GOD PROTECTING PEOPLE FROM HIMSELF
And with you bring your brothers
also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join
you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the
tent of the testimony. They shall keep guard over you and over the whole
tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the
altar lest they, and you, die. They shall join you and keep guard over
the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider
shall come near you. And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and
over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of
Israel.
Numbers 18:2-5 ESV
¶Here we see the institution of
the temple guard. The were to be drawn from the ranks of the Levites.
They were ordained, not to protect the holiness of the
Temple/Tabernacle. God had already demonstrated His ability to protect
His holy dwelling by fire. The guard was originally intended to protect
the people from approaching the Holy Presence to their harm. It is easy
to forget that we were once God's enemies. He redirects His wrath to
the object of His own choosing, the Man He has provided, that we may be
reconciled to Him.
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