And here’s the pressing matter in this passage. God wanted Israel to be his people. He chose Abraham from all the people of the earth. He brought Israel up out of Egypt. Yet, God is holy. Israel was not. And you can’t just mix holiness and unholiness. Before Israel set out from Egypt into the wilderness, God told Moses that he was hesitant to go with them because he reasoned that Israel would act wickedly and incur his wrath. God is that distinct from us. In sin, we cannot stand in the presence of God. We have to understand this. We cannot presume upon the grace of God. God does not owe us anything. But God wants a people for himself. So, how can this be?
When God “ordered” his people in the wilderness, he set in place several standards to help people understand that they needed God, but that they needed a mediator in order to come safely to God. So, God appointed the Levites to camp around the tabernacle, to keep guard over the tabernacle. If any person from any other tribe came near to the tabernacle, he would be put to death. The presence of the Levites kept the wrath of God at bay. In this way, God could dwell among Israel, and Israel could be “near” to God without being destroyed.
Ultimately, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the purpose of Levites.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The word “dwell” means to encamp or place a tent for a dwelling. So, as God dwelt among Israel in the tabernacle, or tent of meeting, as it’s called, God dwelt among humanity through Christ. In Christ, God came in a manner that allowed sinful humanity to approach him safely. God is not safe, but we can approach God safely through Christ. Because, if we approach God through Christ, we approach not as sinners, but as the righteous, since Christ bore our sins and the wrath of God on the cross.
