NUMBERS
CHAPTER 8
Levites washed, consecrated, and set apart by laying on of hands—They are the Lord’s, in place of firstborn of every family—They are a gift to Aaron and his sons to do service of tabernacle.
2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.
3 And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.
4 And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
8 Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.
9 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:
10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:
11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.
12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.
13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD.
14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.
15 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, [ We see the same commandment given earlier in Num 3:6-12 that because the tribe of Levi answered the call from the Lord of "who is on the Lords side" they were given the responsibilities of the priesthood, and the responsibilities were taken away from the rest of the house of Israel as to priesthood responsibility because they were not willing to commit when asked. ] and offer them for an offering.
16 For they are wholly [ Or the only ones. ] given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, [ The old policy was that the first-born son of each family in the house of Israel who would be responsible for the temporal and spiritual welfare of his father's family (think of the Father and Christ). Now, however, after the children of Israel rejected the higher law Moses introduced to them, priesthood responsibility and service was given to the Levites. From this time forward, everyone was restricted from the priesthood except the Levites. The first-born son was no longer a priesthood holder unless he was a descendant of Aaron or a descendant son of Levi.
This is where the distinction was drawn between the Aaronic and the Levitical Priesthoods. In ancient Israel, the sons of Aaron were to be the High Priests of the Temple, and the sons of Levi were to be the ones who served in the temple and performed all the work needed for it to function properly. They gathered the wood, they kept the oil ready, they performed the sacrifices of the animals on the altar, they kept the Menorah lit at all times, they cleaned out the ash bins, and they made sure incense was stocked. Aaron's descendants were to be the High Priests of the temple. You could tell them apart by which shoulder they wore their robes on. The High Priests (Aaron and his first-born descendants) wore their robes on their right shoulder, and the Levites wore their robes on their left shoulder, thus allowing their right arm to be free when performing the animal sacrifices and other temple ordinances. – we now have a Presiding Bishop who represents a descendant of Aaron. If a literal descendant of Aaron comes along, he can become the Presiding Bishop and act in his office without counselors (D&C 107:76). His authority is an inherent right because of his lineage. The authority to administer those higher ordinances was removed or taken away because the children of Israel did not want to live up to that higher level of obedience. It was because of their agency and their choice that this Higher Law was removed from them. From the time of Adam this High Priesthood was called the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God, and then it was called, the Holy Priesthood after the Order of Enoch, and then it was called the Holy Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek. ] have I taken them unto me.
17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.
18 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
[ The Levites will now take the place of the firstborn of each household, the Levites will now be the only ones to administer the priesthood. Anciently every Firstborn was to hold the Priesthood, no matter what Tribe they came from, but now that has changed. That was priesthood administration. So the Lord says, okay, I’m going to take that away from all of the tribes of Israel. Now. Only Levi. Only that lineage. Only the Sons of Levi are going to be able to hold that priesthood. ]
19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.
20 And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.
21 And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.
22 And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.
24 This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: