So Moses counted them [the Levites], as he was commanded by the Word of the Lord.

To put Numbers 3:16 in its place in time, Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt and the tribes were living in what we would call a refugee camp, where they stayed for a year. The camp was in Sinai, and on the day when the Jews followed Moses out of it, the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness began.

While the Jews camped, God said this to Moses:

Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans, listing every man by name, one by one. (1:2)

This is how tiny the seed from which God would grow his flock was: Two men, Moses and his brother Aaron, could count them all. God often uses “not much” to do much. A small thought planted. A weak and humble person commissioned. Do not wait for a grand plan, a large army. A Moses and an Aaron alone were enough; so are you and I.

 As always, when God issued a command to Moses, it was promptly and correctly followed. (Well, almost always. Numbers 20:8-11 tells of when Moses didn’t follow a command by egotistically inserting himself into the miracle of bringing water from a rock, a miracle that should have been God’s alone. As a result, Moses was forbidden by God from entering into the Promised Land.  Let’s not slight him for that record – one “loss” against all those “wins” is amazing by anyone’s standard!) While it was doable for Moses and Aaron to count God’s seeds, it wasn’t easy. There were 22,000 Levites alone (3:39), and other tribes were much, much larger, with some more than doubling the Levite count, yet the two men counted them all.

God’s tribe of priests may not have been impressive in numbers, but, hey, that’s God. He didn’t grab the biggest tribe for Himself; instead He trusted this smaller tribe of Levi with all the key work of the religion: to tend to the tent of the meeting, the sacrifices, the making of the robes, the care of the people, and all things religious. Israel would need soldiers, farmers, herders, merchants, tradespeople, traders and teachers to survive the wilderness and settle the Promised Land, so God dipped only a little for His own needs. The same remains true today for He is a timeless God.

Just as they were responsible for the offerings to God, the Levites that Moses and Aaron counted were an offering themselves:  

The Lord also said to Moses, “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the first born are mine. (3:11-13)

It was a pretty plan: The Levites oversaw the giving of the offerings and were fed from that portion of the offering that was not burned as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. There is a harmony and symmetry in God’s plans, for the Levites and the Israelites then, and for us now.  It’s not just the Levites or the firstborn that are His; all the born are His. It’s not just the believers and born again that are His; all are His. It’s not just believers on good days that are His; everyone on every day is His. We are all His creation, which is why “The Gospel oft he Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations.” (Matthew 24:14) All must be reached. Why? Because all are His.

God doesn’t forget a single lamb, and He doesn’t want us to, either. Only a few of us work in His tabernacle, but all of us are covered by His tabernacle. Aaron and Moses counted all the Israelites, not just the Levites. God counts us.

Not counted, though, were Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, themselves anointed priests like their father, because:

[They] took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to His command. So fire came out of the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. (Leviticus 10:1-2)

They presumed to worship God in the way they wanted to, instead of the way God decreed, and paid the price. This was a message from God to the Levites at the outset of their new life as priests: To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, “You’ll do it my way.” Priests today, people today, should take note. We may live under a new covenant, but little things still matter to God, as do big things, like His Word. They matter enough that God reminds us in Numbers 3:4 what had already been told in Leviticus 10:2:

Nadab and Abihu, however, fell dead before the Lord.

Their error, seemingly small – worshiping God, but in their way, not His – was big enough to God that he repeated the story back-to-back in two consecutive books,lest we pay it small mind. Moses inserted himself into God’s miracle and was denied the Promised Land. Aaron’s sons created their own worship service that wasn’t the Lord’s and were struck dead. The World would have us believe all paths lead to God. Don’t be deceived! Only God’s path leads to God!

Thought: God won’t ask too much from me, so I should pay attention and do what He asks.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, I am but a little number, just one voice, one life, one soul, among so many in Your creation. Yet You love me and know every hair on my head and every care in my heart. You are an awesome God, full of lovingkindness, and I praise You and thank You that I am Your child. Help me today to do what You ask of me with a joyful spirit, and with no thought other than my desire to please You. In the name of Christ Jesus I pray, amen.