Before looking at Num. 8 I want to build on the names found in Num. 1,6 and 10 (the leaders of Israel, listed along with their fathers). I have three presuppositions about these names. First, generally people at the time gave thought to names they gave to their children. Second, these names were all given while in Egypt (Israel had been gone from Egypt for only a year or so at the time of today’s chapter). Third, there was a “Messianic expectation” among the righteous. That is fundamental to what it means to be called “the righteous.” From Gen. 3:15, when God promised a “seed of the woman” to deal with the serpent, people were anticipating the birth of a human being who would deal with sin, a Savior, who would be the Anointed One (Messiah). This expectation is borne out, I believe, in the names of Israel’s leaders.
With that in mind, look at Num. 1:12/7:66/10:25:
Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
He was the leader of the tribe of Dan.
Ahiezer means “my brother is help.” Why did he have that name? You might think that at the time of his birth
his older brother had done something helpful.
Not likely. These men were most
likely the oldest in their families; if they didn’t lead the family its
doubtful they would lead the clan or tribe.
If they received the authority of “firstborn” from the father without
being born first (as happened with Isaac, Jacob, Judah/Joseph, Ephraim) then it
was doubtful the oldest who lost the birthright was not helpful. What makes more sense is that the dad, whose
name means My Kinsman is Almighty, was referring to the promised Savior
who was prophesied to be from the nation of Israel. The Savior was to come from the line of
Abraham (a blessing to all nations, Gen. 12:1-3), Isaac (Gen. 17:19), Jacob
(Gen. 28:14) and Judah (Gen. 49:10).
This is the “Brother” who would help, who also would be the “Kinsman”
who would be the Almighty One. How did
they know that the Savior would also be “Almighty”? The story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah
(Gen. 22, that the Savior was the “Son of God”) made this clear, and according
to Gen. 22:14 the people in Moses’ day understood what happened on the Mountain
of God to be a strong, revealing event.
Two wonderful names tell us two powerful truths about the Messiah: from
the nation of Israel, and He is the Almighty!
Now, to Numbers 8. Don’t miss the connection between 7:89 (God’s
special relationship with Israel) and 8:1-4, lighting the Menorah. The lamps enlightened the Holy Place (front
of the tabernacle), as the word of God enlightened the people.
The consecration of the Levites (8:5-26)
follows their choice by God (Ex. 32:25-29) and their being taken as belonging
to the LORD in exchange for all the first-born of Israel (Num. 1:40-51). Aaron and his family were dedicated as the
Priests (Lev. 8-10); now the Levites were given to the Priests to help
them. The end of 8:14 is to be noted:
God says, the Levites shall be mine. You hear this often in the Pentateuch, and it
is a great truth with NT implications, that the Levites received no inheritance; God
was their inheritance.
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