Chapter Summary

Order of the host; placing of the Levites.

Discussion Questions for Numbers, Chapter 3

1. “But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.” (Numbers 3:4, ESV) What does this teach you about the seriousness of obedience according to God’s commands? What does this teach you about His Holiness?
2. “And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel.” (Numbers 3:9, ESV) What does it mean for them to be wholly given?
3. “And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.” (Numbers 3:10, ESV) Why were they to be put to death? Why such a serious response? How would the people of Israel would have understood this command? What would they have associated with coming near?
4. “List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list.” (Numbers 3:15, ESV) Why did it start at one month old? How would the Israelites have perceived this?
5. What was the purpose of listing all the firstborn? What was the significance of the firstborn in the family? How would this have set up the generations to follow?
6. “According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary.” (Numbers 3:28, ESV) How does this shape your understanding of how the Israelites were to cherish the tabernacle? Does this image change the way you see it? If so, how did you perceive it before and how do you perceive it now?
7. How do these recorded numbers impact the way you view the camp and the tabernacle? Each tribe served the tabernacle in different ways. What do you see as you imagine these different scenes?
8. How did Moses, Aaron, and his sons “protect the people of Israel”? (Numbers 3:38, ESV) How would their presence have served the people in this way?
9. How are the Levites specifically set apart in this chapter? Why is this so?
10. “And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs)” (Numbers 3:46-47, ESV) How do you think the Levites would have viewed this command? What were God’s intentions?

Key Words/Phrase

Levites, v. 6.

Characters

God, Moses, Aaron.

Strong Verse(s)

13