Furthermore, the act of imposition of hands obliged the One who from before all worlds dwelt in the bosom of the Father to travel far away into the cold and barren regions of death and darkness, where the genial and life-giving rays of His Father"s countenance, which He alone could truly appreciate, had never penetrated; and standing upon the confines of which, He cried out, "_If it be possible_, let this cup pa.s.s from Me!" and again, when these gloomy regions, with their ten thousand unutterable horrors, burst upon His spotless soul, "My G.o.d, My G.o.d, WHY HAST THOU forsaken Me?" And, on the other hand, it enabled the one who dwelt in "the habitations of cruelty," into whose "a.s.sembly" G.o.d could not come, to stand in the very blaze of the light of G.o.d"s throne. These considerations, I say, may perhaps a.s.sist our conceptions in some measure upon this astounding truth. Now, the apostle states the same truth in the didactic language of the New Testament when he says, "He (G.o.d) hath _made Him_ to be _sin for us_, that _we_ might be _made the righteousness_ of G.o.d _in Him_" (2 Cor.
v. 21). That is, He hath made the One whose perfectness is seen in the burnt offering to be judged _as sin_, and treated as such in the sin offering, in order that _we_, who deserved the treatment of the sin offering, might be treated as accepted in the burnt offering.
[9] I would observe here that in speaking of "the imputation of righteousness," I by no means desire to be understood as giving any countenance to the prevailing theory of "the imputed righteousness of Christ." Of this expression, so much in use in the theology of the present day, it would be sufficient to say that it is nowhere to be found in the oracles of G.o.d. I read of "the righteousness of G.o.d"
(Rom. iii. pa.s.sim), and, moreover, of the imputation of righteousness (Rom. iv. 11), but never of "the righteousness of Christ." It is true, we read of the Lord Jesus being "_made of G.o.d_ unto us righteousness"
(Jer. xxiii. 6), but these pa.s.sages do not support the above theory. I would further add that the moral effect of this idea will be found to be decidedly pernicious, because it of _necessity_ supposes the believer as standing apart from the Lord Jesus, whereas the doctrine of Scripture is that the believer is "made the righteousness of G.o.d IN HIM" (2 Cor. v. 21). And again, "we are IN HIM that is true, even in _His Son Jesus Christ_" (1 Jno. v. 20).
I would also observe here that there is much force and value in the word "_made_:" it shows out most fully that righteousness was just as foreign to the nature of man as sin was to the nature of Christ. Man had no righteousness of his own, or, in other words, he knew no righteousness, and therefore he had to be "_made_" righteousness.
Christ "_knew no sin_," and therefore had to be "_made sin_" in order that we might be _made_ righteousness, even "the righteousness of G.o.d _in Him_." But further, we learn from the pa.s.sage to which we are referring that the Lord Jesus having been "made sin for us," is not more real, not more true, not more palpable, than that the believer is "_made righteousness_ in Him."
If there be any truth or reality in the record concerning the cross and pa.s.sion of the Lord Jesus, then, it is plain that the moment a soul acts faith upon Christ in His death and resurrection, that moment he is accepted in all the acceptableness of Christ. His consciousness of this is, of course, quite another question: a truth and the realization of a truth are quite distinct.
The measure of our realization will be in proportion to the measure of our communion with G.o.d. If we are satisfied to move at a cold and heartless distance from G.o.d, our consciousness of the power and value of any truth will, as a consequence, be meagre and shallow: while, therefore, it is not to be forgotten that the root and source of all life and communion is the truth stated in the pa.s.sage to which we are alluding, it is manifest that the more we walk in communion with Him who gives us the life, the more shall we enjoy both Himself and the life which He gives. Dear Christian reader, let us pray that the cross and pa.s.sion of the Lord Jesus may sink so deeply into our hearts that we may have on the one hand such a view of the loathsomeness of sin as shall lead us to abhor it with a holy abhorrence "all the days of our life," and on the other hand such a view of the amazing love of G.o.d as shall constrain us "to live not unto ourselves but unto Him who died for us and rose again."
