1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when YHVH spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
This chapter is about the priests, the Levites, the tribe that symbolizes Love.
2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar;
Nadab means free and voluntary gift or generous and symbolizes the misuse of gifts to manipulate someone into a spiritual path that is not right for them. Abihu means he is my father and symbolizes the Egocentric belief that states that any secular religion is the one and only path to God. Eleazar means God is a surrounding protector and symbolizes the protection that is given to all those that walk a positive spiritual path by God. Ithamar means island of the palm trees and symbolizes victory of the forces of Spirit and Love over the lower nature.
3 these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to minister in the priest's office.
4 But Nadab and Abihu died before YHVH when they offered unholy fire before YHVH in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So, Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron, their father.
Nadab means free and voluntary gift or generous and symbolizes the misuse of gifts to manipulate someone into a spiritual path that is not right for them. Abihu means he is my father and symbolizes the Egocentric belief that states that any secular religion is the one and only path to God. These practices are marks of deep corruption that contaminates the life force to such a degree that the whole spiritual path of the individual becomes useless. This is symbolized here by the death of Nadab and Abihu. Eleazar means God is a surrounding protector and symbolizes the protection that is given to all those that walk a positive spiritual path by God. Ithamar means island of the palm trees and symbolizes victory of the forces of Spirit and Love over the lower nature. Both Eleazar and Ithamer represent paths that lead to God
6 "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron, the priest, that they may minister to him.
The name Levi, in Hebrew, means uniting, and loving.
7 They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle;
8 they shall have charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and attend to the duties for the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle.
Levi's children, or tribe of Levites, represent the thoughts that come from the consciousness of Love. Obviously these are the thoughts that will be associated with, and ultimately will serve, God.
9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel.
The Levites being given to Aaron symbolizes the growing power of Love within the individual at this stage of spiritual development.
10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death."
With the other tribes in the four directions surrounding the tabernacle, it is only the Levites leaders, Moses and Aaron who can be at the door and eventually enter the Holy of Holies. This is because only Love can know God, or Love. Anything other that Love would not survive the experience of coming face to face with God.
12 "Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine,
13 for all the first-born are mine; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the first-born in Israel, both of man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am YHVH."
Of all the spiritual attributes, the thoughts of Love are those that are able to unite all the faculties in God or Spiritual Consciousness. The first born of Israel are the spiritual faculties and thoughts of pure Love.
14 And YHVH said to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai,
15 "Number the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number."
16 So Moses numbered them according to the word of YHVH, as he was commanded.
The name Levi, in Hebrew, means uniting or loving. So the children or tribe of Levites represent the thoughts that come from the consciousness of love. Obviously these are the thoughts that will be associated with and ultimately will serve God.
17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.
Gershon, in Hebrew, means thrusting out or expulsion. It is the feeling of isolation which follows the student as he or she first turns to the spiritual, full of zeal. S/he has not yet found harmony. This is the first son or first level of consciousness of Aaron or Love, and it is the result of the awakening of the heart to spiritual things.
Kohath means assembly or convocation, in Hebrew. It indicates the attracting, unifying aspect of love. Levi represents Love, and so his children represent different aspects of Love. Allegorically, we are being told that it is a unifying love which enables us to build and rebuild the temple.
The name Merari translates from the Hebrew as bitter, unhappy or rebellious. This level of love is that which comes from ignorance and selfishness. This is the common love consciousness of the natural man. Because it is still in the material, it is bitter, unhappy and sometimes rebellious.
18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
These are the things created from the feeling of isolation that results from spiritual awakening:
Libni means clean and pure and symbolizes this state of consciousness which produces the pure, spiritual thoughts from above that replace the impure, materialistic thoughts.
Shimei means my reputation or my fame and denotes symbolizes a state of consciousness which produces thoughts that strengthen the recognition of the Inner Spirit, and becoming consciously receptive to it.
19 And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
From the attracting, unifying aspect of love comes these influences:
Amram means friend of the most high and denotes the forming of a unifying bond with God.
Izhar means oil and denotes charisma, the ability to attract others.
Hebron means to unite and denotes forming a fellowship with God and uniting people through this new consciousness.
Uzziel means Strength of God and denotes the awareness of the Love of God and confidence or faith.
20 And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites, by their fathers' houses.
From the common, material love consciousness comes these influences:
Mahli means sick or weak and denotes a state of mind where you give in to others without much thought.
Mushi means yielding and denotes the ability to compromise, yielding to the requests of others, after having considered all possibilities.
21 Of Gershon were the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.
Gershon, as explained earlier, symbolizes a state of spiritual isolation that is born from the heart awakening to Spirit. In this state of consciousness, pure, constructive thoughts that strengthen Love and Spiritual Consciousness (Libnites) and ideas of Truth (Shimeites) that are born from the Spiritual Consciousness encountered in Isolation (Gershon).
22 Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was seven thousand five hundred.
The number of all the active parts of this consciousness (given here as the males) reduces to 12 by Theosophical Reduction. That means that this consciousness of Love is a manifestation of spiritual perfection, which is the divine purpose of God. The number 12 further reduces to 3, which means that these parts of consciousness also represent the Sacred Marriage of the uplifted Intellect and Heart, producing the Spiritual consciousness or Enlightenment. It is the perfect balance of all parts of the psyche.
