Numbers 4

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:34utc

Organization of the Priests (continued) 3:1-4:49

The fourth chapter goes over part of the material given in abbreviated form in the previous one, but here the tasks the various clans of the Levites have to perform is spelled out in great detail. For the purpose of the division of labor that another count is made. In the previous chapter the males were counted from the age of one month and above for the purpose of substituting for Israel's first-born. Here the count starts at age thirty and finishes at fifty for the purpose of breaking down and putting up the tabernacle during the desert journey.

Adam Clarke's Commentary points to the discrepancy between the age limit given here and in other parts of the Old Testament. We read: "[From thirty years old] In <Num. 8:24>, the Levites are ordered to enter on the service of the tabernacle at the age of twenty-five years; and in <1 Chr. 23:24>, they were ordered to commence that work at twenty years of age. How can these different times be reconciled?

1. At the time of which Moses speaks here, the Levitical service was exceedingly severe, and consequently required men full-grown, strong, and stout, to perform it; the age therefore of thirty years was appointed as the period for commencing this service, the weightier part of which is probably here intended.

2. In <Num. 8:24>, Moses seems to speak of the service in a general way, the severe, which was to be performed by the full-grown Levites, and the less laborious work which younger men might assist in; hence, the age of twenty-five is fixed.

3. In David's time and afterward, in the fixed tabernacle and temple, the laboriousness of the service no longer existed, and hence, twenty years was the age fixed on for all Levites to enter into the work of the sanctuary. The rabbis say that the Levites began to learn to do the service at twenty-five, and that having been instructed five years, they began the public service at thirty, and thus they reconcile the two periods referred to above. We may well suppose that the sons of the prophets continued a considerable time under instructions before they were called fully to exercise themselves in the prophetic office."

The Levites, who had been divided up already into three clans: the Kohathites, the Gershonites and the Merarites, are now counted separately and each clan is given its specific task in the transportation of the tabernacle during the journey toward Canaan.

The Kohathites are given the most important task of preparing the furniture of the tabernacle for transportation and of carrying the pieces. Aaron was a Kohathite, and he and his sons were in charge of the actual preparation of the furniture, before the carriers were called in to begin the transportation. Nobody was allowed to touch or even see the sacred furniture. That is why everything is covered and wrapped before it is carried into the open.

The first article to be prepared is the ark. Even Aaron and his sons were not allowed to touch the object which represented the throne of God. Even on the Day of Atonement, when Aaron had to enter the Holy of Holies, he was not allowed to see the ark. We read in the description of the ritual of that day: "He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the Testimony, so that he will not die."[ 1 ] So we may presume that Aaron had to take down the curtain, that separated the first chamber from the second, in such a way that it fell upon the ark and covered it before human eye could gaze upon it.

Vs. 6 tells us that the poles used for the carrying of the ark were to be put in place. This gives the impression that they had been taken out. When God gave Moses instructions regarding the making of the ark, however, He said specifically: "The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed."[ 2 ] So, presumably, now the poles were not inserted but only adjusted for the purpose of carrying.

The ark, the table, the golden altar and the lampstand were all to be covered with a piece of cloth and sea cow hides. In the case of the ark, the blue cloth was put on top, with all the other furniture the hides were on top. The ark was covered with blue cloth, and so was the lampstand and the gold altar. The table itself was covered with blue cloth, but a purple cloth was put on top of the utensils and the showbread. Also the brass altar was to be covered with a purple cloth. The blue, obviously, referred to the heavenly character of the articles, and the purple must have been a reminder of the price that was paid by the shedding of blood in order to make fellowship with God possible. So the sacrificial animal and the bread on the table were united by the color of the cloth that covered them. They were also united in the Passover celebration. We read that during the Last Supper, our Lord, the Lamb of God, "took bread gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' "[ 3 ]

Adam Clarke has an interesting observation in connection with the disassembling of the tabernacle. He quotes a certain Ainsworth and says: "Mr. Ainsworth has a very useful note on the 20th verse of this chapter, the most edifying part of which I shall here lay before the reader. He considers the tabernacle and temple, not only as pointing out the old dispensation, the annulling of which was typified by their destruction, but he considers also the former as emblematical of the body of man.

'The apostle,' says he, 'treating of the death of the saints, uses this similitude: ' 'If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For we that are in THIS TABERNACLE do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life,' ' <2 Cor. 5:1-4>. So Peter calls his death the putting off of his TABERNACLE, <2 Pet. 1:14>. And this similitude is very fit; for, as here, in the tabernacle of Moses, the holy things were first covered and taken away, (see <Num. 4:20>,) so the soul and its powers are first withdrawn from the body by death. 2. Since the curtains and coverings were taken off and folded up, so the skin and flesh of our bodies are pulled off and consumed. 3. Since the boards of the tabernacle were disjointed and pulled asunder, so shall our bones and sinews: compare Job's description of the formation of man, <Num. 10:8-12>; and Solomon's account of his dissolution, <Eccl. 12:3-4> 4. Since the disjointed and dissolved tabernacle was afterward set up again, <Num. 10:21>, so shall our bodies in the day of the resurrection; see <1 Cor. 15:51-54>.' "

