Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

on the Whole Bible

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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N U M B E R S

CHAP. VIII.

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This chapter is concerning the lamps or lights of the sanctuary.

I. The burning lamps in the candlestick, which the priests were charged

to tend,

ver. 1-4.

II. The living lamps (if I may so call them), The

Levites, who as ministers were burning and shining lights. The

ordination of the priests we had an account of,

Lev. viii.

Here we have an

account of the ordination of the Levites, the inferior clergy.

1. How they were purified,

ver. 5-8.

2. How they were parted with by the people,

ver. 9, 10.

3. How they were presented to God in lieu of the firstborn,

ver. 11-18.

4. How they were consigned to Aaron and his sons, to be ministers to

them,

ver. 19.

5. How all these orders were duly executed,

ver. 20-22.

And, lastly, the age appointed for their ministration,

ver. 23,

&c.

The Lights of the Sanctuary.	B. C. 1490.

     

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

  2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the

lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the

candlestick.

  3 And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against

the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.

  4 And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto

the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work:

according unto the pattern which the LORD had showed Moses, so he

made the candlestick.

     

Directions were given long before this for the making of the golden

candlestick

(Exod. xxv. 31),

and it was made according to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount,

Exod. xxxviii. 17.

But now it was that the lamps were first ordered to be lighted, when

other things began to be used. Observe,

1. Who must light the lamps; Aaron himself, he lighted the

lamps,
v. 3.

As the people’s representative to God, he thus did the office of a

servant in God’s house, lighting his Master’s candle; as the

representative of God to the people, he thus gave them the intimations

of God’s will and favour, thus expressed

(Ps. xviii. 28),

Thou wilt light my candle; and thus Aaron himself was now lately

directed to bless the people, The Lord make his face to shine upon

thee,
ch. vi. 25.

The commandment is a lamp,
Prov. vi. 23.

The scripture is a light shining in a dark place,
2 Pet. i. 19.

And a dark place indeed even the church would be without it, as the

tabernacle (which had no window in it) without the lamps. Now the work

of ministers is to light these lamps, by expounding and applying the

word of God. The priest lighted the middle lamp from the fire of the

altar, and the rest of the lamps he lighted one from another, which

(says Mr. Ainsworth) signifies that the fountain of all light and

knowledge is in Christ, who has the seven spirits of God figured

by the seven lamps of fire

(Rev. iv. 5),

but that in the expounding of scripture one passage must borrow light

from another. He also supposes that, seven being a number of

perfection, by the seven branches of the candlestick is shown the full

perfection of the scriptures, which are able to make us wise to

salvation.

2. To what end the lamps were lighted, that they might give light

over against the candlestick, that is, to that part of the

tabernacle where the table stood, with the show-bread upon it, over

against the candlestick. They were not lighted like tapers in an urn,

to burn to themselves, but to give light to the other side of the

tabernacle, for therefore candles are lighted,

Matt. v. 15.

Note, The lights of the world, the lights of the church, must shine as

lights. Therefore we have light, that we may give light.

The Consecration of the Levites.	B. C. 1490.

     

5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

  6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and

cleanse them.

  7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle

water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh,

and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.

  8 Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering,

even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock

shalt thou take for a sin offering.

  9 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the

congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the

children of Israel together:

  10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the

children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:

  11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an

offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the

service of the LORD.

  12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the

bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and

the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an

atonement for the Levites.

  13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his

sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD.

  14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children

of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

  15 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of

the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them,

and offer them for an offering.

  16 For they are wholly given unto me from among the children

of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of

the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them

unto me.

  17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine,

both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in

the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

  18 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the

children of Israel.

  19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his

sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the

children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to

make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no

plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel

come nigh unto the sanctuary.

  20 And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the

children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that

the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the

children of Israel unto them.

  21 And the Levites were purified, and they washed their

clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD;

and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

  22 And after that went the Levites in to do their service in

the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his

sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so

did they unto them.

  23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

  24 This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty

and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the

service of the tabernacle of the congregation:

  25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting

upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:

  26 But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of

the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service.

Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

     

We read before of the separating of the Levites from among the children

of Israel when they were numbered, and the numbering of them by

themselves

(ch. iii. 6, 15),

that they might be employed in the service of the tabernacle. Now here

we have directions given for their solemn ordination

(v. 6),

and the performance of it,

v. 20.

