Exodus Chapter 6 Verses 14-25

:14 “These be the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben. 15 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.  

16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. 18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.  

25 And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.” 

The above genealogy is primarily about the descendants of Levi.  Levi was the third son of Jacob.  Rueben was the first born and Simeon the second born son of Jacob.  By including them in the above genealogy, the Spirit is showing us that the chosen tribe of Levi was not chosen on the basis of birth order.  There is a lot said in the scriptures about the rights and privileges of the first born.  There is also a lot said about the second born and God’s often placing the second born in a place of favor.  However, when it came to the priesthood, God, as usual is sovereign in his choices and sovereignly chose Levi for the office and work of priesthood.   

In the priesthood, Aaron and his sons who came after him and his death were to be the high priest in the priesthood.  His sons were to serve in the office of priest, while the other children of Levi were to do the work of the tabernacle and service of God.  The work of the children of Levi was divided and prescribed by the Lord among the descendants of the three sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.   

The heritage of Aaron and Moses are also shown us in the genealogy of Levi.  Aaron was the first high priest and Moses was the chosen prophet of God to deliver the law to the children of Israel.   

Eleazar, the thirdborn son of Aaron and his son Phinehas are also specifically pointed out in the above passage and their significance is that when Aaron died, Eleazar succeeded him as the high priest and Phinehas his son succeeded Eleazar as the high priest upon the death of Eleazar. 


Verses 26-30 

:26 “These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron. 28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. 30 And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?”

All of the above is a restatement of what was previously written in this chapter.  We may wonder why at times we have a repeat of what is previously written.  Certainly, it is a point of emphasis.  Sometimes we have to hear things or read things two or three times for it to make an impression upon us.  The fourteenth psalm and the fifty third psalm are almost identical.  They are very similar in what is stated to Romans chapter three verses 9-17.  These three passages set forth in plain language an extremely important doctrine of which if you do not have a good understanding, many of the doctrines of the scriptures cannot possibly be fully understood.  We need to have things repeated for us from time to time.