Today’s portion is about duties and service.

The total number of males from one month old in the tribe of Levi was 22,300. Service-eligible male Levites from age 30 – 50 were: family of Gershon – 2630, Kohath – 2750, Merari – 3200; total 8580. The remaining two-thirds were younger than 30, older than 50, or otherwise ineligible.

Their duties were very specifically assigned and supervised. While the family of Kohath was responsible for carrying the sacred articles, all three families were equally important and to be equally honored: this is based on (v.22) God’s instruction that the Gershonites should also be “raised up” – counted.

Beside the work of carrying, the “work of service” (v.47) is explained as performing musical accompaniment (Arachin 11a).

(Lev 5) Before the Tabernacle could be erected, the camp must be purified of tumah – contamination associated with death or a result of the fall.

__________

One who has stolen, failed to repay a loan, or failed to pay wages on time – in order to become clean before God, is required to make confession, repay with an added twenty percent, and bring a ram for atonement. If the victim is deceased with no kin, then the restitution is to be given to the priests serving in the Temple.

The Torah is here teaching that it is forbidden for us to take anything that God has not given to us, whether great or small, whether from a wealthy person or someone whom we think “owes us”, or anything we have dedicated – such as tithes separated but not distributed.

The person, who would serve God, must have this heart attitude to desire holiness. Continual repentance is a requirement to be clean. Saying, “If I have sinned, forgive me,” is insufficient toward God or man. One needs to seek God’s word to show him his errors, and make restitution, and correction of his ways.

So the Psalmist says, (Psalm 95:4-13),

“Make me know Thy ways, O Yahweh; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, for Thou art the God of my salvation; for Thee I wait all the day. Remember, O Yahweh, Thy compassion and Thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Thy lovingkindness remember Thou me, for Thy goodness' sake, O Yahweh. Good and upright is Yahweh; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way. 1All the paths of Yahweh are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Thy name's sake, O Yahweh, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Who is the man who fears Yahweh? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will abide in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.”

Acts 5

Ananias and Sapphira owned property: it was in their control, and they could have legitimately sold it and kept all of the money. But, they sold it and said that they were giving all of the money to the church – which means it was dedicated to God. However, they actually kept part of the money. Peter said that was “lying to the Holy Spirit” (v.3). Each of them fell dead upon confirming that they had “given the whole price”. They stole dedicated property, and they lied before the church, in order to falsely appear as spiritual as others who gave all.

This was written “for our admonition,” that we should know our hearts, and not make a pretense of spirituality.

Such fear came upon others, concerning this Holy God, that they were afraid to join the church, though they held it in high esteem! Do we have to see people die for disrespecting God, before we recognize His holiness? Are we convinced, by the religious world of today, that God only attributed sin to former generations; that we live in a different age, when we can do whatever seems right to us? Do outsiders hold us in high esteem because they can recognize the honest level of holiness by which we live?

We have an Holy God. We must be truthful, and honest in our dealings. We must learn to repent with confession and restitution, to be in right standing with God. Yeshua did not “do it all,” such that we are “free” to do whatever we wish with impunity.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” – Galatians 6:7.

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” – Ephesians 1:4.

“Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah” – 1 Peter 1:13-19.

The purpose of the Tabernacle and priesthood is to show us God’s holiness, and our promise of future glory in righteousness. We cannot live for sin here, and truthfully say that our hope is in a future righteous state.

Readings:

1 Amen* 21 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 22 "Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' households, by their families; 23 from thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them; all who enter to perform the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.

2 Amen* 24 "This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: 25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform. 27 "All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their work, shall be performed at the command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. 28 "This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

3 Amen* 29 "As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' households; 30 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31 "Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets, 32 and the pillars around the court and their sockets and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry. 33 "This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest."

4 Amen* 34 So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' households, 35 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting. 36 And their numbered men by their families were 2,750. 37 These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh through Moses.

5 Amen* 38 And the numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families, and by their fathers' households, 39 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting. 40 And their numbered men by their families, by their fathers' households, were 2,630. 41 These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh.
6 Amen* 42 And the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers' households, 43 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting. 44 And their numbered men by their families were 3,200. 45 These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh through Moses.

46 All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers' households, 47 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting. 48 And their numbered men were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of Yahweh through Moses, they were numbered, everyone by his serving or carrying; thus these were his numbered men, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

7 Amen* 5:1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Command the sons of Israel that they send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a discharge and everyone who is unclean because of a dead person. 3 "You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst." 4 And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses, thus the sons of Israel did. 5 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 "Speak to the sons of Israel, 'When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against Yahweh, and that person is guilty, 7 then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong, and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. 8 'But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to Yahweh for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. 9 'Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. 10 'So every man's holy gifts shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it becomes his.'"

Judges 13:2-25

1 Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of Yahweh, so that Yahweh gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. 2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3 Then the angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4 "Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 "For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines." 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7 "But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'" 8 Then Manoah entreated Yahweh and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom Thou hast sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born." 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me." 11 Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." 12 And Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation?" 13 So the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. 14 "She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded." 15 Then Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, "Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a kid for you." 16 And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to Yahweh." For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?" 18 But the angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" 19 So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to Yahweh, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of Yahweh ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 Now the angel of Yahweh appeared no more to Manoah or his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God." 23 But his wife said to him, "If Yahweh had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time." 24 Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and Yahweh blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Psalm 95    A Psalm of David.

1 To Thee, O Yahweh, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in Thee I trust, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies exult over me. 3 Indeed, none of those who wait for Thee will be ashamed; those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. 4 Make me know Thy ways, O Yahweh; teach me Thy paths. 5 Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, for Thou art the God of my salvation; for Thee I wait all the day. 6 Remember, O Yahweh, Thy compassion and Thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Thy lovingkindness remember Thou me, for Thy goodness' sake, O Yahweh. 8 Good and upright is Yahweh; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way. 10 All the paths of Yahweh are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Thy name's sake, O Yahweh, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. 12 Who is the man who fears Yahweh? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. 13 His soul will abide in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The secret of Yahweh is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant. 15 My eyes are continually toward Yahweh, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. 18 Look upon my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. 19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many; and they hate me with violent hatred. 20 Guard my soul and deliver me; do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in Thee. 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for Thee. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

Acts 5:1-16

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God." 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 And the young men arose and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. 7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?" And she said, "Yes, that was the price." 9 Then Peter said to her, "Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they shall carry you out as well." 10 And she fell immediately at his feet, and breathed her last; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things. 12 And at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. 13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. 14 And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number; 15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets, and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. 16 And also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits; and they were all being healed.