Mar 7 - Levites Manditory Retirement Plan....The 401G

Today in Numbers the Lord tells Moses to set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of Israel and make the ceremonially clean. The Lord wants him to assemble the whole community of Israel and present the Levites at the entrance of the Tabernacle. He wants Aaron to present the Levites to the Lord as a special offering from the people of Israel, thus dedicating them to the Lord's service. "Of all the people of Israel, the Levites are reserved for me. I have claimed them for myself in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites; I have taken the Levites as their substitutes. For all the firstborn males among the people of Israel are mine, both of people and of animals. I set them apart for myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians."

Because the Levites belonged to the Lord they had to begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five, and they had to retire at the age of fifty. After retirement they could assist their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the Tabernacle, but they could not officiate in the service. Not a bad set up. Guaranteed work for 25 years and a retirement plan manditory to accept at 50. I like it!

In Numbers it goes on to talk about celebrating the Passover and the Lord's cloud over the Tabernacle. When the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And where the cloud settled, they would set up camp. Sometimes it was just for over night other times it was a lot longer. They must follow the cloud . On the day the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it. But from evening until morning the cloud over the Tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire. This was the regular pattern....at night the cloud that covered the Tabernacle had the appearance of fire. Lot's of rituals and specific processes in the old testament. I personally don't know how they remembered all that was to be done and when. I guess following the cloud is an easy one but imagine how long it took them to set things up and if the Lord up and moved the next day! That could prove to be a long weekend of labor!

In Mark today Jesus talks about false prophets and messiahs will rise up and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. He goes on to talk about the end of days and how the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken and everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. Now I mentioned this when reading Matthew that Jesus specifically says "However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. And since you don't know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!" For those that don't believe I guess we'll just have to hang out until 2013, Nostradamas & the Mayan calender will or won't come to pass.....then what will people have to believe in?? The truth of Jesus Christ maybe hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm??