Let’s begin with Romans 5, beginning at verse 6. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. shows His love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.
More than that. We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. If you turn now to Numbers chapter 3, this is a long chapter, but I think it’s profitable for us to read through it. Numbers chapter 3. Let’s give attention to the very Word of God.
These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses and Aaron on Mount Sinai. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. 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.
And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, bring a tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest that they may minister to him. And they shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting as they minister at the tabernacle. They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 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.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine.
I am the Lord.” And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, list the sons of Levi by father’s houses and by clans. Every male from a month old and upward you shall list. So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord as he was commanded.
And these were the sons of Levi by their names, Gershon and Kohath and Merari. These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans, Libni and Shimei, and the sons of Kohath by their clans, Amram, Ishar, Hebron, and Uziel, and the sons of Morari by their class, Mahai, Mahlai, and Mushhai. These are the clans of the Levites by their fathers’ houses. To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites. These were the clans of the Gershonites.
Their listing, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, was 7,500. The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west with Elisaph, the son of Laiel, as chief of the father’s house of the Gershonites. And the guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, a tent of meeting with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, The hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, all the service connected with these.
To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amorites, and the clan of the Isharites, and the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzziolites. These are the clans of the Kohathites. According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. Clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south of the tabernacle with Elisphen, the son of Uziel, as chief of the father’s house of the clans of the Kohathites. And their guard duty involved the ark, the tabernacle, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen, all the service connected with these.
And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites and to have oversight over those who kept guard over the sanctuary. to Merari, belonging to the clan of the Mahalites, and the clan of the Mushites. These are the clans of Merari. Their listing, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, was 6,200. And the chief of the father’s house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abahiel.
And they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories. And all the servants connected with these, also the pillars around the court with their bases and pegs and cords. Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting, toward the sunrise where Moses and Aaron and his sons guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death.
All those listed among the Levites whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord by clans and all the males from a month old and upward were 22,000. And the Lord said to Moses, list all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names, and you shall take the Levites for me. I am the Lord, instead of all the firstborn of the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites, instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel. So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, as listed, were 22,273. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle.
The Levites shall be mine. I am the Lord. And as the redemption price for the 270 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 20 geras.
And give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price. for those who are over. So Moses took the redemption money from those who are over and above those redeemed by the Levites. From the firstborn of the people of Israel, he took the money, 1,365 shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary. And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.” That’s from the reading of God’s word. This is the word of the Lord.
Amen. Would you pray with me? Our Father and our God, we thank you and praise you for your word. And now we ask, Lord, as we have time this evening, that you would work in our hearts that you would, Father, apply this text to us. This text, which was written so long ago and about a different time and a different people, and yet we are connected with them and to them. And so we ask, help us work in our hearts that we might See all that you have for us this evening. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen. If you’re trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, why were you delivered? Why did Jesus deliver you? Have you thought about that? Have you asked that question?
There’s a sense in which this text in Numbers answers that question for us. As we have started this study of Numbers, we’ve seen that this is the text, at least a portion of it, as we begin Numbers, where everything is in place for the Israelites now to set out toward the Promised Land.
Yes, they’ve come to Mount Sinai. And everything is set up. The tabernacle has been designed by God himself. It’s been constructed by the Israelites. The priests have been consecrated. And now we see in this portion of the text, the Levites are given particular work to do with regard to the priest, with regard to the people of God, with regard to the tabernacle itself. And so the Lord is setting them up to start their journey or continue their journey on their way to the promised land.
Tonight, we see a lot of detail in this passage. We’re going to focus on certain things. Yes, it sets forth who is supposed to take care of this aspect of the tabernacle, who is supposed to take care of that aspect of the tabernacle, and it’s divided up into three divisions amongst the different divisions within the tribe of Levi. We’re not going to spend time thinking too much about that tonight.
What I want us to see tonight as we go through this passage is that the Lord Jesus Christ steps into the shoes of sinners to deliver them from sin to worship. The Lord Jesus Christ steps into the shoes of sinners to deliver them from sin to worship. We’ll see that tonight in three heads.