Thus, then, we see that the laying on of hands shows forth nothing less than _a change of places_ on the part of the sinner and the Saviour. The sinner was _out_ of the favor of G.o.d: "O my soul, come not thou into their habitation." The Saviour was _in_ the favor of G.o.d, "_daily His delight_," dwelling in His bosom from before all worlds. But the amazing plan of redemption _shows us the Saviour out of the favor of G.o.d_, _and G.o.d forsaking Him_, _while at the same time a condemned malefactor is brought at once into the very presence of a loving and pardoning G.o.d_. Amazing, deep, inconceivable, eternal love!
unfathomable wisdom! love which soars far aloft above the most gigantic conception! wisdom which has written everlasting contempt upon all the power and base designs of the great enemy of G.o.d and man!
For, ere Levi could be introduced into the enjoyment of the "covenant of _life_ and _peace_" (Mal. ii. 5), a spotless Victim must stand the shock of the king of terrors and all his thunders. But who is this Victim? We ask not, "Who is this King of glory?" but _Who_ is this Victim? The answer to this question it is which gives to the plan of redemption its grandest and most divine characteristic. The Victim was none less than the Son of G.o.d Himself! Yes! here was love, here was wisdom. The Son of G.o.d had to stoop because man had exalted himself.
And surely we may say, If G.o.d had not entered upon the work, _all_, _all_ were lost, and that forever. No mere mortal could have entered into that dark scene where sin was being atoned for; no one but the Son of G.o.d could have sustained the weight which, in the garden and on the cross, rested on the shoulders of the "One that was mighty." And here we might refer to the Lord"s language to His disciples when He was about to enter into conflict with the adversary: "Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me" (John xiv. 30). Why could He not "talk much with them?"
Because He was just going to enter upon the work of atonement, in which they could do nothing, because the prince of this world, had he come, would have had _plenty in them_; but then, the moment He, as it were, in spirit pa.s.ses through that sorrowful hour, He says, "_Arise_, let us go hence;" i.e., although we could not move a single step in the achievement of the victory, yet we could enjoy the fruits of it; and not only so, but _display_ the fruits of it in a life of service and fruit-bearing to G.o.d, which forms the subject of teaching in the next chapter.
Here, then, is what gives peace to the awakened conscience of the sinner. G.o.d Himself has done the work. G.o.d has triumphed over all man"s wickedness and rebellion, and now every soul who feels his need of pardon and peace can draw near in faith and holy confidence and reap the fruits of this wondrous triumph of grace and mercy.
And now, dear reader, if _you_ have not as yet made these wondrous fruits your own; if you have not as yet cast the whole burden of your sins on G.o.d"s eternal love as seen in the cross, I ask you, Why do you stand aloof? Why do you doubt? Perhaps you feel the hardness of your heart, perhaps you are ready to say that you feel yourself even now unmoved by the contemplation of all the deep sorrow endured by the Son of G.o.d. Well, what of that? If it be a question of _your_ guilt, you may go much farther than even this, for in that hour of which we have been speaking you stood unmoved, looked on with cold and heartless indifference, while all creation owned the wondrous fact. Yea, more, you yourself crucified the incarnate G.o.d, you spat in His face, and plunged your spear into His side. Do you shrink back and say, "Oh, not so bad!" I say _it was the act of the human heart_; and if you have a human heart, it was your act. But the Scriptures at once decide this point, for it is written, "For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, _with the Gentiles_ and the people of Israel, were gathered together" (Acts iv. 27). This pa.s.sage, I say, proves that all the world were _representatively_ around the cross. But why insist on this? Simply to show forth the riches of the grace of G.o.d, which can only be seen in all its effulgent l.u.s.tre in the cross; and therein it is seen mounting far above all man"s sin and malignant rebellion; for when man, in the fiendish pride of his heart, could plunge his spear into the side of incarnate Deity, G.o.d"s cry was--BLOOD! and through _that blood "remission of sins, beginning at Jerusalem_." Thus, "where _sin_ abounded, _grace_ did _much more abound_," and "grace REIGNS through righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord."
