There are certain personalities that are driven by an eye for details, and then there are personalities that thrive at seeing the bigger picture. Every once in a while, you’ll find a person who seems to be equipped with a balance of both these abilities, but I’ve found—at least in my own experience—that one or the other seem to dominate. In fact, I think it’s the well-rounded and maturing person who is self-aware enough to know his own tendencies and pushes himself to look at situations from the other perspective, or invites counsel from people who he knows look at these things from a different angle.

Now, I tend to think of myself as more of a details guy. My wife would perhaps disagree with that assessment enthusiastically because sometimes I can’t seem to find the one thing in the fridge I’m looking for that happens to be right in my line of sight, but I would argue that that’s just being a guy. But I digress. I enjoy getting into the details of things. Digging up the weeds of issues. I have a curious satisfaction with data-entry which is probably why I’m one of the few souls on earth that looks forward to doing taxes come the end of January. There’s something about crunching the numbers, sifting through the details, that’s just oddly satisfying.

And so I guess for folks like me, the book of Numbers might be a book that makes sense. In fact, we might just identify personally with Moses, who had to have been an accountant-type in order to write a book that seems to focus so heavily on counting. After all, in the first four chapters of the book there are three different censuses that occur, and they’re reported with all the formulaic excitement of a will-reading. Or at least that’s how it might appear to us twenty-first century Americans who are “reading” [skimming] this book trying to make it through our Bible reading program and are just enough amazed that we got through Leviticus.

And maybe you’ve read through Numbers once or twice and came away with the overall lesson that Israel had “x” amount of people in each tribe. Great. That’s something I can change my life with. If that’s you, then you’re not alone. There are a lot of people who have been challenged to find the practical spiritual principles of the book of Numbers. But they’re there, and I think you’d be surprised what kind of spiritual principles rest in this wonderful book if we only read it less like a big-picture person and considered it from the perspective of a detail guy.

Numbers 4 really stands out to in this regard. This is a chapter that has to do with the tribe of Levi, who was not counted when Moses did his initial census in the first chapter of the book. The census of chapter 1 was all about registering the military-aged men of the nation for service in Israel’s standing army. It would be this group of men, numbering 603,550 strong, who would take part in the military conquest of the land of Canaan. It would be this group, taken from all the other tribes of Israel, who would have the privilege and honor of executing God’s justice against the wicked and idolatrous Canaanite peoples who had polluted the land and who threatened the physical and spiritual health of this fledgling nation.

Chapter 2 of Numbers was all about the arrangement of the tribes of Israel around the tabernacle. It represented their order and structure. It portrayed the centrality of the tabernacle to the life of the nation. And once again, the Levites had only a minor part in the details of that chapter.

But in chapter 3, the focus turned to the Levites. They had a special role; a unique role. This tribe, descendants of the third-born son of Jacob through his first wife Leah, was to serve God in a special way. They would incur the privilege of serving as a tribe of priests to God. They were exempt from military service because they would be engaged wholesale in priestly ministry. In fact, the entire tribe served as a ransom payment for every firstborn of Israel. The census in chapter 3 makes that clear. Every Levite male from one month old and upward was counted and served as a replacement for the firstborn males of all the other tribes. It was an amazing act of grace on God’s part to give freedom to all the firstborn of Israel who would have otherwise spent their lives in service to God at the tabernacle. Instead, God redeemed them with the tribe of Levi.

Then chapter 4 comes, and we find yet another census. Levi is still the focus, but now the parameters are different. This time, every male Levite between the ages of 30 and 50 is counted, and the purpose is explained clearly in the opening verses: this census is to produce a registration all the males immediately eligible for service in the tabernacle complex. In other words, this is a labor census for the cultic system of Israel.

Work to Do

Why is this important? Well, for one, there was a lot to do. The tabernacle was not a small structure. And every time the cloud lifted up from to lead Israel to its next location in the wilderness, the whole thing had to come down. All the furniture had to be moved. All the curtains and the coverings had to be stowed and transported. Every pole, crossbeam, guy-line, and tent peg had to be pulled, catalogued, and carried. Every. Single. Time.