First, the need to be redeemed. Secondly, the need for significance. And finally, the need for a substitute. As we go through this passage, once again, I want you to be asking yourself that question, why was I delivered by Christ? Well, first, the need to be redeemed.
To truly understand the import of this chapter, and I believe, yes, much of it is about the tabernacle and how the tabernacle was to be moved from place to place and who was in charge of what, where the Levites were to camp, it’s much more It’s much more about who the Levites were and their relationships. And to understand the relationships of the Levites to the people and their relationships to God, we have to actually go back in time. We’ve got to go back to Egypt. We’ve got to go back to the deliverance of the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptians by God. I have to go back and understand the significance of our sin and the punishment for sin.
We know so very clearly from Genesis chapter 2 that Adam was called to perfect personal obedience by God. You may surely eat of the tree of every garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. God commanded, and God gave the punishment for breaking his command.
We know that the wages of sin is death, and we know that sin must be punished. In one sense, the ten plagues in Egypt suffered by Egypt were all punishment for sin, sins committed against the living God and sins committed against the people of God suffering oppression at the hands of ruthless taskmasters in Egypt. Ultimately, that is what the tenth plague is all about, punishment of sin. Justice must be satisfied.
And so the temporal wrath of God was poured out upon Egypt. We read in Exodus 12, at midnight the Lord struck down the firstborn in the land of Egypt. There was not a house where someone was not dead. The tenth plague, the striking down of the firstborn of Egypt.
We know the Egyptians sinned against God and we know that they sinned against the Israelites, but what about the Israelites? Were they not sinners as well? Psalm 14 tells us so very clearly, they have all turned aside. Together they’ve become corrupt. There’s no one who does good, not even one. I think that would include the Israelites as well. They actually deserve the same punishment, the same treatment, the same loss, but they didn’t suffer it.
And so we read in Exodus 12, when your children say to you, what do you mean by the service? you shall say it’s the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover. For he passed over the houses of the people of Israel and Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses.” Through this tenth plague, especially the tenth plague, through the Passover blood, the entire Israelite nation was delivered. Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt out of the house of slavery by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place.” The Passover.
In fact, Moses repeats it twice in Exodus 13, with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt, separating the single nation, calling them out, delivering them from their bondage and oppression, saving them, providing that picture, that image. foreshadowing the deliverance from sin by the Lord Jesus Christ. What was the result? Well, you would have to say deliverance was the result. Yes, exactly. But there’s another result. The firstborn of this nation of Israel now became the Lord’s.
Exodus 13, the Lord said to Moses, consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and beast, is mine.” As a result, the Lord their God purchased them, such that the firstborn now belonged to Him. They were slaves to the Egyptians, but by and through the plagues, by and through the power of the living God, He brought them out of slavery and delivered them to freedom. And now, due to the price paid by the Lord, the firstborn were his. Such that the Israelites were called now to remember who they belonged to, not just the firstborn. They were called to remember how they were delivered.
All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. You see, it wasn’t just that moment in time, but as they entered the promised land, now, as they’re thinking through and remembering what happened through the 10th plague, through the deliverance they had, the Lord calls them to remember.
When you enter the promised land, the land of the Canaanites, the land that the Lord has promised to give to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that opens, that first opens the womb. You see, you understand. Now, as they enter the Promised Land, every firstborn of your animals and every firstborn male shall be the Lord’s. You have to make that distinction. Yes, yes, there was the event of the Passover. But now, 40 years later, as they enter into the Promised Land, all the firstborn belong to God.
When this was to take place in the promised land, as a son was watching his father redeeming a donkey with a lamb, that was the idea, that was part of the call by God to redeem a donkey with a lamb. And at the firstborn of man among your sons, you shall redeem. And when the son would come to the father and ask, what does this mean?
The father was to say to him, by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery.” See, as the father is redeeming maybe the donkey or paying that redemption price for this firstborn, and the son asks that question, there’s this remembrance going on. Why are you doing that?
Because the Lord delivered us. from the house of slavery. That’s why I redeem my firstborn son.” Redemption, we talked about it a little bit this morning. Webster defines it as to purchase back, to liberate or rescue from captivity or bondage. That’s exactly what happened in Egypt. They were redeemed. And now, in the promised land, the Israelites were to redeem their firstborn sons, repurchasing them. Jesus was redeemed. He’s born. Joseph and Mary bring him to Jerusalem. Why?
