Lesson 90 - Senior

Memory Verse

 "I delight to do thy will, O my God:  yea, thy law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:8).

Cross References

I The Levites: Israel's Offering to the Lord

1. The Levites were set aside, by God's commandment, to a consecrated service, [NUM:3:5-10]; [NUM:8:5-22]; [DEU:10:8-9]; [DEU:33:8-11].

2. This commandment revealed the opportunity, lost by the Israelites, for all to share in God's service and fulfil God's desire that the nation be one entirely dedicated to Him, [NUM:3:11-13]; [EXO:13:1-2], [EXO:13:11-13]; [EXO:19:5-6]; [1PE:2:5]; [REV:1:6]; [REV:20:6].

3. Moses was instructed by God to number -" or set aside -" all the male children and adults of the Levites from one month old and upward, [NUM:3:14-17], [NUM:3:39]; [NUM:4:46-49].

4. The first-born sons of Israel, having lost their privilege of serving in the Lord's worship were replaced by Levites, a Levite for each first-born son of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites for the first-born of Israel's cattle, [NUM:3:40-45]; [NUM:18:15-16]; [EXO:34:20].

5. The 273 remaining first-born of Israel are redeemed by a set price of five shekels each, [NUM:3:46-51].

II The Prescribed Duties of the Levites

1. All Levites were to be under the supervision of Moses and Aaron, [NUM:3:38].

2. The Gershonites, descendants of Levi's eldest son, Gershon:

* Had 7,500 males, one month of age or older, 2,630 able to work for the Lord, [NUM:3:21-22]; [NUM:4:38-41].

* Encamped on the west side of the Tabernacle, [NUM:3:23-24].

* Were superintended by Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son, a priest, [NUM:4:28].

* Were placed in charge of the Tabernacle tent, covering, and door hangings, hangings and cords of the court, and curtain for the court entrance, [NUM:3:25-26]; [NUM:4:21-28].

3. The Kohathites, descendants of Levi's second son, Kohath:

* Had 8,600 males, one month of age or older, 2,750 able to work for the Lord, [NUM:3:27-28]; [NUM:4:34-37].

* Encamped on the south side of the Tabernacle, [NUM:3:29-30].

* Were superintended by Eleazar, Aaron's eldest living son, a priest, [NUM:3:32]; [NUM:4:16].

* Were placed in charge of the Ark, table of shewbread, candlestick, altars, and all sacred vessels, [NUM:3:31].

* Followed a routine organised by God Himself, [NUM:4:1-4].

* Received minute directions for the handling of each article, [NUM:4:5-15], [NUM:4:32].

* Were protected from untimely death, due to any error of the priests, by extra precautions imposed upon Moses and Aaron, [NUM:4:17-20].

4. The Merarites, descendants of Levi's youngest son, Merari:

* Had 6,200 males, one month of age or older, 3,200 able to work for the Lord, [NUM:3:33-34]; [NUM:4:42-45].

* Encamped on the north side of the Tabernacle, [NUM:3:35].

* Were superintended by Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son, [NUM:4:33].

* Were placed in charge of the boards, bars, pillars, sockets, and cords of the Tabernacle and court and all secondary vessels or implements, [NUM:3:36-37]; [NUM:4:29-33].

Notes

A little Flock

While Moses was on Mount Sinai, receiving the Law from God, Aaron and Hur were left in charge of the Israelites, who are thought to have numbered in excess of 3,000,000 men, women, and children. In a previous lesson we saw that some of the leaders and people had failed God miserably and had made a golden calf to worship in place of the God of Abraham. Then they made their sin all the worse by the statement that these gods of gold were the ones who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.

God told Moses what was happening in the camp and sent him to deal with the situation. We saw how Moses interposed himself between God and the rebellious nation, striving always to see that God's name was honoured in all things " and above all things " and how he successfully interceded for them.

At the time the wrong was pointed out to the Israelites, Moses challenged them with the stirring question, "Who is on the LORD's side?" The smallest tribe of the whole nation, the Levites, responded by separating themselves from the whole body of people. It must have been a discouraging sight to godly Moses, to see so few declare themselves, but he probably had been previously prepared for just such an eventuality by the God whom he loved. It has not been large numbers or vast armies of loyal soldiers that have carried out God's work on earth at any time in history. Jesus reminded His followers when He was upon earth that there would be but a "little flock" for whom a place would be reserved in Heaven.

