Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.
So why Levites?
Eph 3:9 and to make all see how this secret is
administered, which for ages past has been hidden in Elohim who created all
through יהושע Messiah,[b] Footnote: bSee Joh_1:3.
Eph 3:10 so that now, through the assembly, the
many-sided wisdom of Elohim might be known to the principalities and
authorities in the heavenlies,
Eph
1:9 having made known to us the secret of His desire, according to His
good pleasure which He purposed in Him,
Eph
1:10 to administer at the completion of time, to gather together in one
all in Messiah, both which are in the heavens and which are on earth, in Him,
Eph
1:11 in whom also we did obtain an inheritance, being previously ordained
according to the purpose of Him working all matters according to the
counsel of His desire,
Eph
2:11 Therefore remember that you, once nations[c] in the flesh, who are called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called
‘the circumcision’ made in the flesh by hands, Footnote: cSee 1Co_12:2.
Eph
2:12 that at that time you were without Messiah, excluded from the
citizenship of Yisra’ěl and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
expectation and without Elohim in the world.
Eph
2:13 But now in Messiah יהושע you who once were far off
have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.
Eph
2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens of the set-apart ones and members of the household of Elohim,[e] Footnote: eSee Rom_11:17-24, Isa_14:1.
Eph
2:20 having been built upon the foundation of the emissaries and
prophets, יהושע Messiah Himself being chief corner-stone,
Eph
2:21 in whom all the building, being joined together, grows into a set-apart
Dwelling Place in יהוה,
Eph
2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of Elohim
in the Spirit.
Num
3:14 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh in the
Wilderness of Sinai, saying,
Num
3:15 “Register the children of Lĕwi(joined
to) by their fathers’ houses, by their clans. Register every male from a month
old and above.”
Num
3:16 So Mosheh registered them according
to the word of יהוה, as he had been commanded.
Num
3:17 And these were the sons of Lĕwi by
their names: Gĕreshon, and Qehath, and Merari.
Num
3:18 And these are the names of the sons
of Gĕreshon by their clans: Liḇni and Shimʽi.
Num
3:19 And the sons of Qehath by their
clans: Amram and Yitshar, Ḥeḇron and Uzzi’ĕl.
Num
3:20 And the sons of Merari by their
clans: Maḥli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Lĕwites by their fathers’
houses.
Num
3:21 From Gĕreshon came the clan of the
Liḇnites and the clan of the Shimʽites. These were the clans of the
Gĕreshonites.
Num
3:22 Their registered ones, according to
the number of all the males from a month old and above, their registered ones
were seven thousand five hundred.
Num
3:23 The clans of the Gĕreshonites were
to camp westward, behind the Dwelling Place,
Num
3:24 and the leader of the fathers’
house of the Gĕreshonites: Elyasaph, son of La’ĕl.
Num
3:25 And the duty of the children of
Gĕreshon in the Tent of Meeting was the Dwelling Place, and the tent with its
covering, and the covering of the door of the Tent of Meeting,
Num
3:26 and the screens of the courtyard
and the covering of the door of the courtyard, which is around the Dwelling
Place and the altar, and their cords, according to all its service.
Num
3:27 And from Qehath came the clan of
the Amramites, and the clan of the Yitsharites, and the clan of the Ḥeḇronites,
and the clan of the Uzzi’ĕlites. These were the clans of the Qehathites.
Num
3:28 In number, all the males, from a
month old and above, were eight thousand six hundred, guarding the duty of the
set-apart place.
Num
3:29 The clans of the children of Qehath(meaning
to ally oneself - implying obedience) were to camp on the south side of the
Dwelling Place.
Num
3:30 And the leader of the fathers’
house of the clans of the Qehathites was Elitsaphan, son of Uzzi’ĕl.
Num
3:31 And their duty was the ark, and the
table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the utensils of the set-apart
place used in the service, and the covering, and all its service.
