practice foreshadows Jesus, the firstborn over all creation, who fulfills this redemption perfectly by His life, death, and resurrection, redeeming humanity back to God.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotion. This is where every weekday morning you and I, we get together. We have some... Nothing. Coffee. I don't have anything. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. In this year, 2024, Lord willing, we'll make it through Numbers, Deuteronomy and Hebrews. Why don't we have some coffee? We'll pray. We'll get into God's word. Mmm. You want to try some? No coffee today? Okay, that's fine. You ready to pray? All right, let's pray.
God, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for a blessing it is to read your word. Help us to understand it and apply it to our lives. God, we need your spirit in Jesus's name. Amen. Okay. The book of Numbers, you ready? I have baby. You do? Okay. We're going to read this section, okay? Numbers chapter three, verses 40 through 51. Here we go.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old above. Take the number of their names. That's right. and you shall take the Levites for me, I am the Lord, instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Israelites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel. So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. And all the firstborn males, according to the number of the names, were from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, 22,273. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their stock. The Levites shall be mine, I am the Lord.
For the redemption of two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites, you shall take five shekels for each individually, you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty geras, and you shall give the money with which the excess number of them is redeemed to Aaron and his sons. So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by Levites. From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, 1,365 shekels, according to the Shekel Sanctuary. And Moses gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of Lord, as Lord commanded Moses.
All right, so we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? Yeah, that's okay. So you you have to obey your parents and the Lord for this, right? But what is this talking about? This is saying that all the firstborn who's the firstborn of mommy and daddy in our family? Nathan that's right. So Nathan being the firstborn He would go to the Lord That's right.
But instead, the Lord is saying, no, no, no, no. Instead, you can pay a certain amount of money to the temple and you could redeem him. Right, and so instead of so that's the upkeep of the temple this way. Yep. So you could pay those shekels to this sanctuary and you give them to Aaron and to his sons.
Baby. Baby teeth. Yeah. I'll be the littlest because I'll be the Daniel, Deborah, Nathan, Deborah, Daniel, Ellie. That's right. You're the littlest right now, but not for in a few months. So it's gonna be like Nathan, Deborah, Daniel, Ellie, That's right. That's right.
Yeah, and so If you were in Israel, right Nathan would be the firstborn and he would have to be redeemed right the so This is how that that worked during that time. That's why Jesus when he was born guess what Mary and Joseph did They went to the temple Because that's what guess what they had to do He was the firstborn of Mary, so they had to go redeem Jesus. They had to pay the temple shekels. Oh, so he got to be the king of the world?
That's right. Jesus fulfilled all the commandments of God. So he's in me? What was that? Is he in me? He is in you if you believe in him. Then his spirit's in you. Oh, good. You ready to pray? OK. OK, Lord, we thank you so much that you have promised us your spirit. And Lord, we pray that you would please let us follow after you. Father, we pray that you would please let us know that you are the king of the world because you have fulfilled all righteousness. In Jesus's name, we pray. Amen. May God bless you as you trust in Jesus Christ. And may you know that his Holy Spirit is in you.
You want to say goodbye? Bye Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week.
If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.