Then, when the cloud settled at the next location, the whole thing had to go back up. It took a lot of work to make all that happen. It required a small army of servants and leaders, laborers and overseers to organize and execute that operation. Now, I love to backpack with my boys. But I’ll tell you, setting up camp and packing it up are my least favorite parts of the experience. Now imagine doing that on a scale of the tabernacle—a structure measuring 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, and totaling 11,250 square feet.

In fact, chapter 4 isn’t just a census of the working-aged men of Levi. It also issued assignments to each of the tribe’s three clans, descendants of the three sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The Kohathites

The members of the Kohathite clan had the distinct privilege of being the ones to transport all the furnishings of the tabernacle. The Kohathites were to carry the ark of the covenant, the bronze altar, the golden lampstand, and the table of the showbread. And while this was certainly an honor for the Kohathites, it was also the job that came with the most danger. Any wrong move made, any careless decision, any lax or undisciplined attitude could cost you your life with this job. It was far more dangerous than any job today because this job dealt with the most holy things on the planet. It was so dangerous, that before the Kohathites could do their job, Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithimar had to go into the tent of meeting and cover every item, every furnishing, and every utensil to protect it from being profaned by a Kohathite worker, and to protect the worker from being killed by God’s wrath. In fact, Moses was given a special warning about the Kohathites because of the nature of their duties: “Do not let 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 set each of them to his service and to his load; but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.” (Num. 4:18–20).

The Gershonites

The members of the Gershonite clan were given the task of transporting all of the coverings of the tabernacle. This included the curtains covering the tent of meeting, the covering of the entrance and the inner curtain, as well as the main gate of the courtyard and the massive curtains that framed the outer courtyard. This would have been a dream-come-true for the select few who love to fold up your tent at the end of a camping trip. For everyone, it would be a practice in precision, patience, and attention to detail as each curtain was meticulously folded with care when it was time to transport the tabernacle, or unfolded and attached to the framework when it was time to erect thew structure.

The Merarites

The members of the Merarite clan were responsible for the literal nuts and bolts of the operation. Their duty was to erect and dismantle the structural framework that held the entire complex up—the wooden beams and crossbeams of the tend of meeting, the posts of the courtyard hangings, the ropes and guy-lines that supported the structure, and the pegs that secured all the cabling in the dry wilderness ground. There’s no doubt that this would have been laborious and meticulous duty. They would have been the last to finish before the nation embarked on its next trek through the wilderness. And they would have been the first to start when the cloud finally settled on the site of their next encampment.

Lessons to Learn

Now, at a surface level, that’s the essence of what is discussed in the fourth chapter of Numbers. Tells the story of how Moses numbered the working-aged men of Levi and assigned each tribal clan certain responsibilities in the operation of the cultic system. Okay. Gotcha. Do we move on now?

Well, not so fast. Because beneath the surface details given by the account in the text, there are extremely practical spiritual principles that implicate each one of us in our daily lives as believers in Jesus Christ. Here’s just a few spiritual lessons gleaned from Numbers 4.

Lesson 1: Worship is serious business

This was a lesson Israel had been taught (I hesitate to say “learned” because it becomes clear by chapter 11 that they did not learn this lesson as they should have) early on in their time at Sinai. The tabernacle was the symbol of the physical presence of God amongst His people. As such it was the holiest place on earth and needed to be treated as such. It was the place where God dwelled with Israel. It was the place where he met with Israel’s leaders. It was the place where individual Israelites could come and worship through sacrifice, be made right with the Holy One of Israel, have their sins forgiven, make spiritual restitution for the things they had done, and enjoy fellowship with their covenant God.

But worship—true worship—is never something done according to the will and want of the worshipper. Worship is engaging with God, and it can only be done on God’s terms, and it can only be done in the way that He alone makes possible. No shortcuts are allowed or accepted. And in the old covenant system of Israel, God’s terms were very clear: the tabernacle was sacred space that only a select few were permitted to enter. Only the high-priestly line of Aaron were consecrated to such a task, and every other Israelite—including the Levites, I might add—had to engage with God through the priesthood of Aaron.

