Following on from the bringing of gifts by each of the tribes (chapter 7), we read of a special ministry, entrusted to the Levites.

For this ministry, they need to be made “clean” (8:5). Through cleansing, they were made “ready to do the Lord’s work” (8:11).

In a very special sense, God said of them, “the Levites shall be mine” (8:14).

Between the giving of the whole people of God (chapter 7) and the special ministry of the Levites (8:5-26), there is 8:1-4 – the seven lamps on the lampstand, lighting up the area in front of them.

This lampstand was made of “gold”. This is the precious light of God’s Word, shining like gold, which is greater than all the other metals.

God’s Word is the light which inspires both the giving of the tribes and the ministry of the Levites.

Without God’s Word at the centre, everything else means nothing.

Numbers 7:1