12/4/2008 11:17 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The
Levitical census and duties (the Gershonites)
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Numbers 3:14-26 & 4:21-28
Message of the verses: “14 ¶
Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 "Number the sons of Levi by their
fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward
you shall number." 16 So Moses numbered them according to the word
of the LORD, just as he had been commanded.
17 These then are the sons of
Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18
These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and
Shimei; 19 and the sons of Kohath by
their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron
21 Of Gershon was the
family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families
of the Gershonites. 22 Their numbered men, in the numbering of every
male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7,500.
23 The families of
the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward,
24 and the leader of
the fathers’ households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 Now
the duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the
tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the doorway of the
tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of
the court, and the screen for the doorway of the court which is around the
tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service
concerning them.”
“21 ¶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 22 "Take a census of the sons of Gershon
also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; 23 from thirty years and upward to fifty years
old, you shall number them; all who enter to perform the service to do the work
in the tent of meeting. 24 "This is
the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in
carrying: 25 they shall carry the curtains of the
tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of
porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the doorway of the tent
of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the
court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around
the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their
service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform. 27
"All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads
and in all their work, shall be performed at the command of Aaron and his sons;
and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. 28
"This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites
in the tent of meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of
Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
This SD
begins the last main point in Dr. Wiersbe’s book, “Be Counted,” and it has to
do with the counting of the Levites who are to do the duties of taking care of
the tabernacle. As mentioned they were
to take the place of the firstborn of all of the tribes of Israel
The Levites
are divided into the three sons of Levi, and then they are divided again in the
grandchildren of Levi in order to divide the work or duties or service that
each family will do. The first group to
be numbered and assigned to do the word is the male offspring of Gershon. This census and duties are explained in the
verses above. The total number of
Gershonites was 7500 with 2630 able to serve.
Incidentally David changed the age limit to twenty years old to begin
serving in the tabernacle “24 ¶ These
were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, even the heads of
the fathers’ households of those of them who were counted, in the number of
names by their census, doing the work for the service of the house of the LORD,
from twenty years old and upward.25 For
David said, "The LORD God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He
dwells in Jerusalem forever,” (1 Chron. 23:24-25)
The duties
of this group of men was to take care of transporting the coverings, hangings,
and framework of the tabernacle, and all the equipment that pertained to them
and they were given two carts and four oxen to do this work. They would report to Ithamar the priest, the
son of Aaron. “7 Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons
of Gershon, according to their service.” (Numbers 7:7)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: God is a God of specific details as seen in
this section, for He has made allowance in the firstborn, and He has given
duties to all of the sons of Levi, which is far better than having just the
random firstborn of all of the tribes of Israel
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- Give myself to the Lord for service and work and to be transformed in order to do God’s work.
- Trust the Lord to guide my path.
- Ask the Lord to search me.
- Learn to be content.
- Put on my spiritual armor.
Memory verses for the week: Romans
6:1-9
- What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
- May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
- Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
- Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we to might walk in newness of life.
- For if we have been untied with Him through the likeness of His death, certainly we all shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
- knowing this, that our old self has been crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
- for he who has died is freed from sin.
- Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
- knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again, death no longer is master over Him.
12/4/2008 12:12 PM
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