Not only that, but in this old covenant system, God must be engaged first and foremost through sacrifice. It was a stark reminder of the individual’s sinfulness and the defilement that sin brought to life. Transgressing the boundary between the common and the holy was forbidden. If one wanted to be accepted before God, it had to come through substitutionary sacrifice.

Nadab and Abihu served as a principal lesson of the seriousness of worship when they were killed by God for offering unsanctioned fire. It’s not exactly clear what is meant by that, but what is clear is that they transgressed a clear boundary in worship and it cost them everything. And God’s warning to Moses in Numbers 4 was that that same fate awaited any Levite who treated anything within the tabernacle with anything less than absolute holiness and respect. This one tribe of Israel had the privilege of serving as close to the “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29) as was possible. But one momentary lapse in judgment would consume them with the fire of God’s holy fury.

As believers living in the era of the New Covenant, where worship is done in spirit and truth, where the sacrificial shadows of the old have had their substance revealed in the finished work of Christ, we can easily be tempted to treat worship with an undue laxity. But we have to remember that worship is far more than singing on a Sunday morning service. It’s the engagement we have with the living God everyday as we give ourselves as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1–2). Our lives are offerings. Our lives are worship. And from that perspective, everything we do matters, and if we really thought about that with any seriousness, we would be a lot more careful with how we spend out time, what we do with our bodies, and what we engage in with our minds.

Lesson 2: Worship is in the minutia

Another lesson flowing out of Numbers 4 is the valuable reminder that the little things of life can be just as important as the big things. Now, I am a fan of the phrase, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” and I hold to that mantra when appropriate. But Numbers 4 surprises us by elevating the small, seemingly insignificant tasks of life to a level that society, if left to itself, would never give it.

Think, for a moment, about that Merarites. Particularly about those Merarite men whose privileged and sacred duty was to transport that tent pegs of the tabernacle. I can’t help but laugh a little when I think about what might have run through my mind if I had been tasked with such a responsibility. “You mean, out of everything that has to be done to move this whole place, my job is to carry a box of tent pegs? It just seems to inconsequential; so menial.

And yet when we stop to think about it for a moment, no only are each one of those tent pegs necessary for the erection of the tabernacle complex—without them the structure would be compromised and Israel’s sacrificial system would be in jeopardy—but each of those tent pegs was itself a holy item that belonged to the holy tabernacle of God. These aren’t just any old tent pegs. These are sacred tent pegs!

Let’s revisit for a moment the principle of Romans 12:1–2 and how the gospel saved us and freed us from slavery to sin, and that in response, our most important act of worship is to give our lives as a living sacrifice to God. That means every part of us and every aspect of our lives. It means the big things of life are actually acts of worship. How we do our jobs and raise our kids and treat our spouses. But it also means that the little things of life are acts of worship also. Everything is. Including those little tasks of life that seem so mundane. You know, things like washing the dishes, shaving in the morning, mowing the lawn, putting the kids to bed. The things that was often consider “tasks of nuisance are actually mini opportunities to worship God.

It was the apostle Paul who told the Colossians, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17). Did you catch that? “Whatever you do.” It’s not just the big stuff that matters but whatever do you should be done in Christ’s name and with thanks to the Father through the Son. Paul wrote something similar to the Corinthians: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Now, Paul’s main concern was how the Corinthians navigated the touchy subject of meat sacrificed to idols. But his final application, after everything he says, is that, whatever you decide to do with food or drink, do it for God’s glory. That should be the final determiner of the decision you make: Can I do this thing with a clear conscience and to the glory of God? But notice that he broadens the scope of his exhortation at the last minute: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” That’s a pretty comprehensive statement and it reinforces the point that the little stuff matters. The little stuff is as much an opportunity and an act of worship as the big stuff is.

