BAMIDBAR 2022: The Wilderness & The 144,000 (What You Need To Know)

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Let’s compare the first Israelite army with the last one. We have already learned how the Israelites failed at the golden calf and ended up with a substitute priesthood and High Priest that failed before and during its ordination, thus needing to be replaced from the inception of the nation called Israel. In fact, we have learned that YHVH needed to replace that entire first generation in Hebrews 8:7-13. Now we will see the difference between YHVH’s two armies, the first one that was part of that first generation and the last one from the last generation. With that in mind, let me ask the question: Why is the end times army of Israel only about 19% the size of the first one?

Numbers 1:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

This census happened 13 months after the Exodus, 1 month after the Tabernacle was raised and the line of Aaron was ordained. This counting is also about 3 weeks after the deaths of Nadav and Abihu. It seems like we are going over and over the golden calf incident. And we are. The entire books of Exodus and Leviticus cover only a year’s time, and in that time was the most important event in Israel’s new life as a nation. But now we will begin to move beyond the golden calf incident into new problems and rebellions. These will all have the same spirit as the golden calf rebellion.

Now to the census.

This census is counting men of battle age – 20 years old and upward to any age that a man is capable of doing battle.

Numbers 1:3 from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their divisions.

How many men are there that can go to war? How many warriors do we have? The commander of every nation needs to know this, and Israel’s commander is YHVH. Not only does He already know how many fighting men there are, He wants Aaron and Moses to know. It is through Aaron and his line that the call to battle will go forth. There will not be a call from YHVH for another census until Israel is ready to enter the Promised Land. The reason for this census is to prepare the Israelites to enter the Promised Land. We will see that they refuse to enter and will wait for another 39 years so the rebels can die and their children can go take the Land. After the next census, YHVH will not call for a census again until the end of days when He marks the men in His army of 144,000.

David will do a census but he will also pay a price for it because it is not up to a man to do this. Israel’s army is commanded by YHVH. When David conducted the census in his time, he usurped YHVH’s place as commander of Israel’s army. In the end of days, the census is prophesied! We already know how many fighting men there will be in YHVH’s army.

Fighting age is important. Prophetically, it will tell us something about the 144,000.

Numbers 1:16 These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel.

The 144,000 are called and sealed.

Num 1:17  And Moses and Aaron took these men who are called by name.

The individual men who will lead each tribe in Revelation 7 are not called by name. This is because Yeshua will be leading them. There is no need to name the leaders of the 144,000 because there are no leaders of the 144,000. Every man is under Yeshua’s command.

Numbers 1:18 They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one.

Each tribal head accounted for all the warrior-age men. The 12 tribes produced 603,550 warriors in Numbers 2:32. These warriors accounted for only a percentage of the total population.

The army of Israel is permitted to only have men age 20 and upward. There will be no teens or boys in this army. The men may be very old, however. How can this be? What about their physical fitness?

There is a theory bandied about in Messianic Jewish, Hebrew Roots and Christian circles that only healthy men of what we think of as “fighting age” today and who are well trained in some martial art or they have military experience will comprise the 144,000. These are not requirements for the army of the 144,000. What are the requirements? Keep listening and I will tell you.

Revelation 7:4 I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
Revelation 7:5 of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
Revelation 7:6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
Revelation 7:7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
Revelation 7:8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

That is nowhere near the number that was counted in Israel’s first census, the one that never fought. The 144,000 is far less than the second army that was counted in Numbers 26. Yet, given that this army will face a global army, not just tiny city states within Israel’s borders this time, it might be expected that the end times army needs to be much bigger, exponentially bigger! Wherein lies the exponential abilities of this small army? Its exponential nature comes from its relationship with the Host of the army, Yeshua, not each man’s age, physical ability or bulk and size, martial arts training or former military training. These are the warriors that each one will put a thousand to flight and two working together will put ten thousand to flight. The ability of each warrior will far exceed the abilities of the 603,550 of the original army and the abilities of the second army of 601,730. What the 144,000 will accomplish is exponentiality based on their level of obedience!

We know these men will go to war with Yeshua because an enemy makes war with the Lamb in Revelation 17:14 and these men go wherever the Lamb goes In Revelation 14:4. Therefore, they are with the Lamb of God, Yeshua, for the war in Revelation 17. They are able to defeat YHVH’s enemies because this end times army will have the ability to:

Lev 26:7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 
Lev 26:8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 

These 144,000, whose abilities I believe will be greatly underestimated by the enemy, will defeat 2,880,000 enemy warriors (5 chasing 100), and 14,400,000 enemy warriors will be defeated by 100 chasing 10,000 enemies.

