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| 1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, |
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| 2 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, |
Sons of Kohath – Meaning "Ally" or "Comrade"; type of the Ancient Worthies. F129
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| 3 from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that enter into the service, to do the 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 shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: it is most holy. |
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| 5 And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall take down the veil of separation and cover the ark of testimony with it; |
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 shall put thereon a covering of badgers' skin, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put its staves to it2. |
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 upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue; and put thereon the dishes, and the cups, and the bowls, and goblets of the drink-offering; and the continual bread shall be thereon. |
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 shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves to it2. |
A cloth of scarlet – Symbol of the blood of the ransom. T34, T109
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| 9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff-trays, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they perform its service; |
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 shall put it and all the utensils thereof within a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put it upon a pole. |
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| 11 And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves to it2. |
The golden altar – Type of the Church in the present sacrificing condition. T120
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| 12 And they shall take all the instruments of service, wherewith they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put them upon a pole. |
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| 13 And they shall cleanse the altar of the ashes, and spread a purple cloth thereon; |
A purple cloth – Symbol of royalty. T34
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| 14 and they shall put upon it all the utensils thereof, wherewith they perform service about it: the firepans, the forks, and the shovels, and the bowls, --all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skin, and put its staves to it2. |
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| 15 And when Aaron and his sons have ended covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, when the camp setteth forward, then afterwards the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. This is what the sons of Kohath have to carry 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 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have the oversight of the oil for the light, and the fragrant incense, and the continual oblation, and the anointing oil, --the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and of all that is therein, over the sanctuary, and over its furniture. |
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| 17 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, |
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| 18 Ye shall not cut off the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites, |
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| 19 but this shall ye do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they draw near unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden; |
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| 20 but they shall not go in and see for a moment the holy things, lest they die. |
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 spoke to Moses, saying, |
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| 22 Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, according to their fathers' houses, after 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 thirty years old and upward to fifty years old shalt thou number them; every one that cometh to labour in the work, to perform the service in the tent of meeting. |
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| 24 This shall be the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving, and in carrying: |
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| 25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of badgers' skin that is above upon it, and the curtain of the entrance to 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 curtain of the entrance, of the gate of the court, which surroundeth the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords thereof, and all the instruments of their service; and all that is to be done for these things shall they perform. |
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 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their carrying, and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their carrying. |
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| 28 This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting, and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. |
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| 29 The sons of Merari: after their families, according to their fathers' houses shalt thou 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 thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the labour, to perform the service of the tent of meeting. |
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| 31 And this shall be the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and bases thereof, |
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| 32 and the pillars of the court round about, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords, all their instruments, according to all their service; and by name ye shall number to them the materials which are their charge to carry. |
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| 33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. |
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| 34 And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the assembly numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and according to their fathers' houses, |
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| 35 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting. |
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| 36 And those that were numbered of them according to their families were 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 they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, every one that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses. |
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| 38 And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, after their families, and according to their fathers' houses, |
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| 39 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting, |
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| 40 even those that were numbered of them, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. |
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| 41 These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah. |
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| 42 And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, |
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| 43 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting, |
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| 44 even those that were numbered of them according to their families, were three thousand two hundred. |
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| 45 These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses. |
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| 46 All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, after their families and according to their fathers' houses, |
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| 47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that came to serve in the work of the service, and in the work of carrying, in the tent of meeting, |
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| 48 even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand 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 According to the commandment of Jehovah they were numbered by Moses, every one for his service, and for his burden, and numbered by him, as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
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