"From a Month Old and Upward" (2/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Numbers 3-4.

In the previous reading, we noticed that the men of Israel, “from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war” (Numbers 1:3), were to be numbered. The exception to this was the tribe of Levi because they had a special duty to perform for the Lord (Numbers 1:49-50).

However, when we get to chapter 3, we find instructions given regarding the numbering of the Levites:

“Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number” (Numbers 3:15).

Instead of numbering the males who were twenty years old and upward, as was done with the rest of the tribes, the Lord wanted the Levites to be counted beginning at one month old.

Furthermore, instead of being counted for war, the Levites were set apart and counted for a spiritual work.

“In the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary” (Numbers 3:28).

The ones in this verse descended from Kohath, one of Levi’s sons. They were given particular responsibilities – “performing the duties of the sanctuary.” Is this text implying that the infants were actively engaged in the duties of the sanctuary? Of course not. But those infants would later perform these duties. As they grew up, they would be trained in these things with the understanding that when they were of mature age, they would participate as their fathers had.

The lesson for us is this: we need to begin training our children in spiritual matters from a very early age (cf. Ephesians 6:4). No, infants cannot preach the gospel, lead singing, teach a Bible class, or any of the things we might do in service to God. But they can be taught about these things and trained in such a way that when they are old enough and decide to become disciples of Christ, they are prepared to join in and participate in the work God has given His people to do.