A Lost Opportunity

The nation was severely punished that day; for before the shadows of night came, 3,000 who saw the sun arise in the morning lay dead. No doubt great sorrow swept through the camp in the days following, because of this personal loss of loved ones; but as the words of their faithful leader burned into their hearts the Israelites were forced to concede that their loss was greater than that which they first felt. There was now a need for reconciliation between them and an angry and offended God, and for this purpose Moses went to God to plead their seemingly lost cause. Days passed and a merciful reconciliation was effected and now their sojourn at Mount Sinai was about to come to a close.

Some phases of the newly received Law still had to be unfolded to them and until this was done they could not know exactly all that their rebellion had cost them. Neither could the Levites know, as yet, all that their courageous stand would reward them. But the details were not long withheld, for soon the Lord spoke to Moses and told him to bring near the tribe of Levi and present them before Aaron the priest. The account of the formal consecration of the Levites to their work ([NUM:8:5-22]) tells us that this bringing near was a presentation of them to the Lord, in the manner of an offering, by the whole nation of Israel. The Levites were given as a "living sacrifice" to God ([ROM:12:1]).

The plan of God, in the beginning, was that the Israelites should all be workers in the service of God, a personal service in which each family was represented. There was not to be any service rendered by representation, or through another person, but the whole nation was to be a kingdom of priests. In the patriarchal times, different family heads, or their representatives carried on the work. But when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and spared their first-born He decreed that these delivered first-born should be the dedicated ones to do His service ([EXO:19:22]; [EXO:24:5]).

What a glorious plan! How wonderful it would have been -" and would be today -" if every family feared God and were willing to dedicate the first-born member to God! How quickly the Gospel would have been spread to the whole world -" and would have been in our day -" if each Christian family had dedicated one member to God's service! How rich would be the rewards of all the Christian peoples when the Judge of all calls us before Him! And how pleasant and filled to the brim with lasting joy and happiness each life would be here on earth, knowing that they all have a tangible part in God's service! But, sadly, it is only the "Levites" -" the "little flock" -" upon whom God must depend for the carrying out of His work on earth. God give us more "Levites" and increase the size of the faithful "little flock"! It has been said that there are no drafted soldiers in God's army. That truth is strikingly demonstrated in this incident when the Levites were chosen instead of the first-born of Israel. The Levites volunteered, dramatically taking their stand for God before the hundreds of thousands of Israelites. Because they were willing to do so, God gave them the preferred place in His service ([MAT:10:32]). The ones who were to have filled these offices according to the original plan were not used because they did not respond when the invitation was given to come over on the Lord's side. There are many today who have felt the call to some specific service for God who are not doing that service because they, too, have not thus stepped out "on the LORD'S side." They can be sure that there is a member of the "little flock" somewhere who will receive the reward instead, because he has responded and is faithfully doing the work of his Lord and Master.

God's Orderly Administration

In no other place in the Bible can we see the carefully planned and executed detail of God's workings with His people, and the world at large, as it is displayed in the Levitical Law. Nothing was left to chance operation or to be casually carried out. Every item was mentioned and its place shown in the over-all scheme, it mattered not how small or apparently insignificant it might appear to be.

God is not the author of, nor is He pleased with, confusion, disorder, or disunity in any phase of His work among or for men. The Holy Spirit, in His operations in the heart of the believer, or in His work in the direction of the worship and service of the Lord, works only with unity and oneness of effort. He has no other way. That which is done in division or strife, disorder or carelessness, is most assuredly not the result of the direction of the Holy Spirit but of a false spirit instead. The tribe-family of Kohath was selected to carry the most sacred of all the tabernacle furnishings, the Ark of the Covenant, the table of shewbread, the candlestick, the altars, and the sacred vessels. These were all covered for them before their entrance into the Tabernacle, by the high priest and his assisting priests, so no one would die because they saw the holy things, which they were prohibited from seeing.

The Gershonites were descendants of the first-born son of Levi, but were not given the most privileged place in the service of God. The plans of God do not necessarily follow the customs of man, and many times He set these aside to work out His will in and for man. Moses and Aaron were descendants of the family of Kohath, and it is possible that the Kohathites were given the privileged position among the Levites because of the faithfulness of these two men of God, especially in reference to their faithfulness during the days when God dealt with the nation of Egypt through the judgment-plagues.

God gave the responsibility of the Tabernacle itself and all of its hangings and curtains, as well as those of the court, to the Gershonites. There was, in this, a considerable amount of material to transport from place to place, and from campsite, to campsite for which they used two covered wagons drawn by four oxen. The princes of Israel, who represented the first-born replaced by the Levites, gave these wagons and oxen as a freewill offering to the Lord. Here is a wonderful exhibition of the love and esteem that even the replaced first-born had in their hearts for those who would separate themselves for the service of God, and who would gladly give up their inheritance rights and privileges to do God's bidding! (See [1TM:5:17].)