Num
3:32 And Elʽazar, son of Aharon the
priest, was to be chief over the leaders of the Lĕwites, with oversight of
those who guard the duty of the set-apart place.
Num
3:33 From Merari came the clan of the
Maḥlites and the clan of the Mushites. These were the clans of Merari.
Num
3:34 And the number of their registered
ones, all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred.
Num
3:35 And the leader of the fathers’
house of the clans of Merari was Tsuri’ĕl, son of Aḇiḥayil. These were to
camp on the north side of the Dwelling Place.
Num
3:36 And the appointed duty of the
children of Merari was the boards of the Dwelling Place, and its bars, and its
columns, and its sockets, and its utensils, and all its service,
Num
3:37 and the columns of the courtyard
all around, with their sockets, and their pegs, and their cords.
Num
3:38 And those who were to camp before
the Dwelling Place on the east, before the Tent of Meeting, were Mosheh and
Aharon, and his sons, guarding the duty of the set-apart place, and the duty of
the children of Yisra’ĕl. But the stranger who came near was to be put to
death.
Num
3:39 All the registered ones of the
Lĕwites, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered at the command of יהוה, by
their clans, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two
thousand.
Num
3:40 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Register
all the first-born males of the children of Yisra’ĕl from a month old and
above, and take the number of their names.
Num
3:41 “And you shall take the Lĕwites for
Me – I am יהוה – instead of all the first-born among the children of Yisra’ĕl,
and the livestock of the Lĕwites instead of all the first-born among the
livestock of the children of Yisra’ĕl.”
Num
3:42 And Mosheh registered all the
first-born among the children of Yisra’ĕl as יהוה had commanded him.
Num
3:43 And all the first-born males, by
the number of names, from one month old and above of their registered ones,
were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
Num
3:44 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Num
3:45 “Take the Lĕwites instead of all
the first-born among the children of Yisra’ĕl, and the livestock of the Lĕwites
instead of their livestock. And the Lĕwites shall be Mine, I am יהוה.
Num
3:46 “And for the ransom of the two
hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the children of Yisra’ĕl, who
are more than the number of the Lĕwites,
Num
3:47 you shall take five sheqels for
each one, head by head – take it by the sheqel of the set-apart place, the
sheqel of twenty gĕrahs.
Num
3:48 “And you shall give the silver, the
ransom of those who are in excess among them, to Aharon and his sons.”
Num
3:49 And Mosheh took the ransom silver
from those who were over and above those who were ransomed by the Lĕwites.
Num
3:50 From the first-born of the children
of Yisra’ĕl he took the silver, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five
pieces, according to the sheqel of the set-apart place.
Num
3:51 And Mosheh gave their ransom silver
to Aharon, and to his sons, according to the word of יהוה, as יהוה had commanded Mosheh.
Num
4:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, and to
Aharon, saying,
Num
4:2 “Take a census of the sons of Qehath
from among the children of Lĕwi, by their clans, by their fathers’ house,
Num
4:3 from thirty years old and above,
even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the Tent
of Meeting.
Num
4:4 “This is the service of the sons of
Qehath in the Tent of Meeting, the most set-apart matters:
Num
4:5 “At the breaking of camp, Aharon and
his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the
ark of the Witness with it,
Num
4:6 and shall put on it a covering of
fine leather, and spread over that an all-blue wrapper,(techlet) and shall
insert its poles.
Num
4:7 “And on the table of showbread they
shall spread a blue wrapper, and shall put on it the dishes, and the ladles,
and the bowls, and the jars for pouring, and the showbread on it.
Num
4:8 “And they shall spread over them a
scarlet (tola-at—Yesh 1:18)wrapper, and cover the same with a covering of fine
leather, and shall insert its poles,
Num
4:9 and shall take a blue wrapper and
cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, and its snuffers, and its
trays, and all its oil vessels, by which they serve it.
Num
4:10 “And they shall put it with all its
utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on a bar.