Enough, I trust, has been said to show the grounds upon which the Levites stood before G.o.d. These grounds were free and _eternal grace_--grace exercised toward them through the blood, which is the only channel through which grace can flow. Man has been found to be _utterly ruined_ before G.o.d, and therefore it must be a question either of salvation through _free grace_, or eternal d.a.m.nation; for "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh living be justified."
But then, while man is by nature utterly unfit to render anything like an acceptable righteousness or service to G.o.d, yet, when G.o.d gives us _new life_ through grace, He, of course, looks for the development of that life. In other words, grace brings the soul into circ.u.mstances of responsibility and service, and it is as we meet those circ.u.mstances that G.o.d is glorified in us and our souls grow in the knowledge of G.o.d. Thus it was in the case of the leper: up to a certain point in his history he had nothing to do, _the priest_ was the sole actor. But when the priest had done his part; when, by virtue of _the blood_ which had been shed, he had p.r.o.nounced him "clean," the leper had _then_ to begin to "_wash himself_" (Lev. xiv. 8). Now we shall find that the history of Levi develops all these principles most fully.
We have hitherto been engaged with Levi"s condition and character by nature and also the wondrous remedy devised by grace to meet him in his lost estate, and not only to save him _from_ that estate but also to raise him up to an elevation which could never have entered into the heart of man, even into the very tabernacle of G.o.d. We shall now, with G.o.d"s blessing and grace, proceed to examine that high elevation to which we have referred, and also the service which it involved, as put before us in
NUMBERS iii.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, _Bring the tribe of Levi near_, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. 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. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron, and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel" (vers. 5-9).
Here, then, G.o.d"s marvelous purposes of grace toward Levi fully open before us, and _truly_ marvelous they are indeed. We see that the sacrifices were but a means to an end; but both the means and the end were in every way worthy of each other. The means were, in one word, "death and resurrection," and _all included therein_. The end was, _nearness_ to G.o.d, and _all included therein_.
Looking at Levi by nature, there could not be any point farther removed from G.o.d than that at which he stood; but _grace_ in exercise, through the blood, could _lift him up_ out of that ruin in which he stood, and "bring him nigh," yea, bring him into a.s.sociation with the great head of the priestly family, there to serve in the tabernacle.
Thus, we read, "You _hath He quickened who were dead_ in trespa.s.ses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.... _But G.o.d_, who is _rich in mercy_, for His _great love_ wherewith _He loved us_, even _when we were dead in sins_, hath quickened us _together with Christ_ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii.
1-6). And again, "But _now_, _in Christ Jesus_, ye who sometime were _afar off_, are _made nigh_ by the blood of Christ" (ver. 13).
When _nature_ is left free to work, it will ever go as far away from _G.o.d_ as it can. This is true since the day when man said, "I heard _Thy voice_, and I was _afraid_ and I hid myself" (Gen. iii. 10). But when grace is left free and sovereign to work, it will ever bring the soul "nigh." Thus it was with Levi. He was by nature "_black as the tents of Kedar_;" by grace, "comely as the curtains of Solomon:" by _nature_ he was "_joined_" in a covenant of murder; by _grace_ "joined" in a covenant of "life and peace." The former, because he was "_fierce and cruel_;" the latter, because he feared and was afraid of the Lord"s name. (Comp. Gen. xlix. 6, 7; Mal. ii. 5.) Furthermore, Levi was by _nature_ conversant with the "instruments of cruelty;" by _grace_, with "_the instruments of G.o.d"s tabernacle_:" by _nature_ G.o.d could not come into _Levi"s a.s.sembly_; by _grace_, Levi is brought into _G.o.d"s a.s.sembly_: by nature, "his feet were swift _to shed blood_;" by grace, _swift_ to follow the movements of the cloud through the desert, in real, patient service to G.o.d. In a word, Levi had become a "_new creature_," and "old things had pa.s.sed away," and therefore he was no longer to "live unto himself," but unto Him who had done such marvelous things for him in grace.
I would further observe, on the last cited pa.s.sage, that the Levites are, in the first place, declared to be G.o.d"s property, and then they are "WHOLLY GIVEN UNTO AARON." Thus we read: "_Thine they were_, _and Thou gavest them Me_, and they have kept Thy word" (John xvii. 6). And again, "All that _the Father giveth Me_ shall come to Me" (John vi.
