Numbers 4:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a second count of the tribe of Levi. Since that tribe was set apart from all Israel to belong especially to God, the men in their middle years were chosen from among the rest for the actual service of the tabernacle. This was a holy calling, and it was reserved for those who had enough strength, steadiness, and maturity for the task.

All the males from thirty to fifty years old were taken. The other tribes sent men for war from age twenty and up, but the Levites were not numbered for service until thirty, and they served until fifty. God’s work deserves the best of our strength and the finest years of our lives, and those years are never better used than in honoring him, who is first and best. A man can become a good soldier sooner than a good minister.

They were not used in this work until age thirty because before then they might still be too youthful and lacking in seriousness. They were listed as trainees at twenty-five (Numbers 8:24), and in David’s time, when there was more work to do, they began at twenty (1 Chronicles 23:24; Ezra 3:8). But even then, they needed years of learning and waiting before they were fit for service. John the Baptist began his public ministry at thirty, and so did Christ.

This is not a strict rule for gospel ministers now, as if no one may begin before thirty or continue after fifty. Still, it teaches two useful lessons. Ministers must not be new believers, because the work calls for maturity of judgment and steady character (1 Timothy 3:6). And they must learn before they teach, serve before they rule, and be tested first (1 Timothy 3:10).

They were released from the heavier work at fifty, especially from carrying the tabernacle, because that was the main task while Israel was still in the wilderness. This was kind to them, so they would not be worn out as their strength faded. It was also fitting for the work itself, so it would not be done by men made slow and weak by age. The service of God should be done while we are lively and active. Those who put off repentance until old age leave the best work for the worst time.

Their work is described as entering the host, or warfare, to do the work in the tabernacle. Ministry is a good work (1 Timothy 3:1), so ministers are not appointed for honor only, but for labor, not just for wages, but for service. It is also a good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18). Those who enter the ministry must think of themselves as entering an army, and they must show themselves good soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3).

For the sons of Kohath in particular, their task was set for the moving of the tabernacle. Later, when the tabernacle was fixed in one place, they had other duties. But this was the work of that time, and it had to be done when the time came. Wherever Israel moved, the Lord’s tabernacle moved with them, and care had to be taken to carry it properly. In the same way, wherever we go, we must carry our religion with us and not leave it behind.

The Kohathites were to carry all the holy things of the tabernacle. They had already been given this charge (Numbers 3:31), but now the instructions become more detailed. Aaron and his sons, the priests, had to pack up the things the Kohathites were to carry (Numbers 4:5 and following). God had said that no one could enter the most holy place except Aaron once a year with a cloud of incense (Leviticus 16:2), yet the needs of their wandering life required an exception here. Every time the camp moved, Aaron and his sons went in to take down the ark and prepare it for carrying. As Bishop Patrick notes, the divine glory above the mercy seat likely withdrew for the time into the pillar of cloud, which was lifted up, so the ark could be approached safely.

All the holy things had to be covered. The ark and the table had three coverings, while the rest had two. Even the ashes from the altar, where the holy fire was carefully kept and gathered, had to be covered with a purple cloth (Numbers 4:13). Even the bronze altar, though it stood openly in the sanctuary court, was covered when it was moved. These coverings served three purposes.

First, they protected the holy things so they would not be damaged by wind, rain, or sun. They were kept in their beauty, for God promises a defense over all his glory. The badger skins were thick and strong, so they kept out moisture. While we travel through this wilderness world, we too need to be protected in every kind of weather (Isaiah 4:5-6).

Second, the coverings gave the objects a fitting dignity and beauty. Most of them had blue, purple, or scarlet cloth on the outside, and the ark was covered all over with blue (Numbers 4:6). Some take this as a picture of the blue sky, stretched like a curtain between us and the Majesty above (Job 26:9). Those who are faithful to God should also seek to live in a way that looks good before others, so they may make the teaching of God our Savior attractive.

Third, the coverings hid the holy things from view. This pointed to the darkness of that earlier covenant. What is now made clear by the gospel, and shown even to little children, was then hidden from the wise and prudent. They saw only the coverings, not the holy things themselves (Hebrews 10:1). But now Christ has taken away the veil of hiding (Isaiah 25:7).

When everything holy had been covered, the Kohathites were to carry it on their shoulders. The items with poles were carried by those poles (Numbers 4:6, 4:8, 4:11, 4:14). The things without poles were carried on a bar, a litter, or a carrying frame (Numbers 4:10, 4:12). This shows that the signs of God’s presence in this world are movable, but we look for a kingdom that cannot be moved.

Eleazar, Aaron’s oldest son, was appointed to oversee the Kohathites in this work (Numbers 4:16). He had to make sure nothing was forgotten, left behind, or put in the wrong place. As a priest, he had more honor than the Levites, but he also had more responsibility. That care was surely a heavier burden on his heart than the loads they carried on their shoulders. It is much easier to do the work of the tabernacle than to manage its trust, and easier to obey than to rule.

Great care had to be taken to protect the lives of these Levites by keeping them from approaching the most holy things in the wrong way. The warning in Numbers 4:18 is clear: “Do not cut off the Kohathites.” The lesson is that those who do not do what they can to keep others from sin are helping to bring harm on them.

The Kohathites were not to look at the holy things until the priests had covered them (Numbers 4:20). Even the men who carried the Lord’s vessels were not allowed to see what they carried. This shows how much was still hidden under the law from those whose work was to explain it. When the holy things were covered, they still could not touch them, especially the ark, here called “the holy thing,” on pain of death (Numbers 4:15). Uzza was struck dead for breaking this rule.

In that time, the Lord’s ministers were kept in fear, and that whole arrangement was one of warning and darkness as well as holiness. But now, through Christ, the situation is different. We have seen with our eyes, and our hands have handled the word of life (1 John 1:1). Because of that, we are invited to come boldly to the throne of grace.