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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying, |
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| 2 'Take up the sum of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi, by their families, by the house of their fathers; |
Sons of Kohath – Meaning "Ally" or "Comrade"; type of the Ancient Worthies. F129
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| 3 from a son of thirty years and upward, even till a son of fifty years, every one going in to the host, to do work in the tent of meeting. |
From thirty years – The time when a Jew became of age, and therefore when John and Jesus began their ministries. B58; R561:6*
No Levite was permitted to engage in the work of the Tabernacle under the age of 30. R1161:2
Not until Jesus attained the age of 30 was he the full-grown man, ready for sacrifice. R1682:5
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| 4 'This [is] the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, the holy of holies: |
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| 5 that Aaron and his sons have come in, in the journeying of the camp, and have taken down the vail of the hanging, and have covered with it the ark of the testimony; |
Aaron – Type of The Christ. T38
Shall come – This should not be misunderstood to mean that he and the underpriests never went in thither during succeeding days; but only once a year for the purpose of atonement. T91
And his sons – Representing the members of Christ's Body. T36
The covering vail – Type of the death of the human body. T22
And cover the ark – Type of The Christ. T121
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| 6 and have put on it a covering of badger skin, and have spread a garment completely of blue above, and have placed its staves. |
Of badgers' skins – Typifying that spiritual things are hidden from the unconsecrated. T127; R1365:1
Wholly of blue – Symbol of faithfulness. T30
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| 7 'And on the table of the presence they spread a garment of blue, and have put on it the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the cups of the libation, and the bread of continuity is on it, |
Upon the table – Type of the Church as a whole, including Jesus. T115
Shewbread – Representing the Word of God, spiritual food. T115; R5621:6
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| 8 and they have spread over them a garment of scarlet, and have covered it with a covering of badger skin, and have placed its staves, |
A cloth of scarlet – Symbol of the blood of the ransom. T34, T109
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| 9 and have taken a garment of blue, and have covered the candlestick of the lamp, and its lights, and its snuffers, and its snuff-dishes, and all its oil vessels wherewith they minister to it; |
The candlestick – Type of the complete Church. T115
Of the light – Type of the spirit of truth. T116
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| 10 and they have put it and all its vessels unto a covering of badger skin, and have put [it] on the bar. |
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| 11 'And on the golden altar they spread a garment of blue, and have covered it with a covering of badger skin, and have placed its staves; |
The golden altar – Type of the Church in the present sacrificing condition. T120
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| 12 and have taken all the vessels of ministry wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and have put [them] unto a garment of blue, and have covered them with a covering of badger skin, and have put [them] on the bar, |
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| 13 and have removed the ashes of the altar, and have spread over it a garment of purple; |
A purple cloth – Symbol of royalty. T34
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| 14 and have put on it all its vessels wherewith they minister about it, the censers, the hooks, and the shovels, and the bowls, all the vessels of the altar, and have spread on it a covering of badger skin, and have placed its staves: |
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| 15 'And Aaron hath finished his sons also covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, in the journeying of the camp, and afterwards do the sons of Kohath come in to bear [it], and they do not come unto the holy thing, that they have died; these [things are] the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting. |
Shall not touch – None except those who are walking in the footsteps of Jesus could have a deep, full appreciation of the divine plan. R4876:1, R1365:1, R2002:5
Lest they die – Because these things illustrated something greater and more important to come later. T12
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| 16 'And the oversight of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, [is] the oil of the lamp, and the spice-perfume, and the present of continuity, and the anointing oil, the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that [is] in it, in the sanctuary, and in its vessels.' |
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| 17 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, |
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| 18 'Ye do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathite from the midst of the Levites; |
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| 19 but this do to them, and they have lived, and do not die in their drawing nigh the holy of holies: Aaron and his sons go in, and have set them, each man to his service, and unto his burden, |
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| 20 and they go not in to see when the holy thing is swallowed, that they have died.' |
But they – Representing justified believers. T19
Not go in to see – The curtains were kept down. They were forbidden to look in when the priest lifted the curtain and passed under it. R3053:6
Only New Creatures can enter into and see spiritual things. R3054:1
The holy things – Typifying the things of the New Creature, begotten of the Spirit. T19
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| 21 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, |
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| 22 'Take up the sum of the sons of Gershon also by the house of their fathers, by their families; |
The sons of Gershon – Meaning "Refugees" or "Rescued"; type of those of mankind saved during the Millennium. F129
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| 23 from a son of thirty years and upward, till a son of fifty years thou dost number them, every one who is going in to serve the host, to do the service in the tent of meeting. |
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| 24 'This [is] the service of the families of the Gershonite, to serve and for burden, |
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| 25 and they have borne the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of the badger [skin] which [is] on it above, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting, |
For the door – Typifying the death of the human will. T22
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| 26 and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the gate of the court which [is] by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service, and all that is made for them and they have served. |
Of the court – Typifying the condition of justification. T19
Gate 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 'By the command of Aaron and his sons is all the service of the sons of the Gershonite in all their burden, and in all their service; and ye have laid a charge on them concerning the charge of all their burden. |
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| 28 This [is] the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonite in the tent of meeting; and their charge [is] under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. |
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| 29 'The sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers, thou dost number them; |
The sons of Merari – Meaning "Bitterness"; type of the Great Company, saved so as by fire through bitter experiences. F129
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| 30 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years thou dost number them, every one who is going in to the host, to do the service of the tent of meeting. |
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| 31 'And this [is] the charge of their burden, of all their service in the tent of meeting; the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, |
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| 32 and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, of all their vessels, and of all their service; and by name ye do number the vessels of the charge of their burden. |
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| 33 'This [is] the service of the families of the sons of Merari, for all their service, in the tent of meeting, by the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.' |
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| 34 And Moses numbereth Aaron also, and the princes of the company the sons of the Kohathite, by their families, and by the house of their fathers, |
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| 35 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to the host, for service in the tent of meeting, |
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| 36 and their numbered ones, by their families, are two thousand seven hundred and fifty. |
Those that were numbered – 17,160 Levites to 5 priests (Exod. 28: 1), showing much larger proportion saved in next age compared with Gospel age priests. R443:1
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| 37 These [are] those numbered of the families of the Kohathite, every one who is serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, by the command of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses. |
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| 38 And those numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by the house of their fathers, |
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| 39 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to the host, for service in the tent of meeting, |
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| 40 even their numbered ones, by their families, by the house of their fathers, are two thousand and six hundred and thirty. |
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| 41 These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, every one who is serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of Jehovah. |
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| 42 And those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers, |
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| 43 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to the host, for service in the tent of meeting, |
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| 44 even their numbered ones, by their families, are three thousand and two hundred. |
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| 45 These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, by the command of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses. |
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| 46 All those numbered, whom Moses numbered Aaron also, and the princes of Israel of the Levites, by their families, and by the house of their fathers, |
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| 47 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to do the work of the service, even the service of burden in the tent of meeting, |
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| 48 even their numbered ones are eight thousand and five hundred and eighty; |
Of them – Of the Levites, representing all believers. T 118
Were 8,580 – Of whom only five, or one in 1,716, were sacrificing priests; possibly this is also typical. T118
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| 49 by the command of Jehovah hath [one] numbered them, by the hand of Moses, each man by his service, and by his burden, with his numbered ones, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses. |
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