Consecration of the Levites

(Book of Numbers 8:5 - 8:26) 
Jehovah commanded Moses, "Separate the Levites from the rest of the people of Israel and make them ritually pure.  To do so, sprinkle purifying water on them, then have them shave all the hair from their bodies, and wash their clothes, thus cleansing themselves.   Have them bring a young bull and a grain offering of choice flour mixed with olive oil, as well as a second bull for a sin offering.  Assemble the entire community of Israel and bring the Levites to the entrance to the Tabernacle.  When the Levites are brought before the altar, it is the Israelite people who will sacrifice them: Aaron will present the Levites as an elevated offering from the Israelites at the altar of Jehovah, that they may be prepared to serve him.  The Levites will then seize the bulls, designating one as the sin offering and the other as a burnt offering of atonement to Jehovah.  The Levites will stand before Aaron and his sons and be presented by them as an elevated offering to Jehovah.  In this way the Levites will be set apart from the other people of Israel.  They will be mine!

"After the Levites have been purified and presented as an elevated offering, they will then minister in the Tabernacle.  They have thus been given totally to me, for I have claimed the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn sons of Israel.  All the firstborn of the Israelites, whether human or animal, belong to me.  I have laid claim to them ever since I struck down all the firstborn of the Egyptians.  But I accept the Levites in place of the firstborn sons of Israel.  From among the people of Israel, I have assigned the Levites to be the assistants to Aaron and his sons, to serve in the Tabernacle on behalf of the Israelite people and to make the requisite sacrifices of atonement so that no affliction may befall the Israelites when they approach the Sanctum."

And so Moses, Aaron, and the entire community of Israel dealt in this way with the Levites, following meticulously the instructions concerning them Jehovah gave to Moses.  The Levites cleaned themselves and washed their clothes.  Aaron presented them as an elevated offering before the altar and made sacrifices of atonement to purify them.  Afterwards, the Levites entered service in the Tabernacle and assisted Aaron and his sons.  What Jehovah had instructed Moses concerning the Levites was indeed accomplished.

Jehovah also instructed Moses, "This shall apply to the Levites: when they have reached the age of 25, they will enter into service at the Tabernacle, but when they are 50, they must retire from active duty and minister no more.   After retirement, they may continue to help their fellow Levites with their work in the Tabernacle, but they may no longer officiate themselves.  This restriction must be observed when assigning duties to the Levites."

Notes
1.  Remembering from the census that Levite males numbered 22,000, it beggars belief that the described ceremony could have taken place.  It seems logistically impossible.  For instance, the Levites are instructed to stand before Aaron.  Are 22,000 men to stand before Aaron?  Possibly a few dozen Levites could have been consecrated in a day, but, at that rate, it would have taken a year to consecrate them all.  A larger batch could have been handled, maybe, but how many people can squeeze into the Tabernacle compound? And how would the Israelites have had sufficient livestock to accommodate all those sacrifices?  Over and over, we see that the numbers in Numbers are preposterously inflated.

2.  Bathing, shaving the body, and washing the clothes symbolize the act of spiritual purification.  Linking physical cleanliness and spiritual purity, a natural connection, was not unique to the Hebrews: for instance, the custom of priests regularly shaving all the hair from their bodies was practiced by the Egyptians.   There are, however, just as many cases in which holiness is connected with a rejection of physical needs and hygiene and a contempt for appearances, not washing, not wearing clean clothes, not shaving or cutting the hair.  We have just seen that the Nazirites were forbidden to cut their hair.

3.  We are reminded that Jehovah will strike down or afflict with a plague anyone who approaches his Inner Sanctum, where the Chest of Sacred Records is housed and where his voice speaks to Moses.  But making certain sacrifices will apparently protect the people from this fate.  Is Jehovah ever vigilant and zaps any intruder who appears, or is some automatic mechanism at work here?  Is the Chest of Sacred Records, which, for what we know of it, is only a wood box covered with gold, somehow dangerous?  If so, how would a priest be shielded from its lethal power merely by making a sacrifice?  Why, if Jehovah were God and he wanted to protect his space, would he not simply throw a little force field or something around the Inner Sanctum and let it go at that?  Or is this all an empty threat, like a "Violators Will Be Prosecuted" sign?

4.  A Levite would begin officiating at the age of 25, apparently after he had acquired sufficient experience and maturity.  A retirement age of 50 is very reasonable, one of the most credible numbers in Numbers.  By 50, most Levites would be dead.  People really didn't live to be a hundred-and-something years old in those days; the average life span was probably about 25 years, and, for those who had reached adulthood, life expectancy would only have been around 45 years.  The duties involving slaughtering livestock may have been too demanding for an older man, and a senior might have a senior moment and forget some of the finer points of a ceremony and end up being struck down dead by Jehovah.  Apparently though, this mandatory retirement age did not apply to Aaron, who was supposedly already in his 80’s.  Was he grandfathered in?  (In the movies the biblical high priest is invariably a white-bearded ancient -- not correct, it seems.)