The Sons of Aaron
“Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests. Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”
Census of the Levites Commanded
Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: “Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number every male from a month old and above.”
So Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.
From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites. Those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above—of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred. The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward. And the leader of the father’s house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, the screen for the door of the court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, according to all the work relating to them.
From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping charge of the sanctuary. The families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. Their duty included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the screen, and all the work relating to them.
And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.
From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. And those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred. The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. And the appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them, and the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords.
Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, keeping charge of the sanctuary, to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but the outsider who came near was to be put to death. All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.
In the beginning, there was the Tribe of Levi; however, the priests were all to be descendants of Aaron. But that portable Tabernacle was to move through the wilderness whenever the Israelites moved. If God did not make some divine assignments, there would be unending wrangling. “Why do we have to do all the dirty work around here? Why can’t someone else do _____ for a change?” This section of Numbers 3 not only assigns duties to specific groups of Levites but also indicates where they will always lodge in relation to the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is to be protected by a double ring of Israelites with the tribes lodging on the outer ring and the Levites and Aaronic priests and family of Moses lodging on the inner ring. To paraphrase a common advertising slogan, God’s response to any whining was likely to be “Just do it!”
APPLICATION: “I don’t have to clean that toilet! I am not a conservancy laborer!” It was 1993, and we had recently come to Saboba. One poor pregnant lady had failed to make it to the toilet in time and had defecated on the floor. Now the cleaning lady was sounding off at me. As an Illinois farm girl, I had shoveled a lot of manure, so I simply shrugged my shoulders, cleaned up the mess, and went on caring for the patient. (Ironically, several years later, we saved that cleaning lady from going blind when she went into acute angle closure glaucoma on Christmas Eve and we had to rush her 150 miles north to an eye specialist at a mission hospital.)
Had God not assigned these duties to the Levites, who knows how many of them would have been left untouched because someone thought that was beneath their dignity? We all have a job to do in the Body of Christ. Saint Paul faced such a problem with the Corinthian Church and wrote to them,“But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1Corinthians 12:24-26)
The Konkombas have a saying that “One finger does not pick up a pebble.” God has chosen each of us for a particular work and no single work is more important than another. My husband loves to compliment janitors and cleaners as we travel, for if these people fail to perform diligently, airports and train stations will soon turn into pigsties. The lines of an old hymn by Kittie L. Suffield say it well:
LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT
In the harvest field now ripened
There’s a work for all to do
Hark! the Master’s voice is calling
To the harvest calling you
Does the place you’re called to labor
And does the place you’re called to labor
Seem so small and little known?
It is great if God is in it
For He’ll not forsake His own
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame
There’s a crown, and you can win it
If you go in Jesus’ name
And when the conflict has ended
And our race on earth is run
He will say, if you’ve been faithful
“Welcome home, My child—well done!”
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame
There’s a crown, and you can win it
If you go in Jesus’ name
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, thank You that each of us has a special place in the Kingdom of God. Lord, help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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