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The Seven Lamps8 The L ord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand. 3Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as the L ord had commanded Moses. 4Now this was how the lampstand was made, out of hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the L ord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. Consecration and Service of the Levites5 The L ord spoke to Moses, saying: 6Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them. 7Thus you shall do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification on them, have them shave their whole body with a razor and wash their clothes, and so cleanse themselves. 8Then let them take a young bull and its grain offering of choice flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull for a sin offering. 9You shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of the Israelites. 10When you bring the Levites before the L ord, the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11and Aaron shall present the Levites before the L ord as an elevation offering from the Israelites, that they may do the service of the L ord. 12The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and he shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the L ord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13Then you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you shall present them as an elevation offering to the L ord. 14 Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the other Israelites, and the Levites shall be mine. 15Thereafter the Levites may go in to do service at the tent of meeting, once you have cleansed them and presented them as an elevation offering. 16For they are unreservedly given to me from among the Israelites; I have taken them for myself, in place of all that open the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites. 17For all the firstborn among the Israelites are mine, both human and animal. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18but I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the Israelites. 19Moreover, I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the service for the Israelites at the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, in order that there may be no plague among the Israelites for coming too close to the sanctuary. 20 Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the Israelites did with the Levites accordingly; the Israelites did with the Levites just as the L ord had commanded Moses concerning them. 21The Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them as an elevation offering before the L ord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22Thereafter the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting in attendance on Aaron and his sons. As the L ord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did with them. 23 The L ord spoke to Moses, saying: 24This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall begin to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting; 25and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26They may assist their brothers in the tent of meeting in carrying out their duties, but they shall perform no service. Thus you shall do with the Levites in assigning their duties. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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2 When thou lightest the lamps. This precept, like many others, is not inserted in its proper place. Moses again declares what was the use of the candlestick, and how the lamps should be arranged, so that their light might be spread through the sanctuary, and that the brightness of the gold might shine over against them; for this was the reason why God would have the lamps lighted against the face of, or opposite to, the candlestick, that the very stand of the light might retain its beauty. Moreover, it is expressly stated that Aaron obeyed God’s command, as if in no despicable matter, as he had received it from Moses. To this also refers what immediately follows, that it was made “according unto the pattern” which Moses had seen in the mount; and this was, as I have before explained it, that God is the Father of lights, who illuminates His Church by His Spirit, that it may not wander in darkness; and so, whilst darkness covers the whole earth, He is as an everlasting light to believers instead of the sun and moon, as says Isaiah 60:19 89. And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle There seems at first sight to be a kind of contradiction between this passage and the other, in which we saw that a thick cloud stood in the door of the tabernacle, so that Moses could not enter it. It might, indeed, be answered that this only occurred once; but to me it appears more probable that, Moses sought the replies of God at the mercy-seat, until Aaron began to exercise the priesthood, and then abandoned his dignity, which was only temporary, as far as regarded the entering of the sanctuary. For we know that by the established Law of God the priesthood was distinct from the civil government; and therefore that he could not, except by special privilege, be at the same time the leader and the priest. 404404 This sentence is omitted in Fr. If this exposition be accepted, he does not here record in its proper place that answers were given to him by God from the mercy-seat; since it is by no means unusual that what has preceded in order of time should be annexed at the end of a narrative. His intention, indeed, was to declare to posterity that God had not promised in vain that the Israelites should experience the presence of His favor; because He had chosen His dwelling-place in the sanctuary, to sit between the cherubim. By this testimony, therefore, of God’s grace, the external anointing was ratified and confirmed, inasmuch as God appeared to Moses upon the Ark of the Covenant. |