Numbers 4:1-49 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,… One tribe has been set apart in lieu of the first-born of all Israel, and to this tribe is entrusted the service of the tabernacle. The nature and distribution of that service are now placed before us. Note - I. THE REGARD FOR THE PRINCIPLE OF INHERITANCE. As the tribes had their appointed place around the tabernacle, so the three great natural divisions of the tribe of Levi had their appointed place in it. So in the service of the Church of Christ there must ever be something corresponding to this natural division in Levi. The great Head has given some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. There are always some Christians rather than others who may be taken as spiritual children of certain in the spiritual generation before them, those on whom the prophet's mantle may fall, as did that of Elijah on Elisha. II. THE LIMITATIONS OF SERVICE. No Levite could do the work of an anointed priest. The Kohathites were to bear the things of the holy place, but they were not to see them or prepare them for removal. There was a gulf of difference between Aaron and the noblest of the Kohathites, though they belonged to the same tribe. So between Christ and even the best of his people. There is so much to link us to our Lord, so much to reveal him as walking about on the same level, that we cannot be too careful to remember the differences between our services, humble even the most honourable of them, and that glorious peculiar service where Christ is Priest and Atonement in one. The limitations of age. None under thirty, none over fifty. At twenty a man may have strength and courage for fighting (Numbers 1:3), but ten years more must pass over his head before he is judged to have the sobriety and sedateness needed for tabernacle service. Then at fifty he retires. God has consideration for failing strength. The burdens of the tabernacle must be carried, therefore God provides that the bearers shall be strong. There were constantly fresh and, we may suppose, often eager accessions at the younger limit of the service. Jesus was about thirty when he entered on his public life (Luke 3:23), and the Baptist would be about the same. Let these limitations of God be considered by all whom they concern. There are duties of manhood which youth has not the experience, nor age the strength, to perform. III. THE SECURING OF PERSONAL SERVICE (verses 19, 49). Only certain persons were fit to do the work, but all who were fit had some work to do. In the Church of Christ fitness for anything, clearly seen, distinctly felt, has in it the nature of a command. We need not fear that there will ever be too many persons engaged in the service of the true tabernacle. There were between eight and nine thousand at this first appointment, but the Lord's promise runs (Jeremiah 33:22), "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the Levites that minister unto me." We are all Levites now. IV. THE WORK WAS ALL NECESSARY WORK. No doubt a certain honour attached to the Kohathites, but great risk went with it; and after all, the honour was more in the eyes of men than of God. All that is needful to be done for him is honourable. The least peg or cord was not to be left behind, any more than the ark itself. There should be a spirit of humble joy and gratitude in us that we are counted worthy to do anything for God. All are needed to make up the perfection of service. To the complete body the little finger is as needful as the complex and powerful brain. For the circulation of the blood the capillaries are as needful as the great arteries and veins. God calls for no superfluous work from us. He has no mere ornaments in the Church. If a thing is not of use, it is no ornament, however it be decorated. Application: - Find your work and burden. Every one has his own burden (φορτίον) to bear. No one else then can carry your burden than you. Seek your place. Take the lowest one, then assuredly you will come in time to the right one. The lowest place in the tabernacle service is better than the highest among the ungodly (Psalm 84:10). - Y. INTERIOR SANCTITIES OF ISRAEL (CHAPTERS 5, 6). Numbers 5:1-4: REMOVAL OF THE UNCLEAN. Vers. 5-10: RESTITUTION OF TRESPASS, Vers. 11-31: JEALOUSY PURGED. Chapter 6:1-21: NAZARITES DEDICATED. Numbers 22-27: BLESSING OF THE PEOPLE. Whether these portions of the Divine legislation are connected with the surrounding narrative (1) by an order of time, as having been given at this point, or (2) by a harmony of subject, as completing on its inward side the perfection of the camp, or whether (3) their insertion here was in a sense accidental, and not now to be accounted for, must remain uncertain. Against (1) it must be observed that there is a decided break in the order of time at the beginning of chapter 7; against (2) that a large part of the Levitical enactments might have been added here with an equal propriety. Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, |
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