Daily Scripture Reading Numbers 3:14-37

Alex Rivera worked in an office that ran on glorious chaos. Papers towered on every surface, the shared drive was a mess of files named “Draft_Final_v12_REALLYFINAL,” and meetings rarely started on time because no one could find the conference room key. Empty coffee cups and takeout boxes littered the break room. “We’re a creative company!” the boss always said with a proud smile.

One week, a major client needed a full proposal by Monday. The project lead had misplaced the brief weeks earlier. When Alex asked for the latest numbers, his coworker just shrugged: “It’s somewhere on the drive.” Alex spent two exhausting days hunting through outdated spreadsheets and vague emails. By Friday night, the office was empty except for him. He printed everything, spread papers across tables, and worked until midnight trying to piece it together.

Some people like chaos. Others descend into chaotic environments because they don’t have good organization skills. The Bible does not specifically command us to be organized, but it does tell us to strive for Godliness. In order to do that, we have to know God. Today’s passage illustrates that God likes order. Since that is the case, then perhaps orderliness is a characteristic of Godliness.

When Yahweh killed the firstborn of Egypt as one of the plagues that forced Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery, He sanctified to Himself all the firstborn of Israel (see Exodus 13). At Mount Sinai, Yahweh claimed the descendants of Levi as His own in place of all the firstborn. Then Yahweh assigned the Levites to care for the tabernacle and perform all the work involved in carrying out the sacrificial system.

Num. 3:14 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

Num. 3:15 “Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number.”

Take note of the command to number the sons of Levi. Since the Levites were substitutes for all the firstborn, it was necessary to know how many Levites there were.

Notice the age that was to be counted. When Moses numbered all the other tribes, he only counted the males who were aged 20 and above (see Numbers 1:3). That was because the census of all Israel was intended to determine the size of their army. When Moses numbered the Levites, he counted all males aged one month and above because the purpose of this census was to determine the number of males that could serve as substitutes for the firstborn of all Israel.

Num. 3:16 So Moses numbered them according to the word of Yahweh, just as he had been commanded.

Num. 3:17 These then are the sons of Levi by their names:

Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

Num. 3:18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families:

Libni and Shimei;

Num. 3:19 and the sons of Kohath by their families:

Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel;

Num. 3:20 and the sons of Merari by their families:

Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.

Num. 3:21 ¶ Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.

Num. 3:22 Their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7,500.

Num. 3:23 The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward,

Look at the words “camp” and “westward”. Just as the 12 tribes were assigned places around the camp so that the Israelites would camp in an orderly manner, so too the Levites had their places around the tabernacle. The opening of the tabernacle was toward the east (see Exodus 27). The Levites were divided into the Gershonites, the Kohathites, and the Merarites. The families of the Gershonites camped on the west side of the tabernacle, meaning they camped behind the tabernacle.

Num. 3:24 and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.

Num. 3:25 ¶ Now the responsibility 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,

Num. 3:26 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.

Just as the Levites were assigned specific places within the camp, so too each group of Levites was assigned a specific set of responsibilities with regard to the tabernacle. The sons of Gershon were given responsibility for the curtains that formed the courtyard around the altar and tent of meeting.

Num. 3:27 ¶ Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites.

Num. 3:28 In the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary.

Num. 3:29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the southward side of the tabernacle,

The word “southward” tells us the Kohathites camped on the south side of the tabernacle.

Num. 3:30 and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

Num. 3:31 Now their responsibility involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service concerning them;

The Kohathites were responsible for the items inside the tent of meeting.

Num. 3:32 and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the chief of the leaders of Levi and had the oversight of those who keep the responsibility of the sanctuary.

Num. 3:33 ¶ Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari.

Num. 3:34 And their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200.

Num. 3:35 And the leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the northward side of the tabernacle.

The word “northward” tells us the Merarites camped on the north side of the tabernacle.

Num. 3:36 Now the appointed responsibility of the sons of Merari involved the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its bases, all its equipment, and the service concerning them,

Num. 3:37 and the pillars around the court with their bases and their pegs and their cords.

The sons of Merari were responsible for the boards and other items that supported the tent of meeting.

Some people like chaos. Others descend into chaotic environments because they don’t have good organization skills. The Bible does not specifically command us to be organized, but it does tell us to strive for Godliness.

We see in Numbers 3 that Yahweh required the Israelite camp to be organized. Each family group within the Levites had their assigned place in the camp and their assigned duties when the Israelites broke camp and traveled through the wilderness. Since God likes orderliness, then we should consider that perhaps orderliness is a characteristic of Godliness.

Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to Bible Mountain dotcom, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.

“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”