Numbers Class 02 the order of service and purity

Study of the book of
Numbers
Class 2
The order of the Tribes

Study of Numbers – Chapter 2
 God is a God of order. In all of his manifestations, God
is organized and harmonious, and he allows no
disorganization among his people.
 Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his
own standard, beside the emblems of his father's
house; they shall camp some distance from the
tabernacle of meeting. Numbers 2:2

 There are three important points in the organization of
the tribes that also point to the order of the church
today.
1. Obedience to God’s commands
2. Look to the tabernacle as the center
3. The organization of the tribes

1. Obedience to God’s command (2:1)
 When the children of Israel set up or broke camp, God
gave them no option according to their own preferences;
they had to obey the arrangement that he determined.
 We must know our place and our function within the
body. As long as we don’t understand our place and our
function, we will continually remain unsatisfied.

2. Everyone looked to the tabernacle as center (2:2)
 All the armies of other nations camped facing outward
towards their enemies, but the Army of Israel camped
with their backs to the enemy. Everyone camped facing
the tabernacle, revealing that Christ is the center.

 We must all look to Christ, since God does not consider
what we are able to do for him, but whether our heart is
inclined to him or not.
 Although we are an army possessing an enemy, we do
not live for war, nor do we concern ourselves with the
enemy; but we live looking towards Christ as the center.

3. The organization (2:2-34)
 The 12 tribes were divided into four groups of three
tribes each, thus forming four armies. Each tribe had its
own insignia, with the colors of the 12 stones on the
priestly ephod which represented the 12 tribes.
 Each group of three tribes also had a standard or flag
which belonged to the tribe that led the group.

 There were four armies:
 The standard of Judah was represented by Issachar and
Zebulon.
 The standard of Reuben was represented by Simeon
and Gad.
 The standard of Ephraim was represented by Manasses
and Benjamin.
 The standard of Dan was represented by Asher and
Naphtali.

 The Jewish tradition determined that
 The standard of Reuben had a figure of a man,
 That of Judah a lion,
 That of Ephraim a bull
 That of Dan an Eagle.
 These four armies camped around the tabernacle each
one occupying a specific position around it.

Study of Numbers – Chapters 3 & 4
The service of the priests and Levites
 The 12 tribes of Israel camped around the tabernacle
like an army prepared for battle.
 The army represents the aspect of spiritual war and
authority. The ministry of the Levites represents the
service of God’s house.
 When we refer to the service of the Levites, we are
including the priests, since they also belonged to the
tribe of Levi.

 On one hand, the Levites were especially chosen and
called by God; on the other hand, the Levites
voluntarily presented themselves to God.
 When the Israelites worshiped the Golden calf, only the
Levites oppose them and remained true to the Lord,
and according to the word of Moses they killed the
rebels (Exodus 32:26-28). They were faithful to God at
that moment, therefore God chose them to be
responsible for the work of the priesthood.

 The priests were separated from among the Levites to
serve the Lord. They were anointed to receive the
authority delegated by God. They correspond to and
represent the elders of the church today.
 In the Old Testament, priests and Levites served in
God’s house. In the New Testament elders and
deacons serve.
 The service of the tabernacle was divided into two
aspects: the service of the priests and the general
service of the Levites.

1. The ministry of the priests
a. The table of showbread
 The table of showbread points to the ministry of
supplying the people with food and life.
 The table of showbread occupies a very important place
in the life of the church, pointing to the table of fellowship
and spiritual bread that must be set each time that we
meet.