All Israel must know that they took not this honour to themselves, but

were called of God to it; nor was it enough that they were

distinguished from their neighbours, but they must be solemnly devoted

to God. Note, All that are employed for God must be dedicated to him,

according as the degree of employment is. Christian musts be baptized,

ministers must be ordained; we must first give ourselves unto the Lord,

and then our services. Observe in what method this was done:

     

I. The Levites must be cleansed, and were so. The rites and ceremonies

of their cleansing were to be performed,

1. By themselves. They must wash their clothes, and not only

bathe, but shave all their flesh, as the leper was to do when he

was cleansed,

Lev. xiv. 8.

They must cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, to clear

themselves from that defilement which would not wash off. Jacob, whom

God loved, was a smooth man; it was Esau that was hairy. The great

pains they were to take with themselves to make themselves clean

teaches all Christians, and ministers particularly, by repentance and

mortification, to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh

and spirit, that they may perfect holiness. Those must be

clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.

2. By Moses. He must sprinkle the water of purifying upon them,

which was prepared by divine direction. This signified the application

of the blood of Christ to our souls by faith, to purify us from an evil

conscience, that we may be fit to serve the living God. It is our duty

to cleanse ourselves, and God’s promise that he will cleanse us.

     

II. The Levites, being thus prepared, must be brought before the Lord

in a solemn assembly of all Israel, and the children of Israel

must put their hands upon them

(v. 10),

so transferring their interest in them and in their service (to which,

as a part, the whole body of the people was entitled) to God and to his

sanctuary. They presented them to God as living sacrifices, holy and

acceptable, to perform a reasonable service; and therefore,

as the offerers in all other cases did, they laid their hands upon

them, desiring that their service might be accepted in lieu of the

attendance of the whole congregation, particularly the first-born,

which they acknowledge God might have insisted on. This will not serve

to prove a power in the people to ordain ministers; for this imposition

of hands by the children of Israel upon the Levites did not make them

ministers of the sanctuary, but only signified the people’s parting

with that tribe out of their militia, and civil incorporations, in

order to their being made ministers by Aaron, who was to offer them

before the Lord. All the congregation of the children of Israel could

not lay hands on them, but it is probable that the rulers and elders

did it as the representative body of the people. Some think that the

first-born did it because in their stead the Levites were consecrated

to God. Whatever God calls for from us to serve his own glory by, we

must cheerfully resign it, lay our hands upon it, not to detain it but

to surrender it, and let it go to him that is entitled to it.

     

III. Sacrifices were to be offered for them, a sin-offering first

(v. 12),

and then a burnt-offering, to make an atonement for the Levites,

who, as the parties concerned, were to lay their hands upon the head of

the sacrifices. See here,

1. That we are all utterly unworthy and unfit to be admitted into and

employed in the service of God, till atonement be made for sin, and

thereby our peace made with God. That interposing cloud must be

scattered before there can be any comfortable communion settled between

God and our souls.

2. That it is by sacrifice, by Christ the great sacrifice, that we are

reconciled to God, and made fit to be offered to him. It is by him that

Christians are sanctified to the work of their Christianity, and

ministers to the work of their ministry. The learned bishop Patrick’s

notion of the sacrifice offered by the Levites is that the Levites were

themselves considered as an expiatory sacrifice, for they were given to

make atonement for the children of Israel,

(v. 19),

and yet not being devoted to death, any more than the first-born were,

these two sacrifices were substituted in their stead, upon which

therefore they were to lay their hands, that the sin which the children

of Israel laid upon them

(v. 10)

might be transferred to these beasts.

     

IV. The Levites themselves were offered before the Lord for an

offering of the children of Israel,
v. 11.

Aaron gave them up to God, as being first given up by themselves, and

by the children of Israel. The original word signifies a

wave-offering, not that they were actually waved, but they were

presented to God as the God of heaven, and the Lord of the whole earth,

as the wave-offerings were. And in calling them wave-offerings it was

intimated to them that they must continually lift up themselves towards

God in his service, lift up their eyes, lift up their hearts, and must

move to and fro with readiness in the business of their profession.

They were not ordained to be idle, but to be active and stirring.

     

V. God here declares his acceptance of them: The Levites shall be

mine,
v. 14.

God took them instead of the first-born

(v. 16-18),

of which before,

ch. iii. 41.

