Aaron Receives a Levite for Tabernacle ServiceBible World
3:2Numbers 3:2
And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
The book takes its name from the two numberings of Israel, and this verse stands in the first numbering, within the opening four chapters that number the people and the tribe of Levi and set out the office of the various families of Levi. It gives the names of Aaron's four sons as Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The naming of Aaron's family connects with the tribe of Levi, to which Aaron belonged and in which the priesthood was vested, for Levi belonged to God. In this setting the priesthood was vested in Levi and established after the order of Aaron for that age, until the type met its antitype in Christ. In the law of Numbers 3 and 4 the sons of Aaron had the distinct priestly work of handling the sacred objects, while the Kohathites carried the ark and the other sanctuary vessels on their shoulders after the objects were covered, for the ark was not to be carried on a cart or touched by unauthorized persons.
Among those sons is Eleazar, who was assigned oversight of the Levites charged with the service and care of the sanctuary. The verse belongs to the detailed account of the numbering of Israel and the division of labor among the Levites, showing God's care and order in arranging His people. It is part of the book of Moses that directs the setting of the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, the pattern followed when the returned captives dedicated the temple. It falls in the reading of Numbers 1-3, which invites the reader to consider the honor of being chosen to minister.
The book takes its name from the two numberings of Israel, and this verse stands in the first numbering, within the opening four chapters that number the people and the tribe of Levi and set out the office of the various families of Levi. It gives the names of Aaron's four sons as Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The naming of Aaron's family connects with the tribe of Levi, to which Aaron belonged and in which the priesthood was vested, for Levi belonged to God. In this setting the priesthood was vested in Levi and established after the order of Aaron for that age, until the type met its antitype in Christ. In the law of Numbers 3 and 4 the sons of Aaron had the distinct priestly work of handling the sacred objects, while the Kohathites carried the ark and the other sanctuary vessels on their shoulders after the objects were covered, for the ark was not to be carried on a cart or touched by unauthorized persons.
Among those sons is Eleazar, who was assigned oversight of the Levites charged with the service and care of the sanctuary. The verse belongs to the detailed account of the numbering of Israel and the division of labor among the Levites, showing God's care and order in arranging His people. It is part of the book of Moses that directs the setting of the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, the pattern followed when the returned captives dedicated the temple. It falls in the reading of Numbers 1-3, which invites the reader to consider the honor of being chosen to minister.