EPISODE 47 :: NUMBERS 4 THRU 6 :: THE LEVITES NUMBERED AND ASSIGNED TEMPLE DUTY

NUMBERS 4:1-2 THE CENSUS OF KOHATH

1Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households,

            Let’s recall who the Kohaths are.  Jacob s sons named Simeon and Levi and Levi was considered to be merciless because of the people they killed in Shechem.  Levi had three children who were Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.  Kohath had sons named Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.  Kohath’s son named Amram married his aunt Jochebed.  In other words, Amram married his father’s sister and Aaron, Moses and Miriam were born to them.

            What should also be noted here is that the males from all of the other tribes that were numbered for war were from the ages of twenty and up.  But the Levites had a specific age of service from thirty to fifty.  Those who were registered for war were infant or youthful because although they were vigorous, they were prone to be childish in their actions and not wear the honor of a Levite.  Those who were in the service of the tabernacle at the later ages had more gravity and they were at their prime in strength which they gave to God.