37).
I would now look a little into the detail of their service, in which, I doubt not, we shall find much to edify and refresh us.
We find that although the whole tribe of Levi were, _as to standing_, "_joined with Aaron_," yet, as to _service_, they were divided into cla.s.ses. "All had not the same office;" and this is what we might have expected, for, although in the matter _of life_ and _standing_ they were all _on a level_, yet, in the development of that life, and in the manifestation of the power of that standing, they would, no doubt, display different measures; and not only so, but there would also be seen an a.s.signment to each of distinct position and line of service, which would serve to distinguish him from his brethren in a very marked and decided manner. And here I would observe that I know of nothing connected with the walk and service of the Christian which demands more attention than this point to which I am now alluding, viz., _unity_ in the matter of life and standing, and at the same time the greatest variety in the manifestation of character and in the line of service. A due attention to this important point would save us from much of that "unwise" comparing of ourselves and our service with the persons and services of others, which is most unholy, and, as a consequence, most unhealthy.[10] And not only would it lead thus to beneficial results in a negative point of view, it would also have a most happy effect in producing and cultivating originality and uniqueness of Christian character. But while there was this diversity in the line of service amongst the Levites, it is also to be remembered that there was _manifested unity_. The Levites were _one people_, and seen as such; they were "_joined_" with Aaron in the work of the tabernacle; moreover, THEY HAD ONE STANDARD, round which they _all_ rallied, and that was "the tabernacle of the congregation," the well known type of Christ in His character and offices. And, indeed, this was one of the ends which G.o.d had in view in calling out the Levites by His grace from amongst the people of Israel; it was that they should stand in marked a.s.sociation with Aaron and his sons, and in that a.s.sociation bear the tabernacle and all pertaining thereto on their shoulders, through the barren wilderness around.[11]
[10] It is worthy the serious attention of the Christian reader who may desire the unity of the Church, that the tribe of Levi in the desert was a truly striking example of what may be termed "unity in diversity." Gershon was in one sense totally different from Merari, and Merari was totally different from Kohath; and yet Gershon, Merari and Kohath were _one_: they should not, therefore, contend about their service, because they were _one_; nor yet would it have been right to confound their services, because they were totally different. Thus, attention to _unity_ would have saved them from contention, and attention to _diversity_ would have saved them from confusion. In a word, all things could only be "done decently and in order" by a due attention to the fact of there being "unity in diversity."
[11] I say "one of the ends," for we should ever remember that the grand object before the divine mind in redemption is to show in the ages to come His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus; and this object will be secured even though our poor puny services had never been heard of.
G.o.d did not call out the Levites _merely_ that they might escape the sad effects of G.o.d"s absence from their a.s.sembly; or, in other words, G.o.d had more than THEIR blessing and security in view in His dealings with them. He designed that they should serve in the tabernacle, and thus be to His praise and glory. We shall, however, I trust, see this principle upon which I am dwelling in a clearer and stronger point of view as we proceed in our subject.
We find that Levi had three sons, viz., "Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari" (Num. iii. 17). These formed the heads of the three cla.s.ses alluded to, and we shall find that the nature of the service of each was such as of necessity to impart that tone of character signified by their very name. Thus: "Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.
And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph, the son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof" (vers. 21-26).
Here was Gershon"s work, to carry through the waste and howling wilderness the tabernacle and its coverings. This was indeed _true Levite service_, but it was most blessed service, and its ant.i.type in the Church now is what we should much seek after, because it is that which alone puts the Christian into his right place in the world, i.e., the place of a STRANGER. There could be but little attractiveness in the rams" skins and badgers" skins; but, little as there was, it was, nevertheless, the high privilege of the Gershonite to take them all up and bear them cheerfully on his shoulders across the trackless sands. What, then, are we to understand by the covering of the tabernacle? I believe, in a word, it shadowed out the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that which would meet the eye. There might be, and were, other services among the Levites of a very blessed nature, but surely it was most elevated service to carry through the desert that which so strikingly prefigured the character of Christ.
