Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. These then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar... (Numbers 3:1-2).

Now, although the text speaks of the generations of Aaron and Moses, there is nothing much said of Moses' biological children. Isn't this remarkable? In Jewish history Moses is considered the greatest of all the prophets of God (cf. Judaism 101). In many lists he ranks greater than Abraham or David. Yet, Moses' children are hardly mentioned in the Bible (Exodus 2:21-22; 4:20; 18:4). Aaron's descdendants are often named and play signficant roles in Jewish history. The same could be said for Abraham's descendants and those of David. 

Now, I delve somewhat in the realm of theory, so please take what I share here with a grain of salt. It seems to me that the important point is not the descendants of great men, for these descendants sometimes turn out well (e.g. Josiah of David) and other times very badly (e.g. Manasseh of David). In every case when the descendants are often mentioned it is because God had chosen those descendants and had made promises concerning them. Such was not the case with Moses. 

Now, what is interesting is that God gave Moses the opportunity to have a heritage like Abraham and David, but he turned it down. In fact, God gave Moses two opportunities, but he turned them both down:

“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation” (Exodus 32:9-10).

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they” (Numbers 14:11-12).

Why? It could be that Moses was more concerned with God's reputation than his own. In both contexts Moses intercedes for the people of Israel for the sake of God's Name. In fact, in one instance he even tries to make himself a kind of substitutionary atonement for their sins:

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” (Exodus 32:30-32).

Now, we learn that Moses could not be the substitutionary atonement for the sins of the people (cf. Exodus 32:33-35). He was not qualified. But he does provide a beautiful prelude to the One, who would be able to make such an atonement, not only for Israel but for the whole world. Of course, I mean our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who, as both sinless man and perfect God, alone could achieve what was impossible for anyone else.

Yet, back to the point, would God have destroyed all Israel and began again to build up a people for His Name through Moses? It would certainly not have been unprecedented. Consider Noah and then Abraham. And Moses would have added to his greatness the founding of a new race of people to uphold God's Name. So was Moses' refusal of God's offer simply folly on his part?

I don't believe it was.

Yes, God could have started over with Moses as He did with Abraham and with Noah. Perhaps in one way He did, for that entire population of adults, twenty-years and over, perished in the desert without entering the Promised Land. Yet the children of these people did inherit the land. But these were not uniquely Moses' children. 

Yet, in Moses' intercession and his willingness to personally atone for the sins of the people by sacrificing himself, we find the height of selfless humility and a foreshadowing of the greatest act of all, the willing sacrifice of the God-man, Jesus Christ, on the cross to pay for the sins of the world.

No, my friends. What Moses did was not folly, though it might seem like it from a worldly point of view. It reflected the wisdom of God:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe (1 Corinthians 1:18-21).

To a world that is lost, the cross is folly, but to us, who are being saved through it, it is the wisdom and power of God. The cross demonstrated God's incomparable love for us (cf. John 3:16; Romans 5:8). And Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this: to lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Moses displayed such a love when he interceded for the people of God. And we are called to so love one another:

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).

Praise God for His surpassing and incomparable love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior! Amen!

All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ households, from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting (Numbers 4:46-47).

Notice that the period of service in the tabernacle for Levites was twenty years, from the age of 30 to the age of 50. Compare this with the specifications for the rest of the Israelite men, every one of whom were conscripted for military service:

All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families (Numbers 1:45)

The conscription for military service starts earlier (twenty years old) and has no definite terminus, such that even Caleb at eighty-five-years-old felt robust enough to take on the giant Anakites of Hebron. 

It appears that the service in the tabernacle required greater maturity from the start, so that a Levite had to be thirty before he entered this work. And while early retirement at fifty may have been given as a simple privilege, it seems to me that this was to ensure that those that did this work was in the prime of their alertness and concentration. After all, a mistake or oversight in the performance of their duties, whether intended or otherwise, would mean swift and certain death. 

Once again, the emphasis is on worship. It was much more important for Israel to have a right worship of the LORD than to have a strong army or good military strategy.

There is a reminder here for us Christians today. The principle of prioritizing God is a timeless principle, extending from the days of Adam and Eve to the Patriarchs to Moses to David to Christ and the apostles and to us.  As Jesus taught,

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).

Remember that Levi was the third son of Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel). The Levites took the place of the required dedicatory offering of the first-born males to the LORD from the remaining eleven tribes of Israel. Recall that this was instituted as a memorial and payment for God's deliverance of Israel from the Angel of Death in the tenth plague against Egypt.

Also notice that both Moses and Aaron came from the tribe of Levi and were brothers. To Aaron and his sons were given the specific honor of high priest, who alone could enter into the Holiest Place in the Tabernacle/Temple of God once a year (i.e. on the Day of Atonement) to offer the sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of Israel. The other Levitical families were given other responsibilities with respect to the handling and services around the Tabernacle/Temple of God (e.g. see Numbers 3-4). A more complete geneaological record of Levi and the other tribes can be found here: Biblical Geneaologies

Let me throw out a thought-provoking question here. Why did God choose the Levites to serve in place of the all the first-born? For that matter, why did God choose Moses to lead the people out of Egypt? Why did God choose Aaron's lineage only for the privilege and responsibility of the high priest?