In Chapter 4 we've been learning that at the time when Israel camped in the wilderness, the men called into service at the tabernacle are from the tribe of Levi and that the ages of the men called into service are from the age of thirty to fifty. Today we'll see how many men were in the group who first began to serve at the tabernacle.
"Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the Kohathites by their clans and families. All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, counted by clans, were 2,750. This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord's command through Moses." (Numbers 4:34-36) I tried doing a background search to find out if all these men worked at the sanctuary every single day or whether they worked in shifts. Later in the Bible we'll find the institution of twenty-four "courses" (divisions, crews, orders) of priests who switched off with each other at regularly prescribed intervals. This may be the way the men of the Kohathite clan, the Gershonite clan, and the Merarite clan worked as well, but I've been unable to find out. The number of men from each clan of Levi in service will seem like quite a lot (8,580) to be working at the tabernacle at the same time. On the other hand, when we consider that the total number of people camped in the wilderness at this time was 2,000,000 or more, and that these people were daily bringing sacrifices and offerings to the tabernacle, and that these people were coming to the tabernacle for the various things the Lord instructed them to see the priests about, it very well may have taken thousands of men working every day to keep things running smoothly.
"The Gersonites were counted by their clans and families. All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, counted by their clans and families, were 2,630. This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served in the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord's command." (Numbers 4:38-41)
"The Merarites were counted by their clans and families. All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, counted by their clans, were 3,200. This was the total of those in the Merarite clans. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord's command through Moses." (Numbers 4:42-44)
At this point I think it's beneficial for us to do a quick recap of the duties the Lord assigned to the men descended from Jacob's son Levi. Only Aaron and his sons, and those descended directly from them, are to be ordained as priests. The Kohathites are the clan of Levi from which Aaron sprang, and it is to this clan that the Lord assigned the care of the holy furnishings of the tabernacle: the ark of the covenant, the table for the bread, the lampstand, the altars, and all the bowls and dishes and implements. The Gershonites were in charge of the materials that made up the ceiling and walls of the tabernacle and the courtyard: the tent itself, the protective leather coverings, the curtains of the sanctuary, and the curtains that surrounded the courtyard. The Merarites were to take care of and transport the hardware of the tabernacle and the enclosure surrounding it: the tent poles, the pillars, the sockets, the boards and so on. You'll note that the number of men in the Merarite clan was greater than that of the other clans. Their work was likely the hardest and heaviest, so more men were required to prevent any one person from being overburdened by the weight of these heavy materials.
The Lord intends His people to work together. It will take all these men working together to perform all the tasks that are necessary to keep the tabernacle and all its activities running smoothly. It will take all these men working together to disassemble, transport, and reassemble the tabernacle every time it is moved. In our own times the Lord intends for His people to work together. We may not be moving a tabernacle across the desert, but there is work for every single person who makes up the congregation, and we must not be neglectful of our duties. The Lord doesn't call every person to perform the same task in the church just as He didn't call every person to perform the same task at the tabernacle. Some are given the gift of preaching. Others are called to be teachers or counselors or musicians or singers. Others are called to perform administrative duties or to clean the facilities or to maintain the church lawn or parking lots or walkways. Others are called to be door greeters or to hand out the weekly bulletins with a smile. Others are called to be listeners and encouragers. Others are called to be prayer warriors. Others are called to send out cards to the sick and the bereaved or to minister to the sick and bereaved by cooking meals for them. Others are called to the bus ministry to pick up those who aren't able to drive themselves to church. You can be absolutely certain that if you are a child of God, He has a job for you. That job may be something that's visible to the public or it may involve performing a supportive role behind the scenes. But there is definitely something the Lord wants you to do, and if you aren't sure what that is, the Lord will be pleased to reveal this to you as you come to Him in prayer seeking His will.
"So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans and families. All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to do the work of serving and carrying the tent of meeting numbered 8,580. At the Lord's command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry. Thus they were counted, as the Lord commanded Moses." (Numbers 4:46-49) Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel do what the Lord commands them. The men called into service do what the Lord commands them. You and I can follow their example by asking the Lord what we can do for Him and then doing what He tells us to do.
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