Numbers 3:14-2614And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. 16And Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. 17And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei. 19And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. 21Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. 22Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. 23The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. 24And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25And 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, 26And 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. (Numbers 3:14‑26)
There was a difference in the way the Levites were numbered from the numbering of the rest of the tribes. In all the other tribes, the men were numbered from twenty years old and upward, but the Levites were numbered from one month old and upward. Undoubtedly this has a great lesson for us as Christian parents. Sometimes we do not own the Lord’s claims over our children young enough, nor do we bring them under His authority as soon as we should. We are liable to say, “They are too young” and so let them have their own way until it is too late, and then when we want to bring them under the Lordship of Christ, they rebel. The children of Christian parents, like the children of the Levites, are born into the place of privilege (1 Cor. 7:1919Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. (1 Corinthians 7:19)) and we ought to “number” them as such, realizing at the same time that it is all of grace. The Levites did not begin their service until. they were thirty years of age, but they were numbered from a month old. Surely we can see in this something of the great responsibility which rested upon the pants of these children during those thirty years, and what a great responsibility rests upon us as Christian parents today, Have we taught our children the truth of God in all its purity and simplicity, at the same time making them realize what a great responsibility is theirs to “keep the charge of the Lord?” These are searching questions indeed, but very timely, we feel. What a difference it would make in the assemblies of God’s people if our children were diligently taught the truth from their earliest childhood, as well as having our living example before them, as parents. May it be more so with those of us who have “light in our dwellings” in these dark days of the Church’s history.
We now come to the service appointed to the different familes of the Levites, by Aaron. First there is the service of the Gershonites. They had the responsibility of the tabernacle itself, the hangings of the court, the cords, and other things. This comes first, for we need to watch the beginnings of thr enemy’s attack. In the tabernacle and its furniture we see that which picturet to us the various glories of Christ, and tells us of our approach to God. The Gershonites were to “keep the charge” of the tabernacle itself, and how needful it is that we “keep the charge” of that which it typified. The enemy is “a thief and a robber,” ever ready to rob Christ of His glory, and us of out blessings in Him, and great diligence is needed in maintaining the truth. When the time came for the children of Israel to move forward, or to stop in sumo place for a while, the Gershonites had to take down or set up the tabernacle in God’s appointed way. Each curtain and each cord had to be carefully picd up and guarded in the journey—then set up in its right place when they stopped. In this we see that every detail, though seemingly unimportant, was needful. They could not leave any part out as unnecessary, for they were acting on God’s behalf and must be faithful.
As we think of the great errors that have come into the professing church today, we can trace them all back to small beginnings—a carelessness as to the little things, which has resulted in carelessness as to the greater things. Dear readers, whether young or old, let us watch the little things, let us “keep the charge of the Lord” in the little things and not pass them over. “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.” Song of Sol. 2:1515Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. (Song of Solomon 2:15).
ML 06/24/1951