Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #118 - Numbers 4 - The Sacred Duties of the Levite Families
How is everyone doing? I'm glad that you're here. Open your Bible to Numbers, chapter 4. The title of today's lesson is Duty of the Kohathites. Go ahead and grab yourself a glass of water, cup of tea, cup of coffee as we get into today's lesson. As always, wherever you may find this podcast, whatever your favorite streaming streaming platform is, go ahead and give it a comment. Share with your family and friends. Let them know that there's a brother out there that goes through the bible book by book, verse by verse. And remember, on our website, bereanscornerbuzzsproutcom. You can go over there and not only can you hear the podcast, but we have notes over there. You can read along if you want to, you can reference, and anything else that you may need is over there for you to follow through on. The lesson numbers chapter four, and let's read numbers four.
Speaker 2:The lord said to moses and aaron take a census of the kathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families.
Speaker 2:Count all the men from 30 to 50 years of age who come to serve in the work in the tent of meeting.
Speaker 2:This is the work of the Kohathites in the tent of meeting, the care of the most holy things. When the camp is to move, aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it. Then they are to cover this with hides of sea cows, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place. Over the table of the presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls and the jars for drink offerings. The bread that is continually there is to remain on it. Over these they are to spread a scarlet cloth, cover that with hides of sea cows and put its poles in place. They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand that is for light, together with its lamps, its wick, trimmers and trays and all its jars for the oil used to supply it. Then they are to wrap it and all its accessories in a covering of hides of sea cows and put it on a carrying frame Over the gold altar. They are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with hides of sea cows and put its poles in place. They are to take all the articles used for ministering in the sanctuary, wrap them in a blue cloth, cover that with hides of sea cows and put them on a carrying frame. They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it. Then they are to place on it all the utensils used for ministering at the altar, including the firepans, meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls Over it. They are to spread a covering of hides of sea cows and put its poles in place.
Speaker 2:After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying, but they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting Eleazar, son of Aaron. The priest is to have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including its holy furnishings and articles. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not cut off from the Levites, so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things. Do this for them. Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things even for a moment or they will die. The Lord said to Moses Take a census also of the Gershonites by their families and clans.
Speaker 2:Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting. This is the service of the Gershonite clans, as they work and carry burdens. They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering and the outer covering of hides of sea cows, the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the curtains of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar, the curtain for the entrance, the ropes and all the equipment used in its service. The Gershonites are to do all that needs to be done with these things. All their service, whether carrying or doing other work, is to be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. You shall assign to them as their responsibility all they are to carry. This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting. Their duties are to be under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron, the priest.
Speaker 2:Count the Marites by their clans and families. Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work of the tent of meeting. This is their duty as they perform service at the tent of meeting, to carry the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases, as well as the posts of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases, as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, ropes, all their equipment and everything related to their use, assigned to each man the specific things he is to carry. This is the service of the Merite clans as they work at the tent of meeting under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron, the priest, moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community.
Speaker 2:Counted the Kohathites by their clans and families, all the men from 30 to 50 years of age who came to serve in the work in the tent of meeting, counted by clans, were 2,750.
Speaker 2:This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans who served in the tent of meeting.
Speaker 2:Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord's command, through Moses.
Speaker 2:The Gershonites were counted by their clans and families.
Speaker 2: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 two thousand six hundred thirty.
Speaker 2:This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord's command. The Meraites were counted by their clans and families. All the men from 30 to 50 years of age who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting, counted by their clans, were 3,200. At the Tent of Meeting, counted by their clans, were 3,200. This was the total of those in the Merite clans. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord's command, through Moses. So Moses, aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans and families. All the men from 30 to 50 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 commanded Moses.
Speaker 1:Today we are looking at the Kohathites, although the duties of the Kohathites is the name of this chapter. We will also look at the duties given to the Gershonites and the Merorites in this chapter. Now, what we learned in this chapter and the previous chapters is that God takes worship and how his people handle his holy things very serious. And good thing we have grace, because a lot of us will not be walking around today with the way that we allow things and the way that things do go along in the church. As I've said before, the Lord takes his worship very seriously and he takes the way to his things that are handled very seriously. Now, this is a lengthy chapter and it's pretty straightforward, like a lot of the chapters in Leviticus and now in Numbers. But we will break this chapter down into four parts. The first part is the Kohathite duties. We see this in verses one through 20. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying I love how it always starts out with that because it reminds us of who the Lord is talking to. Take a census of the descendants of Kohok from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their father's households, for 30 years and upwards, even to 50 years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting. So they call them for the tent of meeting and we are seeing that they are calling 20 years old all the way up to 50 years old. Verse 4 this is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting. Concerning the most holy things. When the camp sets out, aaron and his son shall go in and they shall take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it and they shall lay a covering of porpoise skin on it and shall spread over it a cloth of pure blue and shall insert the poles very specific and he's very clear on who is to do this over the table of the bread of the presence. They shall also spread a cloth of blue and put on it the dishes and the pans and the sacrificial bowls and the jars for the libation and the continual bread shall be on it and they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material and cover the same with a covering of porpoise skin and they shall insert his poles. Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps and its sniffers and its trays and its oil vessels by which they serve it, and they shall put in it all its utensils and a covering of porpoise skin and shall put it on the carrying bars and over the golden altar. They shall spread a blue cloth and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin and shall insert its poles cloth and cover it with a cover of porpoise skin and shall insert its poles. They shall take all the utensils of service with which they serve in the sanctuary and put them in a blue cloth and cover them with a cover of porpoise skin and put them on the carrying bars.
