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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comThrough the Bible Day by Day - Numbers 8:1 - 8:1
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Lights in God’s House; Clean Workmen
Num 8:1-13
It is strange to come on this paragraph about the candlestick amid the preparations for leaving Sinai. But typically it is appropriate, because the people of God are called, in their earthly pilgrimage, to shine as lights in the world.
The beaten work of gold is significant of persecution, and the one lump of gold indicates the essential unity of the Church. The Levites were symbolically cleansed by the water and the razor. This was required for those who were sprung from a stock so cruel, Gen 49:7.
Next they were offered to God, i.e., Israel transferred to them the obligations of ministry, which up to this time had been performed by the firstborn. As the priest was wont to wave a portion of the sacrifice before God, so Aaron, Num 8:11. The counterpart of this is Act 13:3. Missionaries, teachers and others who perform certain functions for us all, may be regarded as wave-offerings.