To present him to the Lord. Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. What does that mean? Set apart to the Lord, owned by the Lord, possessed by the Lord, belonging to the Lord. That’s what it meant. And they were to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord. A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. See, that’s why they went to Jerusalem. because their son needed to be redeemed. In one sense, these firstborn had to be repurchased by their parents as each one belonged to the Lord. This offering, this repurchase, was to be a reminder, a constant reminder. What does this mean?
By a strong hand, The Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. What were the Israelites meditating upon each time the first born male was born and delivered? It was a constant reminder of who owns us. Who delivered us? How did we get here to this place? It was a constant reminder that they had been delivered. The people of God assembled now in the promised land, having been taken out of slavery and delivered to a place where they could worship.
Exactly what Moses told Pharaoh. Why do you need to take the people out so we can worship? It’s a constant reminder to the Israelites that they were not their own, that they had purchased that a price had been paid. Do you think about that when you come to worship?
Think of Joseph and Mary going to Jerusalem for one purpose, to worship, to offer a sacrifice up to God so that they could redeem their son. But it was an act of worship. And as they were doing it, they were to remember that the Lord brought us out of Egypt. He brought us out from the house of slavery.
Is that what you think about as you come to worship? Is that what you’re reminded of? It should be. Every time we come to this place and worship, I’ve been delivered. I’ve been delivered out of the house of bondage, out of the house of slavery, so that I can now worship.” It brings us to our second point, the need for significance. Now, this brings us actually back to the text. That first portion was really just the backdrop to this text.
The need for significance, and we see right away the significance of the Levites. And this chapter obviously focuses upon The Levites, who they were to men and, more significantly, who they were to God. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. It begins with Moses and Aaron who were Levites. Remember, we read the names of the Levites, the genealogy, so to speak, of the Levites. Sons of Levi, according to their generations, Gershon, Kohath, Merari. The sons of Kohath, Amram. Who is Amran? Amran is the father of Moses and Aaron. So it begins with generations of Aaron and Moses, the Levites.
And they’re called to bring them near. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, bring the tribe of Levi near. This is an idiom. There were 22,000 Levites. It’s the count. We see that. book is entitled Numbers for a reason. 22,000 Levites, and so they weren’t called to physically bring them near, but they were called to bring them near spiritually. First, bring them near to Aaron. Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest. So we’re seeing initially the relationship of the Levites to the people. Bring them before Aaron the priest. Set them before Aaron that they may minister to him. out of the entire Israelite nation, 603 plus thousand men ready for war.
So at least a million total numbers, maybe a million and a half the population of Philadelphia or Dallas, Texas. There’s a call to separate these Levites from this million or so and bring them close. certainly close to God as they were to minister in and around the tabernacle, but first closer near to the ministry of Aaron the priest. Not far, not on the outskirts of the camp, not, you know, at 601,000.
No, near. Bring them close. You shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons, that they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel.” You see the separation there. Bring the Levites near to the priest. They shall keep guard. over him. The New American Standard puts it this way, they shall perform the duties for him and the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting. That’s the idea. He shall appoint Aaron and his sons, they shall guard their priesthood. He shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood. It’s the work of the Levites.
They were to be clearly close to the priesthood. to serving the priest, to keeping and guarding the priesthood. Why is that? Because the priests were, in a sense, the closest to God. They were the ones interceding for the people. Without the priests, there would be no intercession for the people of God, and so the Levites were, in a sense, to be a hedge of protection around the priests so that they could continue doing their work of interceding for the people of God. That’s the idea, I think. but they were also to be ministers to the people of God.
They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting as they minister at the tabernacle. We’ve touched upon this previously. Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, this is in chapter one, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. They were serving the people such that there wouldn’t be any wrath upon them. They were guarding the furnishings of the tent of meeting. They were keeping guard of the people of Israel as they ministered at the tabernacle. They were keeping and guarding the dwelling place of the living God.”
