Numbers 3:23-3223The 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. 27And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. 28In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. 30And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof. 32And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary. (Numbers 3:23‑32)
THE Gershonites were to pitch behind the tabernacle on the west. “And the charge of the sons of Gershon... shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door..., 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.”
When the time came for the children of Israel to move on, or to stop, 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 picked up and guarded in the journey, then set up in its right place when they stopped. Perhaps taking care of one pin was the responsibility of one man, but we can see that every detail, though seemingly small, was needful and important. 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, can we not trace them back to small beginnings — a carelessness in little things, which has resulted in carelessness in greater things. May the Lord help us, dear Christian reader, to watch the little things that mean so much. Let us “keep the charge of the Lord” in the little things as well as the greater things and not pass over them. “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.” S. 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).
The Gershonites were to “keep the charge” of the tabernacle itself. And we are called to “keep the charge” of all that concerns the glory and honor of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church which is typified here. The enemy is “a thief and a robber,” ever ready to rob Christ of His glory, and rob us too of our blessings in Him; therefore, great diligence is needed in maintaining the truth.
The Gershonites in their service had more to do with the tabernacle in its outward display, and this perhaps would speak of those now who are specially gifted of God in bringing Christ to men in the world. They have more to do with the wants of man. Some are specially concerned and gifted for the work of bringing Christ to the perishing all around us and some have devoted their lives in the work of the gospel to those that sit in darkness in far off lands. Each one has his own particular service from the Lord and if faithful will be rewarded by Him in that day.
The Lord gives each one of us some little service to do for Him and happy is the one who seeks to do it for His glory. It may be a mother seeking to bring up her family for the Lord in the shelter and care of a Christian home. It may be giving a tract to someone who comes to the door. The important thing is to find out what the Lord would have each of us do and then seek grace to do it faithfully. The Lord Jesus said, “the last shall be first, and the first last.” Perhaps one who has gone on faithfully for the Lord in her little home day by day, and brought up her family for Him, who has labored in prayer and in watchful longing loving care for others, unseen from without but observed and well known by the Lord, will be among the first in that day when service is rewarded.
ML-03/11/1973