I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 3-4.

    When Moses had done the census of the fighting age men of Israel he did not count the men of the tribe of Levi because the tribe of Levi was set aside to serve the Tabernacle and the priests. Now Moses conducted a count of the males of the tribe of Levi. Unlike with the census of the rest of the tribes Moses counted every male of the tribe of Levi one month old and older. The passage goes on to explain that the Levites represented the first born males of Israel whom God spared when He sent the angel of death to kill the first born sons in Egypt. There is a theme presented here that is alluded to elsewhere in the Old Testament. That theme is that the firstborn sons belong to God and need to be redeemed. I believe that there was a tradition among the people surrounding the Israelites of sacrificing the first born son to their gods. I believe the message here and elsewhere was that those peoples got it partially right; our children belong to God. However, God did not, and does not, desire us to sacrifice our children, not even our firstborn. Our children belong to God, we have no right to take their lives, not even before they are born.