It sounds like pretty significant work, pretty important labors. These words that are used point to the truth that these labors were protectors, guards, stationed near to the priest, the people, to the tabernacle, all to guard and protect or let’s just say keep. according to the will of God. That’s their physical but mostly spiritual labor. And that’s their relationship to the priests, to the people of God, but their most significant relationship is that they had to God. The Levites shall be mine.
Now Moses saw fit to say this more than once, didn’t he? It’s repeated. We see it here in verse 12. We see it again in verse 45. There’s certainly a repetition that Moses wants to get through to the entire nation of Israel and certainly to us this evening.
The Levites were certainly blessed by the work that God had given them. But they were even more significantly blessed by this relationship that they had with God, such that he would call them mine. Yes, their labor within for Aaron the priest, their labor for the people, their labor in and around the tabernacle. Significant, important work. But none of these compared to their greatest blessing. Their most significant relationship is they belonged to the Lord.
The God of creation had determined that the Levites shall be mine. They were taken by the Lord, brought near to the Lord, the singular tribe amongst the 12. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that the Israelite nation were not the people of God. They were. But do you see that there is this calling out, this very specific calling out of the Levites they shall be mine.”
Those who are taken by Jesus Christ are significant. Those whose hearts He’s changed, those whom He has sent His Spirit to, to bring them to a true, saving faith. are significant, not because of what they do, but because Jesus has set his love upon them. They’ve been removed from Satan’s house. Their chains to sin have been broken. Formerly captive to sin and slavery to Satan, it’s all been changed. because Jesus has set his sights upon those whom his Father had chosen. If you’re trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, do you consider yourself to be significant?
No, I don’t ask that with regard to having an attitude of pride. I’m not asking if you’re prideful. I know the answer. What I’m asking is this. Do you consider yourself as being possessed by Jesus Christ, purchased and possessed by Him, as significant? Most would consider belonging to another as a negative, not a good thing.
But if you’re sincerely trusting in Jesus, you’ve been purchased, your debt has been paid, you’ve been redeemed, bought, brought out of the house of Satan and brought as an adoptive child or son or daughter into the house of God, you belong to Jesus Christ.
As he did the buying, he paid the price. He paid the price that you owed, he paid the debt that you brought upon yourself by and through your sin. And now you’ve been singled out by him and brought near to him, just like the Levites. Think of it this way. Jesus specifically identified you and purchased you.
You see it in the movies all the time. A team of special forces soldiers with a single mission go in and get this one out who’s been captured behind enemy lines, identifying one of their own, seeing the danger that he is in and plotting and planning an escape. And then the very next scene, the prisoner’s been released from his imprisonment. They’ve gone in, they brought him out. And now with his good and brave friends who risked their lives to rescue him, he was specially and specifically identified and chosen. Mission was a success, all because the prisoner was significant to the rescue team.
Just like the Lord specifically chose the Levites and called them his own. Another tribe would apparently not do, only the Levites. And just so with you, another person could not and cannot take your place. You’re uniquely and specifically purchased, desired by Jesus that he will not settle for another. Another name cannot substitute for yours in the book of life, only yours, only you. Like the Levites, you’re irreplaceable. Not because you’re good or because you do good things. No, you’re irreplaceable because the living God has said, Tom or Judy shall be mine.
Just like he said the Levites shall be mine. We read it this morning once again in the Westminster Confession of Faith. By the decree of God for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestined and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, think of the word that they used, designed, made, created, for this purpose. Proverbs 16. The Lord has made everything for its purpose. And if you’re trusting in Jesus tonight, he’s made you for this purpose. He’s delivered you for this purpose to be his.
It brings us to a third and final point, the need for a substitute. There’s a sense in which if this chapter is anything in addition to setting up the work and labors of the Levites, it’s all about substitution. To be a substitute, Webster’s puts it this way, one person put in the place of another to answer the same purpose. And this text is again about substitution.
The firstborn of the Israelites were not taken by God at the Passover in Egypt. They were not killed during the tenth plague because the blood of the lamb was placed upon the doorpost and the lintel. The blood was a sign that another had been taken in place of the firstborn of that household, and that other was the lamb, wasn’t it? That purpose, perfect. blemishless lamb was offered. His blood was placed in such a way that the angel of death couldn’t miss it.
