1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to Aaron, and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand.’”
3Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 4This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses.
5Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7You shall do this to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. 8Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. 10You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh.
12“The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. 13You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh. 14Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.
15“After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. 16For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. 17For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. 18I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 19I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.”
20Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. 21The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
23Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24“This is what is assigned to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; 25and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from doing the work, and shall serve no more, 26but shall assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. This is how you shall have the Levites do their duties.”
The holiness of Yahweh is evident in the unique practices within Israel and in the role of the Levitical System. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh in a vow."
The Levitical laws demonstrate the holiness of God. The Lord is perfect and pure and so requires the perfection of sacrifice before we can enjoy His presence forever (Genesis 3:21; Deuteronomy 32:3-4; Psalms 16:10-11; 40:6-8; 49:7-9; Hebrews 10:1-18). Because sinners are alienated from God’s holiness, the offering of the blood of the sacrifice satisfies the wrath of God against sinners (Romans 3:9-31; 5:6-11). The ritual laws required the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins, that is, to make atonement for souls (Leviticus 17:10-11, 14). The blood of animals was used as a type or symbol of the blood of Christ until Christ actually came to shed His own blood for our sins (Exodus 25:9, 40; 26:30; 27:8; Numbers 8:4; 1 Chronicles 28:9-19; Romans 3:25; Acts 14:16; 17:30-31; Hebrews 8:5; 9:6-10, 23-25; 10:1-18). The dietary laws made a distinction between clean and unclean animals, also to remind the people of the holiness of God (Leviticus 11:1-47; Deuteronomy 14:1-21). God is unique and distinct, and so the people who belong to Him were to be the same among all the peoples of the earth (Leviticus 11:44-45; Deuteronomy 4:1-8; 7:6-11). God is holy; therefore, His people were to be holy (Leviticus 11:44). Now that Jesus Christ has come, the following passages have a bearing on this issue: Mark 7:19; Acts 10:1-11:14; 15:1-29; Colossians 2:16-23; and 1 Timothy 4:1-5. The moral laws of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21) or the detailed moral statutes found elsewhere (Exodus 21-23; Leviticus 18 and 20) also demonstrated the holiness of God as opposed to the sinfulness of man. For example, the one who practices sexual immorality defiles himself and violates God’s holiness. The Lord said, “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled (Leviticus 18:24),” and, “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine (Leviticus 20:26).” The apostle made the same connection by saying, “Flee immorality…glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20),” “if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master (2 Timothy 2:19-22).” Submission to God’s moral law is so vital that when disobedience is the practice, the Scripture says, “I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).” See also Romans 7:1-6; 13:14; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:9-11; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 5:1-13; Colossians 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 4:3; 2 Peter 2; and Jude 4.