Numbers 3:8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

Aaron and his sons were appointed to take charge of the priesthood. They alone enjoyed the privilege of entering the holy place to perform the daily services in the Tabernacle. The rest of the Levites were charged to perform the most common and laborious offices. Their tasks were to take down, put up, and carry the tabernacle and its accessories whenever they were on the move.

The Gershonites were in charge of the Tabernacle with its covering, the hangings and curtains. The Kohathites were in charge of the sacred vessels of worship. And, the Merarites were in charge of the boards, poles, and all the accessories needed for the erection for the Tabernacle. For all the necessary work connected with the sanctuary, the Levites were subordinate to Aaron and his sons: “And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel” (Numbers 3:9, ESV).

Let not anyone think that to be a Levite means slavery to Aaron and his sons. It was an honour to be a Levite. The Levites were a special people chosen by God to minister to the Tabernacle. God said of this tribe: “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine,”  (Numbers 3:12).

It is an honour when God say to anyone: “You are mine.” The Levites belong to God. The firstborn of all Israel, man and beast, also belong to God (Numbers 3:13; 8:17). But God did not choose all the firstborns to be priests in His Tabernacle but the Levites only. God appointed the Levites for this service because He had decided to adopt them as His own in the place of all the first-born of Israel; the Levites belong to God. They were consecrated to the service of God.

The Levites had proven themselves to be the most suitable of all the tribes for this appointment entrusted to them through their firm and faithful defence of the honour of the Lord at the worship of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. When Israel went into whoring in worshipping the golden calf, the Levites stood on the LORD’s side: “Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him” (Exodus 32:26).

Brethren, count it an honour to serve the Lord. Where do you think the church should get her preachers, song leaders, teachers, and administrator? It is not from those who are unbelievers, but from Christians, who are the elect of God.

Paul pictured the church as a great house in which there are many kinds of vessels: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour” (2 Timothy 2:20). The question for every Christian is: “What kind of vessel are you?”  Are you one whom the owner is proud of and can show it to his guests? Or, are you one which he would rather hide it in the storeroom or drawer?

 Paul continues: “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21).

The Levites were given the honour to serve God in the Tabernacle. In the church, God wants us to be vessels of honour for Him. But, first we must purge ourselves from sins. We are to be sanctified, that is, to be holy, consecrated, so that we can be vessels of honour to Him. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

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