This is what makes the saint "a stranger" (as the name Gershon imports) in the world. If we are walking in _the manifestation of the character of the Lord Jesus_, and in so doing realize our place as _in the wilderness_, we may rest a.s.sured it will impart a very decided tone of strangership to our character in the world. And oh, would that we knew much more of this. The Church has laid down the rams" skins and badgers" skins, and with them the Gershonite character: in other words, the Church has ceased to walk in the footsteps of her rejected Lord and Master, and the consequence has been that instead of being the wearied and worn stranger, as she should be, treading the parched and sterile desert, with the burden on the shoulders, she has settled herself down in the green places of the world and made herself at home. But there was another feature of the stranger character shadowed out in the curtain, viz., _antic.i.p.ation_. This was most blessed--G.o.d dwelling in curtains showed plainly that neither G.o.d nor the ark of His strength had found a resting-place, but were _journeying on_ towards "_a rest that remained_."
And how could there be a _rest_ in the desert? There were no rivers and brooks _there_--no old corn _there_--no milk and honey _there_.
True, the smitten rock sent forth its refreshing streams to meet their need, and heaven sent down their _daily bread_; but all this was not Canaan. They were still in the desert, eating wilderness food and drinking wilderness water, and it was Gershon"s holy privilege to carry upon his shoulders that which in the fullest manner expressed all this, viz., THE CURTAIN. "Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me an house for Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not _dwelt_ in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have _walked_ in a _tent_ and in a _tabernacle_"
(2 Sam. vii. 5, 6). Here, too, we have sadly failed. The Church grew weary of the curtain, and wished to build a house before the time; she grew weary of "_walking in a tent_," and earnestly desired to "_dwell in a house_."
And truly we have all to watch and pray against this disposition to grow weary of our Gershonite character. There is nothing so trying to nature as continual labor in a state of expectancy; our hearts love rest and fruition, and therefore nothing but the continual remembrance that "our sufficiency is of G.o.d" can at all sustain us in our Gershon or stranger condition.
Let us therefore remember that we bear on our shoulders the curtains, and have beneath our feet the sand of the desert, above our heads the pillar of cloud, and before us "the land of rest" clothed in never-withering green, and, both as a stimulus and a warning, let us remember that "He that endureth to the end THE SAME shall be saved."[12]
[12] It would surely be of all importance in this day, when so many are declining from the narrow path of obedience to the written Word, and entering upon the wide and bewildering field of human tradition, to bear in mind that the Levite, when carrying the tabernacle through the desert, found no support nor guide _from beneath_; no, _the grace_ in which he stood was his _sole support_, and _the pillar above_ his _sole guide_. It would have been miserable indeed had he been left to find a guide in the footmarks on the sand, which would change at every wind that blew. _But all the sand did for him was to add to his labor and toil while he endeavored to follow the heavenly guide above his head._
We shall next consider the Merarite feature of character; for, although the family of Merari does not stand next in order in the chapter, yet there is a kindredness of spirit, as it were, arising out of the very nature of their service, that would link them together in the mind. But, not only is there this intimate connection between the services of these two cla.s.ses of Levites, which would lead us to link them together thus, the Lord Himself presents them to us in marked unity of service, for we read, "And the Kohathites set forward bearing the sanctuary; and _the other_ (i.e., the Gershonites and the Merarites) _did set up the tabernacle against they came_" (Num. x.
21). Here, then, we see that it was the great business of these two families to pa.s.s onward through the desert in holy companionship, bearing with them, wherever they went, "_the tabernacle_," and, moreover, the tabernacle as looked at in its character of outward manifestation or testimony; which would, as a matter of course, put those who carried it thus into a place of _very laborious_ discipleship. "And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords" (chap. iii.
36, 37). Here, then, was what Merari had to do: he had to take his place here or there, according to the movement of the cloud, and _set up_ the boards of the tabernacle in their sockets of silver--and all this, be it remembered, upon the sand of the desert.[13]
[13] It has been well observed that in the tabernacle G.o.d was seen bringing all His glory into immediate connection with _the sand of the desert_: and when the high priest went into the holy place, he found himself in the very presence of that glory, _with his feet upon the sand of the desert_ likewise. In the temple, however, this was not the case, for the floor of the house was _overlaid with gold_ (1 Kings vi.