And, of course, we cannot think of death and resurrection without reference to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says about the celebration of the Last Supper: "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' "[ 4 ] The KJV and some other translations insert the word "broken" so that it reads "This is my body, which is broken for you." The Greek, however, does not have the word in the original. It is quite legitimate, though, to see the death of our Lord in the disassembling of the tabernacle. The great difference is that, when the tabernacle was taken apart the curtain was taken down and put upon the ark. When Jesus died the curtain was torn to give us access into the presence of God. Matthew, giving the account of Jesus' death says: "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."[ 5 ] And the writer to the Hebrews draws the lesson from this event by saying: "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body …"[ 6 ]

So, the tabernacle, which was a complete picture of God in His Incarnation, had to be taken apart and reassembled over and over again until the moment that the picture became reality. By that time the tent had been replaced by a magnificent building. Actually, the temple that stood in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' death was the third copy in stone of the Incarnation. From that building too, it was prophesied by Christ that it would be torn down; which happened in 70 AD when the Romans captured Jerusalem. Matthew records: "Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 'Do you see all these things?' he asked. 'I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.' "[ 7 ]

As we said before, Aaron was probably the one who covered the ark, but his sons assisted him in the covering of the other pieces of furniture. According to vs. 16, Aaron's son, Eleazar is given the general oversight and he is specifically charged with the care of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering and the anointing oil.

God is very concerned about the safety of the Kohathites. The admonition to Moses and Aaron: "See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not cut off from the Levites," seems to indicate that the priests would be held responsible if anything happened to these Levites because of their negligence. God wants the priests and the Levites to be very much aware of the danger of His holiness. Familiarity breeds negligence. Being in the presence of the Lord is more dangerous than handling life wire. The tragedy with Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, should have been a sufficient warning, but man's memory tends to be short. Added to this, man can be so hardened in his heart that he becomes totally insensitive to glory. The apostle John testifies: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."[ 8 ] But he was one of the few who saw this and understood it. To most men John's previous words apply: "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."[ 9 ] God does not want any more fatal accidents to happen among the Kohathites, because He loves them.

The Pulpit Commentary remarks on vs. 15: "One thing which the Kohathites almost certainly had to carry is omitted here, possibly because it was carried without any cover at all, and was not regarded as of equal sanctity with the rest. Anyhow, the omission is very remarkable, and may have been accidental. It is supplied by the Septuagint and the Samaritan text in the following addition to ver. 14 : 'And they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the laver and its foot, and they shall put it into a hyacinthine cover of skin, and put it on bars.' The burdens of the Kohathites were six, not counting the laver and its foot: (1) the ark; (2) the table of shewbread; (3) the candelabrum; (4) the golden altar; (5) 'instruments of ministry;' (6) the frame of the brazen altar."

Vs. 21-27 deal with the responsibility of the Gershonites. They are in charge of all the curtains and coverings of the tabernacle. The curtain that separated the Holy from the Holy of Holies was excluded from this inventory, because it was used to cover the ark. The Gershonites had the lightest load to carry, probably because they were the smaller of the three clans into which the tribe of Levi was divided. The heaviest burden fell upon the Merarites, who had "to carry the frames 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." We find their task described in vs. 29-34. They were the largest of the clans. The NIV renders vs. 32 as: "Assign to each man the specific things he is to carry." The KJV translates this as: "by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden." The Septuagint translates this as: "Number them by name and all the articles borne by them." The Pulpit Commentary says about this: "Perhaps the solid part of the fabric were numbered for convenience of setting up, and, therefore, were assigned each to its own bearer."

The weight of the different parts of the tabernacle added up to a heavy load to carry through the desert. Adam Clarke's Commentary remarks here: "From this and the preceding chapter we see the very severe labour which the Levites were obliged to perform while the journeyings of the Israelites lasted. When we consider that there was not less than 10 tons 13 cwt. 24 lb. 14 oz.. i. e., almost ten tons and fourteen hundred pounds' weight of metal employed in the tabernacle … besides the immense weight of the skins, hangings. cords, boards, and posts, we shall find it was no very easy matter to transport this movable temple from place to place." If Clarke's calculations are correct, the weight of the metal alone would add up to about 7,500 kg.

The rest of the chapter, from vs. 35-49 gives us the count of each clan and the total number of Levites in the age bracket in which they had to serve, that is between age 30 and 50. The Kohathites add up to 2750, the Gershonites to 2630 and the Merarites to 3200, bringing the total to 8580, which is approximately 38% of the number of Levites that was counted as a substitution for the firstborn of the whole nation.

[ 1 ] Lev. 16:13

[ 2 ] Ex. 25:15

[ 3 ] Matt. 26:26

[ 4 ] I Cor. 11:23,24

[ 5 ] Matt. 27:50,51

[ 6 ] Heb. 10:19,20

[ 7 ] Matt. 24:1,2

[ 8 ] John 1:14

[ 9 ] John 1:10,11