Numbers 5-8 So Not a Get Out of Jail Free Card!

Ok…Flashback

Remember a weeks back when we discussed the Passover. Remember, it was the night when God killed all of the firstborn in Egypt, but saved all of the firstborn sons with blood on their doorframes?

Remember that it was the night of great suffering in Egypt and great celebration for Israel. This last plague meant freedom.

OK…Flash-forward

Remember that this was a foreshadowing of what God would eventually do for the world when he would give his firstborn in exchange for the freedom of the entire world

Both of these events tied very firmly into the concept of being rescued and redeemed by God…both convey the truth that we are hopeless apart from God’s rescue.

Tonight, I came across something interesting… in Numbers chapter 8, God makes it very clear that he did not save the firstborn of the Israelites so that they could simply continue as if nothing had happened, he saved the firstborn and then had ownership over their lives. He expected them to be his.

He called the Levite tribe to represent the firstborn of Isreal. Being God’s firstborn meant serving him every single day. It meant dedicating ones life to complete service to him….the Levites were actually commanded to serve God as a profession.

Ok…where am I going with this?

Like the firstborn of Israel, we were saved by God.

We are the Levites, and we are called to serve God every single day.

Like the Levites, we need to be professional God-servers.

He did not save us, simply, so that we could be saved.

We saved us…and we are not his.

We need to act like it!