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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Jehovah spake with Moses in mount Sinai. |
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| 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firsborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. |
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| 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests that were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. |
Priest's – Represented The Christ--High Priest and under priests. R5298:6
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| 4 And Nadab and Abihu died before Jehovah, when they offered strange fire before Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father. |
Nadab and Abihu – Representing the class that sins the sin unto death in the Gospel age and the Great Company class. T40; R4031:2
Strange fire – Attempting to offer our own imperfect works as meritorious and acceptable. R1007:3
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| 5 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, |
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| 6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. |
Tribe of Levi – Those not priests represented overcomers, not of The Christ. R5298:6
The Great Company. R4030:4
Near – Picturing the prominence given to benevolence, hope, faith and conscience. R4029:4
Minister – The Great Company, as Levites, serve before the throne. R4677:6
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| 7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. |
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| 8 And they shall keep all the furniture of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. |
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| 9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him on the behalf of the children of Israel. |
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| 10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. |
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| 11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, |
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| 12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine: |
The Levites – Separated by God for his own special use and as a channel of blessing and instruction for the other tribes, who represented all the families of the earth. R4389:6
The Levites did not need a Mediator because Moses represented the entire priestly class and the tribe of Levi in his various functions as Mediator between God and the nation. R4390:1
Represented the first-borns of Israel, typical of the Church of the first-born: the Bride of Christ and the Great Company. R5056:1; Q435:7, Q304:2
The firstborn – Represented the first-born of Israel spared in the Passover night, and typified those passed over in the Gospel age "night" preceding the Millennial day of general deliverance. R4537:1,4, R5298:6
Shall be mine – Showing that the antitypical Levites would not have an earthly inheritance, but a spiritual one; and share in instructing and blessing the world. R5023:1, R4823:5; CR471:3; Q436:2
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| 13 for all the firstborn are mine; on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast; mine they shall be: I am Jehovah. |
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| 14 And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, |
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| 15 Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. |
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| 16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of Jehovah, as he was commanded. |
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| 17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. |
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| 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. |
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| 19 And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. |
Amram – Father of Moses: meaning "High People" or "Exalted People," type of The Christ. F128
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| 20 And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses. |
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| 21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites: these are the families of the Gershonites. |
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| 22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred. |
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| 23 The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward. |
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| 24 And the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. |
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| 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the Tent, the covering thereof, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting. |
The sons of Gershon – Meaning "Refugees" or "Rescued"; type of those of mankind saved during the Millennial age. F129
The covering thereof – Hiding spiritual things from the unconsecrated. T127
For the door – Typifying the death of the human will. T22
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| 26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof. |
Of the court – Typifying the condition of justification. T19
Door of the court – "I am the way" (John 14:6); "I am the door" (John 10:9). There is only one way of access to God. T18
And by the altar – The Brazen altar, type of the ransom sacrifice. T22
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| 27 And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. |
And of Kohath – Meaning "Ally" or "Comrade"; type of the Ancient Worthies. F129
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| 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the charge of the Holy. |
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| 29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the side of the tabernacle southward. |
Southward – Symbol of restitution to human perfection. D653
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| 30 And the prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. |
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| 31 And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the Holy wherewith they minister, and the screen, and all the service thereof. |
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| 32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the Holy. |
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| 33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. |
Of Merari – Meaning "Bitterness", type of the Great Company, saved so as by fire through bitter experiences. F129
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| 34 And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred. |
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| 35 And the prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: they shall encamp on the side of the tabernacle northward. |
Northward – Symbol of the Heavenly phase of the Kingdom. D653
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| 36 And the appointed charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the instruments thereof, and all the service thereof, |
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| 37 and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. |
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| 38 And those that encamp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. |
Before the tabernacle – The Royal Priesthood, at the very gates of his favor. R4030:4
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| 39 All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses numbered at the commandment of Jehovah, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand. |
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| 40 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. |
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| 41 And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am Jehovah) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. |
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| 42 And Moses numbered, as Jehovah commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. |
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| 43 And all the firstborn males according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three. |
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| 44 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, |
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| 45 Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am Jehovah. |
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| 46 and for the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, that are over and above the number of Levites, |
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| 47 thou shalt take five shekels apiece by the poll; after the shekel of the Holy shalt thou take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs): |
Five shekels – Redemption could only be made by an estimated equivalent value. R1031:2*
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| 48 and thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons. |
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| 49 And Moses took the redemption-money from them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites; |
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| 50 from the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money, a thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, after the shekel of the Holy: |
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| 51 and Moses gave the redemption-money unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of Jehovah, as Jehovah commanded Moses. |
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