Speaker 1:You notice that porpoise skin keeps being repeated. Why? Because the lord is very particular on how he wants things done. He's not asking them, do they think they should go on here? He's saying this is how you're going to do it. Pick it back up at verse 13. Then they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. They shall also put on it all these utensils by which they serve in connection with it, the fire pans, the forks and shovels and the basins, all the utensils of the altar, and they shall spread a cover of porpoise skin over it and insert its poles. And insert its poles, and when aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set out after, the sons of kohoth shall come to carry them so that they may not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of kohoth are to carry.
Speaker 1:Did you see Verse 16.? Verse 16. Of eleazar, the son of aaron, the priest, is the oil for the light and the fragrant incense and the continual grain offering and the anointing oil, the responsibility of all the tabernacle and of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings. Then the lord spoke to moses and aaron saying do not let the tribe of the families of the coethites be cut off from among the levites, the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites, but do this to them that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy objects. Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load, but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, lest they die. Did you see the command that the Lord gave to Aaron and Moses? He said do not let the Kohathites be cut off from among their people. How would they be cut off if they went in and touched the holy things? So the Lord was very clear of what Aaron and his sons were to do, how they were to cover these things. So the Kohathite family can carry these things out.
Speaker 1:Now we move on to part two, which is the gershonite duties. We see this in verses 21 through 28. Then the lord spoke to moses saying take a census of the sons of gershon, also by their father's households, by their families, from 30 years and upward to 50 years old. You shall number them all who enter to perform the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting, once again, 20 to 50 years old. This is the service of the family of the Gershonites in serving and carrying. They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its coverings and the covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting and the hangings of the court and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar and their cords and all the equipment for their service and all that is to be done. They shall perform all the service of the sons of the Gershonites on what to do, aaron the priest. So we see that Aaron's son, itamar, is split off and he is directing the Gershonites on what to do.
Speaker 1:We move on to part number three, which is the Merorites' duties. We see this in verses 29 through 33. As for the sons of Merori, you shall number them by their families, by their father's households, from 30 years Excuse me, for 30 years upward, even to 50 years. You shall number them. Everyone who answers the service to do the work in attendance meeting. I have to excuse myself for some reason, I think when I talked about the Gershonites I said 20 to 50, but it's 30 to 50. Verse 31. Now this is the duty of their loads For all their service in the tent of meeting the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets and the pillars around the court and their sockets and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service. You shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry. This is the service of the family of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting under direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. So we see we have three families the Kohathites, the Gershonites and the Merarites. They all have their duties and they are under the instruction of Aaron's sons.
Speaker 1:Now we move on to part four, a summary of the levites census, because remember, this started out by doing the census. We see this in verses 34 through 49. So moses and aaron, the leaders of the congregation, numbered the sons of the koathites by their families, by their father's households, from 30 years and upward, even to 50 years old. Everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting and their numbered men by their families were 2,750. These are the numbered men of the families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom moses and aaron numbered according to the commandment of the lord, through moses so we see how many korthites are caught were called to service and the numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their families' households, from 30 years and upwards, even to 50 years. Everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting and their numbered men by their families, by their fathers' households, were 2,630. So now we see how many were called to duty from the Gershonites. These are the numbers of the men of the family of the son of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the command to the Lord, and the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their father's households, from 30 years and upwards, even to 50 years old. Everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting and their numbered men by their families, were 3,200. These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses. Now we see why they had to take the census because they had to figure out exactly how many men would be in this service from these three families.
Speaker 1:Picking it back up in verse 46, all the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered by their families and by their father's households, from 30 years and up, work, even to 50 years old. Everyone who could enter to do the work and, excuse me, who could do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting, and their numbered men were 8,580. According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses, they were numbered everyone by his serving or carrying. Thus these were his numbered men. Just one by his serving or carrying. Thus these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Speaker 1:Now, as I mentioned earlier, moses, the Lord was talking to Moses and Aaron, and the Lord was very specific on how this had to be done. I say this all the time and I will continue to say it Things have to be done the way that the Lord wants them done. When the Lord calls you to do something, he doesn't call you to act on your own. He calls you to do exactly what he commanded. Let me tell you something we are not Israel and we are not in the old covenant, but this lesson still applies us to this day. You need to be very careful when you're handling things of the Lord. Now, if you ever seen churches on TV, or maybe you have visited a church in person, or maybe you have seen it on some type of clip or something, you see people sometimes acting a fool, doing whatever they want to do in the church, and the thing is this is that that's why we have to be glad we're under grace, because those things are very dangerous. And this covenant, right here, where we're reading the book of numbers, there was none of that. The Lord said that these things had to be done exactly how he wanted. Remember what happened to Aaron's two sons when they went about it on their own and they decided to do what they wanted to do, they paid the ultimate price. It cost them All right, people. That brings us to the end, of Numbers four.
Speaker 1:I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Like I mentioned, wherever you are here in this podcast, spread the word to your family and friends, and we're going to keep going through this journey through the, through the word of god, as I always ask. I hope that you are praying for me to give me the strength to get through this. I am always praying for you as well. Listen, I may not know any, know any of you by name. I may never even meet you in a lifetime or even hear your voice in a lifetime, but you need to know that I care about you very much and that is the reason why I do this. I do it for you, I do it for me. I love being in the Lord's word and I do it so others can hear it as well. You know we all have a service to provide and, lord's willing, this is the service that he called me to. All right, enough rambling. I hope you enjoyed today's lesson. That is all for now, god bless, thank you, bye.