How is this possible? How will the 144,000 accomplish this? By walking in YHVH’s statutes and keeping His commandments as promised in Leviticus 26:3.

Lev 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 

Their ages, physical abilities or bulk and size, martial arts training or former military training have nothing to do with their exploits. Those men who think they need to be in some kind of manmade martial arts or military pursuits are missing the point!

So, back to Bamidbar where the legal documented establishment of each tribe’s military contribution is being established. One tribe is not listed with these warriors in Numbers 1:47 and 2:33 – Levi.

Levi is not among the warriors here but he is among the warriors in Revelation 7. Missing in Revelation 7 is Dan and Ephraim. There is something in the character of the 144,000 tribal leaders that we need to know about, something that sets them apart and qualifies them to lead Israel in battle. What is it? Let’s look at the requirements to be a leader in Israel.

Exo 18:21 Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 

Exo 18:25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

The qualifications to be a leader in Israel is men who love truth and hate injustice. The end times leaders will have those qualifications but will add another. They will be:

Revelation 14:4 …those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

Let’s talk about their virginity for a moment. This plays into why the tribes of Ephraim and Dan are not included in the list of the 144,000. What does it mean that these men, these leaders, are virgins?

These men are not virgins in the sense that we think of that today. The Greek word for virgin is “Parthenos”. It has 4 correlate Hebrew words: Bethulah, almah, na’arah and na’ar. Three of these define young women as virgins or maidens. But these are men and warriors age 20 or older. Remember the Torah says all warriors must be at least 20. So Bethulah, almah and na’arah define the innocence of young women, especially in the sexual sense, but bethulah, almah and na’arah do not fit the description of grown men. There is, however, another Hebrew correlate word that does fit – na’ar.

H5288 נער
na‛ar nah’-ar

From H5287; (concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescence; by implication a servant; also (by interchange of sex), a girl (of similar latitude in age): – babe, boy, child, damsel [from the margin], lad, servant, young (man).

These men are not adolescents but they will have the same innocence as boys. However, the Hebrew na’ar also has another meaning – servant. This is the word that describes who these men are. They are faithful servants of the God and King of Israel. In fact, they are so faithful to Him that He is more to them than God and King. He is their Lamb.

This does not mean these men are not married and do not have families. None of Israel’s warriors were commanded to not marry. But it is a requirement for all Israelites to remain faithful in spirit and flesh. It spirit is faithfulness to only YHVH. In flesh is faithfulness to wife. It means that they have never left the faith in Yeshua to be defiled with sexual perversions or relationships with heathen women like the men in the first Exodus that were defiled with the Moabite and Midianite women and worshiped those women’s gods, and they are adulterers.

They are described as without guile, too.

Revelation 14:5 In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.

Compare what Yeshua said of Nathan.

John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

The Greek word “dolos”, Strong’s G1388, is used in both verses for the words “lie” and “guile”.

What is guile? Another word for guile is deceitful, cunning, lying. There is no deceit, no lying, among the men of the 144,000.

Sexual perversion and deceit are clues as to why Ephraim and Dan are missing from the list of the 144,000. How did Ephraim and Dan fulfill these weaknesses? Both Ephraim and Dan were tribes that led the northern House of Israel into idolatry and with idolatry comes fornication, sex with whatever temple prostitute is available and even being a male prostitute.

King Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim led all of the northern tribes into a repeat of worshiping a golden calf which quickly turned into Ba’al and Asherah worship after the Kingdom of David was split by the conflict with Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. The northern House of Israel never once turned back from its rebellion.

Jeroboam set up a golden calf in Bethel, in Ephraimite territory and one in Dan’s territory. The tribe of Dan was described as idolatrous long before in Judges 18 so setting up a golden calf there was easy to do. It was before these golden calves which the Israelites rose up to “play”, a euphemism for public sex to Ba’al and Asherah.

As if the image worship of the golden calf and the idolatrous worship of Ba’al and Asherah were not enough, Ephraim and Dan showed themselves to be weak in battle. Ephraim turned back in a battle, according to the Psalmist Asaph in Psalms 78:9.

Dan showed himself incapable of capturing and keeping his rightful territory.

Judges 1:34 The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;

Dan’s territory abutted the Philistine’s. It is from this geographical situation that we have the account of Samson, the Danite judge.

