NOTES for Num 8:1-25

The whole people take part in the ordination of the Levites, thereby participating, as it were, in their service at the Tabernacle. To some extent this action foreshadows the laying on of the apostles' and the people's hands upon newly chosen ministers (see the book of Acts). It also binds together the special mission of the priests and Levites and the holiness of the entire people of Israel, showing that for God there are no “sacred” and “profane” people: all His people belong to Him and are therefore holy. This understanding, incidentally, profoundly changed social relations in Christian society: the abolition of slavery, the erosion of class distinctions, and the overcoming of racial, ethnic, and sexual discrimination all follow from the realization that people are equal to one another. But the difference between equality and totalitarian identity lies precisely in the fact that people can be identical in themselves, but equal only before Someone who is above them. Therefore, for people to become equal before the law, they must understand that they are equal before God.