 The Lord Jesus is the bread of life. He was the grain of
wheat that fell into the earth and died in order to become
our nourishment. In order to become our food and
nourishment, he had to be ground and baked as the
bread that descended from heaven.

b. The candlestick
 The primary function of an elder or leader is to feed the
people with life. Then they must bring the Word of God
to light in the understanding of the people. The
lampstand is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the function of
the priests was to kindle the fire and never allow the oil
to cease.
 We, the leaders, have been called to pour oil on the
congregation, in order to keep the lamp lit. This also
points to the manifestation of the power of God in the
midst of his people.

c. The altar of incense
 The primary function of the leader is to pray. He should
spend his time in prayer and the meditation of the Word.
Incense represents prayer. But it is not prayer according
to our own preferences, but moved by the Holy Spirit
within us.
 The Holy Spirit wants to pray in us through our own
spirit.
 We must pray according to God’s heart and not
according to natural and human desires.

d. The service in the outer court
 The ministry of the priest was not limited to the holy
place, but also included the outer court. In the outer
court the priest offered the sacrifices that the people of
Israel brough to them. This shows us that the function of
the minister is to heflp the sinner have an experience
with the cross, introducing him into God’s presence.

 The main difference between the work of the Levites and
that of the priests is that the Levites were in charge of
the material things of the tabernacle and the priests were
responsible for the spiritual activities.
 Both are important for the normal development of the
body of Christ, those who minister to God and those who
minister to the people.

3. The ministry of the Levites
The Levites served Aaron the priest.
 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Bring the tribe of Levi near,
and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve
him. And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole
congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of
the tabernacle. Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the
tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to
do the work of the tabernacle. Numbers 3:5-8

 The Levites were the priest’s helpers in God’s service
in the tabernacle.
 Aaron was not able to fulfill all of the responsibilities
that he had, therefore God gave him the Levites to help
him.
 There was an order among the Levites but not a
hierarchy. All the Levites were equal with differing
responsibilities.

 In the Old Testament there were priests and Levites,
but in the New Testament there are elders and
deacons. They are not a special class separated in a
hierarchy. They have responsibilities and exercise
authority but they are all brothers.
 In Numbers 3:10 we read that Aaron and his sons
should dedicate themselves to the priesthood. With the
Levites helping them, the priests could dedicate
themselves to burning incense and teaching the
people.

 We also read in chapter 3 that the Levites are of God.
Every firstborn belongs to God. But after the rebellion
of the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, when they
worshiped the golden calf, God chose the Levites to
take the place of the firstborn of Israel.
 Therefore they would serve God as Levites, belong to
him and have the right of the firstborn.

 First, God had them count how many children there
were to determine how many firstborn sons were
among them. The Levites counted 22,000, but the
number of firstborn sons in Israel was 22,273.
 There were an extra 273 that would have to be
redeemed. Therefore it was necessary to have more
Levites. This indicates that in the Lord service, there
will always be more positions than candidates, in other
words, there is always a place for those who want to
serve.

 The distribution of the service of the Levites was
organized according to the natural division of the sons
of Levi. Levi had three sons:
 Gershon
 Kohath and
 Merari

 The sons of Gerson were responsible for taking care of
the exterior parts of the tabernacle and were also
watchmen.
 The sons of Kohath were responsible for caring for the
sacred vessels. Moses and Aaron were descendents of
Kohath (3:27-32).
 The sons of Merari were responsible for the general
maintenance of the tabernacle (3:36-37).

The purity of the camp
 The order of the book of Numbers is coherent and
clear. First, comes the organization of the army, next,
the preparation of the service of the ministers and last,
the purification of the congregation.
 Before the people would begin their march and follow
the cloud, there was yet a need to deal with impurity.

 God’s sanctuary is holy and his service and his army is also
holy. We must not allow the world to participate in our service
nor in our army.
 If the impure participate in our service, the whole service will be
contaminated and cause problems. If the impure participate in
the army, then it will never be able to conquer the enemy. The
camp of Israel corresponds today to the church and just as
every impure person should be removed from the camp of
Israel, today we cannot tolerate impure people in the life of the
church (1 Corinthians 5:13)

 There were three types of people that were considered
unclean (5:2).
 Lepers,
 Those who had a discharge and
 The unclean person for having touched a corpse.