The remaining tribal-family, the Merarites, had the heaviest and most burdensome duties of all three groups. For this reason Moses gave them four of the wagons and eight yoke of the oxen brought by the princes of Israel. Their responsibility was the transportation of the boards, bars, foundation blocks of silver, pillars, pins, and cords, with the tools necessary to set up the building upon any terrain that the Lord might select in the wilderness. The perfection of God's plan is further illustrated here in that while the tribal-family of the Merarites was the smallest in number -" when all the males over one month of age were considered -" yet they had the largest percentage of those who were able to work, giving them the largest group of workmen in the tribe.

When the Pillar of Cloud Moved

The orderliness of God's operations was further illustrated in the way the Levites were to carry out their designated work. Each tribal-family had its assigned work. We are told that "by name" they reckoned the charge of their burdens. They were all given a specified place in the marching column which moved with the precision of a vast military operation, where delay in any detail might have cost many lives. It is all a picture of God's perfection and of the way He wants His work conducted ([NUM:4:49]).

Perhaps it was often in the early morning, when the Israelites first came out of their individual tents, that the Pillar of Cloud lifted and moved toward Canaan. Perhaps more often it was at the time of the morning sacrifice when their eyes were turned toward the Tabernacle where the death of the coming Perfect Sacrifice was being typically shown. Whenever it was, morning or evening, day or night, there was no confusion. There was no hurried drafting of the necessary personnel to move the Tabernacle and the sacred treasures kept there. There was no bickering or contention between different ones as to what made up their assigned duties. It was all done as God planned it, in decency and in order.

Each family took care of its own tents and personal equipment, but the chosen, privileged members of the Levite families moved to the Tabernacle instead. Their personal needs were taken care of by others of the Levites who thereby shared in God's rewards for faithful service also. All the Levites had a part, and all could earn a reward in Heaven.

By the time these men arrived at the Tabernacle, Aaron and his sons had no doubt completed the covering and wrapping of the sacred treasures. In an orderly procession each of the Kohathites took up his assigned responsibility. There were no wagons for these. God had decreed that His Ark, candlestick, table, altars, and sacred vessels were to be carried on the shoulders of the appointed ones.

Then the Gershonites came in, took down the hangings and fabrics of the Tabernacle and court and loaded their wagons. They were followed by the Merarites, who took their assigned burdens and packed them with the greatest of care in their wagons. The Gershonites and Merarites were given places in the marching column ahead of the Kohathites.

When the day's march was ended the Pillar of Cloud rested and the Israelites then knew that they were at the place God had chosen for their encampment. Each family set up its tent in the place God had previously appointed for it, in relation to the location of the Tabernacle. The work of the Levites at this stage was just as orderly as when the camp was broken and the march begun. The Merarites, with their loads of metallic and wooden portions of the Tabernacle and court (estimated by some as weighing in excess of 21,000 pounds) came and set up each piece in its proper place. The Gershonites came next with the hangings, beautifully woven and embroidered tabernacle cloth, dyed and natural-colour coverings, and cords, which were all in their places when the Kohathites came with the sacred vessels and furnishings. There was no delay, confusion, or disorder of any kind.

In almost unbelievable time after the Pillar of Cloud showed the leaders, and Israel, the location of their camping place the Tabernacle was ready for use. No doubt many times this was at the time of the evening sacrifice. Again the congregation of the Israelites stood in their tent doors, or gathered around the outside of the Tabernacle perimeter, and prayed while the coming Lamb of Calvary was typically sacrificed upon the brazen altar.

The Lord's service is the most wonderful occupation that a person can have, and when the call is given it should be treasured as the great privilege that it is. Opportunities lost are objects of regret and remorse, which time often cannot heal. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Romans 11:29).

We are also reminded of the fact that our God must have His own way because no man's way could ever equal it. He fixes each man's rank in His service; He appoints His own servants; He designates the work of each one and sets them in the Church as He desire. But that is not all. God provides for the needs of His workers now, and rewards them later; and in addition, is Himself their inheritance, their hope, their joy, and their consolation!

Questions

1. Name the three divisions of the tribe of Levi.

2. To what tribal-family did Moses and Aaron belong?

3. Why was the tribe of Levi taken instead of the first-born of the Israelites?

4. How did this differ from God's original plan for the Israelites?

5. Compare the number of first-born sons in Israel with the number of Levites from one month of age and upward.

6. Who had the over-all supervision of the Levites?

7. Who directly superintended each division?

8. What were the duties of each division?

9. What lesson can we learn regarding the method of carrying out God's work today from the manner in which they were instructed to do their work?

10. If we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us as we should, there will be no confusion or disunity in our service for God. Tell why.