Samson’s character was typical of the tribe of Dan, especially his wicked relationship with Delilah. As the philistines were making frequent incursions into Dan’s territory, Delilah made her incursion into Samson’s life.

Dan was unable to hold the territory allotted to him and they kept losing territory to the Philistines to the point where, according to Judges 18, a small group of Danites moved north next to Naphtali’s territory where they defeated the Sidonian city of Laish and lived there.

So because of the image worship, idolatry and the weakness in battle, neither tribe will get the honor of serving in the most important wars Israel will ever fight. Ephraim and Dan are the epitome rebellion and lust whereas the men included in the 144,000 are just the opposite. They are brave, they follow their only God and King, knowing Him intimately as “The Lamb” and they have no weaknesses! The 144,000 cannot afford to have weak links. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so no Ephraim or Dan.

Furthermore, the 144,000 worship their God, King and Commander like no one else.

Revelation 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Revelation 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

They serve the Lamb as singing priests and warriors.

The 144,000 are only men. Sorry, ladies. They are king-priests and warriors, two Israelite occupations not permitted for women. Women, though, will be part of those men’s families. How do I know this?

I know because YHVH does nothing new. Everything He will do at the end will what He did in the beginning.

Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 
Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

YHVH will not do something new at the end of days. Why? He wants His people to understand what He is doing. The only way we will know what is happening, and who the enemy is, is by going back to the beginning to see what He did before. One of the major failures in prophecy interpretation is right here in this failure of people to look at what YHVH did before.

With that in mind, let’s look at Israel in the very beginning, in the first 2 years of its existence, and particularly in the Book of Numbers when YHVH mustered His new Israelite army in the 13^th month.

We have seen that Israel’s first army was comprised of 603,550 warriors. Was this the total population of Israel at that time? No! Most of these men were likely married with children. Some may have been single. It was not required of Israelite warriors to be single.

It may come as a surprise to you that men in ancient Israel were required to be chaste like women. We don’t have time to look at the scriptures for that today but, if you will read the passages about unmarried women, you will find that there are penalties for unmarried sex in men, as well. Two virgin youths – a male na’ar and a female na’arah (both virgins) – suffer penalties.

I spoke earlier of the chastity of the 144,000 using the word na’ar and we now understand that an unmarried man must wait until marriage to have sex. Let me ask you if you believe that married men and women are no longer chaste? I submit to you that they are as long as they remain faithful to each other.

When Revelation 14:4 that these men are not defiled with women, there are 2 meanings. The first is that they are chaste whether single or married. The second is that they have never engaged in fornication, worshiping another god through sex with a prostitute, a whore. They have not engaged in pornography, the Satanic worship of women and men through sexual images. This is one of the reasons YHVH built the hedge around images with the commandment to not make, acquire or use them. These warriors are faithful to God, their parents and their wives.

With that in mind, and returning to my previous question, were these warriors the total population of Israel, we can now see that Israel is much more than warriors. The 144,000 is given to show the perfection of Israel through the number itself. Their appearance on the world stage is a great big announcement to everyone that Israel is now fully restored and will now take its rightful place as the head of all the nations. And behind most if not all of these men will be families! The young men under the age of 20, the older men who are too old to fight, their own wives and children along with everyone else who Yeshua is now saving!

Just as the population of the first Israel was estimated to be, at minimum, close to 3 million people, these 144,000 will represent an even greater number of restored Israelites.

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 
Rev 7:10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 

Right here is where all Israel gets saved (Romans 11:26)! Right here is where Israel gets fully restored! No more religious people acting like Yeshua did not already accomplish this on the cross. The wickedness of those who for that last 2,000 years have refused to acknowledge Israel’s full restoration will now come to an end.

The 144,000 are the Firstfruits in Revelation 14:4 but there is always a great crop of fruits that follow the Firstfruits that are offered at YHVH’s Temple. Israel is more than 144,000.

Now, let’s talk terminology. In Christianity and all over the internet are various definitions of the word “bride”. The scripture tells us that Yeshua’s Bride is both His city and His people. A Bride in scripture is the one who is betrothed but is not yet married.

YHVH’s people, Israel, are referred to as “wife” in the Bible. This wife is the one who was married to YHVH at Mount Sinai. Paul talked about this explaining how Yeshua can now take another Bride to Himself. He had a wife. She was unfaithful, so He divorced her. But He had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that Israel would always have all of their descendants which turned out to be 12 tribes. With the northern tribes now divorced, YHVH had a problem. He cannot remarry the divorced woman, Israel. He must die in order to completely sever the tie of marriage for both the northern and southern Houses of Israel, the Ephraimites and the Jews.

