“5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 6 Take the Levites from among the Israelites and ceremonially cleanse them. 7 This is what you must do to them for their purification: Sprinkle them with the purification water. Have them shave their entire bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.
8 They are to take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. 9 Bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire Israelite community. 10 Then present the Levites before the Lord, and have the Israelites lay their hands on them. 11 Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a presentation offering from the Israelites, so that they may perform the Lords work. 12 Next the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. Sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.”
Numbers 8:5-12
—
This ceremony wasn’t just for show. It wasn’t just a kick-off for the opening of the tabernacle. This was a true sacrifice. In place of the firstborn of all Israel being given over to God for the service required in the tabernacle, the Israelite nation was giving up a whole tribe, sacrificing their own family as it were, in order to fulfill this need. The Levites will still be a part of Israel, but they are removed from the rest of the community in different ways. They have been lifted up, elevated and set to work for God so that the other families and tribes could keep their firstborn. The Levites are now solely identified as belonging to God, and their destiny is sealed in Him.

The ceremony itself is just like any other sacrifice you might find in the Law. There is a laying on of hands by the one doing the sacrifice, a giving over to God and a purification that takes place. And this is no small thing to have done. Imagine the millions of Israelites surrounding this one tribe, this one band of their own, praying over them, laying hands on them as Moses and Aaron lead them through, and what a unique situation this must have been. Millions of Israelites encircled around these fewer thousands, freshly bathed, completely shaved and starting something new and wonderful for the glory of God. What a celebration and a mixture of emotions must have taken place here. Somber yet excited, reverent but rejoicing, the Israelites took from their own, and gave them fully over to the work of God. The ordination here of the Levites is very similar to the ordination ceremonies we perform today when someone gives their life over for the ministry, encircled by the church leaders, hands placed on shoulders, prayed over and released to the service of God, these today sacrifice their lives for God, just as the Levites did all those years ago.

But it’s not just the Levites and ordained ministers that are to offer their lives and bodies as living sacrifces. In Romans 12, Paul, the Holy Spirit speaking through him, indicates that this is required of all who would follow Jesus Christ. Romans 12:1 “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.” We are all dedicated to the work of God, separated out from the world as His and s et aside to serve Him daily. It is not a task that belongs to a select few, or something we can place on so,wine else’s shoulders and say, “Thanks and good luck.” But rather it is our own commissioning, given by Jesus to GoLove the world in His Name. Our work before God is the same, and we cannot lay hands on someone and pass the responsibility off to them. It is for each of us to do, to sacrifice self and live a life of worship to God.