Why would a chapter about the Levites be introduced by a section on the priests’ role?
One of the most effective ways to study the Bible is to ask questions. God has the answers. Have you heard this verse? “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” (Prov 25:2). It simply means this: Many things in the Word of God are concealed—in parables, allegories, metaphors, and types—not to discourage us from learning the truth, but to motivate us and inspire us to “search out a matter.” Would you have preferred Cinderella to simply read, “Poverty-stricken girl loses shoe but gains rich hubby”? Or how about Moby-Dick: “Whaling crew loses battle with white whale, only to discover it’s just a metaphor”? Obviously, losing the richness found in the imagery, narrative, and characters would make the classics grim reading. The Bible isn’t like a Farmer’s Almanac that tells you a little about a lot of things. It’s basically telling us one thing, but in thousands of fascinating ways. It is telling us the way out of sin into God’s friendship through the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why Numbers 8 begins with a picture. The Lord tells Moses to tell Aaron, “When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand” (8:2). It then goes on to describe how beautiful the lampstand is (vv 1-4). But wait! This chapter is all about the Levites living sanctified lives! It was the priests, not the Levites, who lit and trimmed the lamps. That’s correct. But again we are reminded that the real truth is in the lesson behind the lampstand. All service for God must be done in the light. That’s why we are “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Col 1:12). We must serve Him always in His perfect life, light, and love.