Since His resurrection, 2,000 years ago, He has been adding individuals to His Kingdom – one at a time – instead of one comprehensive group of people like He did the first time. This grouping of individuals is Yeshua’s Bride. Once He returns and is married to His Bride, she will then be His wife.

From this wife, who is 12-tribed Israel restored, will come more kings – vassal kings, priests and warriors, regular citizens with no special jobs except to be citizens to glorify their King, Yeshua who will rule over the nations (Psalms 2:7-8). And Israel will rule with Him (2 Timothy 2:12 and Revelation 20:4).

The point of this is that that 144,000 is not the entirety of Israel or the Bride, the betrothed. The 12 tribes restored are the Bride of Israel awaiting their marriage. We are now betrothed – the Bride – but we will be married and become Yeshua’s wife.

The other point to understand is that the character of the 144,000 is that obedience to the commandments is paramount. They understand that the Law is our righteousness (Deuteronomy 4:8), our right standing before YHVH as the expression of our faith in Yeshua’s salvation. Salvation comes from Yeshua. Our continuing in our walk, our faith, is in the Law.

Let’s move on to the rest of the Torah Portion which explains more about the major change in the Law that the Book of Hebrews talks about.

AARON & THE LEVITES

We have a habit of referring to the line of Aaron as “the Levites”. We also refer to “the Levites” as “the Levites”. This is confusing. All of Aaron’s line are Levites but not all Levites are of Aaron’s line.

The line of Aaron is an elevated lineage above all 3 lines which came from Levi. Levi’s sons were Kohath, Gershom and Merari. Aaron comes from the Kohath line but the Kohath line also has a job of its own.

The Firstborns of Israel had been chosen to be dedicated for the Tabernacle service that is now being given to the 3 lines of Levites in Numbers 3 and 4. Three times in chapter 3, YHVH makes it clear why the Levites are being pressed into service (Numbers 3:12, 41, 45). And I do mean “pressed”. The Levites were not given a choice.

Notice that the Levites do not get a perpetual promise of working in the Temple such as Aaron received for his lineage. This is because the Melchizedek Firstborn priesthood will be coming back. The line of Aaron will continue to do the sacrifices forever but the Firstborns of Melchizedek serve in the Temple as the Levites did in the past doing the jobs of the Kohathites, Gershonites and Merarites.

Let me reiterate that had the Firstborns not failed at the golden calf, this scripture would say YHVH was presenting the Firstborns of Israel to Aaron. This is a major change in the law because of the treason of the golden calf. One way we know this is from Numbers 3:40.

Numbers 3:40 And Jehovah said to Moses, Number all the first-born of the males of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

YHVH is about to redeem the Firstborns, pay their way, out of their inherited duties toward Him. The Levites now have this service from a month old but the Firstborns have to be counted the same way that the Levites were counted – from a month old and upward – so that the redemption count was complete and equal. We read about the Levite males being counted from a month old and upward in Numbers 3:15.

Numbers 3:15 “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”

The service of the Levites is not like the service of warriors. Levitical service is lifelong and begins when the male baby is 1 month old. Warrior service begins at age 20 and lasts the lifetime or until the man is no longer physically able to fight. From their infancy, Levites were a highly trained corps whose first job was the protection of the line of Aaron in the center of the camp and secondarily the care and carrying of the Tabernacle.

Numbers 3:38 Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.

Aaron, his sons and Moses were in the center of the camp facing east. The Levites were given the duty of guarding Israel’s administration center and its administrators, if I can use this modern terminology. A stranger here is not just a non-Israelite. It is one who does not belong near to Tabernacle unless coming to sacrifice, including Israelites. As one approaches the Tabernacle or Temple, the holiness goes higher. Only certain people are allowed into the higher levels of the holiness, the kedushah. All others are strangers whether one is an Israelite or not.

Numbers 3:45 “Take the Levites instead of all the Firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh.

Not only did the Firstborns lose their rightful place to serve YHVH, but even their cattle are no longer in service to YHVH.

Now, YHVH has to let the Firstborns be redeemed from their automatic service but there is a problem. The redemption was one Levite for one Firstborn. There are too many Firstborns. Because of wickedness, the number of men able to carry the workload is reduced. And by the way, we see this principle of reduction in what I shared earlier about the number of warriors and how that number declined from the first army count in the beginning of Numbers to the end of Numbers.