30).
So is it with the Christian now; he has not as yet his feet upon the "pure gold" of the heavenly city, but his deepest and most abiding knowledge of G.o.d is that which he obtains in connection with his sorrow, toil and conflict in the wilderness.
Could anything be more opposed to another than the nature of all that Merari had to set up was to the waste and howling wilderness around?
What could be more unlike than silver and barren sand? But Merari might not shrink from all this; no, his language was, when he had arrived at a spot in the desert at which the cloud halted, "I am come to set up the patterns of things in heaven in the very midst of all the desolation and misery of the wilderness around." All this was most laborious, and would, no doubt, impart to the character of Merari a tone of sadness or sorrow which was at once expressed in his name, which means "_sorrow_."
And surely the ant.i.type of all this in the Church now will fully confirm what has been stated about the character of Merari. Let any one take his stand firmly and decidedly in the world _for Christ_--let him penetrate into those places where "the _world_" is really seen in its vigor--let him oppose himself, _firm as a rock_, to the deep and rapid tide of worldliness, and _there_ let him begin to set up "_the sockets of silver_," and, rest a.s.sured of it, he will find such a course attended with very much sorrow and bitterness of soul; in a word, he will realize it to be a path in which the cross is to be taken up "_daily_," and not only taken up, but borne. Now, if any further proof were needed of the above interpretation, we have a most striking one in the fact that there are but _very few_ of the laborious Merarite character to be found; and why is this? Simply because the exhibition of such a character will ever be attended with very much labor and sorrow to nature, and nature loves ease, and therefore human nature never could be a Merarite; nothing will make us true Merarites but deep communion with Him who was "THE MAN OF SORROWS."
There is something in the service of Gershon from which one does not shrink so much as from that of Merari. For what had Gershon to do? He had to place the curtains and badgers" skins over the boards _which had been already set up by his laborious and sorrowful brother_. And just so now: if a laborious servant of G.o.d has gone to a place where hitherto the world and Satan have reigned supreme, and there raised a testimony for Christ, it will be comparatively easy for another to go and walk on in the simple _manifestation_ of Christian character, which would of itself put him into the place of "a stranger."
But, although nature may a.s.sume the character of a misanthropist, yet nothing but grace can make us Merarites, and _the true Merarite_ is the _true philanthropist_, because he introduces that which alone _can bless_; and the very fact that a Merarite should have to take a place of sorrow is a most convincing proof that the world is an evil place.
There was no need of a Merarite in Canaan, nor a Gershonite either: for the Merarite was _happy there_, and the Gershonite _at home_. But the world is not the Levite"s home, and therefore if any will carry the curtains, he must be a stranger; and if any will carry the sockets and boards, he must be a man of sorrow; for when He who was a true Gershonite and a true Merarite came into the world He was emphatically _the Man of sorrows_, _who had not where to lay His head_.
However, if the Gershonite and the Merarite had to occupy a place in which they endured not a little of "the burden and heat of the day,"
yet the Lord graciously met them in that with a very rich reward, for "He is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love," and therefore, if they had to labor and toil _amongst_ their brethren, they were blessedly ministered to _by_ their brethren. Thus we read concerning the offerings of the princes: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service. And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. _But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none_, because _the service of the sanctuary_ belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders" (Num. vii. 4-9).
Here we see that the service of Gershon and Merari was that which met the rich and blessed ministrations of their brethren. Grace had filled the hearts and affections of the princes, and not only filled but overflowed them, and in its overflow it was designed to refresh the spirits of the homeless Gershonite and sorrowful Merarite: on the other hand, the Kohathites had no part in these ministrations; and why? Because _their service_, as we shall see presently, was in _itself_ a rich reward indeed. We see the very same doctrine taught in the case of the Levites generally, as contrasted with the priests, in chap. xviii., where we read: "And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither _shalt thou have any part among them_: _I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel_" (ver. 20).
On the other hand, He says of the Levites, "Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in _Israel for an inheritance_, _for their service which they serve_, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation."
And again, "Ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households, for _it is your reward_ for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation" (vers. 21, 31).