Note, What is in sincerity offered to God shall be graciously owned and

accepted by him. And his ministers who have obtained mercy of him to be

faithful have particular marks of favour and honour put upon them:

they shall be mine, and then

(v. 15)

they shall go in to do the service of the tabernacle. God takes

them for his own, that they may serve him. All that expect to share in

the privileges of the tabernacle must resolve to do the service of the

tabernacle. As, on the one hand, none of God’s creatures are his

necessary servants (he needs not the service of any of them), so, on

the other hand, none are taken merely as honorary servants, to do

nothing. All whom God owns he employs; angels themselves have their

services.

     

VI. They are then given as a gift to Aaron and his sons

(v. 19),

yet so as that the benefit accrued to the children of Israel.

1. The Levites must act under the priests as attendants on them, and

assistants to them, in the service of the sanctuary. Aaron offers them

to God

(v. 11),

and then God gives them back to Aaron,

v. 19.

Note, Whatever we give up to God, he will give back to us unspeakably

to our advantage. Our hearts, our children, our estates, are never

more ours, more truly, more comfortably ours, than when we have offered

them up to God.

2. They must act for the people. They were taken to do the service

of the children of Israel, that is, not only to do the service

which they should do, but to serve their interests, and do that which

would really redound to the honour, safety, and prosperity of the whole

nation. Note, Those that faithfully perform the service of God do one

of the best services that can be done to the public; God’s ministers,

while they keep within the sphere of their office and conscientiously

discharge the duty of it, must be looked upon as some of the most

useful servants of their country. The children of Israel can as ill

spare the tribe of Levi as any of their tribes. But what is the

service they do the children of Israel? It follows, it is to make an

atonement for them, that there be no plague among them. It was the

priests’ work to make atonement by sacrifice, but the Levites made

atonement by attendance, and preserved the peace with heaven which was

made by sacrifice. If the service of the priests in the tabernacle had

been left to all the first-born of Israel promiscuously, it would have

been either neglected or done unskillfully and irreverently, being done

by those that were not so closely tied to it, nor so diligently trained

to it, nor so constantly used to it, as the Levites were; and this

would bring a plague among the children of Israel–meaning,

perhaps, the death of the first-born themselves, which was the last and

greatest of the plagues of Egypt. To prevent this, and to preserve the

atonement, the Levites were appointed to do this service, who should be

bred up to it under their parents from their infancy, and therefore

would be well versed in it; and so the children of Israel, that is, the

first-born, should not need to come nigh to the sanctuary; or, when any

Israelites had occasion, the Levites would be ready to instruct them,

and introduce them, and so prevent any fatal miscarriage or mistake.

Note, It is a very great kindness to the church that ministers are

appointed to go before the people in the things of God, as guides,

overseers, and rulers, in religious worship, and to make that their

business. When Christ ascended on high, he gave these gifts,
Eph. iv. 8, 11, 12.

     

VII. The time of their ministration is fixed.

1. They were to enter upon the service at twenty-five years old,

v. 24.

They were not charged with the carrying of the tabernacle and the

utensils of it till they were thirty years old,

ch. iv. 3.

But they were entered to be otherwise serviceable at twenty-five years

old, a very good age for ministers to begin their public work at. The

work then required that strength of body and the work now requires that

maturity of judgment and steadiness of behaviour which men rarely

arrive at till about that age; and novices are in danger of being

lifted up with pride.

2. They were to have a writ of ease at fifty years old; then they were

to return from the warfare, as the phrase is

(v. 25),

not cashiered with disgrace, but preferred rather to the rest which

their age required, to be loaded with the honours of their office, as

hitherto they had been with the burdens of it. They shall minister

with their brethren in the tabernacle, to direct the junior

Levites, and set them in; and they shall keep the charge, as

guards upon the avenues of the tabernacle, to see that no stranger

intruded, nor any person in his uncleanness, but they shall not be put

upon any service which may be a fatigue to them. If God’s grace provide

that men shall have ability according to their work, man’s prudence

should take care that men have work only according to their ability.

The aged are most fit for trusts, and to keep the charge; the younger

are most fit for work, and to do the service. Those that have used

the office of a servant well purchase to themselves a good degree,
1 Tim. iii. 13.

Yet indeed gifts are not tied to ages

(Job xxxii. 9),

but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit. Thus

was the affair of the Levites settled.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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