We spent several days discussing the first census of Israel and talking about how the camps of the tribes were arranged around the tabernacle. In the interior of this camp, closest to the tabernacle, will be the Levites. Chapter 3 tells us about the descendants of Aaron, the first high priest of Israel, who himself is a descendant of Jacob's son Levi.
"This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai." (Numbers 3:1) The Lord mentions both Aaron and Moses here because they are brothers and are both of the tribe of Levi. Moses, however, is not a priest. But Aaron and his sons are priests and the entire tribe of Levi from this time forward in the Bible are commissioned by the Lord to be occupied with duties that have to do with the tabernacle. The tribe of Levi was not counted in the census to form an army because the Lord hasn't called them to be soldiers. The Lord also hasn't called them to be farmers or shepherds. He has called them to serve Him and to serve His people.
"The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Those were the names of Aaron's sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. Nadab and Abihu, however, died before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before Him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron." (Numbers 3:2-4) We talked about the incident involving Nadab and Abihu when we studied the book of Leviticus. The account of the death of Nadab and Abihu can be found in Leviticus 10.
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle. They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle." (Numbers 3:5-8) Not every job at the tabernacle is going to come with a lot of public recognition and prestige. Some of the men of the tribe of Levi will have jobs at the tabernacle that put them in the public eye; others will be tasked with taking care of the tabernacle and its furnishings; still others will be put to work taking care of the needs of the priests.
To use the example of our churches today, we have some people who are preachers, teachers, musicians, and singers. These are often the most well known members of the congregation. Their work is important but so is the work of those who serve behind the scenes. We have people who run the sound equipment and keep the livestream broadcast running. We have people who maintain the church website or who print the bulletins for each service. We have greeters at the doors and people who drive the church buses to pick up those who aren't able to drive themselves. We have people who clean the facilities and clear the parking lots of ice and snow. I attend a church with a large congregation (since the pandemic I've been attending their livestream services from home) and I don't know the names of every person who works behind the scenes. But if they stopped doing their jobs, I'd notice it. We all would. So we see that every job in the church is important. It might not sound very exciting to be the person who opens the door for worshipers to enter the building, but the author of Psalm 84 put this job into perspective by saying: "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." (Psalm 84:10b) Being in the Lord's house, and serving Him in any way no matter how small, is far better than being out in sin someplace else.
During this time of social distancing, we can't all meet together in our houses of worship like we once did. We may feel like we aren't doing our jobs. But I think, even while we are absent from the building that is the church, we can still be the church. We can still pray for our church leaders and church staff. We can still take time every day, or multiple times a day, to pray for those who are sick in our church and in our community. We can still give to our churches and to other charitable organizations that are working hard to help those in need. In some ways, maybe the things we do behind the scenes are more important than ever right now. We don't have to leave our houses to pray. And since we are in our houses more than usual, spending even more time than usual in prayer just might be what the Lord is commissioning us all to do in this season of life.
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