The blood was offered and the blood was accepted by the Lord in place of these Israelite firstborns. But that’s not actually the substitution set forth in this passage tonight. No, it was the Levites who were taken in place of the Israelite firstborn. You see, the Lord redeemed the firstborn of Israel with the blood of the lamb. Those in the Egyptian houses had no lamb blood. They had no substitute. And the blood of the lamb was accepted temporarily in place of the blood of the firstborn.
So as the fathers, in one sense, repeated this act of substitution such that they would be reminded of their deliverance by the hand of a mighty God, they were showing that there was a cost. In the Promised Land, as the fathers would offer that redemption price for their firstborn sons, they were showing that there was a price to be paid for this redemption. Substitution was critical for the Israelites. The strength of the Israelite was in their firstborn.
Do you understand that, the significance of the firstborn male? That’s why the 10th plague is so significant. Because as the firstborn was taken, the firstborn of the Egyptian household, of every single Egyptian household, they were decimated. Why? Because the strength was in the firstborn.
The strength of each family was gone as the father of all, the Lord God, removes the firstborn from every Egyptian household. The idea of the firstborn representing the strongest, the strength, the power, and the might of the father, that he was passing on his strength and his power and his headship to the firstborn The blessing would go to the firstborn. We can’t really even imagine the significance of the firstborn to those at this time. And so as God saves and spares and sets aside the firstborn of the Israelites, he was saving the nation. We think of it just as being the firstborn.
That misses the importance and the significance of the firstborn to the family The critical nature of the firstborn and the critical nature of the doctrine of substitution. Because there was a substitute for the firstborn while the Israelites were in Egypt, the strength of the family was preserved and thus the strength of the nation was preserved. Without substitution, without the lambs being substituted for the firstborn, the nation would have perished. And so there was a substitution. There was an insertion of another in place of the one who should have died.
And that’s exactly what Jesus Christ does. He is your substitute. If you’re trusting in him tonight, he’s your substitute. He has, by going to the cross at Calvary and allowing your sins to be laid upon him, and in turn receiving the punishment for your sins that you deserve, he has been your substitute, like the lamb. For the firstborn in Egypt, Jesus Christ is your lamb. who allowed his blood to be shed as a substitute for yours.
And you see, then as God took up the Israelites, excuse me, the Levites, the tribe of Levi in the place of the firstborn, he was continuing to preserve the strength of the nation of Israel. That’s what he’s doing now in the church. As Jesus Christ has been named as your substitute, you’re allowed and able to continue to live and provide not only for your families, but for the church. See, the church continues to grow and gain strength as Jesus has been marked as your substitute, such that you can live and thrive in the church, just like the Israelite firstborn, able to continue to thrive and live, guiding and helping the nation, the people of God through the wilderness into the promised land. You see, that’s what God has done with the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Usually we’re thinking about that as being that which happens on the day of judgment.
Because he’s shed his blood for me, I’m washed clean, and there will be no more wrath of God from me on the day of judgment, but even today, through his substitution, he’s giving you strength. He’s giving the church strength and stamina to press on and build herself up to multiply through his substitution. He’s reminding you of your deliverance and bringing you to worship just as he did Joseph and Mary, such that you can offer up, not turtle doves, but a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. And as we read this morning, to become blameless on the day he returns. Oh, this doctrine of substitution is so critical to salvation. Without it, none would be saved.
But with it, the church is built up to become the very bride of Jesus Christ. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ does step into the shoes of sinners to deliver them from sin to worship. Mary and Joseph offered up turtle doves. This was an act of worship as they were redeeming their son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in turn, Jesus Christ is the one who delivers Himself up to be your substitution so that you may grow and prosper here, now, in this church as you await His return.
Praise be to God. Amen. Our Father and our God, Oh, what a joy it is to fix our minds upon the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for this passage tonight, as you took the Levites in place of the firstborn, as they were substitutes. Thank you, Father, that this was all a reminder of what you did in bringing them out, delivering them from the oppression in Egypt, causing us to think upon our deliverance. As the Lord Jesus Christ has broken our chains to sin and made us slaves to his righteousness, we thank you, we praise you. Help us to be those who remember that we’ve been delivered to worship you. We thank you and praise you and ask all this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen.