"I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine." [Num 3:12]
In Exodus, The LORD says that because “by strength of hand The LORD brought [Israel] out from Egypt, from the house of bondage” they were to “set apart unto The LORD all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast…the males shall be The LORD’s.” [Ex 13:12; 14] Though there was an option to not redeem an animal and instead “break his neck,” that option was not available for men, and instead God commanded, “all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.” [Ex 13:13] Here in Numbers, God is modifying this command. He says that instead of having to redeem your firstborn male, The LORD has taken every Levite which is born to Himself. The LORD says plainly, “therefore the Levites shall be mine” and again, later in the chapter, “thou shall take the Levites for me: I am the LORD…the Levites shall be mine: I am The LORD.” [Num 3:41; 45] So all the firstborn males in Israel were loosed from the original command in Exodus, it being made optional, and God instead would take every Levite unto Himself.
To apply this to ourselves, we begin in Peter, where we are told regarding our position in Christ, “ye are…a royal priesthood” and again in Revelation, “[Jesus] hast made us unto our God kings and priests…” [1 Pe 2:9, Rev 5:10] We, as Christians, are inaugurated into the priesthood of Christ. Much like there were priests in the Levitical days, underneath the high priest, so too it is today; we, as ”living stones” cut from Christ, who is The Rock, abide as priests under Jesus, who is “called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchisedec.” [1 Pe 2:5, Mt 21:44, Heb 5:10] As the priests of God, we too are taken of God to Himself. Just as He did for the Levites, so too God does for us, calling us His own and taking us to Himself as His own inheritance.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul prays for them (and for us), “that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints [is].” [Eph 1:18] Here we see a very glorious truth: that we are indeed Jesus’ inheritance! We have been gifted unto Christ by His Father, the giver and source of “every good gift and every perfect gift;” for Jesus prayed to The Father, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world…” [Jam 1:17, Jn 17:6] Just as Abraham sent out His servant, Eliezer, whose name means “God is help,” in search of a wife for his son Isaac, so too The LORD has sent forth His Holy Spirit who has found and brought us to Christ and made us His bride. And so, as it is written in the Proverbs, “House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD,” [Prov 19:14] so too it is here, that we, as Christ’s bride, are also His inheritance, given to Him of God. But we also see this proof in the Old Testament.
In the law, God revealed to Israel that they too were His inheritance. He says to them, “but The LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.” [Deut 4:20] And again, “for The LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.” [Deut 32:9] These truths are also applicable to us, the “Israel of God,” who have been “graffed in” to the Olive Tree of Israel. [Gal 6:16, Rom 11:17-22] For just as God purchased Israel out of slavery in Egypt, so too God has purchased us by Jesus’ blood out of the clutches of Satan, the world, and from slavery to sin.
This is a precious truth: that we are Jesus’ inheritance. We are His, and He is ours. He has purchased us, and we have been given to Him, and He does never intend to loose us from His loving grasp. And see too, that we are doubly His; even triply His. For He created us, He chose us, and He purchased us. From each person of the glorious Godhead we are chosen and secure; we are His precious possession.
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