Lesson 3: Worship is in the diversity of the body

A final point to make with regards to Numbers 4 anchors off of the previous subject. Imagine again, for a moment, that you were that Merarite man selected to transport a few holy tent pegs through the wilderness. You see your friends carrying big crossbeams. You see some of your other Levites helping to transport the bronze altar. You look with envy on the two Kohathite men who get to carry the ark of the covenant. You look down again at your box of tent pegs with a little bit of envy and a little bit of disappointment. Maybe you also look out at the vast sea of soldiers who comprise the 600,000 strong army of Israel who get to take part in the military conquest of Canaan. You kind of wish you got to be a soldier and fight for your nation and your God. But here you are, carrying tent pegs.

But here’s the thing. If you let yourself think about your station in life from the perspective of what you don’t get to do, then that leads to thinking about yourself less as one privileged to serve the Lord and more to seeing yourself as a victim of circumstances. And so one of the great lessons of Numbers 4—really, of the first 4 chapters as a whole—is to be content with where you’ve been called. There are things you have control over in this life and there are things that you don’t. You have control over what you say and what you do and how you think. You don’t, however, have control over the family you’re born into and the skills and talents you have.

Paul addressed this very issue when he spoke to the Corinthian church about the various spiritual gifts employed by believers in the body. Just like in Israel, there were flashy manifestations of the Spirit and there were behind-the-scenes expressions of the Spirit’s gifting. The immature Corinthians were obsessed with the flashiness of speaking in tongues and performing miracles. After all, it brought the performer attention and accolades. But it was less consequential for the body. What they weren’t so enamored with was things like prophecy and teaching and helping and serving. Everyone in the Corinthian church wanted to have the same few gifts.

Now, the fact that they are called “gifts” is revealing. These aren’t simply human skills we develop. They are gifts given to each individual Christian by way of the Holy Spirit and dispensed by the authority of the head of the church, Jesus Christ, who gives these “gifts” (lit. charisma, or “that which is freely and graciously given” in the Greek) to his body for the purpose of building it up to maturity (Eph. 4:7–16). And because they are dispensed by the sovereign will of Christ, they are not subject to final approval by believers. We are endowed with the gifts which Christ has deemed to give us, and we are called to exercise those gifts not for our benefit but for the benefit of believers in the church. Some believers will be imbued with abilities which put them necessarily front and center: those who are called to lead and teach. Others will be given gifts that put them in the background: those who are called to serve and help. Both are needed, and none are to be diminished as if unnecessary or of lesser desirability.

Paul wrote the Corinthians, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to someone else faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the workings of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the ^cdistinguishing of spirits, to someone else various kinds of tongues, and to another the ^etranslation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For also ^aby one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For also the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has appointed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, how much more is it that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, 23 and those members of the body which we think as less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no such need. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:7-26).

Now, I know that was a lot to read, but hopefully your read it all because it makes the point quite clearly. God is sovereign over spiritual gifts (vv. 11, 18). God has given a variety of gifts to the body (vv. 7, 12). Each member of the body is necessary and part of the whole. Each member needs the other members and what those members provide by means of spiritual gifting. No one member is more important, although some members may receive more prominence because of their particular gifting. Thus we rejoice with the member who is honored, and we suffer when any member suffers because we’re all part of one body.

We start applying that to everyday Christianity and everyday church and hopefully it convicts you to use the gift(s) you’ve been given, and to not only find contentment in how God’s made you to serve but also to dig in and enjoy it. Humility is the key to any and all activity in life, and it’s not just true for the person who serves faithfully in the background but also of the person who serves day in and day out behind the pulpit. It takes a lot of humility to be happy to carry the holy tent pegs. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a privilege in and of itself.

The fact that any of us are deemed worthy to serve the Lord is a testament to His abundant mercy and grace. Worship, as I said before, is engaging with God on His terms. But it’s also engaging with Him by the way He has made possible. And through the gospel, he’s made it possible for us wretched sinners to serve Him with our lives, in the big stuff and the small stuff, because we’ve been cleansed by the blood of Christ. When that becomes the mindset for our service, it not only leads to humility and contentment, but perhaps to the pinnacle attitude of them all—thankfulness.

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
—Colossians 3:17