Num
4:11 “And over the golden altar they
shall spread a blue wrapper, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and
shall insert its poles,
Num
4:12 and shall take all the utensils of
service with which they serve in the set-apart place, and shall put them in a
blue wrapper, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a
bar,
Num
4:13 and shall remove the ashes from the
altar, and spread a purple wrapper over it,
Num
4:14 and shall put on it all its
utensils by which they serve there: the fire holders, the forks, and the
shovels, and the basins, and all the utensils of the altar, and shall spread on
it a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles.
Num
4:15 “And when Aharon and his sons have
finished covering the set-apart objects and all the furnishings of the
Set-apart Place at the breaking of camp, then the sons of Qehath shall come to
lift them, but let them not touch that which is set-apart, lest they die. These
matters are the burden of the sons of Qehath in the Tent of Meeting.
Num
4:16 “And the oversight of Elʽazar, son
of Aharon the priest, is the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the
daily grain offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the
Dwelling Place and all that is in it, with the set-apart place and its
furnishings.”
Num
4:17 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, and to
Aharon, saying,
Num
4:18 “Do not cut off the tribe of the
clans of the Qehathites from among the Lĕwites,
Num
4:19 but do this to them, and they shall
live and not die when they approach the most set-apart objects: Aharon and his
sons shall go in and appoint each of them to his service and his burden.
Num
4:20 “They are not, however, to go in to
watch while the set-apart objects are being covered, lest they die.”
Midrash:
This
Torah portion reminds us that YHVH selects and calls a special group of people
to minister to Him. Even among these Levites some are called to minister to Him
personally and some are not – Koathites. Even among the Koathites only one –
the high priest - is allowed into His presence once a year on the day of Yom
Ha Kippurim.
Today the
Koathites seem to have “cut off” and have been replaced by rabbi’s and pastors
and all kinds of various priests, self- appointed or appointed by men.
Yet YHVH
still appoints those who must represent Him and proclaim His entire counsel–
Eph 4:11-16. This however does not mean that the Levitical priesthood has been
done away with.
It would
be unthinkable to YHVH that these men would come and teach contrary to the
Torah.
Jer
33:17 “For thus said יהוה,
‘For Dawiḏ there is not to cease a man to sit on the throne of the house of
Yisra’ĕl.
Jer
33:18 ‘And for the priests, the Lĕwites,
there is not to cease a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain
offerings, and to slaughter continually.’ ”
For the
past few millennia a huge spiritual vacuum has been created because YHVH’s
people have abandoned His Torah and its instructions. This was never meant to
be but sadly is the case with those whom He calls to follow Him. This vacuum
has been filled by religious men with all kinds of idolatrous abominations.
Gal
1:8 However, even if we, or a messenger
out of heaven, bring a ‘Good News’ to you beside what we announced to you, let
him be accursed.
Gal
1:9 As we have said before, and now I
say again, if anyone brings a ‘Good News’ to you beside what you have received,
let him be accursed.
Isa
43:9 All the nations shall be assembled, and the peoples be gathered. Who
among them declares this, and show us former events? Let them give their
witnesses, to be declared right; or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”
Isa
43:10 “You are My witnesses,” declares יהוה, “And My servant whom I have
chosen, so that you know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me
there was no Ěl formed, nor after Me there is none.
Isa
43:11 “I, I am יהוה, and besides Me there is no saviour.
Speaking
of a future event when the nations shall be gathered – possibly end time
judgment. The question the prophet asks and we should also be asking today is
about our return to Yisrael.
Where
are we now and what is a possible future time line? – Birthpains –rebuilding
altar - 3.5 years of peace – great
tribulation – 42 months in wilderness for remnant (Rev 12)
According
to Jer 31 – a non Jewish element – Ephraim will play a key role in the
establishing of
YHVH’s kingdom on earth to bring the
tribes together to usher in the Messianic kingdom.
Baruch
atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh
o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed
are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of
truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you,
YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn.)