Prime Time

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Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:3, 23, 30

The Levites were given the important task of tending and transporting the tabernacle. I am supposing that the age restriction for serving at the tent of meeting (the tabernacle) had to do with fact that people who are between 30-50 are at the peak in terms of their strength-wisdom balance. Those under 30 might be stronger but not as wise. Those over 50 would be wiser but not as strong. Basically, God wanted the most dependable men serving at the tabernacle.

I saw a movie called “Last Breath” recently. It was really good. A true story. It is about undersea divers who maintain undersea oil pipelines. Apart from being a soldier in the infantry for a nation at war or a first responder, it might be one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

When teams go out to do regular maintenance on the pipelines, they have to be extremely methodical and rigorous. They have to follow the protocols exactly or people might die. And even when all the protocols are followed, people may still die because of uncontrollable mishaps.

It must be one of the most high pressure jobs in the world too. Decisions may have to made to either avoid major environmental disasters or to save human life.

And as I was watching the movie, I was wondering and marveling at how engineers ever figured out how to lay down and maintain 20,000 miles of pipeline under the sea.

But as dangerous and pressure filled as maintaining undersea pipelines must be, being a Levite responsible for the care and transport of the tabernacle must have been just as dangerous and pressure filled. One little mistake or one little mishap could cost people their lives.

The tribe of Levi was set apart for God, instead of the firstborn of all of Israel being set apart for God. And the firstborn of all Israel was to be set apart for God for the firstborn sons who died in Egypt because of Pharaoh’s disobedience. And that principle of substitution continued in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. He was set aside in place of the Levites who were in place of the firstborn of Israel who were given to God for the firstborn of Egypt. I talked about that in another post.

Anyway, week in and week out, every Sunday, there are often several things that go wrong during our worship service. I myself have contributed generously to the mishaps. And so reading about the Levites and what they had to do makes me so thankful that, in a real way, Jesus fills the role of the Levites for us.

Father, Your mercy is bountiful. Thank You for allowing us to approach Your presence despite the many mistakes that we make. In Jesus’s name. Amen.