Study Desk

"I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service of the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and to make atonement for them, so that there will be no plague among the Israelites if they should approach the sanctuary."

The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and they washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

'But the man who is [ceremonially] clean and is not on a journey, and yet does not observe the Passover, that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them] because he did not bring the LORD'S offering at its appointed time; that man will bear [the penalty of] his sin.

'If a stranger lives among you as a resident alien and observes the Passover to the LORD, in accordance with its statutes and its ordinances, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the resident alien and for the native of the land.'"

Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep their obligation to the LORD and not set out.

"The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations.

So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.

Then the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the rear guard for all the camps, moved out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai [commander] over its army,

Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are going to the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will be good to you, for the LORD has promised good [things] concerning Israel."

Then Moses said, "Please do not leave us, for you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us [as we make our trek through the desert].

"So if you will go with us, it shall be that whatever good the LORD does for us, we will do the same for you."

So they set out from the mountain of the LORD (Sinai) three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went in front of them during the three days' journey to seek out a resting place for them.

The rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat?

"Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, so that we may eat.'

"I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.

Accordingly, the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers; bring them to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and let them stand there with you.

"Say to the people, 'Consecrate (separate as holy) yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept [in self-pity] in the ears of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For we were well-off in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.

But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 [fighting men] on foot [besides all the women and children]; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat it for a whole month!'

"Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be collected for them to be sufficient for them?"

The LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD'S hand (ability, power) limited (short, inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word will come to pass for you or not."