20060313
    The Levites were chosen by God to be His servants in the tabernacle. God chose them as a redemptive gift for the firstborn of all of Israel, whom He had set apart that fearful night in Egypt when the angel of death struck down all of the firstborn except those whose doorposts were marked by the blood of a lamb. The firstborn of Israel were set apart by God for His chosen purpose by the blood of the Passover, and they were redeemed by the Levites, who were set apart to work before the Lord.
    This allusion is not incidental, but a beautiful example of how God uses the events of history- past, present, and future- to point us steadily at the sacrifice of His own firstborn for the sake of all men. As Christians, we too have been set aside because we have been baptized with the Firstborn of God into His death, and raised to life with Him through the Word and the gift of the Sacrament of His body and blood. In these things, we are sealed as the redeemed, bought with the sacrifice of the new covenant that fulfilled the old.
DLH