23 The families of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the tabernacle on the West,
24 with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as head of the fathers' house of the Gershonites.
Eliasaph, means God gathers and increases. Lael means to God. Elisaph thus symbolizes the gathering and increasing spiritual power that comes from living in the presence of God or finding Enlightenment. The gathering of these energies in the West symbolizes the purification of the Soul or Subconscious.
25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,
26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords; all the service pertaining to these.
These thoughts form the inner temple or “Holy of holies” where one can experience the presence of God directly. The means for doing so is to purify the soul of all false beliefs of materialism and corruption (sin).
27 Of Kohath were the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.
From the attracting, unifying aspect of Love (Korath) comes these influences:
Amram means Friend of the Most High and denotes the forming of a unifying bond with God. Izhar means oil and denotes charisma, the ability to attract others. Hebron means to unite and denotes forming a fellowship with God and uniting people through this new consciousness. Uzziel means Strength of God and denotes the awareness of the Love of God and confidence or faith. All of these are part of the unifying aspect of Love.
28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.
The number of males of this family (again representing the active parts of consciousness) reduce through Theosophical Reduction to 5. This means that the energies in this part of consciousness represent the first awakening to all things spiritual, beginning the rise out of materialism. The duties of the sanctuary are spiritual purification and empowerment.
29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to encamp on the South side of the tabernacle,
The purification of the soul is the manifestation of living in the presence of God, acknowledging that God is within you. The fact that this is the manifestation of God is symbolized by these families gathering in the South.
30 with Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as head of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites.
Elizaphan means Protected by God.
Uzziel means Strength of God and denotes the awareness of the Love of God and confidence or faith.
This means that as long as we live in the awareness of the Love of God and the confidence that comes with that consciousness, we will be protected by God.
31 And their charge was to be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service pertaining to these.
The charge of these spiritual energies of purification is to be the means for service to God. Only those who spiritually purify themselves and rise above materialism, living in the Love of God are truly able to serve God.
32 And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary.
Eleazar means God is a surrounding protector and symbolizes the protection that is given to all those that walk a positive spiritual path by God. This means that the protection of God, which comes from filling the heart with Love, manifests as the governing influence over all energies of Love, and protects the inner sanctuary from corruption.
33 Of Merari were the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari.
The consciousness of physical love (love at the level of materialism) contains the energies of surrender and compromise.
34 Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was six thousand two hundred.
Through the process of Theosophical Reduction, the number of all the males (active influences in consciousness) reduce to the number 8. This means that these energies represent the resurrected heart, the exaltation of the emotions and passions, leading to a new spiritual beginning.
35 And the head of the fathers' house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail; they were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.
Zuriel means God is my Rock and symbolizes spiritual fortitude and protection. Abihail means Father of Might and symbolizes the awareness of God that produces spiritual protection for the practitioner. These are manifestations of Love on the Physical plane. These energies gathering in the North symbolize them being a manifestation of mentally unifying oneself with God.
36 And the appointed charge of the sons of Merari was to be the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service pertaining to these;
37 also the pillars of the court round about, with their bases and pegs and cords.
The charge of the energies born from the material aspect of Love is to act as support for the temple of Spirit that exists within and to aid in sustaining it.
38 And those to encamp before the tabernacle on the East, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, having charge of the rites within the sanctuary, whatever had to be done for the people of Israel; and any one else who came near was to be put to death.
Moses symbolizes the consciousness of God. Aaron symbolizes the consciousness of Love itself. Both of these are of part of God, so only they are allowed to be in the East. The East symbolizes the amplification of the presence of God within the psyche. Any energy that does not amplify this presence is to be transmuted.
39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of YHVH, by families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
The number of all of the people of the Levites (energies of Love), again using Theosophical Reduction, reduces to 4. This means that all of these energies of Love are the foundation for all of Creation.
40 And YHVH said to Moses, "Number all the first-born males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking their number by names.
41 And you shall take the Levites for me--even YHVH--instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the people of Israel."
In place of the previous arrangement of offerings, God claims the energies of Love as his own.
42 So Moses numbered all the first-born among the people of Israel, as YHVH commanded him.
43 And all the first-born males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as numbered were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
All the first born males of Israel symbolize the active parts of the mind. Further, the number of them, through Theosophical Reduction reduces to 7. This means that they represent a completed cycle that lifts all of the psyche into a more perfect order, aiding in self-mastery and control.
45 "Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am YHVH.
46 And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites,
47 you shall take five shekels apiece; reckoning by the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs, you shall take them,
48 and give the money by which the excess number of them is redeemed to Aaron and his sons."
The money taken from all others is to be used to financially support the priesthood, which symbolizes the energies of Love.
49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites;
50 from the first-born of the people of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, reckoned by the shekel of the sanctuary;
The number of shekels reduces to 6, denoting, through Theosophical Reduction, the spiritual journey toward God (or Enlightenment). This journey is toward redemption.
51 and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of YHVH, as YHVH commanded Moses.