Lesson 90 - Junior
Memory Verse
"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men" (Colossians 3:23).
Notes
Help for the Priests
God had appointed Aaron and his four sons to be priests, and to serve Him in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. But two sons, Nadab and Abihu, had died before the Lord because they offered strange fire in their worship. Only Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar remained; and they could not possibly do all the work that needed to be done in taking care of the Tabernacle and offering the many sacrifices, let alone taking down the entire Tabernacle and setting it up again every time the Israelites moved. All the sacred furniture -" the Ark of the Covenant with the cherubims, the golden altar, the golden candlestick, the table of shewbread, the brazen altar, and the laver -" had to be carried. It would take many men to carry such heavy equipment. And although they had wagons to carry the gold-covered boards, and the curtains of the Tabernacle, it took many men to handle carefully all the parts of that holy sanctuary.
God could see that the priests needed help so He gave them the tribe of Levi to do this service. This tribe had showed a willingness to serve God that day when Moses challenged Israel: "Who is on the LORD'S side?" The people had committed a great sin by worshiping the golden calf, and God wanted to destroy all the people because they had disobeyed Him. But Moses prayed long and hard for them, and God let them live. The tribe of Levi had evidently had no part in worshiping the calf, and they were chosen of God to do special work for Him at the Tabernacle.
Levites Set Apart
God told Aaron to purify the children of Levi and offer special sacrifices to consecrate them for service. They were told to camp around the Tabernacle, near where God dwelled. They were to be as a guard, because if a stranger came too near he would die. God wanted His Holy Place to be kept holy.
The Tabernacle was in the middle of the camp of Israel. It was the centre of the life of the Israelites. Their worship of God was to be the most important thing of all. It should be so with us, too. It is more necessary that we do the work God has given us to do than that we please ourselves or our friends. God wants us to love His service with all our hearts; and if we do that, we will want to do His will always. In the morning, when we start our day, we pray to Jesus to keep us through the day and help us not to do anything He would not want us to do. If anything unexpected comes up during the day, we ask Him if it is His will for us to do it. Then at night we can thank God that we have lived to please Him.
A Place for Each Tribe
At the east end of the Tabernacle, at its entrance, camped the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Something special was expected from the tribe of Judah because Jacob had prophesied: "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.... The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Genesis 49:8-10). That was a prophecy about Jesus who would come as the Messiah through the tribe of Judah.
At the south side of the Tabernacle camped the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; on the west, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin; and on the north, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph; and because of Joseph's faithfulness in Egypt, God promised him a double inheritance when the Children of Israel would arrive in Canaan. Ephraim and Manasseh were each to receive a share as Joseph's brothers did.
Surrounded by the rest of the Israelites, between them and the Tabernacle, camped the Levites, with Aaron and his sons right before the door of the Tabernacle. The Levites were God's special servants and lived nearest to His presence. They were always ready to serve when they were needed. The people who serve God best are the ones who live closest to Him. They are near enough to hear Him whisper His will to them, and they are ready to obey.
Firstborn Claimed by God
The night God led the Children of Israel out of Egypt the death angel had passed over the land, and in every home the eldest son died -" except where there was blood over the doors. God had given the Children of Israel a way to escape that death. If they took a lamb, killed it, roasted its flesh, ate it, and took of the blood and put it upon the doorposts of their homes, the death angel would pass by. It was the mercy of God that had spared the life of the eldest son of each family, and He said that from that time on, they belonged to Him. "For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself" (Numbers 8:17). They were to represent their families in worship at the Tabernacle.
Levites Instead of Firstborn
But after Israel sinned, God chose the tribe of Levi to minister unto Him instead of the eldest son of each family. "And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn" (Numbers 3:12). Several times when God was talking with Moses about claiming the Levites for Himself, He said, "I am the LORD." He wanted the people to understand that He had a right to take these people for Himself. He is the God of Heaven and earth, and He has authority to appoint to sacred positions whom He will.
The Levites were to have no inheritance when they came into the land of Canaan except some cities in which to live. They were to be supported by tithes paid by the rest of the Israelites. They were given enough land to take care of their cattle and sheep, which were also devoted to God, instead of the firstborn of the flocks and herds of the Israelites.
The Numbering of the Firstborn
There were three branches of the tribe of Levi: the Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Kohathites. If we add the number given for each family we find the total of 22,300; and yet in verse 39 the number of given as 22,000. The difference in the numbers could be that 300 of the Levites were also the firstborn of their families, who would have belonged to God anyway even if the Levites had not been chosen for the tabernacle service. So they could not be counted as taking the place of the firstborn of other families. There wee 22,273 firstborn in Israel, and only 22,000 Levites, so the remaining 273 had to be replaced in some other way. God told Moses that the people could pay into the treasury a certain amount of money to redeem each man who was not represented by a Levite. We do not know who paid the money; probably it was divided among the entire congregation.
Marching Orders
God sees that everything is kept in order in His church. He told the Levites just what their duties would be. They were to help the priests in the service of the Tabernacle and take care of all the furnishings. And when the Israelites marched, each group had their particular job to do in taking down the Tabernacle and setting it up in their next camp.
When the orders came to march, Aaron and his sons would go into the Tabernacle, cover all the altars and furniture with coverings provided for them, take down the veil that separated the Holy of Holies and let it cover the ark, and over that put a cover of badger skins. Then they covered the altars, the candlestick, the table of shewbread, and all the dishes, censers, and spoons. Everything was prepared for moving.
The Kohathites then came in and picked up all the sacred furniture, each man the load assigned to him, which he carried on his shoulders. The priests must be very careful to see that everything was covered, because if the Kohathites touched something uncovered they would die. Eleazar, one of the priests, watched carefully that everything was done in order and was well taken care of.
The Gershonites took care of the curtains and hangings. As soon as the Kohathites had moved out the furniture, the Gershonites began removing the linen curtains that surrounded the outer court and those that formed the doors. They took off the coverings which made the Tabernacle: the fine embroidered linen covering on the inside, the covering of goats' hair, the one of rams' skins dyed red, and the one of badgers' skins. Ithamar had charge of this work and took care that the curtains were handled reverently.
Ithamar also supervised the work of taking down the gold-covered framwork of the Taberancle. It was the Merarites who were assigned to this part of the work. Every board must be taken out of the socket, and each man knew just what piece of God's holy Tabernacle he must handle. Their burdens were heavy, but with every man doing his part the House of God was moved forward smoothly.
The Gershonites and Merarites marched behind the tribe of Judah, which was at the head of the procession. As soon as the Pillar of Cloud which led them came to a halt, showing that God wanted the Israelites to camp, they would immediately set up the frame of the Tabernacle and cover it with the coverings. By the time the Kohathites, who marched three tribes back, had arrived, the Tabernacle was ready to be furnished.
God No Author of Confusion