The counted resulted in 273 more Firstborns than there were Levites.

Numbers 3:43 And all the first-born males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

How many were the Levites? Twenty two thousand.

Num 3:44  And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying,
Num 3:45  Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. And the Levites shall be Mine. I am Jehovah.

This is how YHVH substituted the Levites for the Firstborns. He took the Levites and the Levites’ cattle, putting them into service, and removed the Firstborns and the Firstborns’ cattle from service. This was one Levite for a Firstborn but there were more Firstborns than Levites, so YHVH redeemed the extra 273 Firstborns through a money redemption.

Num 3:46  And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the sons of Israel, who are more than the Levites,
Num 3:47  you shall even take five shekels each by the head, according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take. (The shekel is twenty gerahs.) YHVH is not about to leave Firstborn to be automatically in His service. The additional Firstborns were removed from service through a money redemption process started in verse 47.

Each Israelite is worth a half shekel (Exodus 30:13-15) but the Firstborns were worth 5 shekels a piece indicating the enormous value and place they lost in Israel.

Numbers 3:51 and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to Yahweh’s word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

So, the line of Aaron “sold”, as it were”, the Firstborns out of service. YHVH took the Firstborns and made them just regular citizens with now special standing in Israel because of their sin at the golden calf and gave to Aaron all of the Levites that stood with Moses plus 5 shekels each for the overage of 273 Firstborns. Now, the Levites belong to Aaron instead of the Firstborns. This is why I keep saying the Firstborns would have served the line of Aaron doing the jobs that the Levites now received.

I want to clarify what I said earlier about the Levites being pressed into service and make it clear that this conscription, this draft, if you will, was not without honor. There were rewards for the Levites.

Numbers 4:2 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, according to their families, by their fathers’ house,
Numbers 4:3 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years, all that enter into the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Levites are dedicated to service from infancy at 1 month old but they do not begin active duty until they are 30. Their active duty ends at age 50. From Temple records, we know that the Levites – even those from the line of Aaron – began training at the age of 20, the same age when warriors became liable for going to war. At the age of 50, they stopped serving the Aaronic administration to begin teaching the 20 to 30 years olds.

The line of Kohath was set apart to handle the most sacred object in the Tabernacle but they were in danger of dying over it. YHVH did not have hazard pay so here is what He did for them.

Numbers 4:17 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Numbers 4:18 Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites.
Numbers 4:19 But do this to them, and they shall live and not die when they approach the Holy of Holies. Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint each one of them to his service and to his burden.
Numbers 4:20 But they shall not go in to watch when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

Aaron and his sons were appointed to cover the most holy things so that Kohathites would not die in service.

From here, the Jews break up this Torah Portion to deal with the duties of Gershom and Merari in in the Nasso Torah Portion. That does not make sense to me. We have read to chapter 4 verse 49 so I will continue commenting. Nasso, will then have a clean start with an entirely topic.

The Gershonites and Merarites were both counted from the age of 30 to 50 at the same time that the Kohathites were. The Gershonites had the responsibility of carrying the curtains and the skins over the tent, carrying the hangings and the door of the entrance gate along with all of the accessories for those items.

Merari carried the hardware: The boards, bars, pillars and sockets. Their rope ties (cords) and all accessories and vessels that pertained to the hardware.

Numbers 4:33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

At verse 34, we read about the details of the counting of the Kohathites, Gershonites and Merarites from the ages of 30 to 50. Again, this is legal language. No one can usurp their jobs. The Tabernacle and Temple records will show who belongs to these 3 lines of Levi.

Have you ever wondered why the Jews are such good historians? It isn’t necessarily because Judah, Benjamin or Simeon are so good at keeping records. Rather, it is because the line of Aaron was so good at it. Had they not been careful about who served, men could have died. And the recordings served to prevent fights over rights and jobs. The Levites did a pretty good job most of the time. It wasn’t until they got to Babylon that their record-keeping began to fail. They were leading Israel into idolatry before the Babylonian exile but during all of that they were still keeping good records. But in Babylon, they began to fail to the point where some of the descendants could not be identified when they returned to Jerusalem.

Looking back on Israel’s history, we can see our ancestors’ utter failures. Looking forward to what is yet to come, we can see Israel’s bright future and utter success. The 144,000, the Bride of Messiah who has the testimony of Yeshua and keep His commandments, the mysterious woman who flees to the wilderness where the first generation failed, but where this end times woman will succeed, show us YHVH’s grand plan, and we could live to see it happen! Hallelujah!