1. The Leper
Leprosy in the Bible, is a type of sin:
 It first occurs in the blood (in the person’s nature)
 It manifests itself in many ways
 It is incurable humanly speaking
 It numbs the senses
 It slowly destroys its victims

Leviticus 13 and 14 presents the seven types or forms
of leprosy.
a. Leprosy in the skin (Leviticus 13:2)
 this is the primary type and appears on the surface of the
skin. It is fairly easy to discover, and once it is detected,
it must be treated in order not to progress. Sin always
begins in a superficial manner, but if we don’t treat it, we
will become disfigured by the leprosy.

b. Leprosy in the flesh (Leviticus 13:10)
 The second type is more serious, it is a leprosy that
occurs underneath the skin. This shows us that it has
already penetrated the flesh; it is something more
profound. Leprosy in the flesh is called chronic leprosy.
Leprosy advances to the point that it becomes chronic, a
much more serious situation than leprosy of the skin.

c. Leprosy from a boil 13:18
 This is the leprosy that arises from wounds that have not
been treated. One day it will become leprous. Wounds
and hurts become ideal opportunities for the leprosy of
sin. Some people allow themselves to be hurt. On the
outside they look fine, but on the inside there is a wound
that becomes a door to sin.

d. Leprosy from a burn (Leviticus 13:24-16)
 Leprosy appears in a person who resents discipline and
correction. The burn symbolizes someone who has
received rebuke or correction for their sin, but did not
react well and became resentful. This also represents
false repentance.

e. Leprosy of the head or beard (Leviticus 13:29)
 In the Word of God, the head symbolizes glory (1
Corinthians 11:3). Therefore, to have a sore on the head
means to have problems with subjection to authority
resisting the common spirit of the local church.
 The principal part of the head are the thoughts,
therefore, to have leprosy on the head also means that
the leprosy has penetrated the thoughts and the victime
will offer theological excuses for his sin.

 But leprosy can also appear in the beard. Also in God’s
Word the beard respresents dignity (2 Samuel 10:4).
When for some wrong reason we begin to claim honor
and demand respect and praise, this is leprosy of the
beard. Leprosy of the beard means to consider yourself
importante and seek to be recognized and praised by
others.

f. Leprosy in garments (Leviticus 13:47-48)
 Leprosy is a symbol of sin, thus we can see that even
clothing can be contaminated by sin.
 To have leprosy in a garment means that the leprosy has
become indecent or scandalous.

g. Leprous houses (Leviticus 14:33-57)
 This is the most serious type of leprosy, before it was
individual, but now it has spread to the whole family or to
the whole local congregation.
 In the New Testament a church is compared to a house
(Ephesians 2:19-22). The members are the stones that
the house is made up of (1 Peter 2:5). Leprosy that
invades a house simbolizes sin trying to take over an
entire church.

b) Dealing with discharges
 Discharges are things that flow out of people. Some
discharges are natural and others are not. Man accepts
normal discharges and rejects abnormal ones. God
however, considers all types of discharge as unclean
since they proceed from natural man.
 Many people serve God through natural means, natural
opinions, methods and personal feelings rather than the
direction of the Spirit.

 Such things compromise God’s work. Aparentely,
discharges are not as serious as leprosy, but
nevertheless, they are impure in God’s eyes.
 Everything done according to human strength and
understanding is of the flesh, and therefore rejected by
God.
 People who have a discharge represent those that walk
according to the flesh and natural senses. Such people
cannot please God (Romans 8:8).

c) The uncleanliness of death
 God abhors death. Death is everything that has the
capacity to produce numbness in our spirit.
 Worldly music is death, television is death, worldly
magazines are death and the cinema is death. When
these scenes enter our mind, they cause us to lose
interest in spiritual things, through prayer, through God’s
Word and through church meetings.

 But the greatest expression of death are the negative
words that are spoken in the midst of the church.
Normally a word should motivate and edify the members,
but instead, negative words of death are released
resulting in a numbed and insensitive spirit.
 Things pertaining to death are not considered
necessarily sinful, but they must be rejected, because
they cause insensitivity in our spirit.

Numbers Class 02 the order of service and purity

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (14)

Similar to Numbers Class 02 the order of service and purity

Similar to Numbers Class 02 the order of service and purity (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Numbers Class 02 the order of service and purity