Daily Scripture Reading Numbers 4:21-49

Thomas walked through his parents’ old house and looked at all the boxes. There were one thousand of them. They filled the garage, spilled into the living room, and lined both sides of the hallway like silent soldiers. His mother had been a collector of everything: books, dishes, old tools, fabric scraps, letters, photographs, and things that no longer had names. His father and mother had passed away, and now the house had to be emptied within thirty days.

On the morning the rental truck arrived, Thomas saw a crowd outside. Nearly a hundred people from town had gathered at the end of the street. Some were neighbors he’d known since childhood. Others were strangers who had simply heard that one man had to move a thousand boxes alone. They had empty hands and willing faces. Someone had even brought folding tables and coffee.

A man named Mr. Ellison stepped forward and said, “If every person carries 10 boxes, we can be done by lunch.”

Thomas looked at the crowd and then back at his parents’ house.

“Thank you,” he said, “but I need to do this myself. I don’t even know what is in some of these boxes. I have to decide what to keep and what to throw away.”

Mr. Ellison nodded slowly. He didn’t argue. One by one, the people turned and walked away. Soon, the street was empty again. Thomas started alone.

He carried the first box to the truck he had rented. It was heavier than he expected. By the tenth box, his arms were shaking. By the fiftieth, his back had begun to protest. He refused to stop for lunch. He told himself that if he kept moving, he could finish before dark. He didn’t.

On the third day, he slipped while carrying a box of old glassware down some steps. The box hit the ground and shattered. He stood there staring at the broken pieces of his mother’s favorite serving dishes, too tired to even sweep them up. By the fifth day, his hands were raw. His shoulders burned constantly.

On the final day, he moved the last boxes with shaking arms and blurred vision. He had never asked for help. He had carried one thousand boxes all by himself.

Years later, when people asked him about that time, Thomas would say he had done what needed to be done. He never mentioned how many boxes he had dropped. Nor did he mention how long it took to recover from the physical pain.

While it may feel noble to do a task alone, Thomas didn’t need to overwork himself to move all those boxes. If he had accepted help and distributed the load among many people, the task would have been much easier.

The Bible does not say, “Many hands make light work.” That is a well-known English proverb, not a Bible verse. However, the Bible illustrates the concept several times. In fact, the process for moving the tabernacle through the wilderness was based on that concept.

The fourth chapter of Numbers explains the process for moving the tabernacle. First, Aaron and his sons went into the tabernacle, covered all the furniture and utensils, and inserted the carrying poles. Next, the sons of Kohath came in and carried the items out of the tent of meeting.

Num. 4:21 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Num. 4:22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ households, by their families;

Num. 4:23 from thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them; all who enter to perform the duty of performing the service in the tent of meeting.

Num. 4:24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying:

Num. 4:25 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,

Num. 4:26 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.

The Gershonites carried all the items that formed the courtyard that surrounded the tent of meeting. Exodus 27 tells us there were 2 curtains about 150’ long each. A third curtain was about 75’ long. Then there were two curtains which were around 23’ long each, plus the screen for the entrance which was 30’ long. There were 60 pillars and 60 bases. They would have had around 120 or so pegs and rope to keep the pillars upright. That sounds like a large load to carry through the wilderness. It was at least 246 pieces.

Num. 4:27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their service, shall be performed at the command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a responsibility all their loads.

Num. 4:28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their responsibilities shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Num. 4:29 ¶ “As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers’ households;

Num. 4:30 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the duty of performing the service of the tent of meeting.

Num. 4:31 Now this is the responsibility of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its bases,

Num. 4:32 and the pillars around the court and their bases and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign each man by name the items of the responsibility of his load.

According to Exodus 36, the tent of meeting was made up of 23 curtains, 48 boards, 96 bases, 15 bars, 9 pillars with their 9 bases, and two screens. That is a total of 202 pieces, some of which were large and bulky.

Num. 4:33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

Num. 4:34 ¶ So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households,

Num. 4:35 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting.

Num. 4:36 Their numbered men by their families were 2,750.

Num. 4:37 These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

Num. 4:38 ¶ The numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households,

Num. 4:39 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting,

Num. 4:40 their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630.

Look at the number 2,630. The Gershonites had to carry 246 pieces that made up the tabernacle, but there were 2,630 men to carry the items. That was less than one piece per man. That was not a big burden at all.

Num. 4:41 These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh.

Num. 4:42 ¶ The numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households,

Num. 4:43 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting,

Num. 4:44 their numbered men by their families were 3,200.

The sons of Merari had to carry 202 pieces through the wilderness, but since there were 3,200 men of the sons of Merari, they did not have a big task either.

Num. 4:45 These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

Num. 4:46 ¶ All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ households,

Num. 4:47 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to perform the work of service and the service of carrying in the tent of meeting,

Num. 4:48 their numbered men were 8,580.

Num. 4:49 According to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Moses, they were numbered, everyone by his serving or carrying; thus these were his numbered men, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

The tabernacle was a large structure made up of hundreds of pieces. It is normal to think the task of moving that through the wilderness would have been overwhelming. However, there were 8,580 Levites to carry the pieces. That meant there were multiple men for each piece, which reduced the task to something light and doable.

Sometimes we are faced with a task that seems insurmountable. The amount of work we may need to do is much more than one person can do alone. While the Bible does not command us to divide a large task among many people, there are multiple examples in the Bible where that was the tactic to accomplish a large amount of work. If you are ever faced with a large task, consider dividing it up so that many hands can make light work.

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“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.”