Numbers 8:5-22

NUMBERS—NOTE ON Numbers 8:5 The Levites took the place of the firstborn Israelites (vv. Numbers 8:16). Their cleansing made them fit to be offered to God. The leaders then laid hands on them, symbolizing that the Levites represent the congregation (vv. Numbers 8:9). Then, like parts of a sacrifice, they are offered as a wave offering (v. Numbers 8:11). “Sacrificial waving” is usually a side-to-side movement, but how the Levites were “waved” is unclear. Part of the Levites’ job is to guard the tabernacle. They protect the community by preventing an Israelite from approaching the sanctuary incorrectly and thus causing a plague (see v. Numbers 8:19).